Brown Zune now Amazon's #1-selling DAP

It was exactly one year ago today we first laid our eyes on the brown Zune, and it's been an interesting ride ever since -- the little scamp's been smashed, gutted, and blown out, but never beaten, and now it's number one. You heard correct -- as of right now, Amazon's number one-selling DAP is the brown Zune 30, at the low, low price of $89. Of course, the black and white Zune 30s have been at the top before, but there's just something heartwarming seeing ol' Brownie up top, isn't there?

[Thanks, Marc]

[John @ Nov 13th 2007 2:16PM]

from the screenshot, it looks like this isn't one of those "iPods aren't filed under MP3 players" scenarios.

[Carlos @ Nov 13th 2007 4:47PM]

It's updated hourly - give it an hour for it to change. It's probably an inside job between Microsoft and Engadget -

MS: "hey Engadget if we buy a whole bunch of Brown Zunes at 1pm PST from Amazon will you report the story? We will send you some free Zunes!"

Engadget: "Can you send us an iPod Touch instead?"

MS: "yeah I guess"

Endgadget: "sure we will breach journalistic integrity, wooo hooo!!"

Seriously though, I dont know that the Amazon sales ranker is the best way of measuring the success of a device. From what I have seen it's not very accurate becuase some items are miss categorized or fragmented into color and version number. This doesn't allow all DAPs to compete on an even field.

[TKWarrior @ Nov 13th 2007 6:19PM]

Yeah..... I doubt MS and Engadget have any kind of friendly relationship. Did you read the Zune 2 "review"? I use quotes because merriam-webster will not let me use that word unless I do.

To bad you can't post comments there anymore. The "author" got upset the public was criticizing her. And on a site's comment section of all places! The nerve of those people!

[Garst @ Nov 14th 2007 3:58PM]

Not likely an inside job. A 30GB PVP for $90 is damn hard to pass up, and the brown does sell faster than the white one.

[Carlos @ Nov 14th 2007 6:10PM]

relax peeps, it was just a joke.

Apparently its still #1 today so good for brown!

people take this whole Zune vs iPod thing way to seriously - they are just MP3 players - unless your a total brainwashed fanboy you will use the one with the best features for your taste.

I happen to agree with Engadget, Microsoft has the potential to make a killer DAP - not sure why they think they need to compete with iPods at all.

[blade417 @ Nov 13th 2007 2:16PM]

crap, I bought mine from newegg.com for $99

I could've saved 10 more bucks if I would've shopped around....

Oh well, now to find a case for it to hide the brown.....

help me out guys

[RJR @ Nov 13th 2007 2:27PM]

Heck, I'd buy a Zune for $89. Do they work with Macs?

[imacmatt09 @ Nov 13th 2007 2:53PM]

@RJR

No, that's the only reason I'm not getting one.

[Bullitt @ Nov 13th 2007 3:30PM]

Damn it, RJR, I cannot believe you didn't know that. For once Microsoft is going the apple way by only having the device for select machines(although it might work in boot camp)

[crescentdavid @ Nov 13th 2007 5:09PM]

From Amazon: Back-ordered. Due in stock December 12. Of course it's this price ... the second generation have hit and it's clearance time for the first generation. This is just the advance pricing on the line ...

[RedBull Runner @ Nov 14th 2007 12:14AM]

Bullit, what are you smoking? iPods officially work with OSX and Windows 2000/XP/Vista.

They also show up basically just like hard drives (so you can store files on them and use it as a portable hard drive) and there are third party, open source utilities made for linux.

As far as i Know, there are no easy to use utilities available to OSX or linux users for the zune. Basically creating a closed platform for it. either use windows or hit the road, and if MS wants iPod like market share, they really should create at least a minimal, easy to use mac software for the zunes. That is pretty much the only reason that I simply walk by the zunes laughing while listening to my 30gig 5.5gen iPod. As long as it doesn't work on OSX or linux I will simply ignore it.

[waiownsyou @ Nov 13th 2007 2:16PM]

".. there's just SOMETHING* heartwarming..."

and lol, poop-colored Zoooooooon

[Kenn North @ Nov 13th 2007 2:17PM]

Now the price is up to $127. It's expensive to be number one.

[alexmueller @ Nov 13th 2007 2:30PM]

thats another merchant, you need to select amazon from the merchant list on the right, it's out of stock though

[shanoboy @ Nov 13th 2007 2:20PM]

Eh, I actually really like the poopy brown zune. I'm proud to own one.

Hey, I'm with blade417, someone post some links to some tight Zune cases. I need one too, not to cover up the color though.

[JoeT @ Nov 13th 2007 3:01PM]

I looked into Zune cases recently, and found the following two to have good reviews. (Note that I wasn't looking at silicon or hard plastic or metal cases.) Both have belt clips (swivel for Speck, tensile spring for Belkin), neither fits in the dock.
Speck Toughskin:
http://tinyurl.com/2239bu
Belkin Leather:
http://tinyurl.com/ype4sh

(I ordered the Belkin, just a personal preference, probably the Speck gives better protection.)

[Shawn @ Nov 13th 2007 3:09PM]

The invisibleSHIELD for the Zune is pretty good. It'll do a good job of keepin that poopy brown Zune scratch free.

http://www.shieldzone.com/item_description/MSFTZN.html

[Craig @ Nov 13th 2007 9:28PM]

At $89 who cares if it gets scratched? You could take this one to the beach. No worries!

[farfisa @ Nov 13th 2007 2:20PM]

Ah, floatin' to the top like a nice healthy poo...

[riggs @ Nov 13th 2007 2:23PM]

you win the intarwebs

[3rdsun @ Nov 13th 2007 2:52PM]

brown Zune is tha shit

[jason w @ Nov 13th 2007 2:22PM]

I bought the $89.00 one last week. Its sitting right here.

The brown is not bad looking unless you are under normal light.

[SleeplessKn1ght @ Nov 13th 2007 3:37PM]

How might one find "abnormal" light?

[jason w @ Nov 13th 2007 4:18PM]

I mean “florescent lights”. Natural light it looks great.

[jason w @ Nov 13th 2007 4:19PM]

I mean “florescent lights”. Natural light it looks great.

[shanoboy @ Nov 13th 2007 2:24PM]

Maybe if they keep these things cheap like this for a while a decent size install base will form and I'll be able to enjoy the whole "social" experience for once. I'm yet to find anyone to share a damn song with!

[Tom @ Nov 13th 2007 2:26PM]

the brown zune look way better than anyone expected in person, no screenshot has caught its quality yet.
reason why it sell now is that everyone ive shown it to was amazed at how the real life one can change their impression of the zune completely. even i used to ignore the thing completely until i spot a discount online, bought it and are amazed how a decent thing like that is ignored.

[Ricardo Dawkins @ Nov 13th 2007 2:27PM]

More than 2 weeks as electronics #1 gadget on Amazon for the brown Zune 30. Engadget is late to the Social.

And it is #1 on www.cnet.com Top 20 Gadget list. Besting the Wii, iPhone and iTouch.
http://www.cnet.com/4520-4_1-6541088-1.html

Welcome to the Social, Engadget.

[Jason @ Nov 13th 2007 3:07PM]

Actually as of this week the Zune is #4 on the list (just behind the Wii and ahead of the iPhone). And it's the Zune80, which isn't even out yet. It's also the only Zune on that list of 20 'most wanted' gadgets, whereas the iPhone, Touch, and 8GB Nano are all in there (interesting that the Classic isn't, neither are the new 4/8 Zunes though I have to say the Zune80 would be the one I'd want).

And if you look at the top 25 MP3 players on Amazon -right now- 13 are iPods, with 3 of them in the top 5 most popular players.

At their current price point, I'm not too surprised that the Zune30 is the top seller. The iPod 80GB Classic is a slightly better deal on a cost per GB basis, but at ~$249 it's more than what a lot of folks (ie: parents/friends) want to spend on a DAP for Christmas. $127 for a 30GB player with a relatively big screen, or better yet $99 at newegg or the $89 Amazon deal, makes it almost a no-brainer, especially looking at the 4GB nano for $149.

[RyanTV @ Nov 13th 2007 2:27PM]

it must be a seriously slow news day for you guys to be reporting this one. seriously. c'mon.

[Ricardo Dawkins @ Nov 13th 2007 2:29PM]

drop to #4. LOL

[Daren @ Nov 13th 2007 5:22PM]

what do you thinks going to happen when they sell out?
Keep selling units? Come-on'!

[Anto @ Nov 13th 2007 2:31PM]

Those Zune things look like c**p! Urgh!! I feel sick.

[Justin @ Nov 13th 2007 2:37PM]

I call BS on that one. Nobody gets sick that easily.

Sarcasm, you say? Sorry, still stupid.

[Anto @ Nov 13th 2007 3:05PM]

Who said anything about sarcasm, I meant it!

[Justin @ Nov 13th 2007 3:08PM]

I'd head off to the doc to get yourself checked out for Irritable Bowel Syndrome, in that case.

[Alan Strangis @ Nov 13th 2007 3:52PM]

Or Irritable Brain Syndrome. ;)

[Anto @ Nov 13th 2007 7:36PM]

Or irritable Zune syndrome! LOL I'd be VERY irritable if I owned one of those pieces of sh*t!

[coach @ Nov 13th 2007 2:31PM]

30 GB for $90 is a sweet deal, whatever you may think of the Zune.

[Superevil @ Nov 13th 2007 2:52PM]

I agree. I never wanted a Zune before but now I'd totally get one for that price.

[suikerklontje @ Nov 13th 2007 2:32PM]

Does anyone know a website that ships zunes to europe ?

[Josh L @ Nov 13th 2007 4:09PM]

http://www.ebay.com

[Andy S. @ Nov 13th 2007 4:56PM]

No, but for $90 I will crap in a box and mail that to you. Trust me, it's a better deal.

[Justin @ Nov 13th 2007 2:32PM]

It's only $127 now because Amazon themselves ran out of them. The higher price is someone else's, Blue Proton to be precise.

[JoeT @ Nov 13th 2007 3:00PM]

No, on the right, under "More Buying Choices," you'll see the Amazon $89.99 offer. I made the same mistake. Ships Dec. 11th.

[Justin @ Nov 13th 2007 3:08PM]

That's pretty much what I said. Amazon ran out. That's what backorder means.

[Ryan P @ Nov 13th 2007 2:35PM]

I'm still waiting on my Brownie from the Woot sale to come back because it was DOA. That one was 80 bucks and apparently they way oversold their stock.

[JeffM @ Nov 13th 2007 2:36PM]

Personally I love the brown Zune, I'm not sure why all electronics have to be wild-ass colors and that can't be a little more subtle.

If MS would have launched a brown Zune 80 I would seriously contemplate buying one. The gen 1 is just too big for exercising- which is probably where I would use it the most.

[Peter @ Nov 13th 2007 2:45PM]

I still have yet to see one of these in public. Are people buying them and using them secretly at home?

[T-Bone @ Nov 13th 2007 3:32PM]

I saw one in public once, literally just one time.