Has anyone got a Microsoft Zune yet?

If so, could you post you thoughts on it? It seems to have had mixed reviews in the states along with some software problems.

I see that they are appearing on ebay now with UK sellers and quite fancied one as opposed to an ipod. ( Christmas pressie in mind )

Cheers

I don't own a Zune nor have I played with one but I've spoken to a couple of people who have and they didn't have many nice things to say. Horrendous installation issues, host memory hogging, very limited WiFi connectivity, DRM'd to buggery and incompatible with Vista's Media Player (WTF??) as well as numerous other flaws. Even Andy Inhakto who's usually very pro-Microsoft was less than impressed to say the least: http://www.suntimes.com/technology/ihnatko...-Andy23.article

Personally I'd stick with my iPod until the 2nd generation Zunes arrive (at least) by which time they'll hopefully have sorted out these issues (or maybe not considering the dodgy dealing going on between Microsoft and the music industry at the moment).

looks as good as the iPod, with wifi support....however

<rant>

I'm a bit of an open source / sharing for all / evangelist and like the iPod, the Zune is a way of locking you into the way you listen or download music. The ways in which in the music is encoded means that you can't simply copy it a friends machine and play, unless they to have a licensed Zune or other Microsoft platform. The iPod is to some extent just as bad, but I guess I think that Apple's plans on world domination aren't as bad as those of Microsoft. The Zune has DRM support in the chipset, which effectively restricts its use and the distribution of the music on the system.

</rant>

That said, I've recently bought a 30Gb Video IPod whilst on a trip to the US, ($220 or

I don't own a Zune nor have I played with one but I've spoken to a couple of people who have and they didn't have many nice things to say. Horrendous installation issues, host memory hogging, very limited WiFi connectivity, DRM'd to buggery and incompatible with Vista's Media Player (WTF??) as well as numerous other flaws. Even Andy Inhakto who's usually very pro-Microsoft was less than impressed to say the least: http://www.suntimes.com/technology/ihnatko...-Andy23.article

Personally I'd stick with my iPod until the 2nd generation Zunes arrive (at least) by which time they'll hopefully have sorted out these issues (or maybe not considering the dodgy dealing going on between Microsoft and the music industry at the moment).

Oh, so normal microsoft quality then?

looks as good as the iPod, with wifi support....however

<rant>

I'm a bit of an open source / sharing for all / evangelist and like the iPod, the Zune is a way of locking you into the way you listen or download music. The ways in which in the music is encoded means that you can't simply copy it a friends machine and play, unless they to have a licensed Zune or other Microsoft platform. The iPod is to some extent just as bad, but I guess I think that Apple's plans on world domination aren't as bad as those of Microsoft. The Zune has DRM support in the chipset, which effectively restricts its use and the distribution of the music on the system.

</rant>

That said, I've recently bought a 30Gb Video IPod whilst on a trip to the US, ($220 or

Oh, and the iPod has iDoom of course!

Well, thanks everyone for all that info, looks like I'll go for the ipod then.

I can recomend the Sony HD players. They use there own format as well as mp3, it compress better than mp3. The only reason Apple beat Sony with HD players (after Sony invented the walkman) is that SOny thought mini-disc would be the next big thing... How wrong! I'd say there better that ipods now. Easier use anyway.

I've just bought an IPOD video 30Gb from the Apple store - refurbished, which is regularly a problem with the packaging or something like that, guaranteed for three years as usual, absolutely as new, for

In fact, now I've got mine I don't mind the competition so you may as well have the link. They're not often there, but if you spot one it's worth every penny.

I saved it as my home page for a week or so to wait around for one.

Clicky Here then click on the big red SAVE bottom right

Edited December 15, 200619 yr by bikespace