One Person's Zune Thoughts: It's a Keeper

[Darius Wey]

<em>&quot;I got an MS Zune for Xmas, debating if I should return it for an iPod. I opened the box anyway since I'd very little first hand knowledge of the product it would give me a chance to do some first hand research.&quot;</em><br /><br />It's always great to take a break from major reviews and instead divert attention to the average consumer and what his/her thoughts on the Zune are. Jill England received a Zune for Christmas, and naturally, she was <a target="_blank" href="http://hyperfaceted.blogspot.com/2006/12/to-zune-or-not-to-zune-what-is.html">skeptical</a> at first, but decided to take the plunge, anyway. Three days later, the Zune is a device she loves and a device <a target="_blank" href="http://hyperfaceted.blogspot.com/2006/12/zune-i-think-ill-keep-it.html">she wants to keep</a>. The drawing points? The large screen, the eye-catching UI, and even the FM radio tuner. For those of you who received a Zune for Christmas, are you in the same boat? Is it a device you're happy with?

[Paul Martin]

Darius,

I'm there. Because of slow shipping & a work holiday, my Zune arrived yesterday. After some initial update challenges due to the work firewall, everything is fine. Overall, I'm very pleased with it. I'm developing a list of things I wish it could change, like being able to delete a file while using the Zune and trying to figure out the whole picture/wallpaper thing. The UI is fairly intuitive, but it's my first DAP so I don't have much to compare it to. Naturally, I continued to read after ordering it and honestly, did question from time to time, should I have gotten something else? Every device makes compromises; I hope these are ones I will be able to live with or receive updates to fix. :)

For me, it's a keeper as well.

[bleeman]

I purchased mine right after Christmas with several Gift Cards I received and some cash of my own. I LOVE IT!!!

There are several things that immediately jump to mind I like about it now that I've used it for about a week. First, I really like the interface. I don't miss the iPod click-wheel at all. Far to often I found with my big fingers I had a hard time getting it to stop where I wanted it. I also like that the Play/Pause, and Back/Menu buttons are NOT on the wheel. This makes it very easy for me to Pause my music when driving, by touch alone, so I don't have to take my eyes off the road. I can't tell you how many times I tried to do this with my iPod and I'd end up switching songs, going back a menu, etc. Second, I love the screen. It's sharp and bright and I've received numerous compliments on it when showing friends/family videos and pictures. Finally, while I was somewhat disappointed that it didn't interface directly with WMP, I generally like the Zune software. What's even better is I can now use my WMA files again rather than the MP3's I created when I had my iPod, meaning my current collection is back in the 6-8gb range instead of 15-17gb!

So far, I haven't gone to crazy with accessories. My main goal was to pickup a case. I tried the Belkin acrylic one (http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=301298) and while I liked the concept, I found I had to much trouble getting my fingers in the small holes for the Play/Pause and the Back/Menu. I picked up the Speck ToughSkin (http://www.speckproducts.com/zune-toughskin.html) yesterday and I really like it. It has screen protection in the form of a hard plastic overlay that doesn't appear to detract to much from the display. The buttons are still very responsive underneath it's rubber shell, and best of all I can completely remove the belt clip so that the back remains smooth and flat.

I've also found I can use the headphone jack to connect to the line-in on my Logitech mm50 speakers (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/US/EN,CRID=2661,CONTENTID=10785) I had for my iPod so although I can't charge/sync through it's dock, I can at least listen to my music without headphones until I get these speakers sold and replace them with Zune compatible ones.