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• Microsoft Zune 30GB Media Player - Black

• Price Range

  $109.96 - $250.0
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  • RATING
• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: ZuneLOVER3101

  Updated:11-26-06

  Duration of ownership:5 Months

  Strengths: i just love it

  Weaknesses: no weakness

  Overall Evaluation: i can not believe the technology of this nice little portable compatable lovely stylish wireless well i guess you could say that this is wonderful cause i love it no words can really explain i not sure why though all i have to say is that this beats out any ipod that apple can come out with!

• Overall Rating
  4 Star Review

  Reviewed by:

  Updated:11-20-06

  Duration of ownership:3 Days

  Strengths: Sound quality, ease of use, large screen, ZUNE marketplace, you can own the music you purchase

  Weaknesses: Size, overall design, no AC adapter included, ZUNE software

  Overall Evaluation: Having owned an iPods for many years, I have to say that I have been waiting for the day that a player would come along and offer a compelling reason to switch from Apple. Ever since iTunes made it impossible for me to burn the music I legally purchased from iTunes, I have wanted to switch. It hasn't been until the ZUNE became available that I felt like spending the money to switch. Right off the bat, the sound quality exceeded my iPod; this, especially when being used in the car. The iPod wasn't even listenable with all the static and noise. The ZUNE sounded beautiful...like a CD. The videos that came on the device are great, and look good too. The screen resolution lacks a little, but overall, great. The navigation is excellent. I thought I wouldn't like this, but it actually seems easier to use than my iPod. After playing with this for a couple of days, I hate the click wheel. The ZUNE marketplace is awesome. You can actually here all the music with a pass, and download as much as you want with an "all you can eat." It was impressive. It may not have the quantity that iTunes has, but the quality is great. Purchasing music that you can actually own was the most compelling reason for me to switch. And purchasing music is a relatively easy experience. It's not as elegant as Apple's one click buy, but all in all, it's not too bad. Ok, the cons. The size is retro iPod Gen 1. It's boxy. The strange thing is...that it actually feels good in the hand. It's light and the feel of the case is pleasant. The overall design in my opinion is generic. Apple has the market on the "Porsche design" look and feel. I would have hoped for a more modern look and feel. There is no AC adapter in the unit package. This is my opinion is just ridiculous. Especially in a unit that can display video and movies; we need the AC! The ZUNE software loaded without issue on one of my PCs. On the other, it won't load at all! I have been talking with tech support, but at this time, there is a serious problem with the installation package. It takes what seems like eternity for the package to install and load. When it doesn?t work it feels horrible. Overall, I'd definitely recommend the ZUNE for the early adopters like me out there. If you have an iPod, you may want to wait until the gen 2 ZUNE is released. If you are computer averse, go with the iPod. If you like new technology, then the ZUNE. If you like to OWN your music, then go with the ZUNE. I have grown to love it in the short time I have spent with it. Come on Microsoft; let's see you better this for a real iPod killer!

• Overall Rating
  2 Star Review

  Reviewed by: arvindm

  Updated:11-19-06

  Duration of ownership:1 Days

  Strengths: Large screen, Limited wi-fi, Built in radio.

  Weaknesses: Chunky, Klutzy and ugly. Poor choice of colors.

  Overall Evaluation: I went to a local Best Buy store to check out the Zune. After so much hype, I was naturally curious. My first impression when I looked at the Zune was "This thing looks ugly". It was a dirty brown color device with a large black button. Within a few seconds a salesman walked up to me and said that there are two more colors available- Black and white. I thought those must be even uglier as they did not even bother to display them! I switched the device on and the screen looked big but anemic. The display was clear but not bright. After playing around with the settings I could not get it to look any better. I thought this sucks but let me hear it. I looked around for the salesman and a young girl in Best Buy uniform walked up to me. She said that the Zune was not hooked up to a headphone! I thought to myself well! How do you expect me to shell out 250 buckaroos for a device without even listening to it! After all its an MP3 player and its main function is to listen to music. Anyway, I proceeded to fiddle around with the controls and found it to be very much a non intuitive typical Microsoft product where you have to go through a series of button pushing to get anything done. The big round center button is just a big navigation button and not a click wheel like in the Ipod which was a bit of a disappointment.You have to press another button to select/confirm the action. The device did not feel heavy but was very chunky. Overall I was disappointed with everything I saw except I could not listen to any music. There was 1 photo which looked dull and faded and all the videos were missing. I hung around for a while to see if the salesman would at least hook up a decent headphone. Nope! nothing happened. All the people who came to check out MP3 players went straight to Ipods and no one was enquiring about Zune. The salemen had no interest in fixing the headphones or installing the missing photos and videos. (I did go to another store where I was able to listen to a few tracks- It has a decent sound quality on par with any good Mp3 player) I walked out of Best Buy disappointed with the lack of interest everybody showed including the staff. I thought what in the hell was Bill Gates and all the nerds in Redmond were thinking when they decided to bring Zune to the market. I bet they were thinking - we have decimated Netscape, Adobe, Novell, Corel, Palm and a host of other companies with windows monopoly that taking on Ipod will be a cakewalk. The fact that they blatantly copied every major innovation including Mac, Palm Pilot probably gave them a sense of Deja vu. But sadly this time they did not do a good job copying the Ipod and it is 5 years too late. Nobody wants a ugly, chunky and klutzy device that costs as much as a ipod but does nothing better. I know! everyone is thinking the wi-fi feature is pretty cool but belive you me that wi-fi is seriously limited. It goes nowhere except to exchange a song that can be played 3 times if someone is kind enough to lend you a song. Its a great idea if 94 percent of the MP3 players are Zune but the rate at which Zunes are selling it will be about a year before you bump into another person who actually has a Zune that contains a legally downloaded song that can be transmitted through this wi-fi. You cannot surf the internet! On the plus side it has a built in radio that can be handy if you listen a lot to the FM. I dont, so it wasnt very important. So good luck to all the good people who have decided to shell out 250 bucks and take a plunge into the Zune. As for me I am sticking to my Ipod I bought years ago. Its a no frills Mp3 player that still looks great, has 20gb and no video. Just pure music. Thats all I will ever need.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: clarkeworld

  Updated:11-17-06

  Duration of ownership:4 Days

  Strengths: Build quality, menu system, video quality, expandability

  Weaknesses: earbuds

  Overall Evaluation: Bought the black Zune on launch day at the local Circuit City using $40 off $199 coupon. The presentation was excellent as everything was packaged well. The unit itself is a mat-black color with a hint of crystal blue around the edges. The screen is nice and big and the button layout is simple. Set-up was simple and straight forward. The menu screens are very good looking and very logical. Music playback was clean and clear and dynamic. I do recommend a better set of head phone since the ones provided are not the best. Video playback is impressive. I was able to put some movies, that I ripped to WMA, on the unit and they look great. No video lag at all. The radio function works well too. I can see, based on the software that the unit uses, that the potential for future features is very high. Good job Microsoft.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: joesmithe223

  Updated:11-16-06

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: Good quality sound, Great picture, movie's work great, unbelievable amounts of music on Zune Marketplace

  Weaknesses: Being 3" it is a little bulky to bring running or working out with

  Overall Evaluation: I love the Zune. I kive the fact you can bring it to work and the others who have at work can share their files with me and we can listen to diffrent music. The zune interface both on the Zune itself and computer are very simple. Yes its the same as an IPOD in the fact of what it does, but its more new. The ipod was great but its an ipod, everyone has one and for me it was time for a change, so the Zune was perfect.

• Overall Rating
  4 Star Review

  Reviewed by: nelson714

  Updated:11-14-06

  Duration of ownership:1

  Strengths: beautiful design, and wi-fi AND FM radio

  Weaknesses: a little be thick, need large HD

  Overall Evaluation: the zune, in my opinion, is one of the best things by microsoft as far as media is concerned. I just bought mine tonight so i can not attest to any type of long term use, but from what i have seen its pretty **** good. The matte finish is very very nice to the touch. It feels like it should be held in the hand and not like its going to break, ala the razor/ipod. eg, i always feel i have to be extra careful w/ my moto razr, but witht he zune not at all. The sync with the zune marketplace is absolutely fine and pretty good. then the clincher for me was the user interface which i think is awesome. The menus are really fast absolutely no lag. I can easily access anything w/in 2-3 clicks. Overall an awesome player, and in a few years a potential ipod wounder. not killer, nothing is. I highly reccomend picking one up.

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Microsoft Zune 30GB Media Player - Black

$109.96(8 sellers) • Avg User Rating •Specs