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iPod Zune Pricing and Shipping Announced.

Chundles

Chundles

macrumors G5
Original poster
Jul 4, 2005
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MS has announced pricing for the Zune (US$249.99) and shipping (November)

Here's a link: Zuney Goo-goo...

A whole 99c more than the iPod - sorry MS, no dice.
 
Chundles said:
MS has announced pricing for the Zune (US$249.99) and shipping (November)

Here's a link: Zuney Goo-goo...

A whole 99c more than the iPod - sorry MS, no dice.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought too. Why would they tack on the 99 cents?! Now if the review goes sour they're just going to add that it costs more too. :confused:
 
Microsoft Corp. has vowed to put considerable money and effort behind its bid to dethrone Apple Computer Inc.'s market-leading iPod, but it won't be using price as a weapon.
Click to expand...

... wow, that makes a nice change.

Chundles said:
A whole 99c more than the iPod - sorry MS, no dice.
Click to expand...

"It also will feature a 3-inch screen and a built-in FM tuner, and will come loaded with about 25 songs and other content." - probably worth the extra 99 bob, eh?

What's the DRM on this thing again? If it can play all the formats, allow files to be added/removed without the need of external software (i.e. MTP), along with an additional battery option, I may well be interested.
 
Danksi said:
... wow, that makes a nice change.



"It also will feature a 3-inch screen and a built-in FM tuner, and will come loaded with about 25 songs and other content." - probably worth the extra 99 bob, eh?

What's the DRM on this thing again? If it can play all the formats, allow files to be added/removed without the need of external software (i.e. MTP), along with an additional battery option, I may well be interested.
Click to expand...

AFAIK it has the same resolution so the 3" over 2.5" doesn't really make a big difference. And I don't get what all the fuss about an FM tuner is all about. Creative has had that too, did it get people to buy it? No.
And I'll withhold any comments on the wireless part until I know about battery life... because that'll be substancially lower.
 
Interesting article... so in summary, Microsoft is basically trying to dethrone Apple by doing what everyone else in the industry is already doing. Well done, folks.... :rolleyes:
 
99c Extra ... Hmmmmm

Wifi: When was the last time anybody bought a playlist from iTunes because somebody may have music that they haven't heard?

FM Tuner: This may have excited people back in the 70's when a toasted sandwich was considered high cuisine.

Extra ½inch of screen: It stays in my pocket, so what's the point of that.


I've heard turkeys gobble, but this one actually sucks.
 
Well, the Zune cannot dethrone the iPod since the most popular iPod model is the Nano and microsoft does not have a player at the price point. They are going after Apple's high end player when the volume of sales goes to the "lower" end models. How many people who were looking to buy a shuffle/Nano will instead get a Zune? I doubt very many.

Apple shoud have kept their prices on their video iPods the same and then, once Microsoft announced their pricing and started shipping model, lower it to where they are now. Instead, they gave them the time to update their pricing. Oh well, I guess it's good for people who have bought since they were announced.

I think the larger screen could get some people to buy a Zune instead of an iPod. I know they are the same res. but most people don't know what that even means. They see bigger and go for it.

I really think it going to come down to how well MS can market this thing.
 
jholzner said:
Well, the Zune cannot dethrone the iPod since the most popular iPod model is the Nano and microsoft does not have a player at the price point. They are going after Apple's high end player when the volume of sales goes to the "lower" end models. How many people who were looking to buy a shuffle/Nano will instead get a Zune? I doubt very many.

Apple shoud have kept their prices on their video iPods the same and then, once Microsoft announced their pricing and started shipping model, lower it to where they are now. Instead, they gave them the time to update their pricing. Oh well, I guess it's good for people who have bought since they were announced.

I think the larger screen could get some people to buy a Zune instead of an iPod. I know they are the same res. but most people don't know what that even means. They see bigger and go for it.

I really think it going to come down to how well MS can market this thing.
Click to expand...

A Zune like that for the price of a nano would have "killed" the iPod, but this is just pathetic.
 
Bobdude161 said:
have they posted pictues of this "zune" yet?
Click to expand...

Yeah, on Endgadget they have the pricing story+pictures

Official pictures of the Zune have been around for some time now
zune-colors.jpg
 
Macnoviz said:
Yeah, on Endgadget they have the pricing story+pictures

Official pictures of the Zune have been around for some time now
Click to expand...

wow, I don't get how some people think that looks good. to me it is beyond ugly. :cool:
 
Hmm, it doesn't look great but are our criticisms the same as the ones for the original iPod? I think you have to wait for it to be released before judging it, who knows it could actually be good, and have good software as the guy in the other thread said.
 
Danksi said:
What's the DRM on this thing again? If it can play all the formats, allow files to be added/removed without the need of external software (i.e. MTP), along with an additional battery option, I may well be interested.
Click to expand...

The same as any other Windows Media device. I don't see why you'd be interested in one of these and not be interested in one of Creative's MP3 Players that play the same formats...

Anyway, I wouldn't be interested. The iPod has much more support (video converters, Handbrake, hardware accessories, etc) , and has iTunes. This is basicly an iPod with iTunes stripped out. You can buy music off other music stores but not videos...Amazon's Unbox videos won't play I'm fairly certain, for example, so there is no way to get video content on it easily.
 
Haha. It may have a bigger screen, but you can't get vidoes easily for it like you can the iPod with the Zune Marketplace.
 
14.99 for unlimited downloads!

I can just picture some teen's staying as long as possible for a month to get thousands of songs downloaded.
 
The funny thing is: it's fugly, it's MS and they can't stop copying, even the price...here is to MS fanboys everywhere... :rolleyes:

Fill the blanks, please:

"We had to look at what was in ________ and offer a ___________"
 
I think it comes preloaded with this CD
 
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The formats it plays are all the usual candidates. Except what is new is that it can play apple's AAC formate, though not the DRM version only the one that you use to make your cds from, I think you are still screwed if you use Apple Lossless. More or less I think that Zune is a good thing over all it will light some fire under Apples arse to get the 6th GN ipod out. Competition is always a plus, in breeds perfection. Also another thing to note, is though the Zune can play video Microsoft has no free films, no TV shows, and no movies. Also no anounced partnerships. They "plan" to but thats it. Also how compatable is this thing with podcasting? What about the new podcast formate (640x480)? Does Zune Marketplace have intergrated RSS? Personally I think one of the best aspect of the ipod is the easy intergration of podcasts and free videos into the itunes player and thus into the ipod.

Also I am not sure that the downloads are playable on the device. They say that once you download them you have to buy them for $.79. All i remember is that the unlimited aspect is for downloads to your computer, similar to URGE, then you have to buy the song if you want it mobile.
 
HELLO, y's nobody talking about this?

I'll stick with iPod because Zune doesn't do Mac (at all). End of story for me (and any mac user).

And who the f- wants to rent music? No thanks, for me.
 
Note that on the wifi, any songs you transfer to your player from someone's player will be slapped with some manner of DRM. If my memory serves me correctly, I think I read somewhere that this DRM will automatically disable/delete the transferred song after 3 days or something like that. Useless.

Leave it to microsoft to tout a brown MP3 player as an "ipod killer" :rolleyes:
 
"It will be a competition of features versus features, form factor versus form factor, winning the hearts and minds of consumers with something other than price,"

Good luck with all of that. Hummm, user experience vs user experience, I wonder who would win that?

"For consumers looking to own a song, the Zune Marketplace will sell tracks for 79 Microsoft points. A user can buy 80 Microsoft points for $1"

Oooh goodie, Frylock Fun Bucks! WTF? :confused:
 
fabsgwu said:
I'll stick with iPod because Zune doesn't do Mac (at all). End of story for me (and any mac user).

And who the f- wants to rent music? No thanks, for me.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Didn't know that.
 
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