Zune price officially dropping to $199

Microsoft is quite clear on the Zune Insider blog that this price drop has absolutely no correlation to a certain event taking place tomorrow, but there's still a whole heaping helping of irony that the Zune is getting a price slash on the very day Apple is ostensibly outing brand new iPods. As of tomorrow you can pick up a brand new Zune anywhere you choose for a mere $199. That is, of course, if you can't manage to score one for a whole lot cheaper elsewhere.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[dhdhdhhdh @ Sep 4th 2007 9:24PM]

Nice, I might get one but I am going to first see what apple is coming out with tomorrow.

[LiQuiD_FuSioN @ Sep 4th 2007 9:35PM]

I had a funny, but realistic thought here:

What if Engadget wrote an open letter to Microsoft about the Zune like they did with Palm?

http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/21/dear-palm-its-time-for-an-intervention/

It'd probably look something like this:

"Microsoft, stop wasting money on the Zune - We all know this isn't going anywhere. And even if it does do alright -- and let's be real, it's never going to do better than alright"

X-D

[paloooz @ Sep 4th 2007 9:40PM]

^ Lame.

[LiQuiD_FuSioN @ Sep 4th 2007 10:03PM]

^ Fanboy?

[JohnTitor @ Sep 4th 2007 10:42PM]

How about you don't get one even after you see what Apple has tomorrow? There's so many better players now for under $200

[paloooz @ Sep 4th 2007 11:09PM]

Fanboy? Have you seen the comments I post before? I'm pretty much Apple>M$, but your little thing there ... about M$ ... pretty fucking lame. If you're going to insult M$ ... do it right.

[LiQuiD_FuSioN @ Sep 4th 2007 11:58PM]

"Fanboy? Have you seen the comments I post before? I'm pretty much Apple>M$, but your little thing there ... about M$ ... pretty fucking lame. If you're going to insult M$ ... do it right."

Oh, so it's a matter of "taste" then? I don't amuse you?

It's a shame because I don't really care what a petty e-tard thinks.

P.S. check your grammar, pls.

[Dan Hubel @ Sep 5th 2007 12:17AM]

You started your sentence with And...

You also used a conditional (if) and never finished it..

CHCK UR GRAMMER PLZ

[LiQuiD_FuSioN @ Sep 5th 2007 12:24AM]

@ Dan Hubel

"Microsoft, stop wasting money on the Zune - We all know this isn't going anywhere. And even if it does do alright -- and let's be real, it's never going to do better than alright"

^ This is a quote from ENGADGET, and not mine. The only words I edited in were "Microsoft" and "Zune", of course.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/21/dear-palm-its-time-for-an-intervention/

THINK B4 U POST PLZ!

[Dan Hubel @ Sep 5th 2007 12:59AM]

@liquid

they finished their conditional in that post..?

[DAZA @ Sep 5th 2007 12:43AM]

What's better than a Zune for $199 with similar features and equal or bigger storage capacity?

I would love to get my hands on a Zune, but I think I'll wait for the second generation Zune. I'll be buying an 6G iPod straight away, but if it doesn't live up to the rumours (i.e. no touch screen, still a small screen) I'll trade it for 2G Zune the second it comes out..

[meester anderson @ Sep 5th 2007 1:30AM]

fanboyism manifests itself in such weird ways. I would hate for microsoft to throw so much money into the zune that they buy their way to the top of the mp3 player market and then fuck everyone over with crappy products a la windows monopoly, but when it comes to game consoles i am happy to buy a m$ subsidized 360, though the same thing could apply to that as well. I guess i just like apple a lot more than sony, and nintendo seems to be doing just fine on its own

[Cody Dickson @ Sep 4th 2007 9:25PM]

Hmm, maybe they got wind of that elusive Apple event tomorrow...

[deep @ Sep 4th 2007 9:27PM]

Damn, those are some ugly ass colors! Charge $299, take the addition $100, and go buy a clue about design.

[samson @ Sep 4th 2007 11:03PM]

If that photo was the new iPod you would be pitching your tent outside the Mac store right now.

[rlh82 @ Sep 4th 2007 10:08PM]

I quite like the design, a lot better than the iPod to be perfectly honest. I own neither, but the look works for me.

[deep @ Sep 4th 2007 10:20PM]

Whatever dude! I've barfed colors more vibrant that these. M$ has its head up its ass when it comes to design. Must be where they get the colors.

[justin @ Sep 4th 2007 10:35PM]

I like the colors too. Who said vibrant was a measure of good design?

For the record I own two ipods.

[Erik @ Sep 4th 2007 10:37PM]

I don't think it's healthy to barf colors more vibrant than those...you might want to get that looked at.

[Ratchet the Lombax @ Sep 4th 2007 11:22PM]

I hate to say anything bad about my beloved ipods but excluding the nanos or 2nd gen shuffles the ipods don't come in vibrant colors unless you consider black and white vibrant. I don't much care for the Zune for a number of reasons I won't go into but the color isn't one of them.

[elsnermi @ Sep 5th 2007 1:26AM]

as a matter of fact the brown zune has been very highly regarded for its color combo. Check out i.d. magazines review of it.

[deep @ Sep 5th 2007 12:05AM]

Man, I didn't even mention the iPod! Get a grip. These colors, whatever your opinions about color being or not being a measure of design, are depressing and f-ugly. They don't need to be neon to be attractive, just something not depressing. Aesthetics play a role in marketing and these just don't do it for me. These don't scream "buy me!", they say to me "don't forget to wipe!".

The only time I ever "pitched a tent" at an Apple store was when I saw the Victoria Secret store next door.

[Ratchet the Lombax @ Sep 5th 2007 12:30AM]

I didn't say you were comparing them to iPods. What I was getting at was that the majority of iPods don't come in vibrant colors and yet they are selling like crazy so colors are the least of the Zunes problems. It's an ok player I guess but I've just gotten spoiled buy my iPod.

[Nex @ Sep 5th 2007 5:46AM]

because white and silver is so the rage when it comes to design.. oh wait there was also a black one and a pink one too.. wow... such cutting edge design . OMFG I WANT A iPod right now!!! ha uSheep...

[Sam @ Sep 4th 2007 9:30PM]

Damn! I was thinking they were going to pull a Palm and just freaking cancel it. These are sorry looking devices.

[BillG @ Sep 4th 2007 9:31PM]

We're not wasting enough money subsidizing the XBox division!

[rex @ Sep 4th 2007 9:30PM]

I'm sure that this price drop will cater to people who really want a cheap mp3 player after they see how much the new iPods will cost.. anyway how much will the new iPods cost if they are touchscreen and all that jazz?

[LiQuiD_FuSioN @ Sep 4th 2007 9:33PM]

If some people complained and yawned at a $100 Zune..

http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/13/dell-flub-nets-you-100-zune/

..it'd be hard to imagine anyone getting excited over an official price drop! :-P

Even if the Microsoft Zune screams "mediocrity", I'd still nab one though.. (if I had some leftover cash from Apple's next-gen offerings, of course)! ;-)

[humpty @ Sep 4th 2007 9:32PM]

Why dont they make mp3 players with optical out anymore?

[rlh82 @ Sep 4th 2007 10:10PM]

I'm pretty sure the Zune does have a video out. The Gigabeat S30, which the Zune is based on, does. It's just one and the same with the headphone jack, so you have an extra cable that comes with the thing and has a three (or maybe two) jack AV output on the other side. Again, that's at least how I know the S30 works, I own one.

[Question Answerer @ Sep 4th 2007 11:24PM]

iRiver iHP120 had optical out a few years ago

[zip22 @ Sep 4th 2007 10:20PM]

optical out is not video out. it is digital audio out.

[rlh82 @ Sep 5th 2007 12:53AM]

My fault.

[Señor Swanky @ Sep 4th 2007 9:33PM]

They ought to be breaking even in 3...2...1... never.

[Andylucho @ Sep 4th 2007 9:35PM]

Zune still this by left of the quality of the apple Ipod and for 199 is bad bussines

[Chris @ Sep 4th 2007 9:55PM]

I tried really hard to understand this sentence...I really did.

[Spirit @ Sep 4th 2007 9:39PM]

Meh. With nice storage, and a nice screen, I don't see the problem with the Zune. Yes, its a little bulky, but not too bulky to fit in your pocket. When its in your pocket, whats it matter that it has a touchscreen or a fancy design?

...oh crap, I just said the Zune wasn't horrible. Time to hide.

[ark_v2 @ Sep 4th 2007 10:06PM]

I like it too, but I'll tell you the problems: GREAT hardware...horrible software, bad support, and the most of all, BAD marketing.

[Trace The Hedgehog @ Sep 4th 2007 10:40PM]

The software's okay I never really had some problems. It does stop responding every now and then. I think the real problem is the lack of support. It has so much potential and MS isnt using any of it. I love my Zune, but it could do much more.

[mouseman @ Sep 5th 2007 12:10AM]

"Its not horrible" - Paul Thurrott

[Noah Ramon @ Sep 5th 2007 12:58PM]

It's not horrible by any stretch - it's just that it's agressively mediocre, especially given its hoopla-laden launch.

[Luis Pablo Jiménez Martínez @ Sep 4th 2007 9:39PM]

Gracias a Engadget.com soy el primero de mi cuadra en enterarme de los nuevos modelos (fake) del iPod

[Trace The Hedgehog @ Sep 4th 2007 10:38PM]

Me cago en tu madre?

[Adam @ Sep 4th 2007 11:08PM]

Tu comes la caja.

Chingata tu madre.

the list goes on.

[Vwartenbenschnuggen @ Sep 4th 2007 11:46PM]

Tu eres trabajador en A-1 Rentals?

[ark_v2 @ Sep 5th 2007 12:20AM]

hahahahaha babel fish FTW

[Trace The Hedgehog @ Sep 5th 2007 12:30AM]

spanish cursing is win.

[Future Man @ Sep 4th 2007 9:41PM]

Apple isn't ostensibly bringing out new iPods, they ARE bringing out new iPods.

Ostensibly would imply that they are hinting at new iPods, but most likely aren't releasing anything new.

[andrew @ Sep 5th 2007 9:54AM]

and the invite to the event having A. coverflow B. a guy holding an iPod. pretty much means we will see something with the iPod line today

[Gadzooks @ Sep 4th 2007 9:43PM]

Coincidence? I think not. It wouldn't matter if the zune was free it still is an abysmal product also a couple years late. It's worthless and not to mention it comes in brown.......eck