Microsoft Zune to Play Your Tunes: Quick Review
June 28, 2009 by CoreyO
Microsoft can’t have total world domination. Microsoft Windows is their main niche. Apple can’t dominate the entire market either, even though the iPhone and iPod does put them an inch close to that world domination. Fortunately we live in a free market that encourages competitors and the iPod shouldn’t be our only pricy choice for music, pictures, and such. Microsoft has quite the competing device that rivals not only the performance of the iPod but also the price. Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s iPod is the Zune. Here’s the gist of what’s been said about the Zune.
Memory Storage and Dimensions
There are two main versions of the Zune and the difference between the two is the size. Compared to the iPod Nano in size is the Zune 4, Zune 8, and Zune 16. The numbers indicate the size in Gigabytes it has in memory. 4GB can hold up to 1,000 songs, or 12 hours of video, or 25,000 pictures. It weighs 47 grams or 1.7oz with dimensions of 41.4mm x 91.5mm x 8.5mm. It’s a little thing with a potentially big punch that comes in colors of red, black, green, and pink.
The larger sized models are the Zune 80 and the Zune 120. Again the number indicates the memory available and is limited to the colors red or black. The dimensions of the Zune 80 and 120 are 108.2mm x 61.1mm x 12.9mm or 4.26” x 2.41” x 0.51” with a weight of 4.5 oz.
Formats and Music and Video Playing
The formats that are supported include WMA, WMA Lossless, AAC, and MP3. Because of the AAC iPod converts are possible but there’s no way to transfer DRM-protected files from iTunes or the oder DRM-9 files for Windows. For video the Zune supports WMV, MPEG-4, and H.264. The video speed is DVD quality 30 frames per second. The Zune tanscodes, automatically, HD MPEG-4, HD WMV and HD H.264 DVR-MS files. For pictures, you better like the JPEG format.
The Radio bands are multi-national. You can choose between Japanese, European, and North American radio bands on the Zune 4 and 8. Your headphones will act as an antenna and doesn’t work when docked. Also, the Zune 4 and the Zune 8 displays the Radio Broadcast Data System (RBDS) station info. Because of the neat feature, these Zune styles can be called one of the best handheld radio device. The call letters of the stations are displayed as is the genre. Haven’t you ever heard a song on the radio that you were taken aback by but had no idea who the artist was? Occasionally the artist and song information is displayed as well.
Audio and video podcasts and audio books are fully supported on the Zune. The available software enables the user to automatically seek, subscribe, and download your favorite podcasts. No worries about podcasts being filling up the memory because it can automatically sync new podcasts and delete out podcasts.
A troubling characteristic for some is the Zune does not have an EQ. Without the EQ the sound was plenty clear and the quality was rich. The EQ could distort the sound if no used correctly anyway.
Play Time
The Zune offers 22 hours of continuous playing when the wireless isn’t on. A moderate day of playing can be offered when the wireless is on. The battery isn’t able to be replaced by the user and must be recharged. Your Energizers won’t be of much use.
Display Resolution
The resolution of the Zune 4 is 320 x240 pixels. With a seemingly little screen of 1.8 inches, the video is displayed rather nicely. Pictures and video appear horizontally. The controls change along with the display when changed from horizontal to vertical and vice versa instead of remaining the same. This makes management of volume much easier.
Features All Its Own
It’s faster to sync music with the included USB cable but in the event you have no cable within reach the Zune allows for wireless syncing of music over security-enabled wireless networks. This can be done while charging.
The home screen is very much customizable and be made to fit your personality and color preference. Also on the neat list is the capability to share music with other Zune owners. You can share a song you like and the receiver can then listen to the song up to three times and is then given the option to buy it. All this can be done wirelessly. It’s disappointing that it can only be shared with others who own a Zune but it does bring us back to the innocent music sharing days of copying cassette tapes for your friends.
The selling point for us is the music subscription option for the Zune Pass which allows the user to download the 3 million plus library of songs to the Zune. The songs can be listened to at any time as long as the subscription is current. In addition the subscriber can choose 10 songs per month to be added to the permanent collection and it stays a part of the collection even after the subscription is canceled. A purchase of the Zune gives you a free two week trial.
[...] [...]