Zune HD 16 GB Video MP3 Player Black

Painful Process. Although this is a very nice MP3 and Video player, it is not without it's drawbacks. If you are considering this unit, I feel that the purchase of the Zune HD will require 2 things. High speed Internet and lots of patience. The initial setup is painful. Out of the box, it is not setup whatsoever to start loading MP3's or anything on it. The setup download failed at 95% (for me) and had to be done again. And yes, I had a very good (but not super speed) high speed Internet connection at the time. Even so, it takes nearly an hour (if it goes through the first time without errors) In the patience department, there is very little that is intuitive about this device. (and I can usually avoid reading any manuals with any new 'toy' I may be confronted with) Note: I bought a Cowon S9 at the same time as I bought this Zune HD. I would say that the Cowon is a manual transmission MP3\video player while the Zune is an automatic transmission player. What I mean by that, is that one can manipulate files quite easily without any special software on the Cowon. It shows up as a portable drive in Explorer and files can be easily added or removed. The Zune however, requires the Zune software to manipulate files on the Zune itself. It does not show up in Explorer at all. I have read where others describe the Zune software as 'clunky.' I would add 'confusing'. Just like the Zune itself, the software is not intuitive at all. Once one gets used to it, it works fairly well. Like combining 2 disc albums into one for example. My Cowon is very difficult to do this with, while the Zune is very easy - just drag the one album into the other. Two become one. I think there is a bug in the Zune software as well. I have everything set to 'manual' or 'I will decide' As I don't like things to work in the background with out knowing what's going on. The bug is coming from the fact that when I insert a CD in the Laptop (Win7) the software starts up, and the CD starts being ripped to the hard drive. What??? All I wanted to do was to listen to the CD or check it's contents. And yes, all of the auto settings are turned off, I have checked several times. On the positive side - when things are working correctly, the Zune HD is a beautiful piece of electronic gadgetry. When the MP3 albums are properly setup, the background items, pictures of the band members, bios, album information, etc., etc., is marvelous to say the least. The sound quality is excellent (as is the case with my Cowon S9) The navigation is easy to figure out with a little practice. The screen is beautiful as well although it is washed out by sunlight where it then becomes unreadable. I find the WiFi works fairly well although it would be very frustrating if you have big fingers (mine are small) I sure wouldn't want to have to type much into this device, but it is nice for checking emails, the weather and things like that. I do find that it requires a stronger signal than my WiFi laptop does to stay online and it is about 25% or so slower to bring up the same page (and the apps coming in are mostly mobile apps in nature) I can't speak about the marketplace and Zune Pass as I haven't started the 14 day trial yet. I am not a fan of paying the fees for songs and I have many CDs to load onto this device anyway. Pros - Very well made. Compared to my Cowon, the fit and finish is marvelous. Picture quality is fabulous as is the sound quality (make sure the videos you put into it are high quality and the MP3s are installed at 320kbps) and you won't be disappointed. Don't bother with the Zune 'buds' either if you want really good sound. Use a decent set of headphones. - Easy to get accessories for. (My Cowon is nearly impossible in this department) - Decent Wifi. (My Cowon has none) Cons - There are 3 buttons on this device, none of which control the volume, pause, skip to next track, etc. (My Cowon does all of these things with separate external buttons) I plan to use the Zune when it is setting out in front of me, where I don't have to fiddle around with it in my pocket or on my belt, etc. The Cowon will work much better (on the go) in this regard. - Software - Get ready for a serious learning curve. Final thoughts - Why did I give the Zune HD 5 stars you ask? (I would have given it 4 1/2 if possible) Well, this is a very nice piece of hardware all things considered. If the software worked as well as this unit displays video and plays music, I would be rating it 5 stars+++. My only suggestion would be to those who might me electronically challenged (like if you have\had difficulty setting your VCR clock) Find a simpler device to own (even the Cowon has a pretty decent learning curve) BUT if you have the patience, the pay off of using this beauty is worth it! One last thing - Be sure to be connected to the Internet when you load CD ripped MP3 songs onto the Zune. The album art will be auto installed along with the cool background info that goes with it. Cheers from Colorado! Update 4-19-2011: OK, I figured out what was going on with part of the 'bug' I spoke of above. Part of it, the fact that the Zune software opens (when I insert a CD and the Zune software is not opened yet) is due to the fact that the CD auto run \ auto play within Win7 was set to 'Rip CD using Zune software.' I hadn't set it to do that, maybe the Zune program does this by default? The CD still starts ripping if the Zune software is open first and I insert a CD, even though the box for 'Rip CD Automatically when Inserted' is unchecked. Still working on that one... Cheers! Update 4-29-2011: OK, no more bug. Once a CD is inserted into my laptop, the familiar Win7 box comes up asking what I want to do concerning the CD (whether the Zune software is open or not)I have unchecked the box within the Zune software to rip the CD when inserted and it finally does what I want it to do - NOTHING until I click on 'start rip'. I find I need this extra time in order to have the CD information (album, artist, song titles and especially the album art) show up before I start the ripping process. Works great now! I still say the software takes a little getting used to and I wish there was a way to manually add and remove content without the need for my laptop and the Zune software. But, because the Zune is such a joy to use and listen to, the pros far out weigh the cons in my opinion. 5 solid stars. Have fun! Read more

I bought the 32 gig from Dell...they had it really cheap....$[...] including shipping and taxes! The only drawback was there was 3 weeks of waiting...but the timing was perfect as I had a test to take and need not be distracted. The Zune HD is so awesome, but it also made me sad. I loved using the Zune 80, and now because HD is here, I dont have enough love for the 80 and that is so sad. I also have an 80 G IPOD video which I keep in my alarm clock docking station...its still like new and the screen on that IPOD is actually sharper and brighter than the zune 80. They are all cool. The Zune HD is worth every penny I spent on it. Sometimes when I leave it in my pocket for too long, I just got to take it out and look at how cool it is. Sometimes I just gotta turn it on just to interact with it just to see the animations and use the cool touch screen. The sound to me is better than the Zune 80, though from what I understand, they both have the same sound hardware...so maybe Im just bias for the Zune HD! I havent tried the headphones that come packed with it because of how cheap they are (or Ive heard), but I have the premiums that come with the z80, and I like them so much I bought a back up pair off amazon for [...]! The HD is really easy to use. Ive not had any problems and Ive had the unit for about 2 weeks now. The UI is very nicely done. There is not doubt, the screen of the HD is nicer than the Touch. The touch does have a bigger screen though. The HD radio is going to be a feature that I use often. The sound is incredible as long as you have a signal. there is just a lot of programming out there to pick up on! I hope HD radio becomes massively huge! I dont really use the marketplace or social functions much, so no comment there. The wifi works really well and the internet browser is pretty fast for me. I dont always successfully connect to the wireless, but when I do, it's nice to have. I like going to panera bread to eat and surf the net will listening to music. Despite all the awesome, there is much room for improvement on all fronts. I want more customization...for example, we should be able to choose icon settins. We should be able to clear the "history" and "new" settings. I want the option to keep the clock on display. The screen is extremely nice, except not that great outside in daylight. I gf has an IPHONE, and that does better visually in daylight. Indoors though, the ZHD is definitely sharper and richer. More apps in the future will be cool though I dont need them. I will say, the calculator and the weather software are well made. I want more like them. Address book and calendar would be nice. I need a case for it. I carry the zhd around in my IPOD case...it just doesnt seem right haha! I dont see the Zhd doing much to Ipod market share, but its still a very cool device and I am extremely happy with it. Oh, I actually thought the battery was going to last longer than it does, but I havent done anything to test...I just had really high expectations for battery life because all ive read about the tegra chip. It still does well...just not phenomenal (I wanted to have 10 days of continuous music playing....SERIOUSLY!). Read more