Jason Dunn
06-14-2007, 03:00 PM
As nice as it is that Microsoft offers the Zune in several colours (currently that count is black, white, brown, red, and pink) you might want a different colour. Or, better yet, you might want your Zune to be adorned with an image or pattern. What do you do? You check out the Zune decals from <a href="http://www.decalgirl.com" target="_blank">Decalgirl</a>. Long known for Xbox, iPod, and laptop skins, Decalgirl jumped on the Zune bandwagon quite quickly after launch, offering a large variety of Zune-sized decals. They sent me a couple to review – here's what I thought of them. <br /><br />Ordering a Zune decal is easy enough – they have a <a href="http://www.decalgirl.com/browse.cfm/2,230.htm" target="_blank">Zune section for their decals</a>, and there are over 90 different designs. The price is the same regardless of design - only $6.99 USD per decal – and shipping is reasonable at $2.25 USD to a US-based address for one label, and a not-quite-so-reasonable $9.25 USD to Canada. I'm not sure about the rest of the world, but they do ship to a large number of countries. The breadth of designs is impressive – regardless of your own sense of personal style, odds are good that you can find a decal that matches your mood and style. They have all manner of designs, all with creative names: <a href="http://www.decalgirl.com/browse.cfm/4,5409.htm" target="_blank">Demonic Mitosis</a>, <a href="http://www.decalgirl.com/browse.cfm/4,5411.htm" target="_blank">Envy</a>, and <a href="http://www.decalgirl.com/browse.cfm/4,5124.htm" target="_blank">Woodland Camo</a> just to name a few. You can even fulfil your <a href="http://www.decalgirl.com/browse.cfm/4,5410.htm" target="_blank">Cuella De Vil fantasy</a> if that's your fancy.<br /><br /><img border="1" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/zt/2007/jasondunn-zune-decalgirl-1.gif" alt="" /><br /><em>Figure 1: Nine of their 90+ designs.</em><br /><br /><div style="page-break-after: always;"><span style="display: none;"> </span></div><br /> <img border="1" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/zt/2007/jasondunn-zune-decalgirl-2.jpg" alt="" /> <em><br />Figure 2: The front of the Zune decal – notice how there's extra space in the bottom left area near the control pad.</em> <br /><br />The quality is the decals themselves is impressive – the colours are rich, the level of detail in the print is impressive, and the material the decals of made of feels durable. My only real complaint is that applying the decal on the front of the Zune was frustrating because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get it to line up properly. Either I stretched it slightly by pulling it off and re-applying it several times, or it wasn't cut quite right. Regardless, it didn't look quite right on the front of the Zune – close, but not quite perfect. The back was easy to apply and looked excellent – no problems at all.<br /><br /><img border="1" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/zt/2007/jasondunn-zune-decalgirl-3.jpg" alt="" /> <em><br />Figure 3: The back of the Zune. The design looks great, and there's a cut-away for the serial number.</em> <br /><br />Overall, I think Decalgirl decals are a fast, easy, and affordable way to make your Zune look different from anyone else's. They also offer an option to create a customized decal based on a graphic you submit, so if you want to have a truly unique Zune you can go that route. <br /><br /><em>Jason Dunn owns and operates <a href="http://www.thoughtsmedia.com" target="_blank">Thoughts Media Inc.</a>, a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys mobile devices, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, and his sometimes obedient dog. He remains steadfast in his belief that the Zune has great long-term potential, even if this current version makes him want to rip out his hair sometimes.</em>