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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: 405
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:
 Customer over 40 Review October 26, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I purchased the Zune for my wife to use for audio books. The setup was easy enough but trying to get items to the playlist doesn't work all the time. The unit we received from Amazon was deliverd promptly as promised, but after spending 2 hours setting up the Zune and downloading items to it we found that the plug for the earphones was defective. I notifyed Amazon and they promptly sent another unit. However after setting up the unit and downloading we descoverd the unit was also defective. Amazon stated they would refund our money since there was a problem with the units we received.
Customer Service Nonexistent October 19, 2008
UPDATE 10/30/2008: I finally got my Zune back today, 3 weeks after I sent it in, and as expected based on others' experiences, it was returned unrepaired. According to the note I received (this was never revealed online in the "status" section of my repair), cracked screens are not covered by the warranty. See if you can find that language in your warranty, I couldn't. Good luck if you open your brand new Zune and find a cracked screen. Needless to say, I'm disappointed. I've already allowed my Zune Marketplace subscription to expire, and now I guess I'll pop to get the device fixed by a 3rd party for $50, just so I can list and sell it on eBay. I'm going with what my brother got -- the Samsung YP-P2JCB P2 8 GB Touchscreen Bluetooth Portable Media Player (Black). I can keep my Rhapsody-To-Go account that I've liked with my iRiver H10. Too bad -- I had high hopes for this device.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: I received my Zune 16GB flash in early October. I also bought the dock for it. After setting it up and loading some videos on it, I removed it and took it to work. When I got to work, I noticed that the screen was cracked. The device was never out of my pocket or dropped. I can't say it was cracked when I got it -- even slightly -- but it was cracked nonetheless.
So I went online, created a repair ticket for the cracked screen and Microsoft sent me packing material. Easy enough...
I shipped it to them on 10-08 and they received it in McLaren, TX on 10-09. Today, 10-19, the Zune repair ticket still says "Waiting for device".
I'm giving all these facts because you should know that if your device breaks the only way to check on your device is to call Zune customer support (there's no email account for customer service) and figure out the secret word to say to talk to a human (it's "OPERATOR").
Then when you talk to a human, they will not listen to you and instead go through a prepared Q&A. After you convince them you just want to know when you'll get you frackin' Zune back, they'll tell you "10 to 15 days" with no idea what the current status.
So you'll go on the Zune forums and find out that Microsoft considers any screen breakage to be not covered by the warranty and figure out that you'll be without your device for a month without any hope of getting it repaired. Instead, you'll discover you could have sent it in to get it repaired for $50 at a 3rd party iPod/Zune PDA repair place and had it back in a couple of days.
This will be the last hardware I'll ever buy from Microsoft. I'm going to get the screen fixed and sell it on eBay. Too bad -- I was ready to cancel my Rhapsody account and go with Zune Marketplace, which certainly would have made Msoft more money than a $20 screen repair...
 AWESOME!!! October 19, 2008
The zune 16 is awesome. The features were great. Unfortunatly, the backlight on my Zune was broken when it arrived, but Microsoft is very good at fixing these fast and it is all covered in the warranty. BUY THE ZUNE 16!!!
Better than the new Nano October 18, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I will admit that I generally hold some kind of bias against apple products, but it is not unfounded. One example of why I chose Microsoft over apple can be seen in their hardware lines. Apple creates new ipods every 6 months to a year and basically counts on your current one to somehow fail so you keep buying the newer model. Meanwhile, since launching the Zune, Microsoft has stuck with the same hardware platform and instead upgraded the firmware (for all Zunes) between launches. This means that even if you were an early adopter, you now get the benefits of FM radio tagging, XNA games, accessing the marketplace over wifi, and much more.
Now to talk about the product itself: the flash Zunes are practically identical to the new ipod nanos in terms of size, storage, battery life, and price. Allow me to talk about the few differences here:
FM radio tuner: This is one of those things I would have expected to be standard in mp3 players. While I only occasionally use it, it's a nice feature to have. One interesting use I thought of is plugging an FM transmitter into some other product (cd player, friends mp3 player, home entertainment system,) and using your Zune as a wireless receiver. Zune 3.0 software also added FM song tagging, which displays song info and allows you to add songs to your "cart," queueing them for purchase/ download.
The Controls: as the scroll wheel (which is a wonderful concept) has been patented by Apple, Microsoft needed a different approach for the Zune. it settled on on a square pad that allows you to control two axes by either pushing the sides of the pad down or sliding your finger vertically or horizontally across the pad. This form of navigation becomes very easy to adopt and allows you to quickly navigate through your library. This also becomes useful for XNA games, which can now make use of a trackball-like control system.
Wifi: This is definitely a feature that some people will use more than others. The first of two main uses for the wifi is connecting to other zunes. Doing so allows you to trade songs with eachother (the other person will get 3 plays out of your song for legality's sake.) In addition, you can simply see nearby Zunes and what others are playing, if they choose to enable that feature. This would be great features if more people actually had Zunes around me... as a result, I usually leave the wireless turned off to conserve battery life. In addition to this, you can connect to wireless networks (which don't require web logon pages) and access the Zune social network and download songs from the marketplace directly to your Zune. This becomes especially useful with the Zune Pass, which I'll talk about now.
The Zune pass is a subscription music service which charges $15 a month for the opportunity to legally download any amount of songs from a very vast library. It is NOT necessary to use a Zune, and Microsoft also allows you to buy songs with one dollars' worth of Microsoft points, similar to itunes. Music you get with the zune pass is DRM'ed, and will only play on your computer and Zune (no cd's/ file sharing.) In addition, if you cancel your subscription, the music becomes no longer playable. Some may be wary of a system where you're renting your music and do not actually own any of it, but it liberates you to try many bands and genres that you wouldn't otherwise consider and pays off if you consistently buy 1-2 CD's per month. I would at least recommend trying it for a month or two, in which time you can greatly expand your musical tastes and then if you wish, cancel the services and buy any of the CD's you've discovered from your trial. Microsoft is actually currently offering a free 14 day trial, so it doesn't hurt to give it a shot.
One last thing I want to mention is the new XNA games system that released with the 3.0 firmware. This is the same platform that Microsoft has for the XBOX 360 (constrained to 2d games though) and allows developers or even your average Joe to make a game and put it on Zunes or share/sell. The Zune comes bundled with Hexic and a Texas Hold'em game, but I'm sure many more games will come out soon. Microsoft has additionally announced support for multiplayer games over wifi, which seems promising.
In conclusion, I agree with many others who have called the Zune a viable Ipod contender. While you may not use some of its features very often, they are still nice to have. In addition to the great hardware platform, their record of updating the firmware and the XNA game system offer plenty of new potential for your device over time.
Good Switch from an IPod October 18, 2008
I was using an IPod touch before switching to the Zune. I'm glad I made the switch as the simpler controls make it much more convenient. I only decided to switch after reading many articles on the improvements made with the 3rd generation player and software. The included radio tuner, functionality with Audible, the available subscription service, and an available 8GB flash drive model is what prompted me to finally switch. Perhaps if I were traveling more, the touch would have more functionality, but this is a much more convenient and functional music player for me. The sound quality is excellent combined with the included headset and I was glad to find that it had a progressive fast forward feature for my podcasts and audio books. The display can seem a little dark at times and probably the one featue I would like to see them add would be an easier way to flip thru the tracks of an album as it plays. I'm very happy with this player and I don't miss ITunes in the least. A few of my coworkers, after having seen my new player and heard about the improvements have told me they plan to buy one for themselves soon.
I really hope to see MS do well with this player as better competition in this market will only be good news for us as consumers. I think what MS has done with this generation Zune is good step forward and I look forward to their version 4 software.
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