http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 2:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
I'd love to be a Mac-fanboy as much as I am an MS and Linux fanboy (it's true, I thoroughly enjoy both), but I cannot afford to buy an iMac "just to play around with."]]>Nov 13th 2007 3:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
Ryan, don't listen to these guys, we still like you.]]>Nov 13th 2007 3:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
I just can't believe Ryan said that. Deep down somewhere the truth lies.

And it's just like Gizzmodo'z rating of 6/10 despite a good review. I thought Engadget would do a little better than that.

I applaud for the excellent coverage though (good going).]]>Nov 13th 2007 3:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/I agree that a review is someone's opinion of something. A gadget review is, however, usually a review of the device and not necessarily a commentary on the industry with a few comparisons of other devices thrown in.

I clicked through the link because I wanted to know how the device worked, not because I wondered how it compared to an ipod. I know how ipods work.]]>Nov 13th 2007 4:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
In other news, I used to really like iTunes on the PC, but recently I have started looking up alternatives because iTunes 7.5 SUCKS ON VISTA! I am not alone in this opinion (Check out the comments and ranking on the Betanews.com page for iTunes). It's gotten very slow and unresponsive over time. I really like Apple, but when they are on top in a market they act just like M$. The sit on their asses and start cranking out crappy products (PowerPC anyone? Dark days I tell you).

The Zune software (which you can get here - http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/zunesoftware/download.htm) is actually a great iTunes alternative!
It's fast a slick! The BEST feature for me has to do with PODCASTING, which was hardly covered in this review! Zune put podcasting at the forefront and makes it easy to find new podcasts and subscribe to them. It even automatically discovers the podcasts that you subscribed to with iTunes - Charming!

Pluses for Zune (Software only):
- Slick and stable
- Faster than iTunes on Vista
- Imports unprotected music and podcast from iTunes
- Easy to navigate
- You can play photo slideshows and music together
- Better than iTunes for getting at podcasts (I nearly chocked my HD because I went crazy downloading!!!)
- Did I mention fabulous for podcasting yet??? :)
- It will download podcasts from your PC, but not from the internet (plus and a minus, but mostly a plus if your PC is up to date)


Minuses for Zune (Software only):
- Large format may turn off Winamp users
- Cannot play protected music purchased in iTunes
- PC only
- I did not get CD text titles when I burnt an Audio CD :(


All in all my experience with the Zune software was very positive. In case you’re wondering, I don't have a Zune player yet, but the software is 'worth' covering on its own - it's a real gem. I’ll sure be looking at getting the 80GB model this Christmas!]]>Nov 21st 2007 7:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 2:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/It would be like marketing a Toyota to my Redneck uncle, it just isn't worth the time.]]>Nov 13th 2007 3:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
The Zune UI is much more slick than the UI of the iPod nano and Classic. Offering the artist engravings all the time would be cool. And now that they changed to the squircle from the D-Pad that i absolutely hated.]]>Nov 13th 2007 3:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 2:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
Pretty much they say that it sucks... lots of Hype, but it doesn't offer up anything unique, just one big runner-up... Buy the 80gig for $80 next year (I just bought a Zune1 for $80 on woot.com), and it'll be a good deal.]]>Nov 13th 2007 3:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
That being said the new firmware and client is realllyyy slick. I upgraded my Black 30 this morning.

PS: Where the heck is the ID3 tag editor!? Am I just blind?]]>Nov 13th 2007 2:54PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/

LMAO!]]>Nov 13th 2007 2:54PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Of course, that still doesn't change the fact that on lanch-day for the iProne- I mean, iPhone there was approximately three thousand different posts about it, each one more masturbatory than the last.

]]>Nov 13th 2007 3:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/

I hate when other people do that, but I hate it even more when I do it.]]>Nov 13th 2007 3:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
I don't think it's about Microsoft ignoring the Mac user base... it's more like realistically, how many Mac users would adopt the MS product?

With all the competition and animosity between the two camps what would be the point? Perhaps the omission of an OSX could be viewed as a professional courtesy. ]]>Nov 13th 2007 2:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
Therefore my short-list of media players is: an Archos 605 (for functionality) or iPod Touch (for engineering/design).


]]>Nov 13th 2007 3:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
Regardless of all that, I think the Zune is missing one key piece in competing with the iPod: suport for AAC. Obviously iTunes Store purchases with DRM would not work, but think about a lot of people that use iTunes to rip their CDs. By default, it rips songs into the 128k AAC (unless you change it under Preferences).

Given a huge library of songs, it would be nice to have Zune find those songs and not convert them, but attach them to it's library, very much how iTunes can find songs.

If Zune already does this, it wasn't mentioned above. But given the listed formats that Ryan puts in his first look review, I'm assuming AAC is not supported.]]>Nov 13th 2007 5:15PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/]]>Nov 13th 2007 2:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://flac.sourceforge.net
http://www.vorbis.com]]>Nov 13th 2007 2:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
LOL. Seriously. Other than being open source fap material for uber nerd geek fanboys, nobody cares about ogg or flac.]]>Nov 13th 2007 3:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

You actually listen to audio into those two formats? Oh man.

Wait, maybe you're being sarcastic?]]>Nov 21st 2007 10:21AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
I'm starting to get a little frustrated with the increasingly pro-Apple agenda here at engadget. As time goes by it seems like unbiased product information is becoming harder and harder to find.
]]>Nov 13th 2007 3:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
For the record, I highly dislike Apple, so don't think I am some Mac fanboy, I am just curious as to why a person wouldn't be able to use an iPod.]]>Nov 21st 2007 9:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
Since Apple chose to remove (not omit) WMA support from the iPod, I can't play my files, and I'm not going to go through the CD ripping process again. Plus, the audio artifacts from converting WMA->AAC are too audible for me to ignore, so conversion is absolutely out of the question. Therefore, an iPod is not an option for me.

Plus I find the whole Apple system way too closed for my taste. Granted the Zune is just about as closed a system, but at least I can play my files in just about every piece of software on Windows. You certainly can't say that about AAC.
]]>Nov 14th 2007 3:53AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 16th 2007 12:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/]]>Nov 16th 2007 12:47PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
I am a "hater" of all things Ipod (well, the iphone is kinda cool so is the touch).

I really hate itunes.

With the zune, I feel like microsoft has taken all the bad things about the Ipod (proprietary software, limited format compatibility, etc) and released them about a year after the apple has. Oh, and they are a bit uglier too.

I was really hoping the new firmware would somehow make a revolutionary jump forward. Maybe jump up and challenge a real media library like media monkey.

Nope. Zune still sucks. I agree with engadgets statements:

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.

-AD

]]>Nov 13th 2007 3:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/Nov 13th 2007 3:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
Are most iPodians Mac owners, or are they using it on Windows, My guess is that the iPod was helped considerably more by bringing it to Windows, than it'd help the Zune going to OSX.
]]>Nov 13th 2007 3:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/new-zune-review-better-than-before-but-not-quite-good-enough/
You might at least change the 'Review' in the headline to 'Editorial'. What I continue to read on this site is not how the device meets its stated goals, but how it fails to live up to the random expectations of the contributing author.

WE DON'T CARE what you want the device to do. Does it do what it is SUPPOSED to do? Sheesh.]]>Nov 13th 2007 3:03PM