So I preordered my 30gb black Zune today.

whoa that looks cool. i want a video ipod type player for Christmas. now i don't know what to ask for. which one do you guys think is better? (if it helps any, i don't have a mac.)

compare & discuss people:
http://www.zunescene.com/comparison/ (http://www.zunescene.com/comparison/)

i'm hoping i'll be able to get one for christmas.

Nice find.  I wonder about the accuracy of the last table.  It'd be strange for the Zune not to be able to read BMP or WAV files as microsoft had a hand in finalizing those standards.  I'm personally (obviously) all for the Zune.  There's a lot of things I hate about the iPods, though I'm not about to say the Zune will be perfect either.

Hey Nathan,

What do you hate about the IPOD's? Just curious?

From Matt

I just picked up one of the new 80GB black Ipods...:)  I love it!  One thing I do miss though...is the line in feature that my ARchos 120 had

iTunes sucks.
Apple is a very greedy company that is far more concerned with making itself money off of everyone else than actually taking care of it's customers.  (99c per song period, no option for subscription and Apple takes enough of a margin out of that 99c that the musicians make LESS money instead of more...which doens't make sense considering there's almost no overdead cost for an MP3 compared to making and distributing CDs.)
Apple is a very greedy company that attemted to sue over the patent infringement on the iPod interface when they're the ones that stole it in the first place!
iPods are made in China.
iPod quality control is so lacking they sent out who knows how many iPods that contained a computer virus *from the factory!*
Apple wants you to have no control over your iPod in any way outside of iTunes.  (Yes, I am aware of the fact that the Zune will use WMP in a possibly very similar manner, but we have yet to see how that actually works out.)
The iPod has become a fashon statement fad.  Apple likes this and uses it to get away with selling an inferior product to the masses knowing that even with the issues iPods are known for, people will still buy them anyway.
It's taken Apple 6 'generations' of iPods to try to get the kinks out.  I have an old Rio CD/MP3 player that worked great out of the box...yet iPods need constant firmware updates.

There's more...but that's enough for the moment.  :)

M$ is just as greedy and has many of the same problems you listed ;)

I'm still rocking a Panasonic Shockwave walkman that plays tapes...

*backs out of thread*

they have the display up at wal-mart for the new zune which comes out on Tuesday.
i'm still up in the air if i should go for the ipod or the zune. i'm definitely buying one of them this week - i have b-day money to spend. anybody have any thoughts that will help me???

Does the Zune have a replaceable battery pack? That would certainly help me out. I don't like the idea of built in batteries.

no.

Hah that was the question that I was gonna ask. I've got the 60 gig Black video Ipod, and I must say, I can't stand ITunes. The Ipod itself is fine, but ITunes sucks arse... I wish I would have known how bad it was before I invested in it... but then again, it IS fun during working hours....   =]

I'd just like to say... I love itunes and I HATE ipods.

I just like to say I hate Itune and I hate IPods   :D  I prefer to listen to my all of my 100 GBS of mp3s wherever I go... actually I have INFINITE Storage (well 1 Terrabyte right now) .... observe the device that killed the IPOD and Zune...whatever that is... oh yeah and its my cell phone

(http://www.mobileguerilla.com/images/sprint-nextel-ppc-6700.jpg)

The PPC-6700 MSRP $799.99 (when I bought it)

with this i can watch FULL Quality DVDS (stored onto SD Micro Cards)
I can stream ALL of my MUSIC from my network at home over the cellular internet connection (EVDO) and listen to it anywhere either with my stereo headphones or wirlessly through my Bluetooth earpiece. I can also stream any internet radio station (Like DI.FM) straight to the phone and listen in full quality. With this phone you can also video conferance with anyone else that has a webcam or video conf phone. it has built in WI-FI and a full keyboard... why would anyone get an IPOD, CELL PHONE, VIDEO PLAYER, PDA when you can get all in one neat little package ?

 :smiley23:

when I say I like itunes... I mean the player...not their store. The player doesn't rip with copy protection so it's cool by me.

hmmm. this still doesn't help. i don't have $799 to spend, i have $250. whatever i get is going to be a 30G video player. if you had to buy a 30G video/music player what would you get for that money - that's the question i need answered.

iTunes is good, doesn't have annoying 2 sec gaps between tracks like WMP when u burn a cd. However, iTunes won't let me burn a CD which has track bought from the iTunes music store with tracks that are ripped from CDs or even downloaded tracks from, for example, beatport! I've tried everything, like converting all the tracks to 128k AAC. Yet it'll happily burn a CD made up of WAVs or mp3s!

 >:( APPPLE!!!  >:(

Me ...Zune.  FM with RDS, Wireless filesharing, subscription all-you-can-download service, bigger screen, known-to-be-awesome hardware manufacturer (Toshiba), set your own picture background...

well you can get it for $299.99 now

http://www1.sprintpcs.com/explore/PhonesAccessories/PhoneDetails.jsp?navLocator=%7Cshop%7CphonesAccessories%7CpdaPhones%7C&selectSkuId=sprintppc6700&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1476427&CURRENT_USER%3C%3EATR_SCID=ECOMM&CURRENT_USER%3C%3EATR_PCode=None&CURRENT_USER%3C%3EATR_cartState=group (http://www1.sprintpcs.com/explore/PhonesAccessories/PhoneDetails.jsp?navLocator=%7Cshop%7CphonesAccessories%7CpdaPhones%7C&selectSkuId=sprintppc6700&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1476427&CURRENT_USER%3C%3EATR_SCID=ECOMM&CURRENT_USER%3C%3EATR_PCode=None&CURRENT_USER%3C%3EATR_cartState=group)

but...can you actually store anything on it (music, etc)??? and...how good is the sound quality in comparison to an ipod/zune?

The audio quality should be the same. It will depend on your headphones more than anything.

And the codec. AAC its better than mp3 @ 128k imo. Zune can play both according to the comparison chart cited earlier in the thread. And, of course, the headphones will help too look for freq ranges up to 24kHz. My Philips HS520's go from 12Hz-24kHz (i know this seems pointlessly low but it makes all the difference! ;) )

well if you use a suckie encoder, the audio is gonna suck. The point though is that an mp3 player is pretty much the same as any other. It just plays back the audio signal in the file.

yeah i have a 2gb mirco sd card and built in 128 mbs of storage. the sound quality is AWSOME. i hook it up to my car stereo system just like you would an ipod and the sound is better in my opinion. my roomate has an ipod and we tested the sound...the cool thing is with the 6700 you have winamp and a sick graphic EQ... plus you can stream the audio to a wireless headset (bluetooth)... i have a shoutcast server running at home and i can login from my phone via the web, to the server and change the songs being played...or connect to my home pc through the phones built in REMOTE DESKTOP and actually click the winamp playlist that the shoutcast is running from. its pretty sweet. basically i can from my phone, download new tracks straight to the phone or to my home, stream them through the air, and control the tracks being played.  :-X  oh and did i mention that you can control windows media player with your voice? (-:  lets see an ipod do that :P

and you can store full length movies on cards to play as well?

i usually have a divx encoded movie on my pda...   so it's possible with 1gb+ of storage to have decent quality encoded dvd movies

i got it today. the pocket pc. it does rock. i got a deal and had a free gift card from my bank and one from my b-day; with the deal on the phone and the gift cards i ended up paying $20 for the phone after rebate.  8)

Nice.  8)

I got my Zune today.  It freaking rocks.

Awesome, I hope I can save up some more money and pick one up too.

The black/blue one is pwnage cool looking.

The headphones that come with this thing are darn good for 'buds.  Radio and music sound great, even Oakey's music video is good.  ;)

really  :smiley22: last time I checked, I can burn my protected ones from iTunes and mp3s I ripped or downloaded from Beatport on the same cd.

I agree with that.  Dad just started a business and is trying to find Win XP cheaper but found out wholesalers sell it the same as like Newegg or any other retailer.

I wonder if Apple gives price breaks, might find out soon.

Zune Marketplace protected files sound just as bad as iTunes mp4 files, both probably cant play but on those devices up to so many times or limited ones.  But usually all I do is re-import those mp4s I get off iTunes to mp3s.  But I rarely get stuff on it anyway.

If anything, let me know if they're store has good selection of electronic, christian and rock, the subscription would be worth it, if they have better selections than iTunes.

Screen looks bigger, but specs only shows 1/2 inch bigger.

I like iTunes player over WMP, its cleaner and easier to navigate.

A virus shipped with IPODs, this sounds ridiculous, sounds like a malicious attempt by Apple to get them buy another. Now would a manufacture do that, there are bad productions sometime but this sounds off the wall.  I would think if it happened it would be on the news.

Other than wireless capabilites, nothing really makes me want to switch to a Zune.

Im thinking about getting a 80GB Video IPOD soon.  So if you got more info that may sway my decision, post it.  Ive had my 20GB for 2 years now and has done fine.  And the phone I saw eariler is out of the question, I dont have the carrier and not a big fan of all in one devices.

I'll probably just have to see one in person.

Zune doesn't use WMP, it has it's own program.

Try to find it OEM with a mouse or something, The only way you're going to get it cheaper than retail is OEM.


HAAHHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA...ahem....HAHAHHAHAHAHAH

Apple would more likely sell you a hamster than give a pricebreak on one of their products.

Don't look at Microsoft or Apple for that one, That's all the music industry lawyers.

Have you tried Media Player 11? It's replaced winamp as my MP3 player of choice.


http://weblog.infoworld.com/securityadviser/archives/2006/10/apple_ships_vir.html
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6126804.html
http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/332
http://www.axcessnews.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=11588
http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2006Oct/bma20061018039474.htm
http://crunchgear.com/2006/10/17/apple-ships-small-number-of-55g-ipods-with-windows-virus-{mmm...tasty}/
http://www.ccnmag.com/news.php?id=4546

*And straight from the Horses Mouth*
http://www.apple.com/support/windowsvirus/

Media Player 11?!!! When did that show up?

It didn't come out of beta until like a week or so ago.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/11/default.aspx

So far exploring the Zune marketplace....

Complete back-catalog of PODs music....

Name a couple you're interested in seeing and I can look.   ;D

Christian artists I didn't expect to see (for one reason or another...)
Buck
All Star United
Starflyer 59
Code of Ethics
Slick Shoes
DeGarmo & Key    (OLDSKOOL!)
The Supertones
John Elefante
Luna Halo
Squad Five Oh
PFR
Petra     (31 albums, 407 songs of the Petra goodness, haha)



Also not everything costs the same on here...songs from All Star United are 79p while I've seen others at 99p....no single price idea here.

(http://vnk.ath.cx/temp/zune-insp-thumb.jpg) (http://vnk.ath.cx/temp/zune-insp-large.png)

Click for larger image


Notice the 'resume your last playlist' button on the right.  Really sweet when listening to music and then if you want to preview something...you can preview and then just click that and it goes back to exactly where you left off.

yeah, he already gets OEM.  We have a business licencse and now able to get stuff from wholesalers or people that cater to businesses.  We found out we can get XP licenses from Newegg for a few cents more than wholesale, what you would think you could get a good price for.

So I take it, that Apple is just as bad as Microsoft cause we wouldnt mind looking into becoming a retailer if we could save some money.  Then I could outfit my studio with a better PC.

ok, I give, I went to Game Stop today to see bout the Wii systems and all.  My friend thats a manager has a Zune and I got to see it, see a video and him give a spill on it.  The 1/2 inch makes a difference esp laying on its side.  So I might get one, I just wish they made a bigger one, probably in the near future maybe.

From what I see in the screenshot, actually resembles iTunes layout rather than WMP.  I cant think of any groups for you to look for, but the selection looks good from what I can see. 

Hows their electronic section?  Do they have trance, drum n bass, etc.?

My friend told me they're planning to have capabilities to where you can use the wireless feature to connect with your pc, which is nice.

But I really I cant decide between a Zune or this:

Pioneer Inno Satellite Radio (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/product/details/0,,2076_310069834_295870944,00.html?compName=PNA_V3_ProductDetailsComponent)

this baby, you can listen on headphones, in car or hook to your stereo.  ;D

what you REALLY want is MSDN, we had that where i used to work, and we got all kinds of stuff, 10 licenses of all current OS's and unlimited licenses of all older OS's. Plus things like MS Sql, Visual Studios (VC++, C#, VB, VJ#, FoxPro, etc...) Selected source from some products. Plus tons of other stuff. And the subscription is only like $2800 a year, or something like that. Works out to about $290/Month.

link? contact info?

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/default.aspx

But reading over the terms of the license, it's actually nothing that I thought it was.  What happend was, when our Lead Software Architect at Bluestreet (where i used to work) explained how it worked, i didn't pay attention, and heard what I wanted to hear.

You only get development, test, and demonstration licenses. So maybe that could apply to your situation, but i don't know. Anyways, hope it helps some.

So for some songs they charge more than iTunes does? (Not that I tend to buy music in DRM'ed formats anyway) ... 79 Zune points = 99 cents, which is what iTunes charges for all songs.

Even though they charge more for some songs, (and technically less for the 79p songs, but I won't argue over 1/4 of a penny) it does at least leave room for charging less (i.e, 49p for album filler, etc.) Now whether the music industry and/or microsoft will agree to that is yet to be seen. 

Hey nathan. Is the Zune crackalackin'? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfk-Ru_Sq5E)!!!

LOL, im gonna wait until they come out with a larger capacity version.