so, anyone getting a Zune?

[thecavemankevin]

well, i could have sworn i read/heard somewhere that non DRMed music you could keep indeffinately but i cant seem to find it now. So i'm not sure but its not likely.

I'm still looking forward to seeing/feeling one to see if it is a good fit for me. Its hard to tell by the pics.

I looked at the Cowan and it looks nice, but it also looks kind of awekward for one handed opperation.

[robnix]

well, i could have sworn i read/heard somewhere that non DRMed music you could keep indeffinately but i cant seem to find it now. So i'm not sure but its not likely.

I'm still looking forward to seeing/feeling one to see if it is a good fit for me. Its hard to tell by the pics.

I looked at the Cowan and it looks nice, but it also looks kind of awekward for one handed opperation.

NY Times Zune Review

[robnix]

well, i could have sworn i read/heard somewhere that non DRMed music you could keep indeffinately but i cant seem to find it now. So i'm not sure but its not likely.

I'm still looking forward to seeing/feeling one to see if it is a good fit for me. Its hard to tell by the pics.

I looked at the Cowan and it looks nice, but it also looks kind of awekward for one handed opperation.

Interesting post on Slashdot:

79 zune points costs 99 cents. and you have to buy them in increments of $5. jeezus! this is so diaboilical on many levels. First, MS gets to hold your float for $4.01 after you buy the first song. That's a lot of interest to MS over time. And then after you buy 5 songs then what? MS gets to keep the extra nickel you can't spend. So really songs cost $1.00 not $0.99 cents. MS pockets 1% extra. Finally, the detachment of points from dollars measn two things. First it measn your brain hurts when you are spending funny money with strange conversion rates that make it hard to figure on the fly. And second it means they can charge different groups different prices or raise prices. For example, everyone who buys zune points now may be paying $1.00 per song but if you buy the points next week it's say $1.50 a song. Or maybe you get a zune points discount if you buy a new computer with MS OS.

it all seems so deliberately complicated and multi-tiered like all of MS products. That can be a good bussiness strategy but it's not a user-freindly strategy. I predict people will prefer their music priced in way they can figure and don't have to work the angles to get the best prices.

[thecavemankevin]

Interesting post on Slashdot:

i was to some extent familiar with the "funny money" and conversion bs, but i never really thought about some of the other aspects of it. I agree that it is very fishy, but in the end the wireless and zune mareket place are of no real interest to me. I dont plan on buying any songs, at least not from them or ituns.

I simply wont a nice PMP with good features, large capacity, good interface, easy one handed operation, does my taxes, feeds the dogs, will put out the cat, and high fives me when i'm done nailing the wife....is that too much to ask?

[robnix]

i was to some extent familiar with the "funny money" and conversion bs, but i never really thought about some of the other aspects of it. I agree that it is very fishy, but in the end the wireless and zune mareket place are of no real interest to me. I dont plan on buying any songs, at least not from them or ituns.

I simply wont a nice PMP with good features, large capacity, good interface, easy one handed operation, does my taxes, feeds the dogs, will put out the cat, and high fives me when i'm done nailing the wife....is that too much to ask?

Yes, I think I've seen one that does the high fives, but I haven't been able to find one that will feed the dogs and put out the cats. Good luck on that!

[Archangel Kid]

Picked mine up yesterday at CC. It's awesome, I absolutely love it. I got the brown one, if anyone even cares. I don't know much about the zune marketplace mumbo jumbo. I do know this, that the MS points system for the 360 can also be used as Zune points. The player is pretty light for it's size. When you see it, you almost expect it to way as much as a brick. So you do one of those funny things where you pick it up real fast =P The picture quality on it is amazing, it's like watching a mini HDTV. Also any picture you upload onto your player, you can set as your background. I love turning on my player and having Vida Guerra's butt staring at me.

[psychowarden]

Instead of the Zune, I decided to go ahead and get a Toshiba Gigabeat in the 60g form. The Gigabeat is very similar to the Zune. You can hook it up to the 360 just like the Zune, and you just hook right up to a Media Center PC, no software needed. And the audio and video playback is amazing. The picture quality is also very impressive.

[Archangel Kid]

Instead of the Zune, I decided to go ahead and get a Toshiba Gigabeat in the 60g form. The Gigabeat is very similar to the Zune. You can hook it up to the 360 just like the Zune, and you just hook right up to a Media Center PC, no software needed. And the audio and video playback is amazing. The picture quality is also very impressive.

That's really nice, but I really like the fact that I can basically eye's closed control this thing. There seems to be buttons all over the Gigabeat. I don't know personally but that's what it looked like in the video.

[robnix]

Instead of the Zune, I decided to go ahead and get a Toshiba Gigabeat in the 60g form. The Gigabeat is very similar to the Zune. You can hook it up to the 360 just like the Zune, and you just hook right up to a Media Center PC, no software needed. And the audio and video playback is amazing. The picture quality is also very impressive.

They also work seamlessly with the TivoToGo software to transfer your Tivo recordings to the player. A few other players do as well, like the Creative Zen, and the iPod.

[psychowarden]

Its true that there are quite a few buttons, but once you get used to it, it's very simple to control. I like the controls much more than the Ipod, because when I had my Ipod, I was constantly scrolling past the song that I wanted to listen to and just couldn't get it to stay on that particular song. But it's much easier to select a certain song on the Gigabeat. Bill Gates himself said that the Zune will beat the iPod, and that the only Mp3 player that could beat the Zune is the Gigabeat. But either way, he is going to make money, because the Gigabeat has a Windows operating system, thus is compatible with almost all Microsoft hardware such as the 360.

[sk8dood]

Its true that there are quite a few buttons, but once you get used to it, it's very simple to control. I like the controls much more than the Ipod, because when I had my Ipod, I was constantly scrolling past the song that I wanted to listen to and just couldn't get it to stay on that particular song. But it's much easier to select a certain song on the Gigabeat. Bill Gates himself said that the Zune will beat the iPod, and that the only Mp3 player that could beat the Zune is the Gigabeat. But either way, he is going to make money, because the Gigabeat has a Windows operating system, thus is compatible with almost all Microsoft hardware such as the 360.

My iPod seems to be compatible with my 360...

[psychowarden]

Thats sweet, I was never able to get my friends 360 to recognize my iPod. Maybe it was because I had an early Video, I don't know. But my iPod was just a bit annoying and I hate iTunes.

[sk8dood]

Thats sweet, I was never able to get my friends 360 to recognize my iPod. Maybe it was because I had an early Video, I don't know. But my iPod was just a bit annoying and I hate iTunes.

Yeah, I have an early 30g video and it works fine. As for iTunes, I like it because I am used to using it. I hate the iTunes store It has left nothing but a bad taste in my mouth. I bought some music videos and when I updated the software, I lost about half of them. Money down the drain.

[slade]

https://www.allofmp3.com

why are people stupid enough to buy from the itunes store? and need i say anything about microsoft?

[thecavemankevin]

Its true that there are quite a few buttons, but once you get used to it, it's very simple to control. I like the controls much more than the Ipod, because when I had my Ipod, I was constantly scrolling past the song that I wanted to listen to and just couldn't get it to stay on that particular song. But it's much easier to select a certain song on the Gigabeat. Bill Gates himself said that the Zune will beat the iPod, and that the only Mp3 player that could beat the Zune is the Gigabeat. But either way, he is going to make money, because the Gigabeat has a Windows operating system, thus is compatible with almost all Microsoft hardware such as the 360.

i've somewhat considered a gigabeat, but now with your review i am looking into it more. I've seen and messed with the Zune and i have likes and disslikes. Much like the ipod, i like the hardware, hate the software (ie. the interface with said computers and uploading and blah blah blah). It interesting when you think about it all considering the zune is made by toshiba for microsoft. Whats more interesting is the relationship between the two and how the 360 has HDD dvd external drive available which of course is made by toshiba. so how long before Microsoft buys out toshiba?