Microsoft Zune Black (30 GB) MP3 Player

The moment i knew about Zune, the moment i knew i must had it, why? simple. using a ipod in windows usign Itunes sucks, and sucks hard.. it is just a nightmare compared to what you are used to, and non the least, seeing that a cheap knock off is easier to use than a ipod is the deal breaker from the way you have to use it.

And then you have the actual devices, they scracth easily, very easily, they smudge fast, and have more hipcups that your drunk uncle in a wedding party.

How it is possible, some ipods don{t even have a OFF switch?.. or that when they freeze there is not a sequence to reboot it?... well, there is not..

So, then i was looking for a Zune,and i found it her ein Ebay, at a good price, bought it, and recived it without problems. ad from the moment i started usig i have not a single complain with it, you got everything that the ipod donñt has under windows:

drag and drop, auto synch, reverse synch, custom sych, boot sequence, format sequence and a not gimmicky click wheel with a great interface that is a reminder of a origami/media center interface.

So, the zune is very young, but firmware updates and further developmetn will make it great in the same way the xbox is. so if you want to give a chance to a new DAP, this is the one to choose.

The Zune is a capable MP3/Video player. The software is easy to use, the interface is logical. No complaints here.

Minor Disappointments

1) No Calendar
2) No support for 'Contacts'; ie name & phone of people/places/things
3) No built in games
4) I live in NYC. I have yet to find another wireless Zune device


BIGGEST DISAPPONTMENT

The Zune cannot be used as a USB storage device. Calls to Microsoft confirm this. They state, "The Zune is not designed to be a USB storage device, it is designed to be an MP3 player". Yes there are registry hacks but, c'mon?!?!? I can't believe Microsoft left THIS out?!?!

If you are thinking about leveraging the 30GB storage to copy/transfer files to and from work/school ... FORGET IT.

I am selling and getting an iPod. Hate to say it but Microsoft dropped the ball BIG TIME on this one.

PROS:
larger screen
"Twist" user interface
subscription based music service (Zune Pass $15/month)
wireless sharing(almost useless yet)
customizable wallpaper
faster processor
better battery life

Cons:
"Skipping" on Zune Pass tracks
Zune Software - While Nice - needs a few patches
No PlaysForSure support

I hate the term "iPod killer" which the media likes the call every new competing MP3 player. The iPod's sucess is due just as much to marketing as the hardware itself. The Zune tries to differentiate itself from the iPod by excelling in almost every major area of compare. The Zune boasts a larger screen, better UI, subscription based music service, wireless sharing(almost useless yet), customizable wallpaper, faster processor,and better battery life.

I gave my Zune to my friends that own iPods and they were impressed with the whole thing. "So your saying you can DL all the music you want for $15 a month?" asked my friend. He is now saving up to purchase one to call his own. Once the Zune begins gaining brand recognition the more popular it will be, which is its main fault right now. In a few months time there is no telling what this powerfull machine will be able to do. Another fault is that there is a "skipping" issue that occurs when playing Zune Pass songs - while annoying- this is not a huge issue and doesn't happen all the time.

I say give it a try with an open mind and you are bound to like it, I know I do.

I really like Microsoft's Zune-super easy to use for someone very new to Video MP3 players. Screen is bigger than the ipod, my 10yr old loves hers and is better at it than me! Also hooks up great in our SUV, plays clear and very easy to download music in it!

FM TUNER, WIDE SCREEN MOVIES, alsome sound qaulity.... Initial setup was a little long but no big deal i just go this for x-mas, It is the best mp3 player in existance i dont care what all these mac babys say but this is deff. way better than the ipod. Battery seam to be alot better. Mac screwed me i got a 30 gb with extended warrenty and it died after 3 months that was 400 bucks worth of stuff and they wouldent honor their warrenty and bosted that it was water damage... Never had it near or around water. They are cheap microsoft is spending more on theirs giving all the feutres it has that apples doesnt. If you want radio,widescreem, WiFi sharing and an overall better product please buy this.. i am not working for microsoft i live in virginia...

I was very disatisfied with my experience with this seller.The picture and discription was not acurate. The used item was damaged and no mention of the condition. I tried contacting the seller about a possible resolution to which, they didn't have the courtesy to even respond. Warning! be very careful if you buy from this seller. Once they have your money you will never hear from them.

I love the large screen size, and 30GB is just perfect - not too big or small. I can save all my songs, pics, and even movies on it. It is very simple to use and the install was pretty user friendly. I just love it.

The zune works great. The seller was very helpful and honest which is hard to find on here. I would definately purchase items from him again


JOHN

It is the same player that I already have and is very easy and convienient to save and manage my music,videos and photos in.

Gotta love the zune. It has a nice, big (not too big) screen to easily see things and is very easy to operate and put songs on. Definitely blows and iPod out of the water in my opinion.

What I like most of the Zune is easy function of it, What I love most is the actual view of pictures and the use of the Zune. Most importantly I dislike nothing of it. Best media player for the price, IPOD to expensive......

I bought for my enjoyment.
Except the small mark on it everything else is perfect.The product is worth of money even with that mark.
Hope that next time everthing about the product is mentioned.

Daughter loves her Zune. What a great little music system,this thing is so portable esp. with a set of fold up speakers.One of the best things I've purchased in a long time. We still haven't tried out all the features but are definitely pleased with the quality of this pocket powerhouse. I am jealous and may have to upgrade from my own ipod nano. This was Zune #2 for our family and the 2 teenagers love their toys and carry them everywhere. Was a bit concerned that the 30 gb would be too big but they fit into a jeans pocket or a purse and I got the unlimited downloads(from the Zune site) so they can also download movies too, pretty cool! They have personalized their pictures and are always showing off their newest photos. I really like not having to buy the whole album for a one hit wonder song.Remember all those 45's??? (okay that does date me) I would reccomend the Zune for anyone for the quality and the ease of use.Two thumbs up!

I really just wanted to try something different. And honestly, i love it more than my old iPods! The only current downfalls at the moment, would have to do with the software side of things. A few to name are: no gapless playback, no clock, and the tag editing is not good. All can be done without though, and easily fixed with a new firmware upgrade.
I was skeptic on the size, as most people are. BUT, when you get the Zune in your hand it's totally different. The thing doesn't feel fragile like the iPod, and does NOT scratch easy. It feels great, and looks great. The interface is nicer, especially the add your own background feature.
All in all, the thing is great.

The Zune makes downloading music a snap, push a button and drag. I downloaded nearly 3000 songs, and I still have 1/2 my memory left. The 30 gb is bigger than the new 4-8gb,which is better for me, it's not as easy to misplace like my sons 8 gb. I bought accesory cables to shoot the sound right into my stereo. The Zune has taken my 200 disc CD changer and eliminated, I have all the access of my music in the palm of my hand.

I refuse to pay a small fortune for a device like this that doesn't include FM radio; let alone one that offers FM radio at an additional cost. The Microsoft Zune offered exactly what I was looking for. Music, Video, Photo storage as well as FM Radio. I had previously owned three devices from creative which all offered the FM Radio as well as voice record. Although I was upgrading from the previous model,I found the quality of Creative products to be cheap almost making the product disposable. I checked into the Zune when I saw the amazing graphics and sleek appearance. I first purchased the Zune 30 GB but regretted it after turned out to be bigger and bulkier than I really wanted. If size doesn't matter but quality does, I would highly recommend it.

I recently decided to sell my 30gb video iPod for a 30gb Zune. Why you may ask? The answer can be encompassed in one word, iTunes. Does any one else loathe iTunes as much as I do? I cannot tell you how many time all the content on my iPod would be erased. Also how expensive is iTunes? I try to be a legal internet music buyer but having to pay $1.00 just for one song caused me to seriously consider alternatives. The Zune Marketplace and the Zune equivilant to iTunes is in my opinion far more superior. Did you know that you can get a monthly subscription on Zune marketplace for about $25 a month and download as MANY songs as you want? I don't think very many people know about this otherwise iTunes would be out of business. As far as comparing the actual iPod to the Zune, the Zune does have a bigger size and once I put my Speck case on it, it looked more like a brick than an mp3 player. But to be honest with you, I kinda like the larger size. The screen on the Zune is much bigger than the iPod's so watching my favorite episode of The Office on my Zune is much more satisfying. Sound quality is about the same between the two of them. With the navigation menu's there is a massive difference. The menu system just seemed to flow more for me with the Zune. Don't get me wrong, I thought the click-wheel system was going to revolutionize the world, but Zune proves that a more traditional menu system is just as satisfying. You can personalize your Zune much more than your iPod, you can place whatever picture you want as your permanent background giving the Zune that personal touch. As far as battery life is concerned, I feel that the iPod is way over rated. When I very first purchased my iPod video I put a few movies on it and while I was on a road trip flipped on one. I was very much enjoying myself thinking, this is great, I can watch a few more movies and then kick back and listen to some of my tunes for the rest of the trip. Wrong. A full 2 hour movie totally wasted my iPod battery and I was able to listen to music for maybe another hour before it totally crapped out on me. The Zune isn't much better but I have watched full length movies and then listened to a solid 4-5 hours of music before the battery died. So extra features which really help the Zune to stand out are 1) The FM radio and 2) WiFi. For the iPod to be able to listen to the radio you have to buy another attachment for about $30. The Zune comes right with it allowing you to jam out to your favorite local dj's. The WiFi option in the Zune is probably one of the best ideas to ever hit an mp3 player. The only draw back is that when someone sends you a song over the WiFi, you can only either listen to it a total of 3 times or have the song on your Zune for an excess of 3 days before it is deleted. This is where the subscription comes in. If a friend sends me a song that I really digg, then I'm not just going to say oh well, I can't listen to it anymore, I'm going to go download it on Zune marketplace and remember, I can download as many songs as I like for as long as my subscription is live. I am a huge Microsoft supporter and the fact that now cars have the Sync capability that automatically link with my Zune as well as my Xbox 360 and my Window's Media Center, that was hook, line and sinker for me. Do yourself a favor and sell that nasty iPod and pick up a Zune. You'll be glad you did.

The Zune is just as excellent as the Ipod.With the Zune you get more GB for your money. I really enjoyed the product and have been able to download music and pictures with the greatest of ease. I don't like the fact that you can only have one computer as your home station. This makes it so every time you use a different computer you have to start over with the downloads.I bought the Zune because its the same as the Ipod but cheaper.

I love my ZUNE player! It is so much better then an Ipod and cheaper. I get a bigger screen, tons of memory and it is windows compatable. I can't believe that people have not bought more of them!

After purchasing an ipod for my boyfriend in September,I was convinced I wanted one for myself.I did not decide to purchase a Zune until the IT manager at my job mentioned that he returned his ipod two weeks after purchasing it,because his music 'disappeared'two weeks after loading it into his ipod. In addition, my sister, who owns a 30G ipod, told me her ipod went 'black' and she had to send it back to Apple for repair. Me knowing that I have low patience for such things, I decided to go with the Zune and I'm happy to say, I'm loving it! Here are the pros and cons: Zune is considerably larger than the ipod,about the same thickness as a deck of cards, but once you get over that, the world will open up for you. Zune, made by Microsoft, is compatiable with Windows media player. No need to worry about the hassle of working with ITunes.The sound quality is superb and the navigation is alot more user friendly that Ipod. The Zune software sucks and takes a ridiculously long time to load, but the screen is almost twice the size of the ipod screen so you don't have to put on your reading glasses to watch videos. Overall, if you can resist the hype of the ipod,Zune is the way to go, but dont just take my word for it. Read the reviews! They helped me make a good decision:-)

I bought this for my son as a Christmas present. He had asked for an mp3 player and asked for a specific item. (Not an iPod.) Not knowing a lot about these things I did a little research and couldn't see spending $70 more for an item that did less and had less capacity. What he wanted was 8gb, what I got was 30gb. He wanted it primarily for videos/movies. The Zune will hold as much as 100 hours of video and has a larger screen to view them on. And it was less expensive than the unit he'd asked for which has much lower capacity and a smaller screen.

When it arrived I had my 19 year old daughter check it out. She charged it, loaded some software on the computer, and in short order had over 1,000 songs loaded and a couple of videos. Sound quality is fine and the picture, small as it is, is bright and clear. My daughter liked it so much that she immediately amended her Christmas list to include a Zune.

I'm sure other players must have some of the same features. The video orients itself to play in either landscape or normal mode depending on how you hold the unit. Its wireless network detects other Zunes and apparently you can wirelessly share songs for a limited number of plays. Great!

On the down side, it is a little larger than the mp3 player he'd asked for, and marginally heavier. That said, I doubt there's any risk of a hernia being caused by the difference in size/weight. There are lots of available accesories. There are cables to hook it to a TV or stereo to play it through. Car charger and FM transmitter that allows it to broadcast to the FM radio of the car so you can take the vast library of tunes on the road. My son doesn't drive yet, but I'm sure he'll want to take control of the radio in that way on long trips. Fine with me.

Going back to the price, you can find these all over eBay for just over $100 - $125. OK, so it's refurbished and not 'new'. Big fat hairy deal. The savings off the 'new' units are at least $60 and that lets me stretch my Christmas $$ to cover a little more of the Christmas lists. I'm all for that. It looks new, feels new, and best of all, works like new. It is warranteed same as new. So really, what's the difference? The box says refurbished. Will that matter to my 15 year old son? Nope. What will matter? That it works well. That it is easy to use. And not that he'll think of it, but the difference in price will enable an extra gift or two to find their way to him. And that's a plus he will appreciate.

The wireless is a cool feature, but I don't have anyone else around with one...yet.
The FM tuner is GREAT, picks up better than my bookshelf stereo, and nobody complains about the volume.
One touch volume control, no scroll wheel, ( I agree with others, HATE the scroll wheel).
Larger memory (30gb) than the compatible IPod and for a LOT less money!
Large color screen, easier to see what I am listening to, I don't have the young eyes anymore, I hate to squint to see teh title of what I am listening to.
If this thing had a touch screen, it would even beat the $400 ITouch!
ALL in ALL, I gave my IPod to my daughter, and the Zune is here to stay!

Well I bought this zune back in August, but when it was delivered there was nothing in the box. The box had openned before I recieved it. And I still have not gotten my money back!!

Difficult to use it with computer (only on windows XP), it does'nt work on Vista.
I ca listen received music through Wi-Fi only 3 days.