does anyone have the Microsoft MP3 player, the Zune? I just got one recently, and even though it's rather bulky, it's pretty cool. However, I've had more than a few software problems than I'd like to admit. Just wondering if anyone else has one of these.
I work at a Zune retailer, and have had a chance to play with one. The memory capacity is astounding for its price (30 GB for about $150, give or take), it's capabilities are great, sound is pretty clear, given the right set of headphones, and it doesn't involve installing iTunes onto a PC, but the only problem I see with them is the asking price for any accessories. You want a docking stand? $40. A plug for your car? $70. Extra cable? $30. And so on. It's how Microsoft makes up for the lower price.
Other than that, they're great. I guess you can set it up to wirelessly download songs from other Zunes within a medium- sized radius. Pretty neat stuff.
Someone actually gave me one for christmas just a few months after it released (or a month). It's alright and has nice functions, but there is a little problem going around about screens cracking and Microsoft won't repair it. The Wifi/Radio system is fairly useless to me, but I do like that it has a bigger video screen than most of it's competition (though my other mp3 player had a much bigger screen for a much cheaper price). Beyond that...I really hate that it doesn't work with media player considering that it's program is basically media player with a few specific functions. I found that that program runs horribly slow on my pc for a few minutes then gradually picks up speed.
I really think you should've waited for Zune 2 (with 80 gig hard drive) or zune flash sine they *might* be heavily improved...but this is a microsoft product so take that as you will.
Sidenote: songs and pics gotten by wifi only last 3 days or 3 plays/views...whether you listen to the whole song or not. Though, I recall their being ways around this.
For the most part, I think the Zune is pretty good. Maybe not as good as an iPod, but as an alternative to those who'd rather not fall into the iPod ordeal, the Zune is a good choice.
but it's not perfect.
A lot of people have issues with the software. First of all, I think it's rather disappointing, if a bit pretty crappy, that you're required to install the special Zune player onto your computer when essentially it's just another version of WMP. Considering both are Microsoft products, it doesn't make sense that the Zune can't just sync up with WMP with a Zune update you could download. But that's a small problem.
Another small problem is syncing in general. The front USB ports are worthless, so I can't use them. Songs will upload and update maybe for 5 minutes before the Zune stops responding to the program if I use the front USB ports. It's very picky on which port you use, so in the back it has to go.
Until now, those were my only issues with it. Now for a kicker. I was listening to my Zune at work the other day when it froze. I didn't know what was wrong with it. The buttons didn't respond and I couldn't turn it off. Eventually it turned off itself, and from there I couldn't access it at all. The battery was fairly low, so I thought maybe it just died and I could charge it up later. Well, when I turned it on later, my music was gone. I had to put all my music (about 3000 songs) back onto the Zune, but for some reason it didn't work as good this time. The software completely misread how much space I had on my Zune. It said I was using up all of my gigabytes. That's impossible, as all of my music adds up to 15g, leaving me with roughly 13g free. It took forever to fix. I had to go into the software and say "erase files" from my Zune, then reboot the Zune by pressing 2 or 3 buttons at the same time in a timely manner. Then once again go through the sync process to put all my music back on. It's finally back to where it was, but I have no idea wtf happened. If the songs got deleted because I ran out of battery, that's pretty damn stupid and I hope that's not the case.
That better not happen again or I'll be ticked. I haven't even had this for a month yet. :(
had it not been for that, the Zune would be near perfect. It plays music just fine and everything. I didn't even know they were coming out with a new version so soon, but I'd rather get the cheaper one anyways.
Odd problem with your front USBs...i think that's more of a pc prob than a program problem because I always use one of my two front USBs when charging or syncing music. That random freezing/erase problem sounds weird as it's never happened to me and I've had mine for almost a year. If it happens again, you might want to think about exchanging it before your 15 days are up or try updating your zune since I believe like 2-3 updates have come out for the player.
Oh, just a tip for battery saving in the future...don't turn it off using the pause/play button if you don't plan on listening to it soon. That just puts it in hibernate mode. To turn it off, you have to hold the back and "down" button for about 2-5 seconds.
duly noted, thank you. The instructions say to just hold down the play/pause...
whoa, Zune just got a massive face lift. Have to get used to the new layout now.