The new Zune: better than before, but not quite good enough
By Ryan Block 
posted November 13th 2007 2:42PM
posted November 13th 2007 2:42PM
Well, we've been playing with the new Zune hardware (as well as the software update to our first gen device), and there's no mistake about it: Microsoft's really put their nose to the grindstone, prettying it up and filling out essential features that should have been there on day one, like podcasting support and wireless syncing. But we also think Microsoft's invested so much time mastering the basics that technologically it's fallen even further behind the pack than before. Will this new hardware cure what ails the Zune? Read on for the full review.
- QVGA display
- WiFi (now with wireless sync)
- WMV, H.264, and MPEG-4 video support
- MP3 and WMA audio
- Track sharing (up to three plays and now with the ability to pass along shared songs)
So while it's safe to say that many of last year's kinks have been worked through, there's still no dearth of stuff to find fault in with this year's product. Let's start with the essentials that weren't added (and that we're sorely missing), like a video download store and games (hey, contacts and simple apps would be nice too). And then there's the fact that Mac users are still left out of the party; sorry Microsoft, we're not fielding further excuses here, it's time to get your head in the game and hit Apple where it hurts. If they can develop iTunes for Windows then the largest software company in the world can develop Zune for OS X. The assumption that Mac users represent a mere fraction of consumer electronics buyers is plain wrongheaded, and ignoring the halo effect, which is drawing increasing numbers of users to the Mac platform, is actually costing Microsoft business in desktops. The fact is that these days you can't take a gadget -- even a Microsoft gadget -- very seriously unless it takes platforms other than Windows seriously. (We know the Windows fanboys in the house just winced, but deep down they probably know we're right.) And the painful part is sometimes all it means to take users seriously on other platforms is making the device mass-storage compliant.
There's also the fact that all our Zunes are virginal to this day because of the lack of other devices -- and incentive -- to share share tracks on the go. The Zune Social online network is supposed to give a boost to song sharing among Zune users, giving users the means to send along tracks on the web. But we think someone forgot to pass Microsoft the memo that millions of people have been sharing music -- DRM free music! -- for nearly a decade. In fact, it's that very online music sharing that gave the portable media market a purpose and its first dose of content, and no one's ever needed a hand from Redmond to do so. And then there are those overhyped interface tweaks, which really just amount to some eye candy, vaguely rearranged and tweaked menus, and massive home screen fonts we're sure our cataracts-ridden great aunt Gertie will have zero problem reading. We'll take 'em, but it's hardly a whole new Zune experience, if you ask us.
We'd also be remiss if we didn't point out the fact that while the new Zune lineup is priced competitively with the iPods classic and nano, technologically we still feel cheated. What's the point of a huge screen and WiFi if you can't do anything interesting with it? WiFi sharing is still a joke, there's no over the air podcast downloads, and while wireless sync is nice, but definitely not the killer app that will set the Zune apart. We're sure the eight Engadget readers that formed the Schenectady Zune Users' Group are totally stoked to be able to share and re-share tracks that can each only be played three times, but the rest of us have moved on to the concept that a WiFi-equipped portable should do start doing useful things like download new content while we're out, or at very least have a lightweight browser -- like the Archos 605 WiFi and iPod touch, to name a couple. And for our money, the new Sansa View is still the flash portable to beat for the Zunes 8 and 4; for what you're paying to get an 8GB Zune you could be getting 16GB of capacity from SanDisk -- and with a far larger screen to boot.
The first time around, we were disappointed less by the Zune's many shortcomings than by the fact that instead of creating something new, Microsoft essentially released a shoddy, hacked-together collection of white-label Microsoft products: Portable Media Center as the Zune UI; Toshiba's GigaBeat S as the Zune hardware; Windows Media Player as Zune desktop software; Urge as Zune Marketplace. Well, good on Microsoft for spending the last year rebuilding the Zune foundation and making sure to dot and cross more of the Is and Ts this time. But there's still a fundamental disconnect; Microsoft is spending all its time trying convince people to share music with Zune when the Zune team could be whipping up devices that current iPod users will actually sit up and take notice of.
For the second year running the Zune and its anti-Apple pedigree squanders its unique position to chase after the iPod-disenfranchised; it offers nothing special to ex-iPod owners, nor anything innovative to the proto-geeks looking to buy just about anything but an Apple product. It doesn't do much anything better, cheaper, or all that differently from its primary competition, and it's further behind today's leading edge devices, like the 605 WiFi and the touch, than the original Zune line was last year. When we really look at the product, perhaps FM radio aside, we can't think of a single compelling reason to recommend it to an iPod user that's ready to upgrade or switch -- and we don't even have any particular affinity for iPods.
So Zune, same place, same time in late 2008? Bring your A-game, do something new. We'll be ready.
I hate iTunes because it inexplicably splits up my albums. Out of the 3000ish songs I loaded into iTunes (my classical music is all stored in unsupported formats :/ ), the vast majority are full albums, and about 10% of those are split up into seperate albums when in any format that shows albums. If I'm lucky, it splits it up in a numerical fashion; for example Evil Empire is split up into two albums called Evil Empire, one being tracks 1-4 and the other being 5-11, which lets me just show everything as a list and play through it in order. If I'm NOT lucky, it will split the album into three parts with seemingly random tracks so that I'm forced to show only the one album and sort by track number, which means that I have to switch the sort back in order to search through my albums again. That's my main problem, there are others, but those mainly affect my iPod, but hopefully the 5.5g I just bought to replace my recently broken 5.5g will work better.
Hey thanks for the feedback. That is a significant problem. I usually look for songs rather than albums, but I have found that it's a pain to order the songs on an album in iTunes if I've done a sort by any other criteria. I've also never been able to figure out how to use the "part of a compilation" checkbox, but that's probably because I'm too lazy to read the instructions.
Cheers!
I have a macbook... I love it, and itunes works great on that. However, the PC version of itunes just feels janky. Syncing is just terrible, for example, every time I sync songs from my PC, explorer will pop up with the ipod drive, and then disappear when syncing is done. Also, it always runs processes in the background, even when the program isn't running. It might not be itunes so much as it might just be Windows. I doubt it's Apples biggest priority to make sure Windows users have a nice experience.
Mac owners, try to use zune with boot camp! Another thing that makes me sad is that it's not available in Canada :(
I really think you guys missed the whole point of "the social" and its sharing capabilities. Sure we've been sharing (aka stealing) music for years but we were very targeted with the music we were looking for. The Social now provides the capability to browse other's music tastes where they intersect with yours. As for comparing it to an iPod, it still has more features. Here is the only compelling reason to ever switch to something ... you want to. I've got a Video iPod that I haven't touched since I got my first gen Zune. And I no longer buy music, I rent it :) Now I'm not stuck with crap like ChumbaWumba anymore!
I've always been one to defend Engadget when readers accuse it of being pro-Apple, but this "review" is inexcusable. The whole review had a negative tone from the start. Is this a Zune review, or an iPod review?
While it's understandable to compare it to the iPod because it's the market leader, a new product deserves to be reviewed based on its own merits.
Using the Zune under Boot Camp? I thought of that too, but I don't think it's that simple. From what I understand, the file structure of Windows and Mac is different, so by booting up in Windows, you can't access the music stored on your Mac partition. Or am I mistaken? Besides, aren't they charging extra for Boot Camp now? I think MS should add Mac compatibility. Honestly, they're big enough, why not. Can it really be that hard for them? Besides, it may even run better on a Mac like Office does! And if they really want to get some of Apple's market share, why not hit 'em where it hurts?
On another note, I'm still looking at the Zune, but the iPod looks pretty good too. Only, I want it for video, and you can see which wins there...
For music, I'm quite happy with my Sony NW-HD5. For a 3-4 yr old device, it's way better on capacity than a baby Zune or Nano, while still being smaller than their big brothers. And you just can't beat the sound quality!
And you were all doing so well until now... and to throw away that momentum over a weak pun headline ('New Zoo Revue' indeed) :)
Most of the other posts here have it right, but I've seen it lots of times before. The usual Apple mindset is: if X is missing a feature an Apple product has, it's garbage.. if X has a feature an Apple product doesn't have, the feature is irrelevent.
Thus we get people saying the FM radio is irrelevent (really? I listen to my FM radio a lot... that's how I find out about new music).
WiFi sharing is irrelevent (perhaps, but that's because there aren't that many Zunes out there yet - Apple has quite a few years headstart on Microsoft in this market).
WiFi synching is irrelevent (uh.. oddly just last night I would have killed to have this feature rather than having to go dig out my connector just to copy two videos onto the Zune).
No web browser, so it's crap (well, yes, that would be nice - but the Zune isn't competing with the iPod touch, so that's not really fair... and the Zune doesn't have a touch screen either).
iPods are thinner/lighter. Yep, they are - but not by that much. These are already fairly small and light devices. iPod wins this one, but how much hair splitting is enough? (Personally, I kind of like the heft of the Zune 30 - but then again, I like the chocolate-mint version).
The Zune 80 compares to the iPod 80/160.
The Zune 4/8 compares to the iPod nano 4/8.
The iPod touch isn't in this comparison as it's a different class of device. Similarly, the Zune 30 was last year's version, so it shouldn't be in this comparison either.
When you stack them up that way, the Zune holds its own quite well.
Some examples:
Weight: iPod 80 - 4.9 oz. Zune 80 - 4.5 oz.
Size: iPod 80 - 103.5 x 62.8 x 10.5mm. Zune 80 - 108.2 x 61.1 x 12.9 mm.
Which means the Zune 80 is 5mm taller, 1.9mm narrower and 2.4mm thicker... yet it has a 3.2" glass covered screen vs the iPod 80's 2.4" screen... and manages to come in .4 oz lighter than the iPod 80 as well.
There are some weaknesses - as many have noted, the smart playlist feature seems to have vanished - and these should be noted (which, oddly, you didn't).
Does the Zune 'beat' the iPod? No. But neither does the iPod beat the Zune. These are two different approaches and neither is right for everyone.
Maybe it's time to stop comparing Apples and oranges and start looking at the benefits and weaknesses of these things on their own merit as they apply to typical end users?
Oh, who am I kidding... like that will ever happen?
I've closed comments on this thread. The assertions I've made are pretty clear if you're willing to actually read the article. I'm not saying the Zune is worse than the competing iPods, but I am saying Microsoft is taking the wrong approach here.
Maybe you don't agree, but the "Apple bias" accusations are beyond tired. There's no grand scheme to pump up one side over the other -- we love great products, and I think the Zune today is a far better product than it was last year. I don't necessarily think it's better or worse than the iPod classic or nano, but it's definitely behind the leading edge of portable media hardware.
Believe it or not, it's actually possible to give a negative review of a product without having some bizarre, irrational hatred of the company that created it. I'm still looking forward to the next generation of Zunes, and hope that team can use the power of Microsoft to actually redefine the portable media market instead of play catchup with the leader.
Update: Since a lot of people apparently can't handle a more analytical, less-typical review format, I've taken the word "review" out of the title. Perhaps that will help keep things in line with expectations.
*laughs* Ooo... someone's getting touchy.
Dude - you can yell or you can listen. Clearly, you'd rather yell.
But the fact is, WE see the bias even if you don't... which is usually how it goes, you know. I read your review all the way through and sorry, it really wasn't a review at all. Most of your complaints apply equally to the iPods (except maybe the iPod touch) and yet, I haven't seen a single criticial review of those products...
Bias dude... whether you want to admit it to yourself or not.
You really need to hire on a few pro-Microsoft or better - truely brand-indifferent writers to balance out your articles. Then you wouldn't have to go off in a tizzy when people don't agree with you and call you on bias. :)
Cheers mate.
(PS, you accidentally slammed my defense of Engadget over on Gizmodo where I noted I voted for you guys because even though I've been critical of your posts - you still seem to let everyone post... :)
Boo hoo they are being mean to me on the internet :(
He even took my comment down for calling him a baby. Don t lock the comments section. If you cant take the abuse from people commenting on what you wrote, don't write it. Clearly theres a problem with how you reviewed/bashed the Zune, or else so many people wouldn't comment so passionately. And if you don't find a problem with what you wrote, well thats obvious, YOU WROTE IT!
It doesn't play nicely with Macs because Mac fans are very, very, very unlikely to abandon Apple products for Microsoft products. Just a simple fact. You can't much get around that. Apple has vastly superior brand loyalty.
As for me, you could not pay me to deal with iTunes. iTunes is massive, ugly, and useless. It's a terrible desktop hog, full of pointless information. Give me a tiny rectangular player with a simple playlist function. iTunes doesn't do that. And every time I start it two or three helper apps start as well, none of which close when iTunes does. Again, no thank you.
I have an iPod. But I will never use iTunes. And, now, I'll likely go away from the iPod with my next player. Will it be a Zune? Probably, unless I decide I want video, then it's absolutely the Archos 605.
Ryan, it sounds like you WANT Microsoft to do more in this space, but at the same time, you're going out of your way to be overly critical. When put head to head with the iPod classic, the Zune wins for those who use Windows PCs for sync.
The new Zune 80: Bigger screen, prettier interface, radio and codec support when compared to the iPod classic, not the touch and the Archos. That's what the majority of Wallyworld buyers want. I think gen 2 Zunes are a safe bet from Microsoft's point of view. The EXCLUSIVELY Mac users I know would never even entertain hooking anything other than an iPod to their precious machines. Yeah, I know a lot of dickish advertising types who think that way. ;)
Microsoft isn't going to lose a lot without Mac compatibility, at least for another generation or two, even if the Mac computer user base climbs as it has over the past couple of years. Apple needed to have Windows compatibility for the iPod because Windows is dominant.
And there's some irony buried somewhere regarding the differences between the average consumer and the average gadget reviewer (and engadget reader), given that the Brown Zune is #1 on Amazon right now.
Just an observation.
Ryan you said the zune is behind new tech...so what if mac has the itouch, its 150 dollars more, with 16gb of space. its a differnet kind of gagdet. I think microsoft was competiting with the ipod line up...the classic and the nano, not the itouch nor the iphone.
Apple has never made video watching on an ipod comfortable, at least with the Zune or the itouch (then again this is a 400 device) you can rotate the device!
iPod Classic vs Zune 80
iPod Nano vs the zune 4/8
its clear who the winner is, but you forgot to mention it in your essay.
Mac support NEEDS to be included. True, the market share isn't nearly as high as Windows, but look at it this way:
College students love Macs! College students love cool, flashy, social devices! (and iPods are so NOT social devices)
Oh, and I want one and I use a Mac, so that's reason enough, right? :)
Also, you failed to mention the new website. Have you even tried it? It is great. I love how you can easily view other peoples music lists, flip through their last played albums, send messages, and add firends to your list. This is a great way to share music ideas with each other.
And what is the gripe about the 3 play rule? This is great. It allows people to send you a track to listen to, to see if you like it enough to buy it. The key here is BUY IT! You know freely swappable DRM-free music and videos over main stream devices will never be available, so stop demoting these products for not allowing it.
We used to all complain that music services did not allow drm free mp3's. Now they do. Wake up people, there is nothing more to complain about. Stop being so negative with your reviews.
I am not clear on where the reviewer's mindset is coming from. I can't tell whether he loves iPods or hates Zunes. I can't decide whether he wants to date Steve Jobs or murder Bill Gates. The review couldn't be less subjective if it were written by Jobs himself.
Waaaaaa...I can't use the Zune on a Mac. Who cares? The only people who use Macs are graphic designers and losers who think a computer has to look aesthetically pleasing to be useful. The Zune was developed by Microsoft for use in a Microsoft world, baby! Get with the program and call a spade a spade. Oh, and you might want to get used to people not developing hardware and software for Macs. Have you ever gone out to buy software? Didn't you notice that 80% of all the software available for retail purchase is for the pc platform? I am not trying to be snide here, but there's a simple reason for that - there are more pc's in the wild than Macs. PERIOD.
Why don't you go back to square one and look at the Zune from a serious standpoint.
1. You can wirelessly sync the Zune. Can the iPod do this? Nope.
2. You can listen to FM radio on the Zune. Can you do this with your iPod? Nope. This feature may or may not seem important to you but trust me, the first time you are out using your iPod and you want to catch a local sports-cast and you can't, you will be missing this feature.
3. Zune Marketplace is growing astronomically. Have you looked at it lately, review-man? Apparently not, the way you glossed over it. Come on - if you expect me to continue to read your stuff, you have to start doing a better job disseminating facts.
4. Can I get a drum-roll please??? This is the big one, and you guys overlooked it - and this is the crux of why I (or anyone else thinking about replacing their iPod) would purchase a Zune - you can pull recorded television programs directly off your Windows Vista Media Center pc. Yep, you heard me - if you want to record an episode of the Office and watch it on your portable device later, you can - and you can do it for free. You want to do that through iTunes? Oh wait - didn't NBC just cancel their contract with Jobs & Co? Even if they hang on to that content, it's going to to cost you to watch programs. While you are sitting there trying to figure out how many programs you can watch every month on your iTunes budget, I am going to be recording shows and watching them for FREE!!! See you later, iPod - it was a nice relationship, and frankly, there's still a special place in my heart for you. I hope you fare well on eBay.
I am not asking you to be pro-M$ or an Apple basher. They are both nice products. How about some objectivity and more facts about why someone would benefit from owning a Zune? Or is that just asking for too much?
Also, while behind the leaders, is it behind those in its price-range?
I ask honestly. I feel the iPod Touch was behind the Archos 605, by quite a bit, based on the price range. The Touch is a much prettier package, but I'd rather full flash browsing and freedom to use any media codec rather than iTunes compatible ones.
But the Archos 605 is pretty costly, and are their cheaper products really superior to what Apple and Microsoft are doing?
This "review" is silly. Microsoft is, to a large degree, wanting to inject a well established consumer electronics category with its own sense of style and useability, and it succeeds greatly. The new interface is a pleasure to use. I just want to take music with me in a device I enjoy, and I really don't require Microsoft or anyone else to dramatically reinvent the wheel here. But since you mention it, can we talk about Zunepass? It's not new but with this release they have made subscription music utterly easy and exciting. The other day I downloaded 10 Herbie Hancock albums in anticipation of seeing him live at no extra cost. That is awesome. Just this one issue puts Apple in the dark ages as far as I'm concerned.
I've actually noticed a big performance increase since I installed the new firmware on my 30gb Zune... the transitions and graphics are much smoother.
so, yay M$ for the update.
Interesting rant...uh...review.
From my years of experience of the mac community, 1 out of 10 apple users would use a better ms product. They would just sit and wait for an apple alternative, but in the mean time, find and highlight every niggling fault of the ms product just to make themselves feel better.
Well thanks for your insight Mr Block. Even the more apple partisan blog that came second place to your "blog", seemed to like it. Though notably, they aren't as high brow as your "blog".
I own a few Apple products and I know the Zune is trying to catch up, but Ryan Block, your "review" is not objective "enough". All you've done is say how bad the Zune is compared to the ipod and all I wanted from you was to tell me what features the Zune has and whether it uses these features satisfactorily. It's a shame you failed at that.
This is what the review should have been...
If you're a pompous geek, and/or computer illiterate then get the Ipod.
Everyone else get the zune30 or Sansa
And next time you review a music player make sure you review the quality of the audio being reproduced.
"The assumption that Mac users represent a mere fraction of consumer electronics buyers is plain wrongheaded.."
I hate to break it to the author but Mac computer make up less than 8% of the total number of PCs. Sure I'd love a MP3 player that runs on DOS, Windows, OSX, every flavor of Lunix and Unix, and mainframes but that really doesn't make a lot of sense.
I don't agree with this review. A pink 80GB with one of those sweet art engravings on the back is compelling to me. My white iPod with "iPod" engraved on the back is not compelling to me. I will buy a pink, engraved Zune.
my Zune was $300 cheaper than the iTouch. How can they even be compared?
Let me see....Apple can dumb down their user interface for OSX and everyone jumps for joy. Microsoft cleans up and de-complicates the Zune software and everyone complains, where the tag editor, wheres FLAC and OGG. You know the average person on the street that buys these devices knows nothing about Codecs, Tags, and the other technical stuff that goes on behind the scenes. They just want to use the device like an appliance.
There are alternatives for all those that want a different device and software. Look at RockBox and MonkeyAudio...
I was happy with my cell phone being my media player until I actually needed to make a call and realized that my playing music drained the battery...duh...so I also looked for the best price ease of use device and it was Zune....
Do they actually sell Zune anywhere else but the US yet?
I see iPods everywhere and Zunes are only on he Web. MSFT is like a giant flywheel picking up some speed and is going to shatter iPods the same way it crashed Apple and in the process whiped it's a*s by WordPerfect and Lotus 123 spreadsheet.
I looked at the old Zune and for $90 it beats the crap out of $250 ipod by almost three times.
Those Redomont's 800lbs gorillas will be very difficult to fence off.
I'm not going to mention how much this review sucked... because that has been done plenty of times now.
If I had the money I would be buying a new Zune today. I own two of them, both of which were bought after I had my 60GB iPod for a while. I stopped using the iPod completely after buying my first Zune. The screen is bigger than the iPod. The storage is the same. It has a radio tuner. It has WiFi and lets me SYNC OVER WIFI!!! How is that not a major bonus?! The iPod Touch is a joke. Seriously... if you're going to have a player be that freaking big put a damn hard drive in it and give it decent storage... of course, it probably would have cost twice as much if they were to do that. I don't need my digital audio/video player to have a calendar, or an address book, or a web browser. I have a phone that does all that crap(and no, it is not an iPhone). I want a player that plays my music well, has a large screen so watching videos on it doesn't hurt(unlike my 60GB iPod), and looks halfway decent. I love my brown Zune. I love my black Zune. I'm probably going to try and get a new Zune for Christmas with some of the bitchin artwork from ZuneOriginals engraved on the back FOR FREE(as in beer). I haven't had a chance to upgrade my old Zunes but I will do so as soon as I get home and install the 64bit Zune software. Oh yeah, and another thing Apple has going against them... iTunes will not run on my XPx64 system. It crashes my system when I run it, and crashes my system when I try to upgrade it, and crashes my system when I try to uninstal it. So I just leave it be and NEVER open it. I actually use my Zune software to play music and do things with... even thought it isn't 64 bit I found the workaround online. That was my biggest complaint about the original Zune was that it did not support XPx64. It does now, and I can't wait to see the updated firmware. My two Zune 30s are possibly two of my favorite devices and I think they, even being older than the iPod Classic, are better in just about every way except storage capacity. And even that can be upgraded if I really felt like it.
I can't help but feel that everyone (ipods includes) are running the same race finding new ways to get to the finish line but get there and find out they have a deep hidden phobia of paper tape keeping them from actually finishing.
Ipod, Itunes ... Can't stand you simply because your products are flashing but your stranglehold on yourself will eventually make your hands hairy.
Archos, thanks for the tank but seriously ... I would rather buy a PS3 and mod a screen and backpack battery pack to it.
Zune ... yeah awesome product this should have been the launch with a year later with a fully realized browser and wifi with connections to not only Zune marketplace but various other cotent providers. Integration to the media center (including 2005 to hell with vista).
Seriously can anyone figure this out? Give me a sweet MP3 player with mass storage and a great interface to hell with your video and wi-fi if you aren't going to make it easily streamable.
If you are going to give me everything, then give me everything. Not just almost. I am not dropping a weeks pay on something I will replace in a year. Learn from computers, is that where most of you come from?? Learn to work in the new marketplace and economy stop trying to retrofit peoples mindsets to work with tired ideals and concepts.
This year is the year of the so close but not enough as far as gadgets are concerned. The whole world is ashamed for you.
This was so lopsided.
Ryan -- your point about Mac support really doesn't make any sense. The length at which you harp on about it makes your bias pretty clear (to us at least - you still seem to be in denial).
The reason: you simply haven't considered cost. It takes an army of designers, coders, testers to make an application like iTunes/Zune Client etc. Even if most of the design is portable, the code for the most part will not be. The test effort will be doubled. Microsoft will have to staff the entire team as well -- there is no way they can internally sprout a team that is familiar with OS-X APIs, test automation, etc. etc. We're talking many millions of dollars, and all this for a platform that has less than 5% of the PC market, and has a userbase that is mostly hostile to Microsoft's products.
So you see, it's not as simple as saying "iTunes works with Windows, so Zune should work with OS-X". The cost-benefit analysis yields wildly different results for Apple and MS, on supporting users on each others platforms. And keep in mind that the Zune division is already bleeding cash while trying to catch up, so it's not like they can disregard fiscal responsibility and create a Mac Zune Client just to avoid biased reviews like yours.
One last thing: your closing line really gives away the fact that you did not approach this review with an open mind. When you say, "So Zune, same place, same time in late 2008? Bring your A-game, do something new. We'll be ready.", you completely drop all pretense that this is a review, and finally make it sound like what it is -- a chance for you to bash the Zune.
Hopefully the next time you're asked to review a product that you already have a bias for (or against), you will do the right thing and decline. I suggest that, because recognizing one's biases is one thing, but overcoming them is much harder. And in the meantime, the quality of Engadgets content goes down.
man the software update for the PC is so backwards man, it has less editing options and is more stubborn with the album categorizing. Woot sold them for what they are exactly worth
It's the New Zune Revieeewww...it coming at you.
what are you talking about???
this was a pretty unbiased review, not an editorial
and yes, the Zune does suck, mainly because it's ugly and its knockout feature (wifi) is next to useless
please stop with the blatant fanboying!!!
No one with perfect mental health can change a rolls-royce like premium device (iPod) for a rusty vw beetle with no motor at all (zune). The problem starts when you Just put both devices on your hand. First you feel quality and strength of metal bottom combined with curved sweet lines and great design (ipod) then you feel the cheap plastic crap squared brick shoe box designed. Before even turn both things on you know which is better produced. A company that is cheap will produce crap things. Apple is famous for quality. Rolls-royce, Jaguar and Bentley are superb machines because they invest in design and material quality. They spend time tuning and improving. Without turning the engine on you know a Jaguar will be better than a VW beetle. So, there's no way to compare an iPod with a Zune. It is like comparing a laser cannon to a slingshot.
I logged in tonight to warn everybody of a very serious problem with the Zune Version 2 software. Microsoft's own Zune board is alight with many angry (livid, even) posts from Zune owners who upgraded from the Version 1 software and now feel completely betrayed. Please read on!
First of all, the Zune V.2 software (and upgrade) cripples a TON of features that that were found on the original Zune Version 1 software. While the Zune V.1 software was never anything to write home about (it was somewhat limited to begin with), at least it worked and allowed you to do some basic batch editing of the "tags" (or "metadata") for each album and song. It had other nice features such as the very elegant and cool "Paste Album Art" feature (also found in the Windows Media Player).
Inexplicably... maddeningly... Zune Version 2 KILLS these and many more features. With Version 2, Microsoft seems to be going after the Apple playbook and mantra: "Simple is Better." Unfortunately, for these lunkheads, simple means stripping the software of nearly all of its usefulness other than synching and buying, buying, buying from their "Zune Marketplace." They are trying to sell Zune Version 2 as an upgrade... don't buy into the lie... it is most DEFINITELY a downgrade. Go read the user boards at Microsoft's own Zune user site. Their customers are livid!
But wait, there is more... this is not even the worst of it! It gets much, much, much worse....
Users who upgraded from Zune Version 1 are reporting, from all over the place, that the Zune Version 2 has TRASHED their "metadata" (tags)! What's more, while Microsoft quickly acknowledged this by releasing a "fix" -- the fix seems to have done very little to help.
In essence, what the new software does is to jumble up your albums and artwork. The Beatles "Revolver" album might suddenly show up as having only half of the original songs on its song list. The "missing" songs may have been arbitrarily replaced by the Bee Gee's "Staying Alive," Stevie Wonder's "Livin' For the City," two dongs by Donovan, another by The Animals and The Carpenter's "Close to You" along with other "new" songs by other artists. And so... in the brave new Zune Version 2 Software world, the Beatles "Revolver" album might be a whole new experience -- though perhaps, not the experience you had hoped for when you plunked down several hundred dollars for the privilege of becoming Microsoft's new experiment.
Since batch editing has now been disabled in Version 2, you'll have to go into Zune Ver. 2 and re-edit each and every erroneous file individually... by hand!
However, if you do that... you are playing a fool's game... as I and many other users have found... your edits WON'T stick. They may for a day or so. However, eventually, Zune Ver. 2 will jumble them up again -- often recreating the original errors (obviously, it has a way of remembering erroneous information, but not correct information).
Oh, and that jumbled up "Revolver" album I am talking about... it might also feature strange new cover art -- such as that from Alice Cooper's "Billion Dollar Babies." Again, nice... just not what you were hoping for! Try to fix the album cover art... you need to use Zune 2's clunky new system, rather than Zune 1's elegant "Past Album Art" feature. After you do that, you learn that you were playing yet another fool's game as Zune Ver. 2 will just change the cover art right back again. It likes what it likes and it doesn't care what you like.
What Zune Version 2 does excel at is herding its users into the "Zune Marketplace" so that you can download more $ongs and Video$ right into the player... probably so that Zune can have fun jumbling up your data once again.
I have no idea if Microsoft will properly address this problem. Right now there are a lot of early adopters with expensive "hockey pucks" sitting at home feeling completely betrayed. they WANT to love their Zunes... they really could... but how could they under these conditions?
By the way, until a week ago I was a big fan of my 30G Chocolate Brown Zune... and I hope to be one again. I hope this is just a glitch and that they will soon rectify these (many) problems and stop crippling the software. I have no ax to grind with Microsoft or Zune. Like other existing Zune owners: I WANT to love my Zune. It is a BEAUTIFUL little machine. In fact, I had my heart set on upgrading to their new 80G model. However, this has stopped me dead on my tracks... I won't be getting one for Christmas now... and, unless they fix these problems, I will walk away and right into the waiting arms or Apple's iPod or Creative's Zen or the one pf the fabulous Archos models.
This warning should also give you a pause and reason to hold off on that purchase until more is known and Microsoft fixes these problems.
Right now... the new Zune Software (Version 2) is very, very, very bad news.