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Zune 120 GB Video MP3 Player (Black) |
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| Major Problems |
| I bought this item expecting a high quality product that would last long enough to be worth the price. But one month after purchase, with light usage, the battery has gone sour. I can listen to music a maximum of 2 hour before the battery goes empty, and video for 20 minutes; opposed to the advertised 30 hours of music and 4 hours of video. This is ridiculous, especially since i can't even return it for my full money back do to amazons policies. I hope they fix this problem, otherwise this is a magnificent piece of technology. |
| Nov 15, 2008 |
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| Skip Skip Skip |
I can not believe that the well known and mighty Microsoft would dare to think that this MP3 player or Zune would out perform a $30 MP3 player.
First just about any inexpensive $30 MP3 player would have an EQ function with either presets, such as Pop, Rock, Jazz or custom where by the listener can set the EQ levels to their musical taste well to my surprise the Zune has none. In fact the Zune has no EQ setting at all every song is played flat without any emphasis to the highs, mids or lows it's just flat and thin. I consider this missing function a very important and needed function and should not be treated as an unnecessary option.
Second any inexpensive MP3 player will allow the listener to listen to a album that's a compilation of artist, such as if the album is called "The Best of The Best" which may contain 10 songs from 10 different artist the Zune will list the album 10 times once for each artist and when attempting to play the album starting at track 1 you can't the Zune list and treat each artist as if it's a separate album you just can't start at tack 1 and play all the way thru to track 10, you must listen to track 1 then scroll to the next artist which is listed with the same album title, but different artist. Any inexpensive MP3 player would list the album with all the artist under the one album and not 10 albums.
Third the Zune processing is strange the vocals are processed in a manner where by the vocals have some echo applied to give them an expansive feel which is unnatural and the vocals are moved to the back and the musical instruments are move to the front as if the vocals are lowered to sing karaoke and there's some strange shssssssssssssssss sound going on in the background.
Fourth the software sucks big time, you must install the software in order for the device to be recognized by the computer and after installing the software you must use the Zune software to sync your songs to the Zune you can not just drag and drop, because the Zune does not appear under My Computer which by the way any cheap MP3 player would allow for drag and drop.
For me I will send the Zune back, because for reasons mention above I owned a Creative Zen 20gb MP3 player and now I want it back from my son. The Zune has some great features don't get me wrong, but for me if it does not sound better than and perform better than a $30 MP3 player I can save $200 and be happy with a player that does not frustrate me with all the quirks.
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| Nov 14, 2008 |
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| Head Over Heels for My Zune! |
If I could rate my Zune over 5 stars, I would. I had always wanted a Zune since their first launch, but 30GB was not enough storage space for my music. So I bought an 80GB iPod Classic, which I used for over a year. Being a fan of techno and electronica, I can't tell you how many songs sounded absolutely awful playing through my iPod - over premium speakers, no less.
When I saw the Zune was being released as a 120GB model, I was so excited. I sold the iPod on ebay, and headed over to Amazon asap to order my Zune. As soon as it arrived, I was in love with it. I'll list a few reasons why:
- The external design of the Zune is really sleek, and I love the matte black back plate. The squircle is very responsive, and I love having a play/pause button and a back button.
- The screen is simply stunning. Huge, with a crisp, bright display. Videos, album art, photos, and wallpapers look great.
- The twist menu system is intuitive, and a whole lot more accessible and interactive then the iPod menu I was used to. It's great to be able to move across the menu as well as down the menu.
- Audible.com compatibility. I'm a big audio book buff, so having a device that is compatible with Audible makes it easy for me to listen to my books.
The #1 thing I love about my Zune is the awesome sound quality. I created a test playlist of the songs I love that sounded distorted when playing on my iPod; they sound crystal clear on my Zune. I was nervous about what the sound quality would be like without an EQ, but I've found with my Zune I don't need one - all the music sounds great, all the time.
This is hands down one of my favorite things I've bought for myself, and I can't recommend it enough! |
| Nov 14, 2008 |
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| Major Problems too Early after Purchase |
The Bottom line is this: I shouldn't be dealing with problems on a brand new device that was well taken care of, period. The fact that this seems to be a trend among other people leads me to believe that something is faulty with the Zune and Microsoft knows about it. That's why it's so hard to find the "contact us" button or a number for technical support. I have the Zune 80G and after only 12 weeks it began acting up.
It would freeze and need "reset" (what other reason would there be a way to "reset" your zune? Because they know it's faulty so they put in a failsafe.)
Then, files would come up missing or couldn't be played. They couldn't be re-synced either. And after I erased all the content just to put some of those missing files back on there, I couldn't sync the rest of my content because it would freeze up while syncing and an error message "zune is not responding and needs reset"
Two words sum up my thoughts on the Zune.
Absolutely Ridiculous.
Stay away. |
| Nov 13, 2008 |
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| My new best friend! |
I was starting to get bored with my 5 y.o. Zen 40GB jukebox and was looking for something smaller and preferably with a larger capacity (My music library is just under 1TB). I played with a friends iPod and thought it was well designed, but the software/menus were not exactly user-friendly and I HATE iTunes. So when I saw a new option, and a 120GB option at that, I went to my local store to play with it. Well, suffice it to say, I almost bought it on the spot. Luckily, I showed a little self control and saved $30 by buying on Amazon.
Positives:
-The menus are simpler (in a good way) than the iPod
-The software is efficient (with one beef that I will mention in a sec), --The screen is great for viewing movies/tv shows (I recommend MPEG-4 format)
-Get the Home AV pack if you can. Once you have it hooked up you just dock that badboy and you can play it through your stereo. It comes with a remote, which works well, though it's not too useful if you're far away unless you have 20/15 vision and can read the screen from more than 5 feet away.
(Slight) Negatives:
-Closed source so third party mp3 organizing software is not compatible. Not even Windows Media Player, which boggles my mind. The Zune software is simple and intuitive and does the job as far as transferring music/video to the device, but if you have a large collection I recommend maintaining your collection (for purposes of tagging and organizing) using another piece of software (I use MediaMonkey). A small complaint that most casual users won't need to worry about.
-Toss the headphones that come with it and buy a decent pair. You invest $230 and use the standard headphones and you are wasting your money.
-Video player won't play .AVI files. Must convert them, which isn't a big deal, but an extra step.
Finally, a quick note on accessories. Unfortunately for us, Microsoft has adopted the Apple model of charging you out the rear for every little accessory. Actually, they have been doing it for years with their software, so I guess I can't really blame Apple. The cases in particular are ridiculously priced. If you are looking for a nice case, I found the leather folding case that is priced at $75 on Amazon at my local Best Buy on clearance for $16.99. Odds are if it's on clearance in one, it's on clearance in the rest.
In summary, I love this product. On the way to work I watch episodes of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" or movies I have ripped from DVD or downloaded. I have 100GB's of music at my fingertips at all times. I even catch myself playing the Texas Hold 'Em poker game that comes pre-loaded. Just a cool all-around gadget. And to the Mac fanboys out there, don't let the fact that it doesn't say "Apple" on it scare you away (or cause you to immediately write it off). |
| Nov 12, 2008 |
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