Microsoft Zune (second generation, 80GB, black)
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November 21, 2008 07:11
Good
1.5/5
dont buy zune audio players anymore since ive had 6 already. i gave them 6 chances to show me that they are worth something. im a pretty nice guy. after this last one. NO WAYY! -
October 29, 2008 10:53
5.0/5
Its just a great little device. it really is a device for music lovers. It has a really good screen a dream to watch movies on. it could have a better light but its really really good. love the podcast feature. and i like the new games section. i dont really know what else to say. its a MP3 player so it has all the music option like any other but i really like to make a quick playlist right on my zune. Also really like the zune software. it just seems classier. Im not sure of what else to say. But i really like this over the ipod. (yes i have had a ipod before) -
October 18, 2008 04:47
4.5/5
it is truly the BEST player out there. i have played around with and listened to other players, Zune outshines the rest. -
October 16, 2008 07:05
4.5/5
I've been using this thing for a month now since i bought it. Its great and i use it everyday on my commute to and from work or wherever i go. Only one major problem i had when i first got it was, the new firmware had came out some weeks after i bought it and it crashed my zune but microsoft quicklly sent me a brand new one. Got the new firmware now and my zune is running on all gears. the only thing i regret was actually buyin the 80gb some weeks before the 120gb dropped for the same price but i never regret buying the zune. its just perfect! One thing that bothers me is that i cant find a good speaker dock for it. it seems as if apple ipod is on every company's merchandize saying ipod compatable. i wish zune will get more docks other than the ones they have right now cuz i bought the altec lansing mi414 and its not really very good and sometimes you just wanna put the headphones down but you dont wanna listen to it on something that doesnt sound or work right so whats the point? so i returned that speaker dock right away. now what i use is the zune home A/V pack. its connected to a sony cmt-bx5bt. Great sound it works perfect. so im happy with what i got so far -
September 23, 2008 07:37
5.0/5
definitely the best mp3 player I have ever purchased. $230 for 80GB is a great deal. the design is enough to handle my day to day abuse and the sound quality is better than most. so much fun to use because of the zune pad and the twist interface. thrown in the wallpaper and you have got me hooked. the only thing I can dislike is the lack of video file type support. why doesnt anyone use avi files? -
September 23, 2008 05:14
5.0/5
I love microsoft for this thing, its awesome. It has a nice display, and shows way better video than the ipod. i like the having to play the radio without paying extra money for it(u know where im getting at). this is probably the best portable media player i have owned, and havent given me any problems at all. you may not be able to surf the web, but hey, thats what COMPUTERS are for right? and its a pc-only device for a reason, i dont see why cnet think that is a bad thing. gotta luv it.5/5 stars! -
September 17, 2008 04:17
4.5/5
Lack of sound quality, but better than the iPod if the iPod's Equalizer is Off, sound Quality is also better with the included Premium Headphones (Noise Cancelling is Great!, Shov'em in deep for quality). the wi-fi access can be a little bad for range (example, the iPod touch grab's my neighbors wi-fi, but the zune get only my home network), but load's album artwork and music previews alot faster than the iPod Touch, Game's that included are usually boring to me, but there actually fun! and the game's are jam packed with features as well, the typing (As in searching, or typing in your lock combo) is very Fun (weird but true) and faster than suspected. like i said battery life isin't much of an issue, but could be better, but compared to the iPod touch, the constant use of wi-fi can drain the iPod's battery to about 3-4 hr's in my experience, and the zune's battery is barely a difference, even with the the brightness on "High". I would say that iTunes is better than the Zune software, but the software is simple easy to use (If you have a fast Computer) and has a lot of Drag and Drop function, witch i think is great!, ability to make Auto Playlist's (As in Smart Playlist's for iTunes) and now with audiobooks with sevral sites, soon there will be more games avalible through the Zune Marketplace. -
September 14, 2008 10:01
4.5/5
One of the best MP3 players I have seen so far. It definitely does what it is supposed to do. Microsoft did a good job updating the design, it is certainly more durable than its predecessor. Thumbs up for this MP3 player all the way!!! -
September 12, 2008 07:46
5.0/5
The wireless trick is simply astonishing as i hardly feel up to the task of plugging my Ipod to my pc. I still think Microsoft should make a mac version of the Zune software as this could or rather would increase (whether you agree or not) its market and hope fully ensure a take over s i would buy the Zune 10 times over . -
September 11, 2008 08:37
4.0/5
First of all I've had this for a couple months and absolutely love it. It completely gets the job done, and since I run Windows, I find it supports music much better than the iPod.
Lets start with the bad:
I had purchased one from a retail outlet and got home, opened it up and started the setup, after it finishing, the software wouldn't even recognize itself and restarting it did nothing, it was stuck in a virtual endless loop. I don't think it is anything I did but who knows... I went back to where i bought it and showed them the problem, and they let me exchange it no problem, I had only purchased it a few hours prior. The next one worked/works perfectly. So it may have been a fluke.
I have had on a couple occasions the hold switch popping out on me while trying to shift it, all I had to do was pop it back in, but it's still a minor annoyance.
Another problem I had was battery life, it seemed to only last 1 day even when I had shut it down by holding the "play/pause" button. Well that doesn't really shut it down it only puts it to sleep I have come to find out. And no where in the instructions does it say how to do a complete shutdown. So here's the secret it's even hard to find online. You must hold the down arrow (by clicking in) and the back button at the same time for about 3 seconds and then it will shut down. This will allow you to preserve the battery.
Now to the pros:
I like the larger screen vs. the iPod. I realize that the resolution is the exact same, but at that small you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. The screen is not grainy at all leading me to believe that the iPod has a better resolution it needs to get the job done looking correct.
I like the nice easy free menu. Personally it seems easier to navigate than the iPod's but that is just personal preference.
The sound quality is excellent, I am not a professional, but this really does the job well. The volume is also good, often in a quiet setting such as in my room by myself I only need the volume at level 1 and can hear it fine. If there is background noise I turn it to 4-5 and if I'm outside I set it somewhere between 8-11 but it is still considerably below its max volume of 20, so there should be no problems there. I'm sure you could be mowing the lawn and listening at the same time no problem except beware of hearing loss.
I like the menu for podcasts I never was into podcasts until I got this, first of all the Zune software is great and find new and quality podcasts, along with the ability to set your favorite podcasts of course. But the feature I like is the split between audio and video podcasts. This allows me to choose without thinking. I know that when I'm in a car that I just go to the audio section, since I should watch and drive. And when I'm in my room and want to watch something I can go lay down and and choose from the videos.
The packaged headphones are many times better than the ones that come with the iPod. They fit better in the ears, and have multiple sizes you can snap on to accommodate odd shaped ears. Disclaimer: I have stopped using the headphones in favor of over the ear headphones because Even though these are much more comfortable than iPod headphones, I still do not find any in ear headphones very comfortable.
Well those are my pro's and con's. When I started looking at a new mp3 play I initially looked at the iPod classic and was really kind of decided on that. but after coming across a comparison I started looking at the Zune more and eventually decided that the Zune was right for me. I consider it a great decision personally, even though I was enamored with the iPod, I allowed my self to look at something else, and it turned that there was better and I found it.
