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Go Back   WakeWorld > >> Wakeboarding Discussion Archives > Archive through May 12, 2008

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Old     (wakekid72501)      Join Date: Jul 2006       04-20-2008, 6:44 PM Reply   
i am thinking about getting either a 4 GB or 8 GB zune for my birthday in july. i was just wondering wat yall thought about zunes and if there is any good wakeboarding videos for them
Old     (sidekicknicholas)      Join Date: Mar 2007       04-20-2008, 7:27 PM Reply   
My brother loves his... it seems to work well

watch on
giveawayoftheday.com
they have programs to rip dvd's to any format quite a bit, legal and free... can get whatever you want then.
Old     (wakekid72501)      Join Date: Jul 2006       04-20-2008, 7:32 PM Reply   
sweet sounds cool! Anybody else got anything to say
Old     (mattkrull)      Join Date: Apr 2004       04-20-2008, 8:30 PM Reply   
I've had mine for about a 1 1/2 with no problems. It went through a couple of software upgrades that didn't kill it. I have a 30 gb the battery life is a 7-8 hours if you are playing music.
Old     (coursey)      Join Date: Apr 2008       04-21-2008, 7:26 AM Reply   
I have had my Zune since launch!!! Cannot beat it. The best thing about it is the subscription service instead of paying one dollar per song. Pay $14.99 a month and download whatever you want...NO LIMITS.
Old     (fatsac)      Join Date: Jun 2004       04-21-2008, 8:12 AM Reply   
Zune gets my vote. Get the 30 if you can find a good deal though. I ran out of room on the four in a hurry. Currently over 2000 songs and 16 gb left. The flat fee is awesome. It won't work with ipod ready decks so you'll have to get an alternate input cable.
The one thing that does suck is certain bands are not in their database. AC/DC, Bob Seger...listed but not available.
Old     (mcook77)      Join Date: Feb 2004       04-21-2008, 8:15 AM Reply   
My 30GB is great - zero issues. Also recommend the subscription service.
Old     (lknboarder)      Join Date: Jan 2008       04-21-2008, 8:23 AM Reply   
one word: iPod
Old     (sidekicknicholas)      Join Date: Mar 2007       04-21-2008, 8:40 AM Reply   
ipods = gay

If you're not set on the ipod check out the Creative Zen series...they are so tough... mine has flown outta my car window at like 45, been completely underwater, and let in the snow overnight.... still works awesome
Old     (astonestreet)      Join Date: Oct 2007       04-21-2008, 8:42 AM Reply   
Ive got the 8gig zune and love it! way better the ipod!
Old     (malibuboarder75)      Join Date: Jan 2004       04-21-2008, 9:02 AM Reply   
Ipods are really overated. They are overpriced and don't have any of the features that some of the competitors have.
Old     (malibudude)      Join Date: Feb 2001       04-21-2008, 9:44 AM Reply   
I've had my Creative Zen 60G for a couple of years, been great. I prefer the layout and functionality to the competitors, best thing I can allocate storage space to use it as an Hd to transfer things around to different computers. Due to the marvelous marketing campaign of Apple, the Ipod is the leader and hence accessory store products are easier to find. However, there are several websites that I can get my accessories for my Zen. I just laugh when I ask for a product for my mp3 player ant they naturally assume I’ve got an Ipod.
Old     (iamnathanhudson)      Join Date: Dec 2002       04-21-2008, 9:59 AM Reply   
i hardly think a zune can compare to the ipod touch which will eventually see larger capacity sizes in the future. One key thing for me is that ipods work on mac or pc.... the zune is PC only. i'm not saying the zune is bad. But is really is just keeping up. The wireless 'squirting' of songs is rather useless as it is dreadfully slow. it's good in concept, poor in implementation.

(Message edited by iamnathanhudson on April 21, 2008)
Old     (whitlecj)      Join Date: Apr 2004       04-21-2008, 9:59 AM Reply   
I have heard some good things about the Zune from a friend that had a problematic Ipod. The Zune seems to be working really well for her as an alternative.
Old     (iamnathanhudson)      Join Date: Dec 2002       04-21-2008, 12:12 PM Reply   
here is an article i copied for you to check out. It's funny i commented on here and then noticed this article pop up in my RSS reader.

---------------------------------------------------

Five Reasons my Zune is dead to me
I really wanted to love my 80GB Zune. I'd heard good things about its WiFi and its FM radio, its software, the Zune Marketplace, its easy navigation, and its non-iPod-ness. But then I got it, and now I hate it. And here's why, in ascending order of annoyance.

5. The software and music categorization

The Zune software (its equivalent of iTunes) is slow and super-unintuitive. When I first started using it, I literally could not figure out how to start adding songs. I had to look it up, and discovered it's a common bug when you use the device and software for the first time, so I had to unplug the Zune, restart the software, and then I could drag and drop songs onto the device. It's also nowhere near as good at categorizing music as iTunes. In fact, when I imported my iTunes library into the Zune software, it couldn't figure out the difference between album and artist for most songs, so browsing the collection on the device is a total nightmare.

In the software itself, there are way too many menu options -- without the Zune plugged in, there's a two-line menu with five separate options: Collection, Device, Marketplace, Social, and Disc on the top line, and then Music, Playlists, Videos, Pictures, Podcasts on the second line. Plug the device in, and there's one MORE menu option once you click Device (Status).

Plus, the software and device don't seem to respond to my settings choices. I asked the Zune, under Settings, to "Let me choose" to sync music, video, pictures, and podcasts -- but whenever I plug in the Zune, it auto-syncs. Eh? Worse, settings in the software menu (like, "Keep 3 episodes of each podcast") override the already-overridden "let me choose" option on the Zune, so the software ends up taking podcasts off the Zune when I don't want it to. But that's hardly the worst sync sin the Zune performs. More on that later.

Note: I did not subscribe to the Zune Marketplace, because I'm not even remotely interested in a heavily DRM'd subscription service, so I have not taken advantage of the joys of Squirting Songs or anything like that. However, since I've never encountered another Zune user in the wild, I haven't felt like I missed out.

4. The headphones

The Zune's headphones were, at first blush, one of the best things about it. They're nice, in-ear headphones with really good quality sound. They look good and fit comfortably, and the ends of the earbuds are magnetic, so they can hang around your neck without falling off. But here's the thing. The headphone cord is fabric, instead of the plastic-coated cable of iPod headphones or their ilk. And fabric, which is basically string, is one big knot waiting to happen. Combine the knotting tendencies of string with the magnetic ends of the earbuds, and the headphones are constantly in a state of tangle that you cannot even believe. It's a 10-minute endeavor to untangle them every time I pull them out of my bag. My bus ride is only 25 to 30 minutes long. It's just not worth it.

3. The player interface

Yes, the iPod makes navigation easy. And at first blush, so does the Zune. I love the big menu items on the home screen for Music, Videos, Pictures, Social, Radio, Podcasts, and Settings. But there are just way too many clicks required to play a song, way too many to add a song to a playlist on the fly, and way too many menu items that aren't songs at the top of the Quick List playlist.

Playing an album is pretty easy -- you just side-scroll to Albums, choose it, click the Album title, and choose Play All (other options are "add all to quick list" or "send"). On this screen, you'll actually see a list of all the songs on the album.

But to find and then play a song by a specific artist (which I usually do, because artist names are easier to remember than album names), you first find the name of the artist, then click it. Now, you'll see "Play all" and "add all to quick list," but no "send" option. Annoying interface consistency issue. Anyway. Under that, there's the album cover and the album title -- but no list of songs. So, if I want to play the first song on the artist's album, I then have to scroll down to the album name, click that, then scroll past "play all," "add all to quick list," and "send" to the song name, and click the song name.

But that does not start playing the song. At this point, I go to yet another screen, where I can "play," "add to quick list," or "send." After a few weeks of use, I had added pretty much every song on the device to the Quick List, which kind of defeated the purpose, you know?

Also, and this is nit-picky, but the Zune has a huge screen. In most cases, that's great. But does it really have to display the album art for what you're listening to at the full size of the display? Because I don't really need everyone on the bus to see that I'm having a Carrie Underwood moment, know what I'm sayin'?

2. The wireless is worthless

What is the point of the Zune having WiFi? Seriously? All it can do is sync music wirelessly on my home network. That's a neat trick, but it's not that much of an advantage over plugging it in, considering that my laptop lives in a tangle of connector cords on my breakfast bar anyway. I can't download songs over-the-air, and there's no browser and no sign of there ever being a browser. The best trick it's got is that I can unsubscribe to a podcast over WiFi. But I can't browse for and subscribe to anything new, so I'm really just depriving myself of content on the go. Hooray.

But all four of these issues with my Zune pale in comparison to the number one reason the Zune is, and forever will be, dead to me.

1. The erasing of my server-stored music

At my house, we keep all our MP3s stored on a Media Center PC, which we mount as a networked drive for adding music to portable devices. So, when I first got my Zune, I ripped three CDs using this laptop, then loaded up the MP3 server and painstakingly picked out some 2,000 songs over about a three-hour period. I didn't sync again for a couple of months, because, well, I had all the music, video, and photos I needed -- and it actually has pretty impressive battery life, so I hadn't even bothered to plug it in to charge it.

Then, about two weeks ago, I was going on a trip. My Zune's battery had run out, so I plugged it in to charge it to take on the plane with me. Despite my settings in the Zune software not to sync all my music, video, pictures, and podcasts, the Zune started its sync dance.

When it was complete, it gave me this message:

10 items added

2,372 items removed

WHAT!!!???

Yep. The software, in its auto-sync wisdom, removed every single song from the device that was not stored locally on the computer. There was no prompt, there was no "I can't find this" warning like the iTunes Library will sometimes offer. It just decided, out of what I assume was some misguided antipiracy effort, to remove any songs that it couldn't find on my hard drive. What if I were syncing the machine with two different computers with two different music libraries, you ask? Too bad. Zune is in control.

And you know what? I don't like being told what to do. I don't like sitting on a wiped Zune two hours before I'm supposed to leave from the airport. I don't like software that ignores what I think is a pretty specific request for manual syncing, and I don't like device behaviors that assume I am stealing music. What this all boils down to, I'm truly sorry to say, is that I don't like my Zune. Hello, again, little iPod buddy.

---------------------------------------------------


Just for consideration when purchasing.

-Nate

(Message edited by iamnathanhudson on April 21, 2008)
Old     (scott_a)      Join Date: Dec 2002       04-21-2008, 12:37 PM Reply   

quote:

4. The headphones

The Zune's headphones were, at first blush, one of the best things about it. They're nice, in-ear headphones with really good quality sound. They look good and fit comfortably, and the ends of the earbuds are magnetic, so they can hang around your neck without falling off. But here's the thing. The headphone cord is fabric, instead of the plastic-coated cable of iPod headphones or their ilk. And fabric, which is basically string, is one big knot waiting to happen. Combine the knotting tendencies of string with the magnetic ends of the earbuds, and the headphones are constantly in a state of tangle


ahh...gotta love the internet and its ability to let every idiot's voice be heard. I wonder if this dude has ever used ear buds before. My Sony earbuds are always a tangly f*cking mess.
Old     (ccwhite)      Join Date: Jul 2004       04-21-2008, 12:47 PM Reply   
A good friend of mine that constantly bitches and complains about anything and everything has nothing but good things to say about his zune.
Old     (woohoo)      Join Date: Jun 2006       04-21-2008, 2:50 PM Reply   
Ya I've got a Creative Zen, vision V I think. It is durable, I've had it thrown across parking lots, dropped out of busses, it's tough. The headphones from Creative suck though, I've gotten much better ones now.
Old     (xmarksthespot)      Join Date: Oct 2006       04-22-2008, 11:46 AM Reply   
Zune is good... i have had one since they came out. I hear the new ones are even better. Its got my vote....
Old    wiz            04-22-2008, 7:30 PM Reply   
i had one. it was a huge headache. i got rid of it & bought a sansa & signed up for rhapsody's subscription service. couldnt be happier!
Old     (veritas)      Join Date: Mar 2008       04-22-2008, 7:50 PM Reply   
Had an original 30 gb zune, never had any problems...when the new ones came out i sold my 30 gig and bought an 80...even better. Only had one problem where for a day my computer wouldn't let it connect to the zune software, but after that it was fine.

Battery life is absolutely awesome, the screens on the 4, 8, and 80 gb are all excellent quality.

The headphones- if your not a freaking retard (like the idiot who wrote that article), they are easier to untangle than normal plastic coated headphones because they don't STICK TOGETHER.

Also, if you roll it tightly around your hand and then stick it in a small space it will stay rolled up perfect like that...i stick it in my jacket pocket.

Definitely recommend a Zune!
Old     (zirb3l)      Join Date: Jan 2008       04-22-2008, 8:11 PM Reply   
i have a 30 and its pretty amazing. lots of people have problems with the battery but i havnt really had anything to complain about. sounds great picture is wonderful and the software aint bad!

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