Actually the screen is a big part of how nice it looks when working. When off - sure, a little clunky.
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iPod cnet ZUNE 80G vs iPod classic 80G review: its a tie (hilarious)
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Actually the screen is a big part of how nice it looks when working. When off - sure, a little clunky.
For something that is bound to spend more time in one's pocket than being looked at, I don't see why sexiness is being weighted to heavily.
That said, the Zune may have some visual appeal to it, but the iPod just looks and feels (and reeks) sexy. But that's just my opinion.
That said, the Zune may have some visual appeal to it, but the iPod just looks and feels (and reeks) sexy. But that's just my opinion.
I love my 80gb zune. I had iPods for years and really liked them until I purchased my first zune a year ago. Shortly afterwards, I started selling ipods I had lying around. I sold my 30gb zune to a guy here at work and purchased an 80gb on day 1. It really IS a great mp3 player! I do not like what they did with the zune pc software this time around though. It makes it harder to edit your song information in comparison to itunes and the old zune software.
For something so objective, though, I really don't see why they weigh it so heavily. They may not like the iPod's UI and the Click Wheel, but that doesn't mean others don't. Having tried both, I still say that the iPod UI looks better when being used.
I found (I dunno if they changed this on the new Zunes or not) that the old Zune was just too big, and bricklike. The iPod could just slide into even somewhat tight jeans.
That said, I still won't listen to CNet.
That said, I still won't listen to CNet.
If you can fit a clamshell phone that is not thin you can easily fit the old Zune in your pocket, and the new Zune is thinner, so yeah.
the new zune is almost half the thickness of the 30gb models. It is a tiny bit thicker than the 30gb ipod
I'm not really all that surprised. If I weren't a dedicated Mac user or if Microsoft somehow made the Zune work in iTunes, they'd have another new customer. I need something to replace my aging iPod Photo, and I really like the wireless syncing feature of the Zune. Hopefully Apple will follow suit on the whole wireless thing.
wireless syncing is overrated.... you still have to be at the pc to start the sync why not just plug it in while youre standing there. Besides it is SLOW compared to the cable
Actually I know someone who syncs his Zune from in his car before he leaves for work every morning. You don't have to be by your PC to sync a Zune. You just have to be within range of your wireless connection.
thats weird... i can sync mine from my car too but the zune is in my car and I have to hit sync on my pc... apparently I am doing something wrong..LOL
CNET's quality has gone downhill, not just in terms of their anti-apple bias but in general the articles are poorly written with little to no point.
I stopped subscribing to them via RSS a few months ago and hardly visit the site anymore...it's just not worth it for poor fluffy reporting.
I stopped subscribing to them via RSS a few months ago and hardly visit the site anymore...it's just not worth it for poor fluffy reporting.
That was one of the things I liked about it. You could have the 80G pull double-duty as a micro-AppleTV wired up in the living room via the dock, sync it as and when necessary and just take it with you when you leave home. Also no need to take it out of your jacket pocket when you get home - just sync your morning podcasts/tunes for the morning then charge your Zune at work.
There's all sorts of cool stuff I can envisage for this function, but I don't have one for everyday use yet so I don't know how well that'll work.
I thought the default sound quality was decent, and the lack of an EQ might not be a major issue (certainly not for iPod users, since the EQ on the iPod is completely broken) when paired with good, isolating phones - although my time was it was limited to using it with the standard phones.
The software seemed easy to use, although limited in terms of library management. Fortunately we in the world of 'real PCs' have far more and better options than iTunes to manage our tunes, and all of Microsoft's media apps auto-monitor folders so the limitation is not as crippling as it would be under the OS X / iTunes combo.
Same, gave up a while back, they just seem to write some pretty biased things.
Zune pretty good; Cnet not so much
I think Microsoft's new Zune is a pretty good music player, especially relative to their newest software (Vista, Office 2008, Explorer). If they had introduced it three years ago, I'd probably buy the Zune. However, Apple has such an integrated, complete experience with all the music, photos, videos, movies, contacts, calendar, and so on that it's hard to beat, even if the Zune is pretty good as a standalone player.
On the subject of CNet, I just saw a video review of a Sony camera. They went on and on about features like face detection, smile detection, touch screen focusing, etc. etc. They really liked this camera. At the end of the review, they did note one small deficiency: it takes bad, grainy pictures! I laughed out loud. Apparently the reviewer thought the features designed to improve the pictures outweighed the bad pictures it produced!
I think Microsoft's new Zune is a pretty good music player, especially relative to their newest software (Vista, Office 2008, Explorer). If they had introduced it three years ago, I'd probably buy the Zune. However, Apple has such an integrated, complete experience with all the music, photos, videos, movies, contacts, calendar, and so on that it's hard to beat, even if the Zune is pretty good as a standalone player.
On the subject of CNet, I just saw a video review of a Sony camera. They went on and on about features like face detection, smile detection, touch screen focusing, etc. etc. They really liked this camera. At the end of the review, they did note one small deficiency: it takes bad, grainy pictures!
I laughed out loud. Apparently the reviewer thought the features designed to improve the pictures outweighed the bad pictures it produced!
I agree, there are some parts of the Zune UI, that aren't as intuitive as the iPod. FM Radio is also a complete yawn, it has never really work effectively on a standalone player for me, you spend your whole time re-tuning when travelling and you can buy the add-on for the iPod if you want. The biggest downside is probably the massive iPod ecosystem for it though. I also haven't used the PC software for the Zune so don't know how it compares to iTunes.
I think they should have differentiated from the competition there with dedicated volume control buttons too.
True, excluding the iPhone/iTouch it is a strong #2 to the iPod.
Not really, you just set it up in iTunes on a song-by-song basis, then its very powerful, if difficult to setup. You also have sensible presets.
EDIT:
JRiver Media Center works with the iPod too
.EDIT2: Bloody hell, this is a really old thread
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Zune Blows!!!
Yeah, I got a good laugh at all the tools who say "Zune is better." When you buy an iPod, you not only buy an awesome mp3 player, you also buy a status symbol. Besides, iTunes pwns Windows Media Player with intensity. Put that in your pipe and smoke it Bill Gates!!!
Yeah, I got a good laugh at all the tools who say "Zune is better." When you buy an iPod, you not only buy an awesome mp3 player, you also buy a status symbol. Besides, iTunes pwns Windows Media Player with intensity. Put that in your pipe and smoke it Bill Gates!!!
your response is one of the most non educated dumb posts I have ever read. put that one in your pipe and smoke it
Cnet is funny. They're attempts to always find the iTunes/iPod killer are pretty laughable.
Sadly once I totally went off on their Editor James Kim for doing such a review of one of the subscription based stores (yahoo music I think perhaps) and then a few months later the poor guy was lost in the Oregon mountains and died. I think I even accused him of being on the take and getting lots of free subscriptions etc.
That was just was just bad not one of my better moments online.
Sadly once I totally went off on their Editor James Kim for doing such a review of one of the subscription based stores (yahoo music I think perhaps) and then a few months later the poor guy was lost in the Oregon mountains and died. I think I even accused him of being on the take and getting lots of free subscriptions etc.
That was just was just bad not one of my better moments online.