Five Reasons to Love Zune HD, and Five More to Stick With An iPod

[Adam Krebs]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.popsci.com/gear-amp-gadgets/article/2009-09/5-things-i-love-about-zunehd-and-5-reasons-im-keeping-my-ipod' target='_blank'>http://www.popsci.com/gear-amp-gadg...keeping-my-ipod</a><br /><br /></div><p>"<em>Naturally as an iPod devotee, I felt predisposed to Hate (with a capital "h") the Zune, but I decided to give it a fighting chance nonetheless. I loaded 'er up with about 2 gigs of my most-played music, downloaded whatever apps the Zune Marketplace had to offer, subscribed to a podcast or two, and got myself a two-week ZunePass to make sure I was getting the full sha-bang. After five days' worth of go-rounds on the NYC subway, I realized there are a few spots where the Zune HD does in fact out-class the "funnest iPod ever." But don't check me off as a convert: For every nugget I came to love about the Zune, there was another one tipping the scales back to the touch.</em>"</p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/zt/auto/1253328081.usr495.jpg" style="border: #d2d2bb 1px solid;" /></p><p>As if&nbsp;I&nbsp;needed another reason to break out this picture. PopSci's Corinne Iozzio finds many things to love about her HD-convert experience, and a number of reasons to stick with the tried-and-true iPod. To be fair, her first two suggestions could be easily fixed in coming software updates&mdash;and probably will&mdash;but the others are valid points. Have you switched to Zune HD from an iPod? If not, why not?</p>

[SoundMix]

While this is a decent comparison, I would NEVER replace my Zune with an IPOD. A more realistic comparison for me would be to the new Sony 64gb or Cowon models, both of which have superior codecs. The Cowon also comes with some pretty nice software, JetAudio. Right now the Sony A840 looks like a better choice than the ZuneHD, at least for me. :)

Paul

[nook]

Is he insane?! The battery on my ZuneHD hasn't even made it to the half way mark and I listen to it all day! While my iPod Touch seems to lose power without me doing anything. Comparing the ZuneHD to the iPod Touch and saying that the iPod Touch is better because of the apps is just plain useless. OF COURSE the iPod has more apps! It's been out longer! Besides, the ONLY reason I have an iPod Touch is the apps. I don't have a single audio/video file on it. It's more of a UMPC than a PMP. It does a killer job at what it's good at, but as far as a PMP, the ZuneHD is top of the class with the iPod Touch hanging out below. I think the ZuneHD really has a chance at taking market from iPod sales. The iPod has gotten stale as proven by the addition of a video camera. Seriously, is that the best you could do? I don't use the camera on my phone, thats what an actual CAMERA or CAMCORDER is for! lol But sadly the iPod fanboys gotta have the latest ang "greatest" iPod or they aren't cool. OK, I'm done ranting. Thanks for listening! :0)

ZuneHD FTW!!!!!!

[bubuschoeny]

I think this was one of biased reviews I've ever seen. Why even waste your time with a Zune HD. Here is how I see the Ipod touch VS Zune HD.

1. Screen: Zune HD The OLED is brighter and more Vibrant.
2. UI: Zune HD The Ipod Touch UI feels dated.
3. Battery Life: I don't see a major difference either way.
4. Browser: Ipod Touch Safari is better hands down
5. Capacity: Ipod Touch has a 64 gig (Caveat: 8 gig Ipod Touch has gen 2 hardware).
6. Experience: More of a pesonal thing. Zune HD is great for music discovery. Ipod Touch is great for apps.
Note: That the Zune HD is still very new, so apps might be down the pipeline.
Ipod Touch: Only the most casual games work well. 75,000 apps is great, but when 10%+ is some sort bodily noise maker one questions quality vs quantity.

The mainstream media seems to love Apple and thinks everything else is lesser.

[doogald]

1. Screen: Zune HD The OLED is brighter and more Vibrant.

But - as the review said - useless in sunlight. The Touch isn't fantastic in bright sun, but you can see it. I'd still say the Zune wins, because, really, how often do you use these things in bright sunlight?

2. UI: Zune HD The Ipod Touch UI feels dated.

So funny. I could see an iPod Classic being called dated, but the Touch/iPhone is fairly recent and I'd disagree that it is "dated". These are pretty subjective choices in the end, anyway. The displays you can rank easily; UI is more user preference and, unless one is just bad, in the end it's pretty much just a wash, maybe a slight edge for the Zune.


Ipod Touch: Only the most casual games work well. 75,000 apps is great, but when 10%+ is some sort bodily noise maker one questions quality vs quantity.

This reminds me of the old Palm vs. Pocket PC arguments - Palm has more apps; so what, because PPC's are higher quality and have what I need, blah blah. This is a similar argument that Windows users slam the Mac OS for - the dearth of software titles, there's this great app for which the Mac has nothing, etc. Funny that many of the same people making those pro-Windows arguments are minimizing the iTunes App Store as just a bunch of fart apps.

There may be a lot of fart apps, but there are a lot of pretty high quality apps as well that add a lot of value to the iPod Touch that the Zune is missing at this point. It's certainly a valid point of comparison.


The mainstream media seems to love Apple and thinks everything else is lesser.

I'm sure that popsci.com will be shocked to be called mainstream media. And, actually, mainstream media's reviews of the Zune HD have been very positive, almost glowing at times. They all love to point out the lack of apps, they all point out the advantage of the Zune Pass and the nice hardware, some express doubt that the Zune HD can displace the Touch, even if it is a better media player. I think that the mainstream media reviews have been fair to the Zune HD and have hardly dismissed it unfairly.

[Trastan]

But - as the review said - useless in sunlight. The Touch isn't fantastic in bright sun, but you can see it. I'd still say the Zune wins, because, really, how often do you use these things in bright sunlight?

I'm sorry, but have you actually used a Zune HD in direct sunlight? It's perfectly usable. I'll admit that a standard LCD can handle direct sunlight better, but I challenge anyone to prove that the difference in picture quality between the iPod touch and the Zune HD is even noteworthy enough to be a point of interest.

Seriously, if that's the level of nitpicking we're down to, we've all got it mighty good.

[Phillip Dyson]

But - as the review said - useless in sunlight. The Touch isn't fantastic in bright sun, but you can see it. I'd still say the Zune wins, because, really, how often do you use these things in bright sunlight?


I don't own either device so I can't say which way the comparison should go. But the topic is a valid one. Given that there are a limited number of buttons there are plenty of times you might need to access your device while outside.


Skipping to the next track, or previous track
Picking the Album or playlist you want to listen to.
Pausing the playback to answer your phone.
Adjusting the volume because you're on the sidewalk and the traffic is loud.

[ujnhunter]

I own two 30 gig Zunes and an iPhone... I probably won't pick up a Zune HD until it's $99 or something. I have no need for one. I don't play music on my iPhone, and I like the Click buttons on my Zune 30's.

[doogald]

I'm sorry, but have you actually used a Zune HD in direct sunlight? It's perfectly usable. I'll admit that a standard LCD can handle direct sunlight better, but I challenge anyone to prove that the difference in picture quality between the iPod touch and the Zune HD is even noteworthy enough to be a point of interest.

I have not, but Mobilitysite did a piece on this (http://mobilitysite.com/2009/09/keep-out-of-direct-sunlight/) a couple of days ago. You can see the comparison photos if you wish.

And, of course, the original linked article in this thread mentioned this as well.

[Trastan]

I have not, but Mobilitysite did a piece on this (http://mobilitysite.com/2009/09/keep-out-of-direct-sunlight/) a couple of days ago. You can see the comparison photos if you wish.

And, of course, the original linked article in this thread mentioned this as well.

I appreciate the link. Though I have to wonder what level the reviewer set each screen to (perhaps I missed it), assuming all of the devices were at maximum, the iPod touch certainly does have the upper hand. Odd that I still don't have any issue enjoying video in sunlight with the Zune HD (or iPod touch, when I had it). Perhaps the days that I've tested simply weren't as bright as the one used in your quoted review.

Regardless, I find it difficult to believe that someone would put value in any of those devices' daylight viewing ability to the point of differentiating one over the other. They're all unusable if that review is to be believed.:(