Microsoft Zune

Discussion in 'Portable audio players' started by eureka21, Nov 21, 2006.

  1. eureka21

    eureka21 Regular member

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    I just bought a Zune last night, what exactly is so cool about them? I mean the screen is alot beter looking than the iPod, but is tehre anything really cool you can do.
     
  2. DeMody

    DeMody Member

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    Please don't take this wrong, but why don't you tell us what you think about your new ZUNE?

    - how does the music sound?
    - how easy is it to transfer your music?
    - is it easy/hard to find music?
    - have you tried the video and what is your impression?
    - does the WiFi work?
    - etc etc
     
  3. eureka21

    eureka21 Regular member

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    I think overall it's alot better tehn the ipod
     
  4. rogerm16

    rogerm16 Member

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    ok i have the zune and check this

    How does the music sound?

    it sounds pretty good, I have the basic headphones that came with it and
    i pretty much enjoy the sound, but the best sound comes from better quality headphones.

    How easy is it to transfer your music?

    i would say its pretty easy now that i have gotten used to it. at first it was confusing, i didnt know how to use the zune software. but once I learned how i really started to enjoy it.

    Is it easy/hard to find music?

    it depends i guess on what you listen too. the marketplace has a good variety of music, ive found every thing that i have looked for except from some hard to find mixes and songs

    Have you tried video and what is your impression?

    the video on the zune is pretty much incredible. i hear all of this crap about it having the same resolution has the ipod screen, but its just bigger, so the picture will be pixilated. the screen is awesome and bright. i actually enjoy watching shows on the screen, videos run very smoothly, and they look great, but of course i set the settings to transfer the video in the highest quality in exchange for space.

    does the wifi work?

    well, yeah it works. its pretty cool, but needs work. ive shared songs. they only last for three days or three plays because of the drm and all of the other restrictions. that is one of my main problems. if someonw else has a zune within i think 30ft or so and both of you have wireless enabled you can see their username and if they have their online status set to detailed you can even see the name of the song they are listening to or the name of the video they are looking at.

    Overall i say the the zune is a great device that im really enjoying. sure, its missing features like a clock and calendar, but for me the built in fm tuner(which is actually pretty nice). and the wireless(needs a few more features). make up for that, and also the zune will we updateable with system firmware, so those things could be implemented later.

    I would give the zune an 8.7
     
  5. DeMody

    DeMody Member

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    Thanks for posting and giving your impressions of your new ZUNE. And congratulations on your purchase. I have had the Ipod VIDEO and though the music sounded very very good with the earbuds, the screen size is too small for watching video.

    Also the wifi will definately have advantages if they modify their firmware/software. You should be able to use it to browse networks and "share" others audio/video files.

    The on-player navigation feature is what I am concerned about. iPod/V has a decent on-player navigation. Using Itunes lets you create your own playlist and then you just drop it into your iPod and your ready to go. Hopefully Zune has something similar. I would think that M$ media player would be compatible with the Zune and since M$ MP has playlists, you "should" be able to drag and drop as well. Making it just like the iPod.

    Anyone else who has a Zune are welcome to comment. iPod needs competition to bring their prices down and if the competition is better, I'm for spending money on them.
     
  6. honda155

    honda155 Guest

    well i want to sell my iPod nano to get a zune because im kind of irritated with i tunes but i got some questions to.

    does the zune play music and dvds that are downloaded such as torrents and other downloaded files?

    and also, is the zune software like itunes or wat?

     
  7. lions54

    lions54 Member

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    I can't figure out how to transfer MP3 files over to my Zune, everytime I do it looks for an album and it can't find one. Is this becasue of limewire?
     
  8. DeMody

    DeMody Member

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    @eureka

    I just got my Zune for Christmas. Awesome. I've owned a iPod 5.5 video and Nano and the Zune beats both of them hands down. Music and video are fantastic!

    @lions

    Did you install Zune software? If yes, then it's default settings will search your computer for music and then sync to your Zune. You can do this manually and I have not figured it out yet. What I intend to do is to create favorites so then I can just sync the Favorites that I've created.
     
  9. lions54

    lions54 Member

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    Have you figured out how to put movies on it yet i havent yet maybe because there mpeg 2 format....
     
  10. snotragg

    snotragg Guest

    I just bought an 80 gig ipod for myself and a 30 gig zune for my girlfriend, the ipod is great and I am having no problems transferring media to it with itunes, the zune is cool too, I like that you can have your own wallpaper, Ive just been having trouble transferring the media, once it finishes syncing the media i set up it tries syncing everything else on my comp and i end up having to stop it myself, not only that what music/video formats does it use because has to convert just about everything i put on it, even the videos i converted to mp4 for my ipod?????
     
  11. rosedog

    rosedog Regular member

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    When are people going to start comparing the Zune to the Creative Zen Vision:M? This is what I'm curious about.

    I already hate Zune for M$ dealing with RIAA but I was extremely pissed with Creative for killing FM recording (talk shows people)and I flirted with the idea of buying a Zune but then Creative brought it back.
     
  12. lions54

    lions54 Member

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    Is there any free programs to convert movies to zune movie files?
     
  13. osiris010

    osiris010 Member

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    yes i am dying to know this too. i love watching videos on my zune (i downloaded a couple music videos off of google video) but i really want to know how to put full lenght movies (say, for example, star wars 3 or hitchhikers guide, etc) and make use of those 30 gigs, since so far ive only used 1 lol.

    i tried a google search and could only find $50 software that converts DVDs to Zune (mp4?) compatible videos. so if anyone knows a nice, FREE program i really really really would like to know.
     
  14. DeMody

    DeMody Member

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    DVD to Zune (format) conversion:

    I am still experimenting with this myself. I can rip DVD with DVD Shrink (link: http://www.mrbass.org/dvdshrink/ ... look for "English dvdshrink32setup.zip ... IT'S FREE). That's as far as I have gotten. I am going to try Nero Recode to see if its mpeg-4 format works or not.

    Here is a link to a guide and you can download the software for a free trial (I've not used it). Link: http://www.dvdtozune.com/

    Also, try searching Zune forum sites. Here is the most active site I've found. link: http://www.zunescene.com/forums/

    If anyone has more to add please feel "free". Yes, free is best!
    ;)
     
  15. DeMody

    DeMody Member

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    I forgot about "Super".

    I experimented with this free software using an AVI file and it worked but I need to experiment more.

    Super is FREE !!!! which is the good thing about it, but you need to find the right settings to convert. Also, I have not used it with VOB files (that's what DVD Shrink creates when it rips DVD movies).

    Anyway, here is the link: http://www.erightsoft.com/home.html You'll be taken through several layers of website until you find the download link. And it is totally free.

    Also, I've read that to save time SYNCing a video file to your Zune, it should be in WMV format with certain video and audio constraints. If it is not in WMV and/or within these constraints, it will first convert the file before it syncs and this will add time to your sync process. I will try to get more info. out and post this when I have some more time.
     
  16. Easy1

    Easy1 Guest

    Hi, I am relativly new to the forum thing so if I miss some unspoken rule or something, please forgive me.

    I just bought a Zune. It works good... But I was unser the impression that I could use the wi-fi to broadcast my music over the radio if I were close enough to one.

    I might have been dreaming this up though.... Any thoughts? If i t does, I cant figure out how to...

    Thanks guys and gals!
     
  17. DeMody

    DeMody Member

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    Buy one of these things and you can: http://www.dynexproducts.com/pc-242-8-dynex-digital-fm-transmitter.aspx

    Otherwise, you can't. Plus, the wi-fi thing seems to work only with another ZUNE wi-fi. Someone is going to have to hack into this to decode the encryption and so on.

    The FM transmitter is your best bet. Best Buy has them. I bought one and it works great.
     
  18. osiris010

    osiris010 Member

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    thank you so much DeMody i will deffinitly be checking out those sites/programs and report back my findings.
     
  19. DeMody

    DeMody Member

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    Ok, I've found more information about media conversion. This is using MS's Windows Media Encoder. I have used this once before but gave up as it was somewhat cumbersome. However, here is a "guide" that may help. Enjoy and report back if you've had success.

    http://www.zunevideoconverter.com/zune_converter_guide.html
     
  20. andersg

    andersg Regular member

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    That sounds like it would be pretty cool to me.
     

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