I have been a big mp3 player fan since they first came out. I was the first of all my friends back in the days to have one. I love them , they really transformed how music can be enjoyed in a tiny convenient package. Apple’s Ipod is THE mp3 player to own and almost has become synonym name for an mp3 player. I too have been a big fan of the ipod I have gone through several generations other than the newer ones. I love them great interface etc , etc .
The Microsoft Zune though has been pretty much a bust for Microsoft. It was at first big and chunky and loaded with typical Microsoft software problems. Its been a few years and now finally Microsoft has come out with a Zune that is worthy of peoples attention.
The Zune HD is smaller and a lot slicker than its previous incarnations. It’s Vivid OLED Screen is a real pro for this player. Its easy user interface that is very fluid to use. The sound quality I found to be better than my Ipod. The standard ear buds are low quality though that come with the Zune.
What I really like about the new Zune is of course its HD capabilities. The Zune comes witha built in HD radio tuner something that the Ipod truly needs. If you have ever worked out in a gym you know how annoying it is to be on the cardio machines and not be able to tune in to the tv broadcast volume. Then their is the being sick of your own music factor and you just want to listen to the radio instead. I have no idea why the Ipod have radio it has always been my big hang up for it.
With the Zune HD you also get the ability to watch hd movies and television shows right on your pmp player. The Zune also has an additional A/V dock and remote (MSRP $89.99) that you can stream hd video right on to your television. This is a great addition. It sets up really quickly and a fun way of sharing movies. This will definitely be putting a huge dent in the dvd business in the near future much like the mp3 did to the cd. Video quality is excellent of course.
The most exciting feature though is that it is app enabled . Although the apps are in the infancy stage right now for the Zune we all know that will not be the case for long. People love their apps and the trend is for everything to be app driven in the future. Microsoft positively got this step right . It will be curious to see what Microsoft does with it .
There a few cons. The inability for the Zune to work with Apple’s Mac is probably the biggest one.
I love the Zune HD . Will it catch on to be as popular as the Ipod ? I am not sure about that . Apple has a huge head start that would take years to catch up or a product so innovative that it would blow it out of the water. Zune does take a step to toward that though. One thing for certain no one will be laughing at this Microsoft Zune.