Microsoft should include this time an AC charger in the package. Charging from the pc or notebook is horrible and time consuming and can damage the reputation of the company. make less profit and include an ac dual-voltage charger.

I own a Zune right now and agree with zuner that they should throw in a few more perks with the package. Things like an AC adaptor, Car charger, and better head phones (mine broke after a month of harshless use). Another thing they need to do is make it compatible with Apple computers, I would say thats probably their biggest problem so far as it leaves people with Macs at a disadvantage and a missed out market-niche. Other than that it’s a great little device, never had a problem with it acting up or freezing. Video looks great (even though some will bitch about the resolution) and the radio feature is nice if you want to hear the game scores or get bored of your music.

Microsoft is going down hill. Zune was a big bulky peace of (*&^ when it came out and still is. I’m going Mac everything. Its a shame because I have been a Microsoft fan for a long time. I have come to my senses now.

Even I do not own either of them, Zune looks sucks and Ipod looks cool. The Zune designer should get fire and the manager who approve the design should get fire ummm… like ‘yesteryear’. Even some Chinese made mp3/mp4 player much better than Zune (like MeiZu), these gadgets feature wise are more or less same, you make sales with the ‘cool effect’ – if others have it I must have it too. So, Zune definitely need a new design.

Yiiiikes…. I assumed that after about a year since the originals’ release, Microsoft would have made a big leap in their second generation. Not the case this time around. They’re still not cool looking — if anything, the center control button is even cheesier than the original. MS soooo wants it to resemble the iPod’s click wheel, even though it functions like arrow keys. At the very least, they ditched the brown one that everyone ridiculed. I seem to recall Steve Ballmer boasting some time ago that “at the end of the day, Apple will have to keep up with our agenda”. Yep, world domination here, folks.

“Ya! Who cares how well it works, all we should care about is how the thing looks!”

What is wrong with you people? How can you say these things with a straight face?

Tell you what, if I design an awesome plastic case with no electronics inside, would you buy it?

This is one of the dopiest analyses I’ve seen yet. Zune offers nothing new. Mac users have been recording TV and importing DVDs into iTunes and then onto iPods for YEARS! This is supported by two major Mac products, Toast and EyeTV, which feature one-button direct export to iTunes and iPod of DVDs and recorded TV respectively (with far greater quality and ease of use than the pitiful Windows Media Center you have to use to get TV onto a Zune). And it is a trivial matter to import Avi and other movie files into iTunes for loading onto iPods.

mp3 player Apple ipod 83% market share
others – 17%

Reason is not because it can play music because it looks good. Your piece of good looking plastic will sell if you at least can play music/video first. If people start to buy Zune it’s not because it can do what others can’t do, it’s because of the looks. It’s like when a movie director choose an actor for movie they choose an actor that is good looking and can act over normal (looking) guys.

Wow, the Mac-Trolls are really out in force. Yeah, the Zune and iPod are “feature wise are more or less same.” Except for a built-in radio. Otherwise the same. Oh and built-in wifi. Otherwise exactly the same. Well, I guess there is also the integrated software to add your favorite TV shows for free. But otherwise the same. Umm, oh and wire-free syncing. But otherwise . . . well there is also more video and audio format support. Oh and the option to buy, rent or bring your own music. Oh and the ability to preview full length songs and pass your discoveries along to friends whether they are in the next room or around the globe. But yeah, other than that exactly the same!

The only way Zune will become more popular than the iPod is if Microsoft uses their monopoly to get the marketshare. Other than that, you are asking Microsoft to innovate something that is huge, a giant leap beyond the iPod.
Take a look at Microsoft’s history. Now look at their biggest successes. Of all those successes, can you name one that was NOT a copy of something that already existed? And of all those, how many were actually an improvement over the original? Or was it just a success due to Mircrosoft’s monopolistic practices?
So no, I wouldn’t look for any serious innovation from Microsoft, they can’t invent anything that hasn’t already been invented – they can only invent the Microsoft version of it, and that just means it will be second rate. To make matters worse, Bill Gates has less & less to do with things like this over at MS, and instead, we have Steve Balmer. To say that he is even half the ceo that gates was would be a huge overstatement. Maybe a 50th of the ceo. He is a baffoon who was handed the greatest job in history because he used to play poker with Gates.

When Gates is completely gone, Microsoft is done.

Until then, using a Zune will be akin to walking around the DAP world with a “Kick Me” sign on your back.

Well, well… the PeeCee-Tards are out in force. Maybe I should have clarified: The new Zune designs are a big yawner, because they don’t look all that great and the hardware hasn’t improved. While Apple’s iPods have consistently had marked improvements in battery life, video quality, etc., Zune 2.0 features, what — a slightly trimmer box with a faceless control button? Wireless syncing is not a “feature” per se, unless you believe the convenience of not plugging in to your computer (which is most likely at arm’s length, anyway) justifies severely draining your battery. More useless features make the Zune a better product?

I disagree with Walker… probably the least important thing microsoft could do would be to add mac support. Seriously, how many mac users would consider a zune. Mac users already know Microsoft stuff all sucks… It’s a lost cause trying to win us over.

Jeez, there’s a new digital gizmo every 5 minutes. Fuck keeping up with the Joneses; it’s too expensive to be cool.

apple fanboys’ comments like these really make me sick. >:| i own a macbook pro, a mac pro and a PC and this holiday season i aint buying an ipod. i still have my 5.5 gen one and i really dont use it that much anymore. boring device (like all ipods i owned) and the only reason i got one was to use it as a hard drive ( i work in the design/creative industry so i want an alternative storage device that happens to play music and some video). i was thinking of getting teh ipodtouch, but with the memory its offering i passed. and the ipod classic, it’s just a glorified HD. if it was available a year ago i would have bought it. but this coming nov/dec im getting myself a zune 80. UI is cool and the functionality is really nice. FM is cool for me because i travel a lot and it always intrigue to surf thru other radio stations in diff part of the world. and although it doesnt have a wifi music store it doesnt matter to me. who uses those anyway. so there.

apple fanboys you suck! lol.

- from an apple user

Well based on the video reviews I’ve seen the new Zune is a huge improvement over the first. I was always iffy on the 1st gen but I’m 99.8% sold on this one. I really only care about music. I don’t care about video, don’t really care about photos. 80 gigs is the perfect size and the new UI looks much more instinctual. People complain that you can’t use the wi-fi to buy music but the key thing that nobody seems to be recognizing is that you can’t use the wi-fi to buy music RIGHT NOW. If MS wanted to make that available they could do so easily without having to introduce a whole new device.

I am positive that the iPod is for girls and grandparents. It is for folks who do not know how to use computers. Its ’simplicity’ is good enough for a monkey to use but I am sure that there are no monkeys that use iPods. Honestly, the iPod is the only reason apple is still alive. Unfirtunately, it is only riding because of its market share. There are many mp3 players out there that can do a whole lot more than hold 40000 songs. Anyone ever heard of the Archos? That thing is an ipod touch and Appletv combined with the iPod classic without coverflow. The Zune is like the iPod touch without the internet but with radio, file sharing and free tv shows. Honestly, the software just got a little worse but that hasn’t changed the fact that it is better than the iPod. The Creative Zen is practically a super thick zune without wifi and it is still better than the iPod. I believe that the iPod is for girls and old grandparents who don’t know anything about technology. I am not dissing any fans. Any body can support whatever they want to support. Haven’t you seen gay folks.

Seriously, you have to be an apple fan to be blind to the obvious lack of functionality the ipod lacks. Without the linux os, the iPod is a 160Gb Sony Erricson W850’s media player with a maximum of 7 games, a calendar, clock,contacts and no bluetooth. Video came to the iPod only tww and a half years ago. So I do not see how ” mac users have been copying DVDs and tv shows to itunes and ipods for years”. These features only came because of the Portable Media Centers that Microsoft introduced a few years ago. Who is copying now? I am buying a zune tomorrow becuase it is the only media player that doesn’t have any real critics. The critics are only apple fans who would suck on Steve Job’s penis till even if he threw out an iFan or iSomething. Look at the iPhone. I admit that it is a great tool and a very cool one. But my dad has one and he cannot help but complain about some of the tiny problems that the UI has that he hates. No video recording, no 3G calls, only AT&T, accidental phone calls, cannot be used as a flashdrive, no wireless syncing, terrible battery life, fragile, and some others. It is also kinda of expensive for the young kids who it was made for. The new nokia N95 would crush that little touch screen razr with its bare hands. It is just not advertised as much

Sorry Apple fans but the truth must be told. I was once like you guys.

Too late. Now that we all have our music in iTunes libraries & have owned atleast one iPod, why the heck would we switch? Music libraries eat up serious HD space so duplicating music is not pratical. Duh…