I know the Zune gets a lot of negative reviews, for whatever reason. Of course, well all know that it is not necessarily getting those reviews for what it is, but for what it ISN'T. Which is to say, it isn't an iPod. I don't want to step on any toes here, but what's so bad about not having the exact same thing as everyone’s else you've ever met? Sometimes, you want to be different. Sometimes, you want a brown media player!
I admit that I was originally drawn to the Zune for two reasons. First, it isn't an iPod. Simple as that. I wanted something other than a plain black or white box, something that would be at least a little bit unique. Secondly, well, it came in brown. I like brown. Until the Zune was released, how many brown mp3 players did you see. None, that's how many. And in the right light, it's double-shot effect gives it a nice green glow around the edges, which makes it even better.
Of course, once I bought it, for those reasons, I realized that I actually made a really good decision. This is an extremely good media player with some great features. I had owned a few other mp3 players in the past and even used a few iPods, so I had some things to compare it to. The fact is, none of the others compare to the Zune at all.
Currently, though, the only really serious competitor the Zune has is the iPod itself. Apple had a good head start in the mp3 industry, so of course they have quite a few more loyal followers than Microsoft has for the Zune. And even though I was never a huge fan of Microsoft, I have always had a special dislike for Apple products. They have Apple computers at the university that I attend, so I am forced to use them on a regular basis. When comparing the two operating systems, especially since the release of Windows Vista, Apple's OS is seriously lacking. This formed a negative opinion of all Apple products that I've never been able to shake. I say this so that I can also say that I have a grudging respect for the iPod. It is a decent media player that has a big following for a good reason. However, it is plain, boring, and too common to have any kind of cool factor anymore. The Zune, on the other hand, is attractively designed, has great features, and is a little more rare, which gets you a lot of "what is that?" comments when people see it.
Now, on to the actual review. The first thing you notice about the Zune is that it looks really cool. Microsoft gave it a special type of construction that involves two different layers on the body. This gives it, in addition to the base color, a different colored "glow" around the edges. It seriously looks awesome. It is also very scratch resistant and durable. The only part that you'll be able to scratch, short of some serious abuse, is the screen. And even that can take some punishment. I've dropped it off my desk, let it slide around the floor of the car, and bounce around in the cup holder with not scratches to be found. It even resists fingerprints! The iPod definitely can't say that. Another thing that you'll notice right away is the relatively large screen. Unlike other media players in its class, it is more than sufficient for watching movies. It is still a small screen, of course, but it is bigger, brighter, and has a much better picture than the competition.
Once you get to use it, though, it really shines. With recent firmware updates especially, the menus are quick and easy to navigate, the sound quality is superb, and the skipping problem that they had at release has been eliminated. It doesn’t have the wheel thingy like the iPod has, but I find that the buttons on the Zune, which actually give some tactile response when you push them, are more functional, anyway. It makes navigation more precise than with the iPod.
The menus are attractive and simple to use. When you choose music, pictures, or video on the main menu, you can browse by various criteria. You can view the pictures and videos by folder, for example. You can also view the music by artist, song, album, etc.
Oh, and did I mention that it has an FM radio? I know, you're saying, "why do you need a radio when you have thousands of your favorite songs on your Zune?" It's actually a great feature. I like public radio, but I don't want to load talk radio or classical music onto my Zune permanently, so it is good for that. And anyway, sometimes it just feels good to listen to artists that you may not know about yet. And the radio has a nifty feature that displays the name of the radio station and track info about the song that is currently playing. Very nifty if a song comes on that you haven't heard before.
Again, the sound quality is excellent, even on the cheap included ear buds. The premium ear buds that Microsoft offers separately take it to a whole new level, though. They cancel out nearly all external noise and sound just wonderful. And they can get loud...very, very loud. They even have a nice little case to store them in and different size rubber bits so that you can actually get them to fit in your ear exactly the way you want them to. The Zune has some pre-set equalizer settings to choose from. It might be good, depending on your tastes, but I usually just keep it on the default setting, since it sounds so good already.
The proprietary Zune Marketplace software is necessary for syncing music to the Zune. It used to be a lot of trouble trying to get the program to work well, but a few updates later it works like a charm. I have two computers, though, and I've noticed that it runs considerably better on Vista than XP. They have a great selection of songs available, with only a few popular artists either missing or requiring permanent purchase. All of the functions of the software are easy to use and syncing (at least since a couple of firmware updates ago) is a snap. The firmware updates themselves usually don't take more than a minute or two, either, and the only input necessary is to tell it to perform the update. The best part is the subscription service. $15 a month gets you all the music you can download for as long as you keep the service. It's a great deal. I've downloaded 3000+ songs and have only paid Microsoft a total of $60. Compared with the thousands of dollars that many songs would have cost from other sources, like iTunes, you just can't beat Zune Marketplace for the value.
In all, it's the best purchase I've made in a long time. After I got it and showed it off a bit, my wife had to have one (she got the new Pink one) and have even managed to convert a few loyal iPod users. It was definitely $250 well spent.
Please note that the opinions expressed about Apple products are just my own personal opinions. I know a lot of people swear by them and I don't want to be flamed or get angry emails. I'm just trying to review what I believe is the better choice of the current generation of media players, not trying to start a Microsoft vs. Apple war. The fact is that the iPod is really the only media player that is even in the same league as the Zune, so I based my review, in part, as a contrast of the two. I know how the Apple/Microsoft debate can get out of hand in a hurry on the internet. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I acknowledge that some people will disagree with me about the almighty iPod, which I acknowledge as a very good and well established player in it's on right, and I accept that fact and humbly ask for a preemptive truce on the matter.
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