Zune 80 GB Digital Media Player (Black) by Zune
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Digital camera reviews of Zune 80 GB Digital Media Player (Black)
Digital camera Review: A bit better than the classic, Software fixed
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been using the zune for a couple months now so I felt that I had really experienced it.
Pros:
Wi-fi syncs songs between zunes pretty fast
3.2 inch screen makes it worth while to sync videos to it
Touch navigator feels and works wonderfully
Easy interface on the device ( nice large font )
Sound processor is better than iPod's. Only noticable when using good quality headphones
EXTREMELY DURABLE
First MP3 player I've had that shipped with headphones that were usable.
FM RADIO WITH SONGS!
Integration with 360.
Nuetral:
Battery life
CON:
Software had some bugs and may continue to have bugs for some people
Expansion of some things above:
Headphones: They are magnetized so they don't tangle up in your pockets which is the main problem with in ear headphones in my opinion. They have quite good sound quality 40-ish dollar range. Definitely worth keeping unless you have headphones 65$+
Durability: This thing is amazing. I have dropped it and stepped on it in the gym. I have never bought a case and so far no scratches on the screen or on the body/back ( a nice refreshment from my old iPods which had to be in an ugly case at all times). I frequently have change in the same pocket as the zune and it has held up extremely well to my rigorous or some may say careless use.
Battery life: I've gone a week listening approximately 3.5 hours a day, which comes out to 24.5 hours in my own experience.I have a mix of 320kpbs and 192 kpbs audio. It also Wi-Fi is off unless I see someone with a zune. This may not be as much as a classic but there comes a point where you stop caring about 30 vs 40 or whatever it is. There simply is not as much benefit from 30-40 hours as there is from 5-15 hours. Some people might care but it is more than adequate for me and probably most other people.
Software: Honestly if my zune software hadn't been fixed by the latest update I would have given it a 3. The software was horrible at syncing and would frequently sync the same songs over and over every time you connected it for syncing. However recently I noticed that there was no more duplicates on my zune and was pleasantly surprised. The software is easy to use and I love the ability to search without going up to the top right to type it in ( searches through your music only). If I want to see the zune market place's songs when I search through the top right I get my own song results as well as results from the marketplace. The bugs may have been from having my CDs imported from various directories rather than in my music. You may want to try this and see if it helps. The marketplace is getting video soon as well I hear and zune is also getting games *estimated July from XNA - open source * With the software bugs fixed ( at least for me ) The marketplace has a 3 million songs which is plenty.
I am happy to give the zune a 5. It simply crushes the classic in features and is actually cheaper than the ipod classic since the headphones that come with it are worth 30-40 dollars. I would however advise against getting the flash zune or upgrading from a recent ipod video to a zune. If you're in the market however be sure to check out the zune 80
Also it may appear that I am a fanboy or something but honestly this is the first microsoft product I am really satisfied with.
* 360 had a RROD and is currently on it's last legs ( freezing ) *
* Vista was prematurely and was priced too high *
*Any time you make changes to your machine you need to call up microsoft*
Digital camera Review: A few problems
Summary: 3 Stars
I just bought the Zune 80 and now I'm kind of frustrated and shooting in the dark. There's absolutely no instruction book that I can find of any kind. It would be nice to know how to turn it on, create playlists, and do other functions. Also, what do you do when you're through playing it through your stereo? Do you take it out of the charging dock and turn it off? I'm not sure, because there's no guidance. But, after a couple of days of trial and error, I'm starting to figure it out. After finally creating playlists and listening to the music outside, I realized that different audio tracks play at different volume levels. This is totally unacceptable. Who wants to go inside and be continually adjust the volume? Microsoft wouldn't forget a volumne normalization feature, would they? That's my biggest complaint. Also, another reviewer didn't like the fact that you could not drop and drag from windows to the zune software. I agree. I think I'm going to take it back and get an IPOD Classic. It's my understand that the IPOD has volume normalization through a feature called Sound Check. I don't think the Zune is the right way to go for people who want it specifically for music.Digital camera Review: A great Ipod alternative
Summary: 5 Stars
I was looking for a MP3 player to have all my music to carry in car and home and really wanted something different than the IPod, this was the best option I could find.
I love to have it with the Zune dock (with RC) because now it acts as my jukebox connected to my home theater. The software is responsive, with an incredible user interface with an acceptable footprint in my system resources. Now I use it as my primary Mp3 and video player.
I like to download the various podcasts and watch them on my TV (thanks to the dock) or waiting in the carwash.
The earphones are great, they keeped me from getting new ones and spend 50 more bucks.
There are more good things about the Zune, but to make the review short, let me tell you the only issues I have/had:
1.- I cannot sync videos directly: when trying, the software freezes. The error is due to the transcoder. I need to convert the videos to Zune supported formats using a third party software and then I can sync without problems. I hope this to be fixed in the next firmware.
2.- You can't tag with the Zune software. I had a mess with my 3000 mp3's. the same artist appears 3 to 5 times due to misspelling, One albums appears even 10 times and each "album" had 1 song only, etc... i had to use a third party app (MP3Tag) to batch update the tags, and that's how I reorganized everything. The developers MUST include a tag editor powerful enough to manage thousands of audio files.
3.- I have not have success tagging videos, not even with third parties, and believe me, I have tons of them waiting to be categorized.
4.- Too many times you have to press a button to play a song in the device.
5.- I dislike the credit system the Zune marketplace uses.
Don't take me wrong, I love my Zune and I'm waiting to see more features and accessories for it.
Digital camera Review: A great mp3....that's not Ipod.
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this some time ago, cause I had a few of the previous generations that only had about 30 gb. But I saw this and thought that I would splurge a bit and get a good upgrade after my last one was broken. And its been working fantastic ever since.Digital camera Review: A one (run-on) sentence review
Summary: 5 Stars
After using the Zune2/ZuneMarketplace for two weeks, I returned to the iPod/iTunes world for one day - it was a bleak, depressing, barren world so I ran screaming back to the light.