Electronics : Microsoft Zune 80GB RED

Rating: - WHO NEED AN IPOD
JUST READ THE OTHER REVIEWS.
IVE HADE THE ZEN AND IT KEEP ON CRASHING AND EVERYONE AND THER DOG HAS AN IPOD. IF JUST I COULD USE THE MARKET PLACE OR HAVE IT PLAY FROM ALBUM TO ALBUM LIKR MY OLD SONY (HD-5 VERY OLD NOW)DID IF WOULD GIVE THIS A SIX OUT OF FIVE

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Rating: - Better than the rest
Better than the rest, it sure is. The Zune is better than the classic and just below the touch because it is not touch screen. Mind you if you take the fancy gizmos that apple add to the latest iPod range then the Zune is on top of all.

The player itself is actually just the right size. For me it seems to fit in with my daily life and I cannot think of a time whereby it has rid me of a particular task. It is bigger than the last Zune and the iPods' but we are talking just millimetres and I'm sure you can live with it.
The screen is just big and vibrant. Colours appear as they are on your computer. It's again just the right size for almost anything that you need to view on it.

There are only 2 buttons, one for play and one for back (menu). The touch pad can either be pressed in up, down, left or right. Or you can scroll with your finger and you select by pressing the touch pad down. All this is really easy and I did not even need a manual for this. The only consolation for this is, iPod users may find it weird as it works in the same but opposite way. Once you get used to the scrolling its basically easy.

The software on the player is relatively easy to use and for most of us out there is no need for a manual. You can find your favourite song with a few touch pad scrolls and press play and it plays. I think Microsoft designed the Zune with ease of use in mind.

The Zune software is actually a revamped windows media player, but built specifically for the Zune. It takes time to get along with but the simple way to put it in mind of you is think of windows media player married with media centre with a dash of media guide and all linked to the Zune. It does look and feel weird but like the Zune once you get your head around them, you'll love it. To copy songs just highlight, right click and sync to your Zune and that's it. You also have the options to set up automatic syncing. The content displayed in the Zune software i.e. your music and videos are items that will automatically play on your Zune without the need for converting and all that. So in simple it will only display compatible files that your Zune happily enjoys. So when you click sync you will not have the dreaded message of incompatible file please convert to so and so.

The Zune actually plays videos and pictures in nice crystal clear quality, depending on the video of the content. The only weird thing is they are automatically oriented as landscape and there is no option to make them portrait but besides from that it has worked for me so far.
The playback is seamless and quiet. You can feel the hard drive spinning with your hands or if you place your ear against it is virtually silent for its purpose. There is no equalizer which is quite provoking but the sound is crystal clear. The bass is bassy and the strings are stringy. It's like there is an automatic equalizer. I'm a huge hip-hop fan and the bass is just ecstatic. I've tried some rock on it as well and its just picture perfect.

I tried the wireless sync with my pc and it worked at quite a good speed mind you I was a few falls away. The only problem is the battery life. When the wireless is switched on I would plug into the AC.
The headphones packaged with the Zune are simply a 10/10. The only bad thing with them is they are those ones that plug and foam around your ear concealing you from the outside world so you can only hear what is thumping inside your ear. They are high quality as well. Unlike most headphones they are covered in a mesh as if they were rope or woven if that makes sense. I think it makes them stronger for durability.
Honestly this is incredibly good. I missed out a load of bits but it's a perfect thumbs up for me. If you compare the Zune too much to the iPod it will mess with your mind because it is a totally different class. I wish Microsoft could ship Zune's to the UK.

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Rating: - GREAT GREAT GREAT
mine arried today. still not gone through all the features but this is abit rushed. the zune software is great. now you can use a format that isn't exclusive to apple.. I was actually surprized at how fast it sync'd to my whole music collection. was brilliant. much better than the deciesed i-pod did it. so to be honest SO FAR SO GOOD !! headphone 2quality is great. magnets are a cute touch. shame about the market place and social being unavailable in the UK.

I like it. It's worth it. can keep your i-pod's !!! maybe one day you'll have apple Pc's at a resonable price to avoid all the issue's that surrounded Itunes 6 and internet security packages. until then. MS Windows and MS zune go together perfectly.

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Rating: - Almost there...
the zune is basically in the middle of the ipod classic and ipod touch.

the zune software is easy to use and it is easy to set it up so itunes music can be used in the zune software. the zune accepts more file types than the ipod too.

it takes about a few days to get used too in terms of the zune pad and how to use but once used to it, is far better than ipod classic.

its online store is easy to use but i cannot purchase as not avaialble in UK yet.

it can be slow at time like the ipod can but for any music fan, this is a must have. the sound quality is far superior to ipod and videos come out in near hi-def quality and on a large screen.

the other quality i like is the ability to set a picture from the zune as a background. the other feature i like which will be used more when zune comes to UK is the send feature. it means basically you can send songs and pictures. only thing is songs can played up to 3 times before deleted or kept for 3days before it automatically deletes. but you can 'flag' it so you make a note of songs to download in future.

top notch mp3...must have for any music, video and photo maniac! :-)

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Rating: - Almost the Best.
Let's get something out of the way straightaway: This new Zune isn't designed to compete with the Ipod Touch or Iphone, they are in a category of their own.
If you need to, compare it with the Ipod Classic as they have similar features.
The Zune 80GB is the best MP3 player I've ever used; here are my pros and cons:

Pros:
- The new Zune design makes it much more appealing than the Zune 1st Generation. It's sleek, slimmer, has a larger screen and a brand new interface.

- The glass screen is about twice the size of the Ipod Classic or Creative Zen screen, which allow for impressive, DVD-quality video display. The videos play horizontally so you can watch them "widescreen".

- The touch sensitive pad is brilliant and makes navigation extremely easy and fast.

- There is a built-in RDS FM Radio as well as Audio/Video Podcast support.

- You can connect the Zune wirelessly to your computer.

- The new Zune software is very intuitive and easy to use; you just need a few clicks to get your media collection on the device.

- The earphones are high-quality.

Cons:
- The Zune isn't (yet) officially available outside the United States so there is no support for Europe and therefore, some features are unavailable. Notably, there is no access to the Zune Marketplace (which offers unprotected content unlike ITunes) and no other Zune users around to take advantage of the Wi-Fi sharing capabilities. Additionally, you might struggle to find some accessories.

- Some files are not supported by the Zune, which can be a turn-off, especially if you're used to the Creative Zen. DivX and .avi files notably are not supported, but there are excellent converters to get around this issue.

- You can only use the Zune as a Player, not a USB Storage device.

- Although the audio is excellent, there is no EQ System on the Zune.

- The battery life is about half the one of the Creative Zen or Ipod.


Conclusion: For me, the Zune 80GB is a 5 stars device because I've found ways around its main issues (access to Zune Marketplace, format conversion...) but for this review I have to take it down to 4 stars. Out of the box it doesn't offer a Marketplace in Europe, unlike the Ipod and doesn't support some files that most people use, unlike the Creative Zen (DivX, avi...) and not everyone will have the patience to get through the conversion process (although it's very easy).
In any case, it's an excellent MP3 Player.