Microsoft Zune

MR DAZ

I bought the microsoft zune in the states just before xmas.

it really is a nice piece of kit. For me the main reason i bought it was for watching divx, xvid etc all my tv shows on it while travelling.

I had to download a zune video convertor suite from the net made by cucusoft...there is others out there but this seemed like the most straight forward..and it also does a one click conversion from dvd to zune which is handy.

The quality on the screen is amazing, i was worried that the quality would suffer when it was converted ...but its not its perfect.

A tv show episode only takes around 10mins to convert while a movie takes around 30 mins.....but still it isnt too bad.


I'll post up a few pictures later of the quality.

Daz

rabbitinlights

Defo, stick up a few photos of it aswell.

lafors

MR DAZ wrote:

I bought the microsoft zune in the states just before xmas.

it really is a nice piece of kit. For me the main reason i bought it was for watching divx, xvid etc all my tv shows on it while travelling.

I had to download a zune video convertor suite from the net made by cucusoft...there is others out there but this seemed like the most straight forward..and it also does a one click conversion from dvd to zune which is handy.

The quality on the screen is amazing, i was worried that the quality would suffer when it was converted ...but its not its perfect.

A tv show episode only takes around 10mins to convert while a movie takes around 30 mins.....but still it isnt too bad.


I'll post up a few pictures later of the quality.

Daz

Got one of these too at the start of December for my wifes christmas present. Been waiting to play with it

Got Cucusoft myself, pretty good for converting DVD's and the rest straight to wmv. Quality is good, similar to the video ipod, just on a bigger screen.
Radio is great, sound quality is great (she doesn't use the normal headphones...not the best fitting). Connects easily with my xbox360.

Anyone know if I can use the wifi to conect to the 360....that would be very cool.

Anyway I think its a much better option than the video Ipod (I have one so I can easily compare). Hopefully people will see its potenial when it comes out here

Btw I'm trying to persuade her to let me put an 80gb hd in it (works fine, loads of guides on the net). If she doesn't I might get myself one and do it then

DermoMIO

i want a zune just it only comes in a 30gb and i need a 60 or 80gb there is a site selling customized 80gb ones for $500 but its not worth $500

MR DAZ

Limerick Dude

When will it be available here?

Edwardius

Possibly thinking about getting one when the H320 packs in, is it much bigger (in the flesh) than the "5.5g" iP*d as pictures would suggest?

ExoduS 18.11

Any possible way (exept knowing someone in the states) to get a zune?

kaisersose77

ebay's your best bet, got an m vision off this seller a few months:

http://electronics.search.ebay.ie/_MP3-Players_W0QQcatrefZC12QQsacatZ73839QQsassZnasernm2000

he had zune's recently but doesnt seem to atm, my creative m vision was delivered in about 3 days (shipped from the US). Didnt get stung for customs either, my brother ordered 3 soon after and didnt get caught for customs either.

Blaster99

Seeing as they're glued to the shops in the US, I'd say there will either be discounts coming up or product changes to make it less brown etc. Or Microsoft will just give up.

aidan_walsh

Blaster99 wrote:

Seeing as they're glued to the shops in the US, I'd say there will either be discounts coming up or product changes to make it less brown etc. Or Microsoft will just give up.

The iPod wasn't a massive success when it came out first either. They'd be pretty foolish to write it off after one poor generation.

rc28

My zune arrived in the post this morning after I ordered it from ebay seller digigood about a week ago. I really love it, my favorite mp3 player so far.
The UI is the best of any portable media player I've come across and I love the way the album art takes up the whole screen. Another feature that is rarely mentioned is it's radio. It is really good quality and recognises what station is playing and even (on a couple od stations) tells you what programme is on at the time (eg top 40 hits etc) and what the genre of the track playing is- today fm is the best at this.
The outside of it doesn't scratch because of a rubber-like material that feels like silk to touch.
Overall I love it but the only thing that lets it down so far is the software- it had to send error reports twice today and closed soon after but it's fine again now. I dont understand why microsoft don't just let it sync with WMP11 as it is obviously just a stripped down versio of it.
The sound quality is the best I've come across so far too, check this link as it explains it better:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=211548
Anyway, I woud definitely recommend it.

mathias

Seems like it may well be a very good device , but good lord man , its brown and orange !! What the hell kind of mushrooms are the Microsofties on , Brown :eek:

If there going to shift any volume of those things their going to have to get some decent colours.

GrumPy

rc28 wrote:

My zune arrived in the post this morning after I ordered it from ebay seller digigood about a week ago.

Link to the seller?

rc28

mathias wrote:

Seems like it may well be a very good device , but good lord man , its brown and orange !! What the hell kind of mushrooms are the Microsofties on , Brown :eek:

If there going to shift any volume of those things their going to have to get some decent colours.

It also comes in black (the colour I have), white, pink, red and various special editions like halo3.
Some of them have nice doubleshot effects like the black one has a rim of blue around the outside which shows up in light.

@irish grumpy:
The seller was digigood and they have loads of zunes at only about 190euro with the premium headphones that are usually about 30euro more. I think they are so cheap because of the weak dollar and then the good conversion rate to euro.
Their zunes are in the UK so no drawn out delivery process either.
http://stores.ebay.ie/DigiGood
Here is a similar offer to what I got (except it's white):
http://cgi.ebay.ie/NEW-MICROSOFT-ZUNE-30GB-MP3-VIDEO-PLAYER-FM-WHITE_W0QQitemZ290125818707QQihZ019QQcategoryZ73839QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

rc28

mathias wrote:

If there going to shift any volume of those things their going to have to get some decent colours.

They've already sold a million of 'em in the US but obviously still nowhere near taking marketshare from the ipod. TBH ms never said this gen would be competition to the ipod, i'd say give them a few more years to develop the platform and then they might have more marketshare. They are used to investing loads into a new product line and then wait a few years for the results to pay off- look at the xbox, sony are playing catch up with them now, who'd have thought that would ever happen a few years ago.

bombidol

Problem with most Ebay sellers nowadays is the postage raping. I mean 20 POUNDS! to ship a small box over here? madness

rc28

bombidol wrote:

Problem with most Ebay sellers nowadays is the postage raping. I mean 20 POUNDS! to ship a small box over here? madness

I agree, sellers are obviously taking advantage of that loop- been able to charge as much as they want for postage and I wish ebay would regulate it better.

Jackz

Bought one in Chicago last week agree with previous statements UI and screen are the strong points. Wireless given thats its only Zune to Zune is kinda sucky but I guesss a small device like Zune with internal antenna wont have much range. So having it sync/update via router might not be that great were it available.Initially had problems installing software but removed and installed XML software and it installed fine then. Like itunes the software runs a component in the background chewing up memory at all times which is annoying.

P.S. I like the brown one.

[nicK]

MR DAZ wrote:

nice carpet..

8T8

What's the click interface like as the Zune did appeal to me a bit as the click wheel starts to do my head in on the iPod after a while (never liked touch sensitive stuff even touchpads). It is sort of like the d-pad on a game controller ?

The only disappointing factor I saw was the codec support they initially talked about H.264 video support but then it vanished, then dropped hints about a firmware update & finally nothing at all. I presume the hardware is capable just the firmware doesn't expose it & they didn't pony up the licensing costs for H.264 support.

I'd say we wont see an official release here till Zune 2.0 rears it's head.

rc28

8T8 wrote:

What's the click interface like as the Zune did appeal to me a bit as the click wheel starts to do my head in on the iPod after a while (never liked touch sensitive stuff even touchpads). It is sort of like the d-pad on a game controller ?

The only disappointing factor I saw was the codec support they initially talked about H.264 video support but then it vanished, then dropped hints about a firmware update & finally nothing at all. I presume the hardware is capable just the firmware doesn't expose it & they didn't pony up the licensing costs for H.264 support.

I'd say we wont see an official release here till Zune 2.0 rears it's head.

The zune controls are great and very precise (because it's not touch sensitive you always get to the desired point without having to backtrack) and they give a satisfying click sound. The whole player is very well built and sturdy. The outside material is designed not to scratch and has good grip in the hand (unlike the ipod which scratches as soon as it's out of the box and feels slippy-ish in the hand)
I agree about the codec support but there are hacks for some of them like avi, divx and a couple others(they're are not really hacks cause it's just a matter of renaming the file name from .avi to .wmv to get the software to import it and sync)
I am still really really happy with my zune, it's really quick and rock solid. The latest firmware update also made the UI even snappier- I think it must have a pretty decent processor inside. There are many rumours about what future firmware updates will give the zune but I'm sure they will revolve around the zunes wifi- there are so many possibilities with wifi in the equation like what happened with the psp. Indeed some hacker found some interesting things buried within the zune software for future features like IM and windows live integration:
http://www.zuneboards.com/forums/zune-news-articles/5148-zune-holding-back-what-apple-probably-microsoft-dont-want-you-know.html

hitlersson666

i got mine from digigood as well

swingking

Just back from the us and I bought a zune, which is reduced to 200 dollars = 140 euro

It is so good compared to my video ipod, which I paid 320 euro for.

MR DAZ

I got meself one of the zune transmitters for the car - again i had to buy from ebay, but pretty sweet all the same.

Does anyone have any links to docking station for the zune, so it can be used as a stero in the kitchen?


Is there a release date for europe?