The $80 Brown Zune

What started as a $150 white Zune last month has quickly dropped to $80 of brown. Factory refurbished of course, but if "brown" plus "Zune" evokes the urge to cough up your wad then by all means, Woot away. Hard to beat the value for these monies.

[Thanks Daniel T. and everyone who sent this in]

[Mrfreezie @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:04AM]

Must. Resist. Urge.

[Darkest Daze @ Oct 22nd 2007 3:20AM]

If it wasn't for the fact I have 35GB of music on my computer, I would jump all over that. It's soo tempting. Alas, I'll have to use all of my willpower to wait for the 80GB one next month....unless anyone has a tutorial on how to upgrade the drive in the Zune for less than $170.

[JimmyZ @ Jan 10th 2008 4:06PM]

I bought two of these for my kids for Christmas. They love them. Software install was ridiculous, but once I was past that hurdle they were great.

[jroc @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:07AM]

Smells like doo doo.

[Matt @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:15AM]

Wow Somebodys creative. Havn't heard that one before.

Looks good but Im waiting for that sexy new zune.

[mushrooshi @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:24AM]

Still no use, its Windows Propiatery.

Um, also

WHERE IS MY INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY! I THOUGHT OCT 22 WAS INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY!

[moskaudancer @ Oct 22nd 2007 4:33PM]

ARE YOU SERIOUS? THAT IS AWESOME!!1 NOW IT'S TIME TO UNLEASH THE FURY!!!!11

[rTwelve @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:26AM]

It suddenly has that whole thrift-shop-chic vibe to it!

[aaron @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:26AM]

im probably going to still buy one of the zune 4's but i couldn't resist this for 80 bucks.... especially with it being upgradable to the new ui/software.

[AboutToBeKilled @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:29AM]

Ya. This must be the one for prostate cancer awareness.

I wonder if ford is in on this one too.

[Dylan @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:30AM]

Microsoft needs to abandon this project, its gone wrong in so many ways.

[David W. @ Oct 22nd 2007 9:37AM]

It has?

[DeoWulf @ Oct 22nd 2007 3:32PM]

The only way it's gone wrong is that they actually made brown in the first place.

Other than that, it's pretty sweet.

[Sam @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:33AM]

$50 bucks and I'll get it in Brown.

[Iced_Eagle @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:37AM]

Wow!

You cannot go wrong with 30gb for $80! Plus with the new firmware, it's going to be awesome!

[Sir.Byrd @ Oct 22nd 2007 6:47PM]

Yeah. . .
but its also $80 for brown.

[David Landrum @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:38AM]

I'd use it as external storage.

[manfesto @ Oct 22nd 2007 3:05AM]

Except it can't be used as an external drive.

Still, if you've ever wanted a Zune as a music player, the time doesn't really get much better than now - these prices are insanely low for what you're getting.

[Brian @ Oct 24th 2007 5:35AM]

@manfesto

Incorrect, there is a mod to use it as external storage.

[melloncollie @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:40AM]

Just bought one.
For $80, it's a steal.

[Joe @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:58AM]

I'm sorry they took your money.

[DeoWulf @ Oct 22nd 2007 3:32PM]

But I'm sure he's happy you got a Zune.

I'm sorry you didn't get such a great device for free as well.

;P

[Beef Stalmer @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:45AM]

Wow.. are we going to list discounted hardware now on a gadget-blog? I know some places that discount last-gen Apple stuff, you know!

Oh.. wait I get it.. you were trying to be funny!

[Fruition @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:52AM]

I dunno, I kinda think Engadget succeeded here. You don't get much funnier than Mr. Hanky.

[barlo.mung @ Oct 22nd 2007 3:03AM]

Funny ages. You mean you don't get much funnier than Mr. Hanky, 10 years ago.

[Joe @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:54AM]

$150 down to $80 !
Are there enough Zune owners to demand a class action suit?

[jessy @ Oct 22nd 2007 3:11AM]

$80 for a product that beats ipod in every single way after u get the new Zune2 firmware. man, how is apple still in business? its not like the sit around to get original or please customers.

in 5 years man... jobs sure will be looking in the want ads.

[AboutToBeKilled @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:43PM]

beats iPod in every single way? really?

Hey look, I just copied some files over onto my ipod and transferred them to the computer in the living room. lemme just try that with my zune... oops. I can't do that. Hell, I can't even use my zune on my linux or OSX machines.

Though my iPod shows up as an external drive on all three operating systems.

Oh... And my iPod doesn't look like i dug it out of the toilet.

[Dan @ Oct 22nd 2007 3:10PM]

plus zunes are for dorks

[DeoWulf @ Oct 22nd 2007 3:32PM]

AboutToBeKilled:

Those reasons (hard-driveablility and mulit-computer syncing) are all fixable by hacks and hardly negate the Zune's other great features (wifi, big screen and radio).

Dan:

Well you didn't even list any reasons. Have fun with no one respecting your opinion.

[Abul Hassan @ Oct 22nd 2007 3:18AM]

Factory refurbished? Can someone check on the deal over at Buy.com They are taking pre-orders for brand new 30GB Zune [according to them] for 99 US$ only, shipment date being November 19th. You get it in 89US$ if check out is done through Google Checkout.

Beat that.

[Tony @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:43PM]

November? It's already been beat.

[Todd @ Oct 22nd 2007 1:01PM]

Thanks for the tip. I'd much rather have a new one for $10 more even if I have to wait a few weeks to get it. Now I can pass the old 6gb SanDisk Sansa on to the wife.

Looks like woot is also sold out now anyway.

[Lita @ Oct 22nd 2007 3:19AM]

Love brown, hate Zune.

Quit hating on the brown, you guys.

[Nick @ Oct 22nd 2007 3:41AM]

I would buy one if it worked with my Mac. Where is my brown iPhone.

[BigD @ Oct 22nd 2007 3:44AM]

I think I know what's happening here. It's called "market penetration" and "installed base." If anyone can endure "red" books for the sake of market share, it's MS.

If you think about Bill Gates, he probably has nothing else to reach for in life. Just piss off his ol' buddy Jobs.

[Sam @ Oct 22nd 2007 4:03AM]

uh dude, Gates has done more with Microsoft than Jobs ever has with Apple.
I know I'm an Apple fanboy, but step out of the RDF (reality distortion field) that Jobs creates
and look at the big picture.
I don't think the Zune's a failure, its a 1st gen product. Look at the original iPod. Those things didn't exactly sell like hotcakes when they came out either. Their next Zune seems to be pretty nic-oh wait, I'm getting a call on my iPhone, hold on.

[paloooz @ Oct 22nd 2007 4:19AM]

Did you really type "I know I'm a fanboy?"
You don't need to spell out what RDF stands for.

I mean, after that I might as well have just shot myself than spend time reading the rest of your comment.

[Teras @ Oct 22nd 2007 10:57AM]

1.2 Million units sold in one year, I wouldnt call that a flop. That is the best anybody has ever done against Apple.

[Sam @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:03AM]

Palooz- I wasn't exactly serious in that comment. And sometimes people don't know what RDF means.

[granny down east @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:00PM]

Yeah, I thought RDF stood for Radio Direction Finder.
I'm nerdy in a different way.

[ToonPac @ Oct 22nd 2007 12:08PM]

Great deal, I'd have one of these (in a case to hide the ugliness) over an iPod any day.

Zen > Zune > iPod

[James Ollier @ Oct 22nd 2007 4:27AM]

Funny how evryone bashes the original Zune, but as soon as its cheap they magically change their minds and think actually, the original Zune is amazing!

[Paul @ Oct 22nd 2007 8:43AM]

Well... when you shave $170 off something it tends to become a better deal.

Also the fact that all the firmware updates will work retroactively on all currently purchased Zunes means you are getting one heck of a bang for your buck here.

Lets see apple release their firmware updates for previous iPods and you would probably see some excitement over them too. But apple will never do that because the iPod is their gravy train and they rely on planned obsolescence to make their money.

[James Ollier @ Oct 22nd 2007 2:41PM]

I agree, but the Zune 1 was obsolete from the day it was released

[Ryan P @ Oct 22nd 2007 5:01PM]

At least Microsoft is supporting their hardware. Apple is happy to let everyone twist in the wind a year after purchase and pay for an OS that's barely a service pack.

[James Ollier @ Oct 22nd 2007 7:16PM]

How dare anyone call this a "Service Pack"

Last lime i checked, MS released Windows service packs that fixed stuff that was rotton in the original release, along with small changes ie: a firewall, wifi and bluetooth support, a pop-up blocker for IE.

Wow, mind blowing stuff...


Each OSX upgrade has seen significant new feaures, better stability, upgrades to free new apps and speed increases, not to mention the seamless integration from PowerPC chips to Intel!


As ironic as it sounds, these apples ain't rotton!

[adamantypants @ Oct 22nd 2007 4:36AM]

I never really hated on the Zunes.

But then again I'm adamantly against iPod and Apple in general.

And to anybody on the fence about this, check out today's woot on sellout.woot.com....

[DAZA @ Oct 22nd 2007 7:15AM]

Sweet, I bought two. Impossible to get Zune's in Australia (unless you want to pay $340) so I picked these two up. Was a bit hesitant about the brown colour, but I realised it's ultimately a digital audio player which I will not look at most of the times. When I watch videos the brown case wont bother me either.

Oh, and the price is unbelievable.

[Hardy @ Oct 22nd 2007 9:31AM]

I picked up the Black 30gb Woot! had the other day for $100 and I can honestly say that I like it more than my iPod. Sure the lack of a scroll wheel takes a little getting used to, but I think mankind was using many devices sans touch wheel for most of documented history. The only downside really is the lack of integration with other electronics. I have a ipod adapter for my Pioneer headunit and I could just toss the ipod in the glove box and forget about it. Now I'll have to string a wire from my cig lighter down to the console and use FM. :( Whoa is me.