theklng:

sheic99:

theklng:
i don't see anything wrong with the zune, it's about time people open up their eyes and stop buying ipods just because that's what's right in front of them.

i have a creative zen myself. it's only 32gb, but that's more than my music collection anyhow.

I have an Ipod because my Zen micro broke after Creative discontinued it, and it was the best the retailer had at the time. I plan on using it until my Ipod breaks and Apple decides to discontinue my warranty. So far, I'm at 4 years of use. 5 if you count the one that broke.

...your point being?

My point is not all people buy Ipods simply because it is an Ipod.

mark_n_b:
why do people insist on making "hate on" threads?

Why do people insist on making any thread? It's just as pointless as any other thread (or thread reply...hint hint)

My second gen Zune is a great piece of hardware. Most people that have handled mine love it too, because of the big screen, and the intuitive interface. The sound quality is awesome as well, despite not having an Equalizer.

Really, I could've gone with another iPod, or a Creative, etc, but the competitive price, and the features are what won me over.

In just the usage of an Ipod vs a Zune I've found that the Ipod is a nicer, more fluid system and seems to last longer than any Zune. I've found Zunes crash more often, have more hardware issues, and overheat alot more than Ipods but this is just MY opinion on what I've found in owning both. In the end I have thrown both out for a cheaper, low-level MP3 player that has worked wonderfully for alot longer than anything else. I only wanted to play my podcasts or music, so I don't need anything with a big screen. If I want to watch a movie, a trailer, music videos, ect. I'll do so on my laptop. So it really does depend on what you want to use it for.

The 12/31 Zune 30 crash was a result of TOSHIBA programming. The Zune 30 is based on Toshiba hardware, and it was one of the Toshiba drivers that had the bad programming.

I currently have a 8GB Zune that I use for podcasts, videos, and random music.

I've had an iPod nano, a Zune 80GB (sold it because I got another iRiver H360 with Rockbox), a Zune 4GB (sold it because I listen to too many podcasts to fit on the 4GB), and my current Zune 8GB.

I personally prefer the software of the Zune, although I wish the device firmware for music playback had more options.

As others have said, there's nothing WRONG with the Zune. People just hate on them. In fact, after the newest software/firmware was released, there were more than a few articles that said the Zune was a better DAP than the iPod.

goodman528:
My cousine has an ipod. It requires all these Apple software on the PC, and Itunes is not user friendly at all. Zune can hardly be worse than an ipod. I persume at least it doesn't force you to install properietory software for compatibility.

ummm saying itunes is not user friendly is just saying you're a walking pebkac, insert a cd with itunes open and it says "do you wish to import the cd to itunes" and then there's the big huge sync button

Miles Tormani:

Pretty much all of my local friends (including myself) actually PREFER the Zune to the iPod. All the features of the iPod, plus a radio (kinda meh, but hey), a bigger screen, and the thing holds your computer hostage to the slightly more intuitive (and less intrusive) Zune program as opposed to iTunes. Unless you're like me and just use Winamp. Interfaces with both, as well as numerous other MP3 players. Suckas.

ummm you mean things like the drm laden windows media and such? the zune has WAY more intrusive things and drm on it than the ipod ever has

This I'm not too sure about (I had the 80GB model before it died from user abuse), but doesn't every Zune have video support to it, as opposed to only some iPods being video-compatible?

all the earlier ones but a lot of them do, including the touch and the iphone

It's all about Creative. They blow iPods the hell out of the water.

Apple's little white wheel box is so beyond overrated that its stupid. And what makes it worse is the special brainwashing, douche-ifying radiation that causes people to shun other MP3 players.

I love my 4GB Zune, which is all I need. What I like about the software is that I can update my individual songs with their album info and covers. Another thing I like is the radio, which is good for me so I can listen to Love Line when I work at night.

When I first heard of the New Years bug, I was scared, but I later found out it only affected the older Zunes.

And, being able to share songs with other Zunes is cool too. And so is purchasing music using Microsoft points; which are shared with your Xbox Live account, too.

Are they actually available outside of North America? I don't recall ever seeing them in the shops here (that is, in the UK) or even hearing of anyone owning one. Wikipedia shows release dates for US and Canada but nowhere else, leading me to believe that we've not seen them.

Just curious, really. I'm not likely to ever want a Zune, or anything else for that matter, I'm far too accustomed to the iPod now and don't see the point of changing unless there's a good reason to do so.

berethond:
It's all about Creative. They blow iPods the hell out of the water.

I'm not a huge fan of the Zen. I always thought it was sort of ugly and had an unintuitive GUI

Ronmarru:
I prefer Creative's Zen myself. Had it for about 6 or 7 months now and still love it.

I've had problems with mine. I have the Zen Vision:M. Sometimes when I'm playing it, it will freeze - the music or video will stop, none of the buttons work and I can't even turn it off. I have to let the battery die and recharge it before I can use it again. It's very frustrating.

I was thinking about selling mine and getting a new player. I really want an iPod touch, but I am also considering the Zune. How does the integration with the 360 work?

cleverlymadeup:

goodman528:
My cousine has an ipod. It requires all these Apple software on the PC, and Itunes is not user friendly at all. Zune can hardly be worse than an ipod. I persume at least it doesn't force you to install properietory software for compatibility.

ummm saying itunes is not user friendly is just saying you're a walking pebkac, insert a cd with itunes open and it says "do you wish to import the cd to itunes" and then there's the big huge sync button.

The less software you have installed, the more stable the system. Especially software that doesn't run in the background all the time. Anyway, regardless of everything else, I'm just prejudiced against Itunes because of the frustration it caused. I recommend you take a look at "TTplayer", that's what I call good software.

This thread made me tear up remembering my old Zen Touch which died humiliatingly by falling into a public toilet after 3 years of faithful service. Since then I've been stuck with an iPod Shuffle I got for free somewhere.

My point? If a Zune is half as good as my Zen Touch was, then it's awesome and deserving of all the love it might get. Also, iTunes is the spawn of Satan and I really should get a proper music player that doesn't force feed me such bad software.

Oh, and this:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/01/03/

Bored Tomatoe:
I have a zune and I love it, it runs fine, was cheaper than it's Ipod counterpart AND it doesn't have the Ipod's oh-so-annoying scroll circle.

Here here. I've just upgraded to the 120 gig Zune. Oh LORD DO I LOVE IT!!!

If it's good enough for the President-Elect...

http://gizmodo.com/5101522/barack-obama-uses-a-zune

Everyone has an iPod, and nobody likes MS. IF I ever get an MP3 player, it will be a Zune. My family has had bad experiences with iPods, i.e. freezing, deleting, and both my brothers got a Zune after 3 broken iPods.

The simple answer is "because they're not iPods." Many people, sadly, still act as though if you are different, you are somehow wrong. Why on earth should they care what MP3 player you have? It's your money, it's your music, it's your experience - but doing what everyone else does makes them feel safe and comfortable, and so they mock you. It's incredibly childish. Oh, also, it's from 'teh M$soft', so therefore it MUST be bad.

That said, the Zune was definitely lacking when it was first released, especially in the Marketplace. Since then, though, it's improved dramatically. I love mine, personally, even though it was one of the ones that suffered from the -what did you guys call it? Z2k?

Personally I love Zune - and this is coming from someone who has been buying Mp3 players since 1999. I love the UI, the wi-fi and the Zune pass is a steal (have unlimited access to 2 million tracks for $25/month). The 'zune social' is really cool too. If you get on the Zune Marketplace, the software will automatically find people with tastes similar to yours and download tracks from their collection that you might like. They're leaps ahead of Apple when it comes to this stuff. You can also browse the marketplace wirelessly on your Zune and sync wirelessly as well.

goodman528:
My cousine has an ipod. It requires all these Apple software on the PC, and Itunes is not user friendly at all. Zune can hardly be worse than an ipod. I persume at least it doesn't force you to install properietory software for compatibility.

Well i presume you have to use WMP with the Zune;
I'd agree that, at first at least, itunes is a pain in the ass to use, probably because i was really into WMP before i had my ipod. but once you get used to it, it's really simple to use, and does all WMP does.

can someone give me a price comparison of comparable models preferably in pounds but in dollars if not? (for reference, I own no MP3 player, and have never done so, although I feel I should jump on the bandwagon sooner or later)

I like Zunes quite a lot, I can't wait for my heap of shit ipod to die so I can get myself a Zune, or indeed anything that acctualy has decent sound quality, I acctualy went out and bought a 4 gig Creative Zen because the ipod ruins stuff with heavy basslines so much.

Congratulations for getting out of that nasty iPod market.

Pay loads, get shit. That's the Apple way. ^^

goodman528:

cleverlymadeup:
ummm saying itunes is not user friendly is just saying you're a walking pebkac, insert a cd with itunes open and it says "do you wish to import the cd to itunes" and then there's the big huge sync button.

The less software you have installed, the more stable the system. Especially software that doesn't run in the background all the time. Anyway, regardless of everything else, I'm just prejudiced against Itunes because of the frustration it caused. I recommend you take a look at "TTplayer", that's what I call good software.

user friendly <> stability. user friendly means if you use the program without ever trying it you can figure out how to use it. simply put it's easy for the non-user to use

i've never have any issues running itunes and system stability on any of the systems i've run it, i'm thinking there's an issue with your pc and stuff you have installed.

as for ttplayer, i can't even read the site it's on and from the screenshots of it i saw, it looks like a winamp rip off

cleverlymadeup:
ummm you mean things like the drm laden windows media and such? the zune has WAY more intrusive things and drm on it than the ipod ever has

With all due respect, do you have any idea what the hell you're talking about? DRM is laden in the files that are downloaded from things like the iTunes store or the Zune Marketplace. Not the program itself. Furthermore, the Zune marketplace in particular is both dead honest about its DRM'd WMAs and offers DRM-free MP3s. Another thing that the Zune program doesn't do is delete every non-Marketplace MP3 in your My Music folder. While it hasn't happened to me personally (on account of using Winamp and not iTunes to interface with iPods and Zunes, as I already mentioned), I've heard plenty of stories of iTunes doing just that.

The Zune has no DRM shit laced into its firmware. I would like to say the same about the iPod, considering I know it works with, say, music copied off a CD, but iTunes gets in the way of that statement.

all the earlier ones but a lot of them do, including the touch and the iphone

Again, what? I was talking about Zunes, not iPods.

cleverlymadeup:

user friendly <> stability. user friendly means if you use the program without ever trying it you can figure out how to use it. simply put it's easy for the non-user to use

i've never have any issues running itunes and system stability on any of the systems i've run it, i'm thinking there's an issue with your pc and stuff you have installed.

as for ttplayer, i can't even read the site it's on and from the screenshots of it i saw, it looks like a winamp rip off

I'm a "non-user" of Itunes, I don't use it very much, and can't be bothered to find unofficial patches/mods for it on the net; and I don't like it, because it's not easy to use. End of discussion. As for TTplayer, I've never used winamp before, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did just put a different skin on winamp and changed the name to TT, like QQ did with ICQ. But this player does play every type of music file I've ever come across, the interface is good and clean, and its online lyrics database is impressive. And unlike QQ it doesn't install anything else other than the player onto your computer. Not trying to advertise it or something, but it is an example of good software.

Miles Tormani:
Another thing that the Zune program doesn't do is delete every non-Marketplace MP3 in your My Music folder. While it hasn't happened to me personally (on account of using Winamp and not iTunes to interface with iPods and Zunes, as I already mentioned), I've heard plenty of stories of iTunes doing just that.

actually i've never had it happen to me and i've deleted and reinstalled itunes a couple times. it will only delete files if you delete them, other ppl who it happens to i'm willing to be did it themselves and then said "oh i didn't do it, it must be itunes" or they have virii on their computers that do it for them, which have been known to exist

The Zune has no DRM shit laced into its firmware. I would like to say the same about the iPod, considering I know it works with, say, music copied off a CD, but iTunes gets in the way of that statement.

no they are both the same, the issue with itunes is it uses the mp4 codec, which is different from the mp3 codec and not as open. wma on the other hand is a nightmare of closed source software so much so that open sourced software can't use it cept for playback and not encoding or decoding

goodman528:

I'm a "non-user" of Itunes, I don't use it very much, and can't be bothered to find unofficial patches/mods for it on the net; and I don't like it, because it's not easy to use. End of discussion.

honestly if you say itunes is hard to use, like not seeing the big huge play button or anything useful in the program you must be blind, kinda hard to miss the large play button and the thing that say "music" on the side of the programs only window

cleverlymadeup:
no they are both the same, the issue with itunes is it uses the mp4 codec, which is different from the mp3 codec and not as open. wma on the other hand is a nightmare of closed source software so much so that open sourced software can't use it cept for playback and not encoding or decoding

Yeah, nevermind that you just stated my entire point about how there's no DRM in the system itself. Unless of course you count those cases of songs being deleted when you plug an iPod in due to its fucking retarded and difficult to notice default setting of "sync away everything you actually have". Something that's, y'know, very different from hitting a delete button.

Also, the Zune Marketplace DOES have MP3s (specifically labeled as such no less) for purchase. Oops.