This is just gonna be your one stop NO-BIAS answer for everything zune. It's COMPLETELY ORIGINAL! I'll just list the pros and cons versus the ipod. I have owned a 2 zune 30's (hated them, returned both), a psp (stolen), ipod video 30 gb(exchanged when new ipods came out), ipod classic 80 gb(exchanged for ipod touch), and an ipod touch. I have used
a zune 80 and I am impressed!
PROS
1. Wireless sharing
-Not the most useful feature, but its cool to have in case you know someone else with a zune. You can share music with drm constraints (3 plays, unlimted days). However, there are no drm restrictions on sending pictures or podcasts. Videos cannot be sent right now through wi-fi
2. Wireless Sync
-As long as you have a home wireless network and keep the zune connected to a power supply, you can sync your music wirelessly. It's pretty slow, but its cool nonetheless
3.XBOX 360 integration
- The zune can integrate its music to the xbox 360
4. Movies through WMP
-As long as you have windows media player, you can sync recorded movies and tv shows onto the device
5. Podcasts
-Just as easy to load up on the zune as you could an ipod with itunes. If you dont see a podacst, you can copy and paste the url
6. Premium headphones
-Better headphones=better sound quality. Beats crappy ipod headphones. Plus, since they are black and not like ipod's signature white earbuds, no one will know what mp3 you have in your pocket
7. Accessories
-Admittedly, the ipod saturates virtualy 70 % of the market. Ipod accessories is like a whole new merchandising empire. However, unlike other mp3 players (zen, iriver, sony, etc.) its SO easy to find accessories. As long as a store sells a zune, they WILL have accessories!
8. Customizable Background
-Set a picture to the background of the menu. Cant do on ipod
9. Updates for every device
- The zune 4, 8, 30, and 80 get the same update. Apple requires you to buy an entirely new ipod before you can get the new apple updates
10. Radio
-Not even included on the ipod. Plus, it shows the station, artist, and song currently playing
11. Screen
-3.2 in bigger than ipod's 2.5 in
12. Weight
- Zune 80 weighs 4.5 oz,less than an 4.9 oz Ipod Classic 80
13. Customizable Artwork
- You can get the zune engraved with cool art for FREE if its bought from Microsoft directly, much cooler than the ipod's "letters only" engraving
14. Tactile & Touch Control
-You have a choice between using a touch pad or a normal scroll button found in the zune 30
15. Preloaded Content
-Music, Videos, Photos, and Podcasts ship with the zune at no extra cost
16. Build Quality
-Glass screen and anadonized aluminum on the back. Wont have to get a case
17. Price
-Well...to tell you the truth, it IS 99 cents more than an ipod. $249 ipod vs. $249.99 zune. But with all those features, its a no-brainer!
18. Unlimited Music
-As long as you shell out $15 a month, you can load up as much music to the zune as you want. Of course, if you stop paying, ALL the music gets erased
19. DRM-free marketplace songs
-When you buy DRM-free music from the online marketplace, your personal info isn't embedded like in iTunes plus songs
20. Theft
-The zune isn't as coveted as an ipod. Therefore, its much less likely than an ipod to get stolen
CONS
1. Battery Life
-Microsft promised 30 hours audio only w/ wi-fi off. Cnet.com published results that attained 22 hours, roughly half that of an ipod classic 80 gb
2. Got rid of the equalizer
-The zune 30 had a music equalizer and im pissed that microsoft got rid of it
3. Microsft (ms) points
-79 ms points=99 cents for a song. Thats confusing
4. Online store availability
-No movies or tv shows. Song selection half that of itunes
5. Exclusive online store
- Can't use other music services like napster, yahoo, rhapsody, etc. The thing that pisses me off is that these services are MICROSOFT BACKED!
6. Hard Drive
-Can't be used as an external hard-drive
7. No clock
-This is more important than you think
8. No games
- This isn't really important, but the ipod has the upper hand on this one
9. Screen Resolution
- Its the same as the ipod's, but with the zune's bigger screen, anything visual on the screen will look noticebaly "fuzzy"
10. Software Updates
- Microsft doesn't update their media player software as frequently as apple. So if something buggy goes on, you may be in the dark for months if it cannot be fixed
11. Cross- Platform Compatibility
- One of the reasons why the ipod is a seemingly invincible juggernaut is because it works with BOTH mac and pc. If you have a mac, you CANT use a zune
My Final thoughts...
As a former (and maybe future) zune owner, I KNOW what a zune. I'm NOT an apple or ms fanboy, just an honest consumer helping others. I think, if microsoft keeps this up, the zune may overtake the ipod in the future like it did with the xbox and the playstation. One point to realize is
that most ppl hate the zune because they are apple customers for life, as the bought all of their music from the DRM-ridden iTunes
For more info...
zune.net official site