As a lot of you know, I'm pretty much a dyed-in-the-wool non-Ipod person. Not totally, mind you - I actually do own a nano. But I've never wanted to be tied to iTunes, so I've always had windows-based MP3 players, and I've always been happy with them. In particular, the MuVo line of Creative players is drag-and-drop simple and most run on regular old batteries - two features near and dear to my heart. So when I got my first video player, I read all the specs and got a Dream'eo Enza. And I loved it to death. It was perfect - it had a large, bright screen, a lot of (hard drive) memory, converted most formats like a charm, and it ran off of Windows Media Player. What more could I want?
Well, I'd have liked for the first one not to have gotten stolen after I'd only had it a few months. And for the second one not to have died after only one month. And for there to be adequate service in the US (which there isn't) so I didn't have to finally give up on them.
So, I kept researching, and dreaming of the Creative Zen Vision W or one of the gorgeous Archos players. But then the new Zunes got announced, and the prices on the older ones started to drop. I tried to resist, but when they got to around $100, I jumped. I mean, that's an amazing price, right? And this was new, not refurbished, and it's backed by Microsoft, so at least there should be service available. And it's a major brand, so there ARE some third-party cables and cases and such available, although not nearly to the extent as there is for Ipod. And it has FM, which makes it even more perfect for the gym than it already was.
I got the player, and although the screen was about 1" smaller than my Enza (at 3"), I liked the look of it. The screen was large enough for my old eyes to see while using it on an elliptical machine at the gym, the case (I got the white one) is a nice translucent, frosted plastic and resists smudging or scratching, and I found it more intuitive to use than the Ipod. It doesn't run off Windows Media Player - which given it's a Microsoft device, is ridiculous - but I knew that going in and was resigned to it. Would that were the worst of the problems...
Let me just say, read the reviews AND talk to someone who has one, before you buy. I don't mind at all that I bought WHEN I did - the new one didn't add any features that I particularly wanted, and the new software can be added to the old hardware just fine. BUT - the biggest drawbacks in the device ARE in the softare, IMHO.
The old software was a bit difficult, sometimes annoyingly so, to use. The new software, while it has a prettier interface (and makes a prettier menu on the device itself), is ridiculously stupid. Much like with Vista, users are rushing to uninstall and go back to the old, and I'll probably be following them.
First and most importantly, there is almost NO conversion available in the software. It will convert some MP4s, and most WMVs. Period. There are allegedly some hacks that will help, but they didn't work for me. It's supposed to import M4Vs, but I found that hit or miss. OTOH, one thing I wasn't sure it would do - import podcasts from my itunes directory - it handled flawlessly. It imported them all into the "all videos" category under the old software, and the new software even knew to move them into "podcasts." So that's one step forward and a huge leap back for the lack of conversion. There IS a lot of third party software out there that will help (I found Super, which is free, did a better job than any of the other, more expensive ones I tried.) Honestly, if my orphan Dream'o can convert AVIs without a hitch - why can't the ZUNE? I really find that an unforgiveable omission (that wasn't corrected with the new software). Given it can import MP3's, the most common music format these days, it should also be able to import AVIs. Also, YMMV on this, but I found using windows movie maker to convert AVIs gave less-than-desireable results, especially in the area of audio sync.
Speaking of audio, I can't really talk to that point since most things I have are already either mp3 or WMA, so I've had no problems with conversion there. I had a couple of non-DRM itunes selections, and although I can't actually remember offhand, I think it imported them just fine.
The biggest problem with the Zune, IMHO, is the mess that is syncing. Unless you want to sync everything, when you set it up, you need to tell it which categories (music, video, photos, etc) to sync and which you will sync manually. With the old software, there were several ways around the problem of deleting content from your computer but leaving it on the device. With the new... I haven't figured it out, so it has been randomly deleting videos from my device when I can't catch it and stop it. If, like me and a lot of other people, you don't intend to keep everything on your computer once you've copied it over - especially if you usually keep your videos in AVI but you converted some ONLY for the zune that you otherwise would never need in WMV - you're going to have to jump through some hoops.
Which leads me to resources - there ARE some. What I use most is the Zune boards at http://www.zuneboards.com/ - lots of people there with lots of experience and advice. Their main page is mostly Microsoft and official stuff but don't let that worry you - they are more than happy to point out what doesn't work, and to post hacks and workarounds. Just check google for others - they do exist, even if they're not as pervasive as the ipod-related ones.
Last thoughts, although I'm sure I've missed some stuff.
- Review of the first gen zune by the late, lamented James Kim can be found here: http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/zune-30gb-black/4505-6490_7-32068976.html
- I've tried a few cases, and case substitutes, and so far, the suede bag that comes with the device is as good as anything. I've got a couple Griffin cases on order, and I'll let you know about those. I also put on a screen protector immediately, but then I do that with everything - except my Canon ELPH, which now (of course) has a scratched screen.
- There's other third-party accessories out there, and mostly they're fine. I bought a universal USB charger so I wouldn't always have to charge from the computer. Buy one of the ones that DOESN"T have a cable attached (just a plug and a USB port) and you can use it to power anything that has a USB plug at one end - I can power my Razor V3, my nano, and my Zune all with the same charger. I also bought an emergency battery back-up device (that uses 4 AA batteries to charge or run devices) with a universal output, and tips for my Razor and my Zune (need to add the nano). Those nifty retractable cables are great for travelling.
- If you foresee not always having something to prop it on, you'll either be wanting a case with a kickstand, or a stand of some sort. Some of the mesh business card holders that you can find at office supply stores work just fine.
- Battery life, I hear you asking? About the same as anything else. If I listen to only music and let the backlight go off, more than 10 hours. With video, you're closer to 3 hours. As with anything, make sure you lock it "off" when you're not using it or you might find it's turned itself on in your bag and run down its battery. Learn the trick to turn it completely off if you're not going to watch for a while and don't need it to resume where you left off; otherwise, it continues to use a small degree of charge while it's hibernating.
- I always worry about hard drive players being so much more fragile than the flash-based ones. However, I have managed to drop the Zune on the gym floor (from the elliptical) and it survived just fine. Mind you, the gym has a rubberized floor, and dropping it on the sidewalk might do much more damage.
ETA: forgot one thing. The Zune marketplace has NO video content, even now. If you're buying this for video, you really do need to be prepared to DIY.
