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| Brand: Zune
Category: CE
List Price: $199.00
Buy New: $128.55
You Save: $70.45 (35%)
New (47) Used (5) Refurbished (1) from $110.00
Rating:  250 reviews
Sales Rank: 403
Color: Black
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Display Size: 1.8
Size: 8 GB
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 2.8 x 1.8
Warranty: 1
MPN: HVA-00001
Model: HVA-00001
UPC: 882224747035
EAN: 0882224519977
ASIN: B000WFZSBE
Release Date: November 13, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Microsoft's half-hearted attempt November 9, 2008
3 out of 10 found this review helpful
I bought the 8 gig Blue Video Zune in a transition over from iPod. iTunes has been having compatibility issues with my PC, and I was interested in trying a different brand of MP3 player. Unfortunately, I should've done more research before making what now feels like a bit of an impulse buy.
The Zune's greatest strength is probably its FM Tuner. You can turn the search on - meaning it'll skip through and find the next station - or off, if you want to go through stations traditionally, every couple of steps up the dial. You can use the click wheel to add any particular stations to pre-set, and if the station is broadcasting it, the Zune will tell you what kind of music the station plays, as well as the name and artist of the song currently playing. And it gives you the option to add a song to your shopping cart, so you can buy it when you get online via the Zune's PC player. Unfortunately, I found the signal strength rather pitiful - as I often shove it in my pocket, then it would kind of fade in and out. And my work place is a half-level underground, and the signal was coming in zero.
Aesthetically, it's very nice. The blue is a very pretty color; it's thinner than my last iPod was (though the same size lengthwise) and the click wheel serves with the same functionality as that on the iPod. And the battery life is about the same length as the iPod nano - around 25 hours (when listening to music).
My greatest criticism of it is in its music interface. It gives you a series of subcategories (genre, artist, album, etc), with a drop-down of all the music below in that order. But it's meaningless. I suppose they thought it would make it easier when searching out one specific album, etc. but it's just as easy to leave it all in one category and find it that way.
What I really hate is the shuffle function. With each of the subcategories, at the top is the option to shuffle through your music, and then it will go through your entire library at random. If you want to listen your entire library with the tracks in order for each given album, you have to make a playlist. And shuffling through that does the exact same thing - shuffling by song, without even the option of shuffling by album. This probably isn't a big deal to most, but I listen to a lot of soundtracks, and shuffle by album is the only way I want to listen to my library.
In the Settings menu, you can also then turn a separate shuffle feature on - which, in turn, will, for example, take an individual album, and play it in a random order over and over. Which makes absolutely no sense. Who wants to listen to one album, out of order, over and over?
These can be seen as minor nitpicks, but they're the kind of details that make me feel like a) Microsoft, knowing that Apple will continue to dominate the market, isn't trying very hard; and b) It continues the Microsoft trend of "I know better than you." In using it, I always felt like access to my own library was restricted, and I could only listen to my music under specific terms.
Add to this the fact that the Zune player you have to install on your PC (separate from Windows Media Player) is a technological disaster. They made it specifically to mirror the interface of that on the Zune, but it's a pain to use. It's a pain to find or alter anything; it's a pain to make playlists on it. And the only Settings functions you can adjust are options primarily related to the online social network. I was so appalled by it that I immediately switched back to using iTunes when listening to music on my computer.
I also didn't like the fact that when it turned off - ever after I left it on pause for a minute - in turning it back on, it would reset itself back to the main menu where you switch between music, videos, radio, etc. Which meant having to go back in and search through to pick up where I left off. Even if I'm listening to a playlist and it transfers it over to the Now Playing subcategory, you still have to scroll down to find that song again. Which makes the Now Playing just as worthless as the rest of the subcategories. And it's just one more detail that makes it feel like the makers of this device weren't thinking out it very practically.
These complaints might not seem like much, but they were enough to make me go back on the Zune and buy an iPod Nano to replace it.
Sure, the Zune isn't the worst MP3 player you could buy. If it's your first, or if you really want something more for a radio, then you might be very happy with it. But if you're transitioning over from another - especially iPod - then, like me, you may find that the Zune leaves much to be desired.
 Best MP3 I've had yet November 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've had a lot of players over the years and this is by far the best I've ever had. It's not just the player but the Zune software and website combined with the player that make it so nice. If you need a fair amount of space but don't need 80 or 120 GB, then this is for you. I filled it three quarters of the way with ever song I have and I'll still get about 1,000 more songs on from the Zune website. It operates smooth and easy. It doesn't take a dozen moves to get your music playing and your options are great. Well worth the price.
zune 16 November 3, 2008
the zune 16gb device is great, i had to return it because the battery was defective but the device was awesome.
 Zune Pnk'd by iPod October 30, 2008
2 out of 9 found this review helpful
I have iPods and decided that the iTunes software rendered them too difficult to use on my PC; iTunes also does not share well with others. This negative opinion is contrasted to the Zune software which slows down my computer, permanently renames directories, is slow and negates much of the drag and drop functionality. I hate to open the Zune software as it is so hungry for attention little else runs and and when songs are finally loaded, a reboot is necessary. If iTunes is annoying, Zune software makes one wonder if a virus has taken over.
The Zune's player controls are good, the sound is good but not quite up to Apple's standards. I kept the thing after very seriously considering sending it back.
Zune Tunes October 29, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
What an easy system to use to get the music and FM radio that you want. This system is really too easy to use and downloading great music via Microsoft Zune web is a snap. Great wireless capability, and the ability to hear a song on the radio and download later is amazing technology that is again, too easy. Great system in a small package.
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