Zune 80 GB Digital Media Player (Black)
by Zune
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List Price: Our Price: $135.00 You Save: $114.00 (46%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Zune 80 GB Digital Media Player (Black)
Customer Review: LOVE IT!
Summary: 5 Stars
It was crazy hard to get my hands on one of these, but luckily Circuit City still had one available for a local pick up. I've been using it for almost 3 days now and I can say that it is far, far better than my 60gb video ipod.
It has everything I ever wanted and then some- great big display (although the video could be a bit brighter), great interface, light & sleek, no annoying DRM, customized background with a backlight dimmer (so you won't go blind in the middle of the night when trying to change an album), and a nice radio (lots of kudos here!).
One of the most interesting features is the wireless sync which is extremely useful if you have news podcasts since it will automatically download it in the morning without hooking it up into the computer.
It's also extremely easy to set it up. I have a Netgear router and it took me literally 3 mins to make it work.
I've waited a long time for an mp3 player like this and it was worth it! Beware though- this is a very different device than the new ipod touch. It targets a different kind of consumer so make sure that you know exactly what you want/don't want before making a decision.
**UPDATE** Jan 30 2008
I wanted to write an update on my 2 month Zune experience.
I still think it's an excellent product, BUT the software that comes with it takes a lot from my 5 star review. If I could, I would give it 3 stars right now since I'm going nuts over it.
Microsoft should really be ashamed of putting such piece of garbage software out! Yes, they rolled out an update recently, but it still sucks. And yes, it looks pretty, but after you're past the point of 'look, a transparent pic of Michael Buble,' you end up biting your nails and cursing the world since ID tags are so screwed up AND there is no easy way to make them right.
Customer service is in India and they are just beyond useless. Msoft should fire 70% of them and use that money to actually SOLVE the problems that the software has. Right now the only help you can get is from a couple of Zune forums where users help each other. Horrible, just horrible!
Also, what I find annoying is that I really have to be careful to press the button right in the middle. It is so sensitive that a lot of times instead confirming the selection it will go either right/left/down/up.
I also get tired of having to click so many 'play' selections before actually playing a song from an album. It would be really nice if there would be an option to see all the songs from one artist at once instead of going from album to album.
You should also know that you can't make your own playlists from the Zune. The only playlist you can make is the one 'quick list' which kind is the generic Zune playlist. You also can't delete individual songs from it- it's all or nothing. I'm REALLY hoping that the next firmware update will solve this because it really really sucks.
External hard drive capability would be nice too, but I don't really care that much about it.
Customer Review: This is The Funnest Mp3 that i have used even better than ipod!
Summary: 5 Stars
READ MY REVIEW IT COMPARES THE ZUNE 80 AND IPOD CLASSIC I HAVE BOTH!
I love my Zune 80gb because of all the features it has. The big beautiful screen is a big plus. i have the ipod classic aswell and the video quality is about 10x better on the zune and clarity is much nicer as well. The user interface is very nice and slick. Even my mom had an easy time figuring out house to use this because of the simpleness. The Sound quality byfar surpasses the ipod classic i don't know if it has to do with the premium earphones or with the devices themselves. Even without an equalizer i Love the quality of music in the zune. Whats really Fun was sharing music with my friends in school. I found i liked new music and it's so cool because it's a way to discover new music. I also love the storage i mean 80gb is alot i have about 30movies so far in both my zune and ipod but i much rather watch movies on the zune and use the zune. Pictures look great.
Zune 80gb Pros
-Big Beautiful Glass Screen(Has No scratches to date)
-User Interface with Big Letters is Beautiful
-Thin Sleek design compared to Zune 30gb
-I feel that the Zune beats the Ipod in Outer Design because The Zune is very sleek in Design and Has No Scratches Whatsoever and I've had it for a month. And The Ipod is Nice But Scratches so Easily you always have to keep in case which, makes the ipod thicker and less sleek.
-Zune Pad- you can scroll or click whatever you want it's really fun to use.
-Podcast Support
-Headphones are very Excellent quality and never get tangled!
-You can play movies through the headphone jack unlike the ipod where you have to buy a dock and special connections which are very pricey.
-Wirelessly Send Pictures, Podcasts, and Music(even though for songs you can only play them 3x i really find this a cool feature because you get to discover new music first and then download the song or songs if you really like them.)
Neutral things about the Zune
The Software- for me i Had no Problem puting all my music a collection of 4,000 songs and 30 movies onto my zune-because all of my music was already organized on my ipod so all i did was used the music on my ipod and transfered everything from my ipod to the zune software. Even Though the Music From the Ipod was all coded from Apple-the Zune software had every single song organized and for me it was so easy. Only about the 20 songs i Purchased from itunes did not go in the Zune but thats okay. The reason i give the software a neutral review is because adding new music and organizing the songs in the Zune Software can be pretty tough say if you got your music from somewhere besides the Zune Marketplace. It's doable but alittle frustrating. Even though the Software is not perfect i still love my zune 80.
-Battery life is Great, but Ipod Battery last a little longer.
Zune Cons
-Does not have extras like Watch timer and Games, i miss these from the ipod. and that's about all i miss.
Customer Review: Excellent Sound and Picture Quality
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased the 80 GB 2nd Generation Zune model, and use it mostly for listening to MP3's while laying out on the deck or kicking back in the lazy boy after a long day at work. The sound is excellent, which must explain part of the reason Microsoft elected NOT to incorporate a graphic equalizer. (That's right...no graphic equalizer to pump up the bass, but the sound is VERY clear w/o an equalizer.) Picture quality is also excellent on a screen measuring 1-7/8 inches x 2-1/2 inches. The glass screen makes it more scratch resistant, but I would suggest purchasing a leather case anyway because the screen is not scratch-proof. Viewing pictures is quick and easy and they look great. I have heard that the Zune is also excellent for loading and viewing movies...after updating the movie to 320 X 240 resolution, which shrinks the file size down from 4GB to under 1GB. But since copying movies is a violation of copy protection laws, I can only suggest copying home movies to your Zune. The software required to add files to your Zune can be downloaded from the Microsoft web site. The 80GB drive is 100% quiet, and cannot be heard at all. Nor is there any vibration when the Zune is running. Installing MP3's from your computer is also quick and easy. The menus are easy to navigate through, and include Music, Videos, Pictures, Social, Radio, Podcasts, and Settings. Creating various folders for your MP3's is simple (either by artist, year, type of music, etc.), and you can quickly add 2 or 3 (or more) folders to the 'quick play' folder and set to shuttle mode if, say, you want to listen to only Bruce Springsteen, the Eagles, and Journey while at the beach, on a plane, or just 'zoning' out. The supplies ear buds put out excellent sound (although just a little light on the bass), and are small and comfortable, even allowing you to 'plug in' while going to sleep. Battery life is not great but is acceptable. Approximately 20 hrs listening to music, and 3 hrs watch movies. My only complaint is recharging the batteries. You have to either use your computer (USB port), or purchase an accessory you can hook up your Zune to which consists of 4 AA batteries. That said, recharge time is quick, taking approximately 35 minutes to recharge from 1/3 to full capacity. The Zune itself measures 2-5/16 inches wide x 4-1/16 inches long x 1/2 inch thick. Radio reception is above average as I am able to pick up all local stations, and they sound awesome. Even the artist's name appears on the screen while listening to music on local stations. And finally, the ability to view the associated Album Covers while listening to MP3's is a plus. (The Zune software automatically looks for each song's Album art.) I chose the Zune over the IPod because during research I read a number of reviews saying the IPod classic sound quality was only average at best. I wanted an 80+ GB model with a radio and larger than average screen size, and the Zune fulfilled all those qualifications perfectly.Customer Review: Best Music Player Out There
Summary: 5 Stars
Let's just cut to the chase. You want to know how the Zune 80GB fares against the iPod. Such as comparison is best summarized in this sentence: "Microsoft's Zune beats the Apple iPod in almost every single way!"
I have run into quite a few people who took a look at the 1st generation Zunes in 2006 and never thought about it since. The old 30GB Zunes were not exactly the slickest devices on the market, but the NEW 2nd generation Zunes were built from scratch. So forget everything you heard about the old Zune.
The new 80GB Zune features a 320x240 glass screen which is much larger than the iPod Classic's plastic screen. The menus and interface are gorgeous. The background image is customizeable. 'Now Playing' displays album art in fullscreen.
The zunepad (aka 'squircle') is incredibly intuitive. Swiping your finger across the pad causes the menu to scroll in that direction. Swiping faster scrolls faster. The zunepad also acts as a 5-directional click-pad: up, down, left, right, and center-click. All of this is remarkably easy to use.
What makes the Zune most unique is the Wi-Fi capability. This allows you to detect other nearby Zunes and share songs. But the greatest use of the Zune's Wi-Fi is wireless sync. The Zune can be sync'd manually whenever you are at home or automatically whenever you plug the Zune into a dock (This means that you can leave your Zune in your iHome and it will automatically update itself without ever plugging into your computer!).
Other advantages over the iPod include the built-in FM tuner and the somewhat scratch resistant front surface (matte finish and glass are a lot tougher than shiny plastic).
Microsoft makes really classy Italian leather cases for Zune found here: Zune Leather Case 80 GB.
I've been following press coverage of the Zune from the beginning and bought myself one a few months ago. So far I have no complaints. I hated my old video iPod and I found iTunes to be really inconvenient. Zune software has all the major features of iTunes, but with your choice of some very stylish skins and more options for sorting and viewing your music collection. Zune software also lets you categorize your videos, unlike iTunes. However, this software does not work on Mac yet.
I cannot recommend any other hard-drive music player on the market. If you do not need more than a few gigabytes you might want to look at smaller players (the new Creative Zen is a good choice that comes in 4gb - 32gb sizes. Take a look here: Creative Zen 16 GB Portable Media Player (Black)). But if you have a big collection or want to watch a lot of movies in a compact player the Zune is your best choice.
Customer Review: The Zune Delivers
Summary: 5 Stars
So I obsessed over which player to purchase and evaluated the Ipod Classic and others of similar capacity and price. My desires were:
-$250 or less
-big capacity to hold movies, podcasts, lots of songs, and pictures;
-no need to be small enough to clip on a shirt or shorts for jogging
-big screen to watch stuff while on long flights or drives
-FM radio
-Wireless sync to my computer
-high quality, comfortable headphones
I made the jump to the Zune because I had not owned an Ipod and was therefore not wedded to i-tunes or their interface...this was to be my first player.
Once I got this thing, all my research really paid off. I love every aspect of it and have not had one regret. The headphones are extremely comfortable and sound great compared to the ipods I've borrowed. I LOVE the massive screen...the images are clear and crisp and have very little blurring on action scenes. I have put EVERY picture and song I own on this thing and have more than 40 gigs available for movies. I automatically download and sync about 10 podcasts of news and reviews everyday. And when I'm bored with the content I have on the Zune, I turn on the FM tuner and listen to the radio. As you can tell, all in all I am very happy.
Other features I love: screen brightness can be dimmed to save battery; touch pad is way cool, though if cool is your primary objective, I guess you need to get the Iphone; photos are automatically organized by folder with the original folder names from my computer...makes it easy to show my family and friends pictures of my daughter last year, last month, Christmas '05...; music and podcasts display cool album art when you play the songs or scroll through; the Quicklist feature where you can add songs to a playlist (but there is only one quicklist, not a fully customizable feature).
Some things other people might NOT like: battery is good, but I don't think it lasts as long as they say; size: it is a bit bulky, but that's what you get for 80gigs...it's not any more bulky than other 80gig devices; wireless is NOT wireless internet...just syncing to your computer; doesn't load or play WAV format, although mine synced and played all my WMA songs automatically (some reviews I read indicated that it would not play this format, and I can't figure out why they said that...); no random playback feature; no clock.
Anyway, I hope this helps you. The Zune satisfied all my wants and desires.
Anecdote: a friend just got his IPhone and was flaunting it in front of my face. While I think it's cool, I just wanted way more storage and for a lot less cash (I got my zune for 240 no tax no shipping from Amazon). I promptly told him that I could put 10 of his IPhones into my Zune. He chuckled and rolled his eyes.
-bp