Microsoft Zune Red (8 GB) MP3 Player

Just bought this as a gift for my 12yr old. The player is impressive! The user interface is easy to navigate, with cover art and artist info easy to view on the screen. Sound quality is excellent even with the included inexpensive earbuds. Radio actually gets pretty good reception. scrolling is simple with the touchpad. My 12yr old found this easy to navigate, so I guess that's as good an idicator of user-friendly as you can find.
Wifi sync-ing is absolutely brilliant!
Wifi is a drain on the battery, but it certainly has a better battery than my ipod touch!
As a flash 8gb player it is an above average value.

But when combined with the whole package, zune software and zunepass(add'l $14.99/mo) this thing is incredible! I have an Ipod touch, my wife an iphone, and every accessory imaginable...and I'm ready to toss them all for a Zune! I sat down to put a few songs on her player for her to listen to when she opened it....twenty minutes later I was deep in the zune marketplace, already had 50 songs on her zune, all included in the price of the subscription. Podcasts, comedy, music...there is so much content! And this was just looking at POP music for a 12yr old! If I started diving into content in current Rock and classic rock I'd fill a 32g in no time at all! she opened it and was thrilled, and five minutes later she was downloading like crazy!

Zune software itself seems much cleaner and user-friendly than itunes. Simple to create playlists, simple to find playlists, simple to sync. Software is robust and stable, not what I'd really expect from MS!

I would say the only downside of this unit is currently the very small market share that it has. This means fewer accessories to choose from, and less choice means fewer deals.

I am NOT an MS fanboy, I have alot invested in, and have owned several, ipods! It is obvious, to me, that this product, when combined with zune software and zune pass, is a superior choice for someone downloading alot of music!