EggXpert

According to the latest news, we know that Microsoft had just confirmed the fall Zune lineup

 

a little bit earlier than they planned to, and the new Zune 3.0 is almost exactly as leaked before:

 

Capacity: bumps to 120GB and 16GB

 

New WiFi music store

 

Zune 3.0 software with recommendations and pre-programmed theme channels

 

Get two new games, Hexic and Texas Hold 'Em.

 

I really like the snappy blue flash Zune. And about the price, it is quite unsurprisingly:

 

The 120GB Zune is $250, while the 16GB flash model is $199 and the 8 gigger is $149.

 

Like it? Do you still prefer Ipod or want a try with the new zune 3.0?

 

You can get more information from the link below:

 

http://lifestyle.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=15378

 

 

i like my gen one zune 30 gb countless drops still going strong

I don't like either of them. Ipod is too expensive. This one is fine and seems functional, but I don't like the colour. I think rose red would be nice. Moreover my mp3 player works fine and four gigger is enough for me. Anyway, thanks for the sharing.

I love my iPod, itunes working just fine for me....zune..pretty much the same. not gonna spend extra money for that.

wait...

is this the zune hardware, pc software, or zune firmware update?

iRiver ^_-

I have a Zune 80gb, and it's great. Functionality, Zune and iPod are neck and neck. However, I hate itunes. The zune software is much more friendly. iPod connected to a friends computer = you lose your music and gain his. Zune connected to friends computer = You keep your music and gain his. This is a concern for me, because I connect mine at home and at work, thus two different computers. I'd rather not keep a fully copy of all my music at work and at home, i have some in each place, so being able to move about is good for me.

Also, Zune 80gb has dropped to $199 since the Zune 120gb came out. I have 1.24gb of music on my zune, not my complete collection, because I have a lot of albums, so I just pick and choose. Zune social to me is kinda pointless. I have enough friends, I don't need more, so i can't really comment on that. Video playback is awesome quality on zune. Overall, I have no complaints with it.

updated to latest 3.0, bot software and firmware for zune 1st gen 30GB

 

zune software runs better/faster now, adds a few new things in the merketplace, ect

 

now as for firmware,   zune users now have a clock  :3 , wireless marketplace access, radio song tagging, 2 free MS games "texas holdem" and "hexic", and a few other small add-ons that improve the players performance

Both of my kids have Zune players and they love them! I don't like either of them, I prefer my phone having all the options i need. I like having an all in one device.

i like my 80gig zune....not sure what all options each one has that makes'em diffrent but it does very well

Objectively, the Zune seems like the better deal.  For the longest time I've held the the iPod is fundementally overpriced and underwhelming.  The product is sold based on a combination of lies and exxageration that steve jobs has essentially made his fortune on.  The battery-changing highway robbery has also been the final straw for me.  That being said given the choice I'd rather have something else entirely.  Namely a music phone with flash card storage.  On the good ones the sound quality is the same and they are usually a couple hundred dollars less.

ak11667:

i like my gen one zune 30 gb countless drops still going strong

amen to that.  6ft drop on tile and still chugging like a champ.

I don't have any problems with my Zune player, but I truly hate the software. From the #1 software maker in the world, I expected MUCH better. Viewing music in your collection, you have 1 (exactly 1) way of viewing your albums, in a thumbnail form, which you can NOT change, as far as I have seen. Their method of sorting albums and songs is horrendous. I find albums with consistent information randomly broken up into 4-18 different albums in Zune, for no apparent reason whatsoever. Granted, I am able to merge albums, but that is a HUGE time waster. Dare I say it, I would rather use an Apple product than deal with the Zune software ever again. And what's worse is that they haven't listened to any of their customer's responses. The software is exactly the same as it was when it first released.

Sorry Microsoft, but I can't stand the Zune software.

didnt you see the tab in the corner?

 

you can change to 3 different views

I usuually just go by artists

Wait...are you talking about the actual view (thumbnail, icon, tile) or the way it sorts the albums?

Because if there's a way to change the view, I've never seen it.

EDIT: The other thing that bugs me is that the software is just flat out ugly. What ever happened to 1.0 with the black/white theme? Now you have this weird pink/orange theme with a blank white background (yes I know you can change the background, but it still looks bad to me).

Ive seen some background hacks online

never really messed with it though

I personally own a Zune80 with the 3.0 update and as long as I have owned it I have loved it. I did at one time own an iPod for a short time, but since then I have tinkered with many of my friends iPods. But after having a decent amount of experience with both, I must say the Zune is better than the iPod. The interface is much more intuitive and I much prefer the Zune Pad to the Click Wheel. Everything in the interface, both device and software, is very refined and oragnized. Providing multiple views of your collection as opposed to a list or just album covers. Zune Software displays a list of all songs, all album covers, and all artists at one time. Functionality wise, they are pretty even, sound is equivalent but the iPod outpaces a Zune in abttery life due to the Zune's larger screen and wifi capabilities. Now as for purchasing the music, iTunes has a great selection this I conceed but Zune Marketplace with a Zune Pass ($14.99=1 month unlimited music) increases overall functionality of device and software ten fold. With a Zune Pass you can tag songs on the radio and then download them on the fly or you just access the Marketplace anywhere. Now that I have given my opinion on the matter, let me make it clear that I am not an Apple hater. They do have some very great ideas that Microsoft should consider or simprove upon. Also, I am not a Microsoft-er(?) they have made some pretty big mistakes in the past...let's all hope they've learned from them as well. But I do say that the Zune offers more device functionality and better software than the competition. So your Zune can't be shaken to shuffle your collection but you'd have to cough up for an iPod touch to download music form iTunes on the go. Like I said before it's simply more bang for your buck.

 

Cygnus_Omega

What bugs me about my ipod nano and ipods in general-

• inability to sync in different locations ex: home and work
• small capacity compared  to comparably priced media players

What I want out of my next media player

• wifi and ability to browse the internet
• decent video playback 
• portability (ability to carry it in my pocket)

My next media player will be an ipod touch.

After weighing the pros and cons the wifi and functionality of the ipod touch are the clinchers for me.  Would I like more storage, yes.  However I don't feel the need to carry my entire library around with me.

I can understand someone that is purely an audiophile opting for a different player but for me the music is not teh number one priority.

Before I buy the ipod touch, does anyone know of a different player that I should consider taking into consideration that web browsing and portable, pocketable wifi are priorities?

I think I'm going to get rid of my 30GB Zune. I like the player, but as previously mentioned, I just can't stand the software. I think I'm going to go for a Sansa 8GB or something like that and grab a micro SD card. I don't need any video playback or anything like that. Just getting sick of dealing with the inconsistency and bad functionality of the Zune program. All I'm looking for in a media player is audio playback, maybe a radio tuner, decent storage, and ease of use.

Leon, I think that it is possible that you don't fully understand the software and are therefore coming down on it. I have personally used every iteration of the Zune software since it's release and never once had any problems with stability or incompatibility or anything else for that matter. To cover your earlier posts as well you have the option of viewing your collection in artist, genre, albums, songs, and playlist modes. Each displaying your collection in different although somewhat similar manners; with artist really being a combonation of ablum and song mode. As for the sorting of albums you choose by date added, date released, a-z, z-a, and artist. What you were complaining about is how the software logs the added albums in serveral albums eventhough they are infact the same. This happens in a few ways first because the metadata on the album is different from song to song. Meaning is one song in an album was a colaboration with another musician Zune sees it as being by a different artist and therefore another album. I do believe that Media Player does the same thing unless I am mistaken, which is completely possible as I haven't used WMP in a few years. Second is that you have added the songs from the album at different times, again signaling to Zune that these are different albums. Finally if your songs are downloaded through the Marketplace then if you skip the download of one track, say it's a song you don't like, then the Marketplace will tell the software that these are to be separated as they belong to different download batches. I know also that you expressed discontent with the appearence of the software. Just change it the are plenty of built in options and Joe88 did mention that there are background hacks. So don't complain about an aspect of a piece of software when it is in your power to alter that aspect to your liking. You don't complain about the stock background that comes with Windows now do you? No, I'm very sure you went and changed it to one you liked or found one on the net that you liked. I'm not trying to beat you up on a forum or anything, not that this is a particularly offensive post, but I am trying to get you (and others) to realize your ignorance. I'd like to finish by saying that it is a personal belief that people who go out and buy an iPod because it is "the best mp3 player ever" or "the only real option" are ignorant and need to be educated that Apple isn't the best/only manufacturer out there.

 

By the way the sansa is really nice as well...

 

Cygnus_Omega