For the anti-iPod crowd out there (you know who you are), Microsoft's
Zune HD has been a
long time comin'. As of September 17th, your excuses for not owning one vanished completely, and for those diehards willing to splurge on Redmond's swankest PMP yet, we know you've been toying with it ever since. Still, the Zune HD hasn't thrived without its fair share of hangups, and we get the impression that at least a smattering of users are still frustrated by
this or that. If we just rang your bell, you're in the right place. We're curious to hear what actual, honest-to-goodness Zune HD users have to say about their new toy, and better still, how you would've done things differently if you had any power whatsoever over Sir Ballmer. Drop your rant off in comments below, would you?
posted Oct 9th 2009 11:38PM
I'd change the GUI, i like the iPod's springboard look.
The whole point of interface is to be different from apple and all the copy cats, they made a "3D" interface if I remember right
I like its ui
id add a camera, more buttons, in-line remote, normal usb port and mini hdmi. Docking ports suck.
Have it check email, xbox live messages. Msn messenger. App store like the iphones
work as a normal usb hard drive
Why would you change the best thing about the device?
I agree, I think they should change it to maybe just a simple grid layout so people like XiaoAZN can figure it out.
I'll go ahead and use the troll's post.
I'd add a full blown SDK with access to the OpenGL 2.0 effects the Tegra is capable of and 3rd party app marketplace. Pretty much the most obvious thing and the only thing detracting for it.
OpenGL ES? Microsoft has XNA to run on this thing, so my guess is they have some sort of DirectX mobile libraries for it, and its not like there's a Xbox Portable coming out soon so they could definitely make use games, just add a damn game pad attachment and throw in like Xbox Live Arcade or something
@extinction Two more buttons under the bezel on opposite sides of the home button would be awesome
I would make the screen higher res .. come on, WVGA at least ..so it can be used for casual web browsing without having to side scroll too much!
@JS: Higher res would not make a difference for this device - it is already better than the competition as it is.
A few days ago I ripped the movie Gladiator, then used Handbrake to convert to a M4V video. The output was 720x366 resolution. I then loaded the video to my Zune HD, and watched a portion of the video. It looked absolutely amazing.
I then loaded the video onto my iTouch, or at least tried to. iTunes gave me an error because it did not like the resolution. So I reencoded using the resolution that the iTouch would accept - 480x208. I then played them side by side. It ended up that the size of the overall picture on the two devices were exactly the same. Even though the Zune HD has a smaller overall screen resolution, the displayed picture was exactly the same. Because of the OLED screen, the picture on the Zune HD was better, because the iTouch has a little higher overall pixel count, there was black bars at the top and bottom. But because the iTouch uses an LCD and not OLED, the black bars made the picture look washed out, the blacks were grey. On the Zune HD, there were no bars and the picture looked amazing.
I have been ripping Blu-Ray disks and converting them for use with Zune HD. The movie fills the entire resolution of the device, where as the iTouch has bars at the top and bottom. Fast forwarding through a movie on the iTouch is choppy, showing every few frames, but on the Zune HD it actually fast forwards, showing a smooth picture.
Some video looks stunning on the Zune HD, but so-so on the iTouch. My GF liked the show Pushing Daisies, and I converted the video. That show used a lot of vibrant video, with high-contrast throughout. On the Zune HD it looked better than on my 48" LCD (smaller, but better), showing bright colors. On the iTouch it looked OK, good, but not great.
So yes, while a higher pixel count would be better for apps, for the primary focus of the Zune HD video, music, etc, the current pixel count works perfectly.
As for the things I would change, I would fix the app startup time and the need to reboot the device after exiting an app (there are technical reasons for this - reasons I cannot say because I was told them in confidence from a friend on the Zune team at MS). The browser is not as good as the one on my iTouch or iPhone, they need to add "tabs" (but not in the horrible way iPhone does it), and right now the UA string causes the browser to render pages so they have a more textual view than the way the iPhone renders them (not a problem with the Zune HD, but the web page server - hint to Engadget, allow the Zune HD to render pages like the iPhone does). I would also change how some of the UI is rendered. When in landscape view, draw in landscape (something the iPhone is not immune to, either).
But overall, the Zune HD is a much, much better media player than the iTouch or iPhone is. The iPhone is better as a PDA type of device, but for media, the Zune HD eats the iPhone's lunch.
Ability to add artist pictures for the now playing screen if the Zune cannot find it itself
This is really crucial for albums that are not released in the US
ID3tag v2.4 support (currently it only supports 2.3)
How about selling it in other places than the effing US of A?!
I think they should just shut the whole Zune division down. MS are wasting resources that could be used elsewhere.
@NohOne: "I then loaded the video onto my iTouch, or at least tried to. iTunes gave me an error because it did not like the resolution. So I reencoded using the resolution that the iTouch would accept - 480x208."
I've been able to encode TV shows ripped from DVDs (using Handbrake no less) in 640x480 pretty easily. I know for a fact that you can encode in 640x480 but have it display in 720x480 using the anamorphic settings, and that The Dark Knight digital copy I received is set to display at 853x480.
Well the fact that i can't see the comments on here from my zune hd.
And everyone had exactly what I have been thinking about. Are you listening Microsoft? Cause most of this can be done in firmware updates.
And nohone is right the screen is incredible, it almost made me cry
After using the new UI for oh, 5 minutes, I prefer it over any other UI for a PMP that I've ever used. Not only does it look better, but I believe I get to what I want faster making it more usable. As for what I would change... add two buttons or a rocker on the top right that allows you to change the volume without having to use the screen! That is probably my single biggest issue with the thing which is saying a lot for how minor that is. Another thing, their should be some speakers somewhere for sharing content with others... or perhaps for games if they ever want it to be a viable platform for such things. Right below the screen where there's matte silver is a perfect location for a tiny set of drivers facing the user.
And to be honest, when I first saw the spec sheet, I was pretty bummed at the low resolution of the screen as I'd been hoping for WVGA. But after using the device I can't say I've ever once thought to myself again, "hey, this could use a higher res screen." The display simply looks beautiful... I wouldn't change it.
-No adds on the device, we bought it, we own it, it's a bad idea to be putting video ads on peoples devices.
-Phone, and or mobile data, from sprint or verizon perhaps, and support for apps like Google Voice and Skype
-Volume Rocker (The media button works well, but it isn't the best option. Maybe a double purpose feature in the future? Rocker normally but if you press up and down at the same time the media screen pops up)
-Wider codec support, FLAC, AAC, OGG, etc. for audio and XVID/DIVX support should be a must, MP4 is such an inefficient codec.
-More Apps, publish better and more device specific manuals and white papers on developing for the Zune. I know you use XNA but I can't find any instructions other than the touch/tilt APIs and no tutorials. Also, on the XNA game market, make it so you can filter by device.
-More gestures, especially to control playback. On numerous ocassions I've found myself making gestures that don't exist in a feeble attempt to control playback.
-Bluetooth, and tethering IF cellular capabilities are added, theres no reason to tether if it doesn't get a data connection.
-Better Browser, give us something with flash, java, silverlight, the works. Make the wireless networks easier to manage, something like how you do it in Windows, so you can set up and remove networks from a single page.
-Less fingerprints, this thing to fingerprints as to what blue lights are to bugs
-More peripherals
All in all, so far I'm happy with the device. A lot of those issues could have been better thought out and taken into account by M$ but weren't. I think of it as the price of early adoption. I can understand no international launch, if M$ wasn't sure if it would succeed it would be bad to over extend and have a lot of product not moving, but it is moving, and it should sell int'l ASAP. Also, a background app for syncing the device would be nice for when we want to do something else at the same time, Zune software is a little resource heavy.
Wow. You guys up-ranked somebody who repeatedly typed "iTouch"?
Interesting.
I'm holding out for the 64GB version. Everything else comes secondary to the Zune's ability to store my music collection (and being able to fit in some video would be a bonus).
Also, maybe a VLC app would be nice, as I hear it doesn't support a lot of codecs.
@cWJ: I use that name because Apple fanboys have no problem using names such as M$. Besides, iTouch is becoming a normal abbreviation for the device - ESPN has a commercial right now for their iPhone app and they call it an iTouch.
@Joe: When I try to put the video I encoded for my Zune HD on my iTouch (the M4V at 720x366 version), I get this error message:
"Gladiator" was not copied to the iPod "NohOne's iPod Touch" because it cannot be played on this iPod. Re-encoding to 480x208 (the resolution suggested by handbrake) created a video that worked fine.
@Frick: While I can see them putting a true volume button on the device, they should not implement it the way Apple did. The problem with their vol is that it will change the vol even when the device is locked. So when I was out jogging you cannot hold it, otherwise your hand will easily hit the vol button, causing it to change.
@Celanor: Do you complain when you visit Engadget? You are using a computer you bought and paid for with bandwith you bought and paid for, and they are making you watch ads. Same with TV, they show ads on a TV you bought and paid for, they should not have them there, either. I was thinking about this the other day, Engadget complained about the ads (calling them tacky), but it is perfectly OK for them to have their page littered with ads, but somehow they are above being tacky. Right now I am looking at an ad for Garmin, Transormers, LendingTree, AOL News, Sphere.com, as well as links to all the other "WIN Network" pages.
As for XNA, there are plenty of samples, tutorials, starter kits, etc, you just need to search for them. You should start at http://creators.xna.com.
Make the screen work in sunlight and add a volume rocker switch.
@NohOne
Should Microsoft have added Adds to the previous Gen Zunes games also? Because they also came with free games.
@Dave - All the games on older Zunes display a Lips ad when they are loading.
Remove the damned ads on app launch.
Who cares what they change on Satan's personal choice of media player. The anti-iPod Touch is an evil abomination to the world of the righteous. Cast off thy Zune HDs and follow the path of the truth and goodness. Either you're part of the Apple mobile ecosystem or forever stumbling in the dark shadow of the red-horned beast of the burning underworld for all eternity. Begone, Zune Lucifer, you don't have nearly enough apps to take my soul.
The ability to play captions/subtitles/lyics, dammit! Come on! I want to read the words of the song or video, and if it doesn't come with it, I'd better be able to make my own text via SRT or a couple of common formats. I can't hear well enough to understand voices.
1) make it a phone
amen to that. I don't really need another pmp, but it could have been an AMAZING phone
I actually agree. Whats stopping me from buying Zune HD right now is that fact that I already own an iPhone which comes with a decent built-in PMP. And I dont believe in carrying more than one device in my pants at the time.
no doubt, but a good phone, i dont need 30% of my calls dropped
I think the only reason they did not make it a phone was that it would have an exclusivity to a carrier. And MS wanted to have more $$.
@ bluesky: thats what she said;
"And I dont believe in carrying more than one device in my pants at the time. "-bluesky_v2.01
With all due respect to the OP, I am in agreence that the Zune HD need at least a phone radio if not a serious app eco system.
Agree, I would sell my iPhone and get a ZuneHD if it had a phone.
I would also like an accessory/attachment for the ZuneHD to fit into with two sticks and some skittles and a couple triggers and a good D-Pad so I could play some real games on it. The iPhone has an annoying finger or two in the way always.
Make it a phone and give it a processor with Snapdragon's CPU power and Tegra's multimedia capabilities. And further improve upon the browser since it's apparently still cludgy compared to the webkit based ones on android and iphones.
Oh and please make it available on SERO lol.
2.) Make it a phone that's NOT exclusive to AT&T
Make it an International phone.
None of that cdma nonsense.
I never thought about that before but all my friends told me when I was using the zune hd that it would be an amazing phone. I wouldn't liked it at first, but now because of is UI and many other fantastic features, a phone would make this the perfect all you can do device...if it gets apps.
Agree. Phone.
once MS finally releases a branded wireless telephony device, I think they'll choose to NOT make it carrier exclusive. In the least, they will release on one carrier and migrate to others if popularity warrants.
of course, given how long they seem to be taking or claim they will be taking, Bitten Fruit Inc. will have plenty of time to set up a counter.
although it would be quite grand if someone successfully developed a product from the Zii Egg in the interim.
I agree, make it a phone. Steve Ballmer has mentioned that the Zune software will be available to 3rd party phone manufactures. If that happens we will have our Zune phone. But it has to work with the Zune software just like the Zune HD. If they do that, I will be happy.
It sounds like HTC is doing well with the HD2, could the HD2 with Zune software be a hit?
My guess is yes
Phone?. Lets face it even though it looks good and has a crystal clear screen even with a phone its still going to be a dead duck in the long run. I'm sorry but it's true.
Quote:
Napsterking @ Oct 10th 2009 12:32AM
I think the only reason they did not make it a phone was that it would have an exclusivity to a carrier. And MS wanted to have more $$.
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dude... they get more money by having it on a single carrier because the single carrier PAYS them for exclusivity... plus people switch carriers for phones all the time, and i so would change for the HD :)
you caught me, I dont like ipod. I still own a ipod touch though. If I had a Zune, I would want to make apps load faster and force nvida to bring flash faster to it
Agree, I really want a larger App Marketplace, along with improved browser, but besides that it's perfect.
@quantum
Please stop forwarding us to that same review, the one that was most likely written by you. Has Apple fanboyism reached such a low that you cannot think of anything new...
Urgent News! Zune HD comes with a beautiful organic liquid crystal display! OLCD? great review....
@Blind
It was written by him. He once stated he "I RAILED against Microsoft" and gave the link to the epinions site. Later he changed his tone, acting as if somebody else wrote the articles he links to, and even termed his writing "reporting."
I agree with having flash support on the web browser. We need gpu-accelerated flash support on the Zune HD cuz it's not the full web without it. It's the only thing stopping me from buying one. My zune 30 is outdated Microsoft. Give us Flash.
it would be great if it was actually competition for the ipod
1. give the option to do drag and drop
2.Flash support
3. more games (get Ea and other so make Games) for those times that you just want to pass time
4. make it strong enough to play gba emus like my 2year old ipod( which it is suppose to be thanks to its nvidia gpu)
5. Give it an EQ for gods sake people who will spend $300 on a music player probably know how to tune a EQ for their $100 ear buds
I wouldn't its perfect!