Search for All Products Cell Phones & Accessories Computers & Peripherals Electronics Office Photography Software Video Games

• Home
• TVs
• Laptops
• Cameras
• Monitors
• Printers
• Hard Drives
• Camcorders
• Desktops

Electronics

»Portable Audio

»MP3 Players

• • SORT BY DATE
  • RATING
• Overall Rating
  4 Star Review

  Reviewed by: coffeerulz623

  Updated:03-19-08

  Duration of ownership:1 Weeks

  Strengths: Screen Quality and Size, WiFi Syncing, Podcasts, FM Radio, Sound Quality

  Weaknesses: No EQ, but the music sounds awesome as-is so I'm not really sure that it has to have an EQ

  Overall Evaluation: Admittedly I have not used the device for a long time, but since purchasing the Zune 80 I have been blown away by everything this player has to offer. My primary use for this device is Music, but the Movies, Podcasts and FM Radio are cool too. The music playback sounds AWESOME on the Premium Earbuds that are included as well as over the Inputs in my car. I really like the ability to sync with my library over my WiFi. I have used this particular feature quite a few times, and it works great! I have owned quite a few MP3/MP4 players over the years, and I must say that the Zune is one of the best players I have ever owned. The fact that I can load my entire library onto the Zune with room to spare is really cool, and with the Zune Pass subscription I can push the limits of the 80GB HD to my heart's content. The only catch to this whole thing so far as I am concerned is the Zune Software. The newest version (2.3) is good, but it could be better. I won't compare the Zune or its software with anything from Apple mainly because iTunes and the iPod got started about 3 years before the Zune. I am sure that over time the Zune and the Software will improve. I would have no problem recommending this device to anyone.

• Overall Rating
  4 Star Review

  Reviewed by: mick16

  Updated:02-07-08

  Duration of ownership:2 Months

  Strengths: Good Battery Life, Video Screen Size, WiFi abilities, Works with Xbox 360, Radio

  Weaknesses: Can't play AVI files, Zune Software isn't very good compared to Itunes, no equalizer

  Overall Evaluation: Let me preface this review by stating that I've owned Ipods for about 6 years prior to getting the Zune as a gift. As far as a music player, the Zune isn't really any upgrade over the the Ipod. The Zune shines though in watching movies in comparison to the Ipod Classic and also allows you to watch movies on the Xbox 360 when hooked up via USB. The 80GB drive is more than large enough to hold my collection of movies and music. The headphones that come with the player are a big upgrade of what comes with the Ipod, but still not as good as my Shure e2c ear buds. My single biggest complaint is that the Zune Software. It doesn't have nearly the flexibility in column headings as Itunes and its more difficult to modify the information on the song (i.e. Artist name, Album name, etc.). If Microsoft can upgrade the software application (just copy Itunes and be done with it), I think they'll have a real winner on their hands.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by:

  Updated:01-30-08

  Duration of ownership:1 Months

  Strengths: beautiful huge screen, earphones, soundquality, user interface, fun to use, squircle, video quality

  Weaknesses: battery slightly less better than ipod classic, software needs work, but software has nice interface

  Overall Evaluation: zune comparison vs ipod classicipodhas games which are fun,and battery life is bettercomes in silverzunebigger screen, better quality sound earphones much better than ipod. sound quality double better than ipod. looks sexier than ipod, video quality side by side comparison to ipod looks way way better.zune is really fun to use and very easy to navigate throughand menu is faster than ipods menuipod may be slighty slimmer than zune but most people always carry in a case since it gets easily scratched so it defeats the purpose of it being slimmer. i like the zune because i never carry it in a case and it still looks like new.zune is very durable i dropped my 20 backpack on it and not even one stractch on the screen- ofcourse it was an accident and i was so glad nothing happened to it.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by:

  Updated:01-11-08

  Duration of ownership:1 Months

  Strengths: screen is awesome, scroll wheel is so fun to use, design, quality of headphones, sound quality of music, share music wirelessly

  Weaknesses: their aren't any weaknesses with the device itself-because it's great, but the software could use some small tweeks to make it more efficient.

  Overall Evaluation: i have both the ipod 80gb classic and the new 80gb zune.ipod advantages over zune-itunes is a bit better than zune markerketplace-battery life-has extras like clock timer and games(which i love)-ipod is only a bit slimmer than zune-but this does'nt count for me bcuz you have to definetly get a case for the ipod so it does'nt scratch- so they end up being the same size.zune advantages over ipod-screen( i luv watching movies on this thing- and they look 10x better than on the ipod screen)-user friendly interface(my 40 year old mom things the zune is way easier to use) and it's and fun to use the zune-zune pad is better than and funner to use than ipod clickwheel.-radio-video output through headphone jack unlike the ipod which you have to buy like a 50+dock to view ipod movies through tv. for the zune to watch on tv i only paid 10 for av jack.-zune also has a very sleek cool design and won't get scratch easily like ipod chrome back which got some scratches despite always having it in a casein the end i love my zune so much more-im 16 by the wayalso me and my friend share music wirelessly in school- so you can listen to each song that you get from them 3x then it expires- who cares though it's still very cool. you can any pictures from them forever and also keep podcasts forever.also in cnet it is the top mp3 player and ipod classic does'nt even make the top five. the ipod nano is in 4th place but not the 80gb ipod classicby the all of my friends are impressed with my new zune. and one of my friends when i told her that i got a zune she's like -eww you got a zune why? ipod is so much better. then i said well have you even used one -then i let her use it at the end of it she loved the wheel and she said- screw the ipod this is better

• Overall Rating
  4 Star Review

  Reviewed by: alam125

  Updated:12-29-07

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: functional and easy to use device

  Weaknesses: wish it has touch screen features

  Overall Evaluation: I am pleasantly surprised by the new zune. it is aesthetically a beautiful device. the new device is thin and smaller versus its predecessor. it surely can rival the ipod for marketshare in the any consumers' minds. the apple ipod better watch out.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: sylvan37

  Updated:12-29-07

  Duration of ownership:2 Weeks

  Strengths: Huge Screen.Easy Navigation.Lots of Space.Great Design.Radio.

  Weaknesses: None worth mentioning.

  Overall Evaluation: This is hands down the best mp3 player I have ever used. Before this I had an ipod 60GB (5th gen). I had so many problems with that ipod I had no choice but to get rid of it. The zune 80GB is easy to use and the user interface is just great. No freezing problems like that ipod I had. The radio feature is a great added bonus. It's easily the best player on the market right now. Highly recommended.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: patsan

  Updated:12-26-07

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: build qualitystorage spacelarge screen

  Weaknesses: none so far

  Overall Evaluation: This Zune is awesome. I've owned "other" mp3 players before but this is by far the best. The large screen is great. The quality of the earbuds is better than others. It feels nice and sturdy and well made. I don't have any of the add-ons yet, but hope to get some.The software takes a little getting used to, but once you understand it, it's not bad.This 2nd generation Zune is much better than the original. If Microsoft could just update their software a little, this would be the ultimate mp3 player. Personally I feel it's better than the ipod.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: lasitz

  Updated:12-22-07

  Duration of ownership:1

  Strengths: Screen size, soft feel, user interface, video formats supported, FM radio, wireless sync, light weight

  Weaknesses: Does not double as hard drive.

  Overall Evaluation: A great little player. I love the color and feel of the player and the large screen is beautiful. I had the 30GB and love the interface of the Zune.

• Overall Rating
  4 Star Review

  Reviewed by: Whyborg

  Updated:12-18-07

  Duration of ownership:16 Days

  Strengths: Compact, compared to Creative Zen Touch 60GB with video. Easy to use product interface.

  Weaknesses: Zune software is weak. Poor searching compared to others. No way to make separate folders or categories that I've found.

  Overall Evaluation: I've had my Zune since the beginning of December. It replaced a Creative Zen Touch 60GB that also had video abilities. Unfortunately the Zen broke after about a year and 1/2.I had the Zune software installed in advance of getting my unit. It worked fine for the first couple of days, then it stopped recognizing the Zune except over the wireless network. After a number of uninstall/reinstall cycles that included using a couple of registry cleaners to get everything I was able to get the PC to recognize the unit was plugged in, but not the software. I eventually crashed my PC and had to reinstall XP but I had a couple of minor issues before the Zune so it was not totally unexpected. Since reinstalling XP and the Zune software it is working fine except I have to start the SW manually, it doesn't always start when I plug in the Zune.I've had 4 40GB+ Creative units and only one is still functioning. The oldest one probably just needs a new battery but has no video. I liked some features of the Creative units that MS could probably add easily. I could delete files anytime, the Zune has to be docked. I could create different categories or sub-folders for video. I've not found a way to do that on the Zune yet. The Creative would also allow you to bookmark long MP3 files like books, the Zune will not. It does remember where you stopped a video and will resume from the same point.The Zune will also play the Apple MV4 video format. I'm still experimenting with different formats on the Zune but so far the MV4 seems to convert faster and play most reliably, but I need to try more. I'd like to have files that are still compatible with the Creative products since I got my wife the Zen 8GB on sale last weekend as a Christmas present. I don't want to have to use too much disc space on my PC's storing the same files in 2 formats.Overall I recommend the Zune to anyone who wants a bigger screen than the iPod offers. It's certainly a much more attractive unit than the original 30GB Zune.

• Overall Rating
  1 Star Review

  Reviewed by: zoglog

  Updated:12-12-07

  Duration of ownership:5 Days

  Strengths: Great Player w/ ample HD space, Great interface, Huge Screen, Wifi capability w/ wireless sync, Radio Tuner, Touchpad interface improvement, ZUNE originals!

  Weaknesses: Horrendous software, Click Wheel is still a better interface

  Overall Evaluation: After using my 5th Generation iPod's screen stopped working just a little above 1 year (conveniently out of warranty) I decided that I didn't want to buy another apple product for my next mp3 player. The Zune 2 had just come out and the 80GB of space was quite appealing (upgrade from 30GB) and the player seemed rather improved from the first Bricky Zune. After testing the interface in the store and checking the size I was quite convinced this would be my next mp3 player. What really sealed the deal was the Zune Originals offer from MS that allowed you to laser etch a custom picture from a set # of artists onto the back of the player. So I waited anxiously for my Zune (shipped direct from the factory in China). When it arrived the player was solid as expected and the interface was smooth..... And then everything went downhill from there. I started by simply installing the Zune software and when that was done I selected my music folders. First thing I noticed was that the ways to manipulate the sorting were incredibly limited compared to ITunes. You couldn't sort by priorities (like Album> Artist). So I either had to choose between browsing artists (where the albums would be scatted around) or by album (where the artists were scattered throughout the whole list). To top things off in browse mode, things are jumbled in the album view where it splinters off albums if you have various artists or feat. artists in a single album... Not great. Of course this could be overcome by a simple search right? Nope... the search function is horrible and non-interactive. It's not even close to as smooth as the itunes search and from the search page you cannot sync songs directly from there. Either way it makes organizing any collection a complete pain. Second off the Zune doesn't double as a portable HD if you need it while the Ipod does. And third, I often bring my mp3 player to work to play music on my PC (since my work PC has limited HD Space). For some obscure reason the Zune software does not play songs directly off your Zune unless you copy them to your HD collection first (defeating the purpose of doing it in the first place). It really upsets me that Microsoft had a great chance to take a customer away from Apple's Ipod reign and completely screwed it up with horrible software. I wanted to enjoy the zune but it's just been a miserable experience so far that I can't recommend to anyone (esp since it's about the same price as the ipod classic). Sure, things might improve in the future and the software might be updated, but I wouldn't buy this player and bank on that. I'm even tempted now to sell my Zune at a loss on ebay and go buy another iPod so I can use Itunes again (which I don't particularly like all that much to begin with). I could go on about the positive aspects like the wireless sync and the social aspect, but really it's all just overshadowed by pure un-useability..... It's sad how they didn't even get the fundamentals correct with the software. Here's to hopping for an improvement (and I'll update my review if one comes).

Name		City
Address 1		State		Zip
Address 2		E-mail (optional)

Canadian Residents | Foreign Residents | Gift Subscriptions | Customer Service | Privacy Policy