Comments on: Why You Probably Should NOT Buy a Zune

By: Rick Anderson

Rick Anderson — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:59:36 +0000

Its 2009 and Zune is still around. Its cool, its hip, it rocks! I love my Zune Original. Most of my family has one and we love it! What happend to it'll be gone in six months? Love the fact that you can now get Games on the Zune. Way cool. The new 3.0 Zune software update is awesome.
Microsoft and Zune is here to stay!

By: Adam S

Adam S — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 12:05:13 +0000

@Sarah: That’s the catch 22, isn’t it? If I say the Zune sucks, I’m an Apple lover. If I sayI have problems with the iPhone, I’m a Microsoft shill. Can’t win, I guess.

The rumor this week is that the Zune is going to be retired and no longer manufactured. If that’s true, my point will be proven… the DRM’ed music *will* come back and bite you in the ass.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 04:20:54 +0000

Apple lover!

By: Adam S

Adam S — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 22:08:54 +0000

@UnknownAX:

I use Microsoft products at work because they are the best at what they do. The Zune is NOT the best at what it does — for me — for several reasons. The first one, of course, is that the DRM is not a proven constant. The second reason is that the loading software is not omnipresent and not found on multiple platforms. And, of course, the device is not common. Two years on, I do not know even one person who owns a Zune. But I know dozens who have multiple iPods and are very happy with them.

The Zune has certainly improved quite a bit since this was written, but the *fact* is that if it weren’t Microsoft behind it, content with losing money just to compete in this market, it would’ve been a failure long ago.

By: UnknownAX

UnknownAX — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:54:54 +0000

Really disappointed that this popped up in my Google search.

“In short, nothing is ever “for sure” with Microsoft.”

In the beginning of this article you say that for technological things you specifically choose Microsoft’s products, the reader assumes that you mean this because they are superior, and guaranteed to work.

“At work, where I choose everything from a technology standpoint, we are Windows 2003 and Microsoft SQL Server, so I’m not especially anti-Microsoft.”

Yet you proceed to bash Microsoft, saying that nothing is for sure.

One things for sure, you’re full of it. November 2006 huh, it appears to be December 2008. “The Zune will be dead and gone within six months,” you say? 2 years, and the Zune still seems to be around.

A note for everyone, I haven’t decided whether to buy one or not – I can tell your for sure right now though, If I wanted a portable music device, the Zune would be it, mostly for things like this.

I urge anybody actually looking into it to disregard the above article, it’s aged and not worth your time.

By: Chris Henn

Chris Henn — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:58:04 +0000

You idiot.

The Zune is a nice player, and the problems with it are not a big deal at all. Your main argument is its DRM, but its not a big deal. Its as simple as this: if you want a music collection you can depend on, you have to pirate it (or at least make sure their is no DRM whatsoever). iTunes has DRM too! Every major company is never going to accept having no DRM at all. When I tried to transfer my iTunes collection to my Linux and Windows laptop, it was locked up. But im no iTard, I found a way around it. And the way I used is just as illegal as downloading a copy of the internet, so I might have well just done that first. A music collection should stay free, and thats how I intend to keep it. I am somewhat tech savy, so I do not let the boundaries of DRM constrict me. I’d happily pay for my music, but the major digital stores dont even have all the music I want, and its all locked up if I bought it anyway.

The Zune is not a monster. It will not eat your children. In fact, its a great mp3 player if you’ve got half a brain to keep your music actually yours. They have come out with multiple hardware and software improvements since this was written. The interface is MUCH more intuitive then apples iPod (every review agrees) and its new design for navigation (a squircle) is awesome, and fast. Its also better for games, which by the way use the XNA developers toolkit. That means if I knew how to code a bit more, I could make my own game.

If your thinking about buying a Zune, try reading the unbiased reviews. Go to Cnet, or PCmag. Dont let Apple scare you away.

By: Daniel M.

Daniel M. — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 06:37:50 +0000

This report was done in Nov of 2006 so its obvious since then Microsoft has made some dramatic changes. A couple to mention, larger hard drives in their players and a firmware upgrade to allow tagging of fm radio songs. Let me just say this. Apple’s IPOD is the kleenex of portable music players but what Apple doesn’t have its the worlds most prevelant operating system. 95% of the world runs on some version of windows. What does this all mean? Microsoft has deeper roots and of couse deeper pockets when it comes to developing products. At some point Apple will hit a creativity block and people will buy what ever is cheaper and user friendly. I beleive Zune will mimic their windows legacy with the Zune to create a more uniform approach. It’s only a matter of time until they realize that what will sell their products. In recent times Apple has made some critcal mistakes with their iPhone, locking in with one carrier and a near unprofitable iTunes store. I ‘ve owned my Zune since they first came out and I’ve never once had a problem with it. I know many who purchased DRM’ed music from Apple iTunes and dont realize their stuck with Apple if they plan to keep the files. I look at purchasing music as something you’ll have your entire lifetime. They key to avoid the trap is to purchase DRM free music. I purchase all music from amazonmp3.com and on the rare occasion that they dont carry the album I’ll purchase the CD, rip it, and sell it back to the store. (find a local music retailer that has a buy back program) This will force the retailers to close up shop, eleimate the distrubtors, give more funds to labels, and of course make the music industry profitable again. We need to cut the middlemen and have music files flow from the studios to the fans. Remember, sharing is one of the main focus’ of Zune! It’s not different than dubbing tapes or burning CD’s as we used to do.

This is article is the future of music and the future of Zune!

By: Adam S

Adam S — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 02:29:35 +0000

It's always the completely anonymous, can't spell for shit, AOL-speak, IE-on-Windows morons who call me something completely inane like a "commie fag" simply for not liking rev 1 of the Zune. These people have no credibility, they act like complete fools and they are very likely 15 year old kids with nothing better to do with their time too dumb to realize the piece was written well over a year ago when the Zune was a complete piece of junk.

Please disregard above douche bag.

By: noneofyourbussiness

noneofyourbussiness — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 08:56:09 +0000

All of my friends that own zunes belive that they are the best they use them every day movies music pictures i even had ipod fans admit the zune was better and that they would buy one when thier ipod breaks my brother sold his ipod and got one a week ago and we are borowed the cd and installed it and all of our music was synced instanly (the only reason that we didnt download it is because we are on dialup) and im getting an 80 gb the end of this april, so quit ur bitchin about microsoft you commie apple loving fag.

By: Luxsphinx

Luxsphinx — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 07:27:00 +0000

You do realize that this was written over a year ago, when there was only Zune version 1 with many more limitations that exist today?

Well then, let me pose you this question. Based on the current Zune hardware, software, and features, what is your revised view of the product?

By: Adam S

Adam S — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 09:45:25 +0000

You do realize that this was written over a year ago, when there was only Zune version 1 with many more limitations that exist today?

By: Transvinny

Transvinny — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 09:38:22 +0000

There must be more devices called Zune than I thought. Cause thats the only explanation for all the negative spin in this article. I’m not a fanboy of Microsoft by any stretch. I think the XBOX360 is a piece of crap with all its overheating issues. So far the Zune has proven to be a pretty reliable device. Its a far cry from that cumbersome piece of junk that apple put out. I don’t understand what the gripe is with content being locked on the zune once its uploaded to the zune. Hell Itunes are DRM locked long before it gets put on the Ipod. Why anybody wouldn’t be content with three days or three plays is beyond me. Do people serious watch podcasts more than that?

I’ve owned a zune for about three months and have been very pleased with it. I have a few minor complaints. Syncing video can be very slow. That in and of itself is understandable because of the file sizes. It could really benefit in showing a bit more feedback that everything is syncing smoothly. The percent complete readout would be better if it showed a line indicating the percent complete for the file conversion and a seperate percent complete bar for sync complete. Also art doesn’t always update correctly and there is no ability to search for the correct art. To get around this I use the Windows Media Player to search for the art manually. In most cases this fixes it. The zune software isn’t perfect, but I like the fact that my source files aren’t DRM locked and couldn’t care less about wiifi sharing and threeday threeplay limitation. I bought the thing to watch video, store pictures, and play music, not file share.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 12:26:08 +0000

Lol... while I am not a novice at computers (IT consultant), I can easily say that the Zune is extremely user-friendy. This Christmas, our family purchased 5 of them. 4-30gb units, and 1-80gb unit (for me). My 11-year old opened it up, popped the CD into the computer, installed the software, and then plugged in the Zune, and began syncing her files with the software. Then, with my guidance, we proceeded to go to the Zune Social site and register her a screen name. The Zune site admirably blocked her from creating an account until a registered parent's email address and password were input by me. Then she proceeded to the marketplace to look for music and videos that suited her taste. By default she cannot download music with explicit lyrics. The same goes for my 13 year old. In addition to all of that, he received a music CD for Christmas as well, and put it into his computer, clicked on rip, and the next thing you know, he was listening to it on his own Zune...all in a matter of minutes.
The same goes for my 17 year old and my wife. The interface is simple to navigate, and we have had no issues at all with either the software, the device, or the service. By the way, none of us even bothered to read the manual...

I'm not saying everyone will have this great experience, but I am sure we aren't the only 5 people out there with a Zune that had a great out of box experience. My family isn't a bunch of computer genius geeks either. Far from it...but it just doesn't get any easier than this when it comes to getting things started with an MP3 player...

Dave

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 11:58:01 +0000

I forgot to mention I have the 80GB Zune, and I am unsure of the difference between my 2nd gen and your 1st gen.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 11:49:24 +0000

You most definitely can put music ripped from CDs and music from file sharing programs on your Zune. First of all, the Zune software has its own ripping system you can use, if you have not already ripped the music to your computer. But if you want to use a different program, it doesn't matter, it will still work.

Make sure your music files are in either .mp3, .wma, .mp4, .m4a, .m4b, or .mov format.

Go into the Zune software and click "settings" in the top right corner. Click "add folder" by Music. Find the folder the music you want to add is in, and click ok. Thats all there is to it.