New 80g Zune - nice 2nd gen device.

[pachinkoman]

Went to my local Circuit City today and picked up the new 80g Zune, for $249.00, and CC threw in a $25 gift card.

Box and packaging is basically the same as the 1st gen.

When I opened the box, I was a little disappointed. I don't know why, the device just did not look how I had pictured it in my minds eye.

It looked kind of plain, and big.

After removing it from the box though, and holding it in my hand it felt comfortable. The front is a matte black finish, and the back is a matte metal. It is thinner and much lighter than the first gen, with a slightly bigger screen. About the size of my 160g Ipod classic, maybe just a tad thinner, a slight bit longer, but a much bigger screen (close to double).

The front has a back button, a pause/play/power button, and a touch pad about the size of a quarter. It has a lock button, and uses the same proprietary USB cable as the 1st gen model.

When you power it up it has a simple menu similar to the 1st gen - music, video, pictures, radio, social, settings, etc. You can either scroll down or press down on the pad, and once you've reached your selection you press the pad.

Pad is very quick and responsive, but not overly sensitive to touch where you feel like you can't control it. It works exactly as you would want it to, is accurate, and feels quite nice. Only drawback though, is it only works up and down, and feels as if it should be able to work side to side. For those functions, you have to use it like a rocker switch - which is OK, but after using the touch seems a bit lacking.

Volume is adjusted by the touch pad. Scrolling through lists of music, picturs, etc, goes very fast if you want it to.

Zune 2.1 software is totally reworked and IMHO works much nicer and smoother than itunes. I know a lot of people including myself don't like being held hostage to the software, but Zune 2.1 so far seems fairly painless. I'm not going to go into a great bit of detail about it other than that.

SQ is very good, rivaling 1st gen, which I liked as well.

Software sync's tunes smoothly, and if you have Vista, you can easily pull any TV shows you've recorded with Windows Media Center off of your computer. I like that because I use WMC as a backup for my Tivos so I can now easily grab that TV content and throw it on the Zune.

The Zune has wi-fi capabilities, but to be honest, I havent figured that out yet.

I'll write more after I've used it for a few days, or be happy to answer anyone's questions about it.

Closing I'll say though, IMHO it is a very nice improvement for a 2nd gen device.

Can microsoft make any headway into apple's dominance with it? Maybe a little, we'll see, it's a very solid offering though, and there seems to be a lot to like about it.

[Mike]

Thanks for the snap review. Have been interested in the many positive comments that I've been reading about the Zune 2nd gen.--I think it is impressing people by surprise.

But come on--as a Microsoft product, it really should have drag and drop ...

[saints]

Well done pman, if you can give us a battery life and the ease of syncing without cables report later would be appreciated

[Thickness]

Nice review, I did read about complaints, they removed the equalizer and the
smart playlist.
I will go to my local target store and check it out for myself.

[Step666]

Has anyone seen the 'review' on Engadget?
The guy who wrote it locked the comments section because, basically, he was being criticised by everyone...

Rather than really covering what the Zune2 is actually capable of itself, he went to great lengths to point out that some of the features such as the wi-fi connectivity are poorer than the likes of the iPhone and the Touch and criticised Microsoft, at length, for not including Mac support. At no point did he even really compare the Zune directly to the Classic, preferring, as mentioned already, to comment on how it didn't really measure up to players which it isn't even designed to compete with.
So, after a raft of negative comments about the 'review', the article has been re-named so that it doesn't include the word review in the title and the comments have been suspended because the nasty people were being nasty to him (or something like that).


So, now we're in a rather scary position, as Walt Mossberg's review of the Zune has been met with less criticism and CNet's review is actually being touted as the fairest one available so far.
In fact, if some pro-Apple commenters on Engadget are to be believed, the Zune's review is only so positive because 'cnet is a Microsoft shill' - my how times change(!)

[ShyAnne]

Originally Posted by Step666

Rather than really covering what the Zune2 is actually capable of itself, he went to great lengths to point out that some of the features such as the wi-fi connectivity are poorer than the likes of the iPhone and the Touch and criticised Microsoft, at length, for not including Mac support.

Seems humorously contradictory. If he truly believes Zune2's wi-fi and other features are poorer than Apple's products then why also criticize lack of MAC support? It's as if he's saying, "Hey! Us MAC users want the option to choose poorer wi-fi too!!"

But I have seen other players severely criticized for not including MAC support, a few on official review sites but mostly on user review sites. Never really understood it. I mean, if someone uses a MAC exclusively then they may as well get an iPod. Instead, some MAC users act like it's some sort of "discrimination" issue if every manufacturer does not include MAC support in every single product they release.

[Step666]

That's kind of the whole point, it's so far from being a balanced and fair 'review' that it's not even funny.

[ShyAnne]

Originally Posted by Step666

That's kind of the whole point, it's so far from being a balanced and fair 'review' that it's not even funny.

Ya, and when that was pointed out by readers the guy weaseled out and closed the comment section.

(I know you mentioned that already but it's just such a wimpy example of waffle-ly weaseling that it bears repeating.)

[Step666]

He's posted another thing saying, basically, 'ok, we heard you, we'll have another article for you soon'. But, to be honest, that's kind of missing the point.
However, this second article has just allowed people to pick up where they left off with the comments

[Mike]

How long was it until Apple's player became usable with Windows?!? And that's when Apple had 90-95% of the user market to go after. Here, MS's player already is compatible with that 90%. Of course, it would be good if the MS player was Apple compatible--no one should be denied a good player ...

[Step666]

Yeah but if you were to believe the rest of the article, the player is so poor that no-one with the sense to buy a Mac would want a Zune when they could have an iPod Touch instead...

[pachinkoman]

All things being equal, I'd rather have a Touch, but they are 2 totally different players.

Different storage capacity, different price, not really "apples" to apples.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by Step666

Yeah but if you were to believe the rest of the article, the player is so poor that no-one with the sense to buy a Mac would want a Zune when they could have an iPod Touch instead...

I think a Touch would be a great toy as well, if it only had a man's or woman's worth of storage, 80 gb+. And I've read great reviews of the Zune, which focus on what it is.

[Step666]

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the Touch but to compare the Zune to one is unfair.

Both devices are very good, from what I can tell, just in their own separate ways.

[pachinkoman]

After 2 weeks with the new Zune, I'm really digging it.

I think if people stop being "sheepish" they will find the the new 80g Zune is a very capable alternative to an ipod classic

[sweetspot]

You make it sound nice P man, and I'm the last person who'd ever be sheepish, but I really don't know if I could break my vows and cheat on gapless playback (at the least). You made no mention of whether or not drag and drop was possible. The only software I find acceptable if having to use it with a media player, is the kind that acts as a hell of a lot more than that which syncs music.

For example, the only software I've seen that I'd be cool with was the one which came with the Rio Karma. I think it was called DJ. It really squeezed the most out of its playlist capabilities and more... That's if I HAD to use software.

Also, is there a lossless codec available for the Zune, such as the WMA version of lossless ? And if so, is that software to rip as such, included ? True line out, fake line out, any line out at all ? Is/will there be a remote available for it ? I haven't seen a port for one so I'm guessing no. What's the EQ scheme like, and how does it sound flat vs eq'ng ?

How well does it drive higher impedance and power hungry cans ?

[iMathur]

I as well got the Zune 80 last week. I haven't really had a chance to use it much, but so far everything has been good. SQ is good (compared to my H320). The screen is really nice. The Zune Pad is really easy to use. The WiFi, eh its pretty much a useless feature for me, I'll probably never use it. I haven't really tested the Battery life, but I did watch two full length movies (1hr56 and 2hr11) and the meter reads about 1/4 (can't really tell) full. The only gripe I have is with the Zune software. I was so used to the simple drag-drop file tree system on the H320 that when I switched over to the Zune 2.1 I felt totally handicapped. I guess I'll get used to it, but as of now I just find it slightly annoying.

[saints]

Originally Posted by iMathur

The only gripe I have is with the Zune software. I was so used to the simple drag-drop file tree system on the H320 that when I switched over to the Zune 2.1 I felt totally handicapped. I guess I'll get used to it, but as of now I just find it slightly annoying.

You tried itunes?