Zune, zune, zune! Ambitious iPod killer or just another DOA competitor?

iPod. It's a word and a product that everyone knows about. It's set the standard for every mp3 player that came after it. It started a music listening and purchasing revolution. Heck, it even started a trend of companies putting "i" before everything.

I've owned an iPod. I wanted to know what the hype was about. I quickly found out as it was promptly stolen.

I didn't see the value in an over-glorified sandisk player for $249.99 retail. So I ended just buying a sandisk.

But on the horizon was the Zune. It was the only mp3 player that offered something new; something innovative, and something that EVERY other company lacks: the financial backing of a company that has the ambition and committment to take the product to the next level, and pose a legitamate threat against the iPod.

I'm one of those, "Gotta have what the in-crowd doesn't", "Gotta have the new product that not many people know about but may have heard about" types of person. The iPod is so cliche` to me now. The Zune appealed to that part of me.

The Zune comes in three colors: White with black accents, black with black accents, and brown with black accents. It seems Microsoft, for whatever reason, is marketing the brown unit as the "official" image of the Zune. Not surprisingly, the black has exponentially outsold the two other colors; brown being at the bottom of the list. I own a black.

Everything is black on the 5.6 ounce Zune, right down to the nifty magnetic headphones. I wish the magnet was stronger. Too often I put them together when I'm finished listening only for them to unlatch themselves.

The 4.4 X 2.4 Zune also boasts a 3 inch QVGA LCD screen,which is larger than the iPod video, with a 320X240 resolution. What I liked is that the screen is taller than it is wide, so when watching a video, you turn the Zune horizontally, and the screen becomes more adept for viewing. When not viewing, the album art for what you're listening to displays regularly. The screen is extremely durable, which was a major selling point to me. The iPod almost scratched just by looking at it. The Zune is extremely resistant.

Now that we have the spec-talk out of the way, here's what everyone wants to read: my opinion.

Sound quality right out of the box is very solid. The stock headphones are, surprisingly, very high quality. There's nothing spectacular or different about the design of the headphones, so I can't imagine Microsoft trying to get people to keep the headphones for the value of having people recognize you're listening to a Zune, so it's basically a bonus.

Scrolling through music is easy. It's important to note that there are no instructions with the Zune; absolutely nothing. Microsoft made it so oversimplified to accomplish what you want there's no need. You can scroll through music by song title, album, artist or genre, and make your own playlists. Obviously this includes shuffle, however you aren't able to shuffle a particular artist only, which I would have found extremely useful if I wanted to listen to one artist that may have a rather voluminous history. This also comes into play with artist genres, which falls into the Zune Marketplace.

The Marketplace is easy to navigate. It's similar to iTunes. It's actually similar to WMP, just in different colors. That controversy has been covered ad naseum, so I won't bore you with it again.

I have a Subscription to Zune, called a ZunePass. Unlimited downloads for $14.99 a month. There are some artists that you still have to pay for, however I found this rare. I currently have about 20 gigs of material and only one artist, The Offspring, have required me to actually purchase the songs. It's important to note two things involving the Zune Marketplace and it's monthly pass; one, that if you have the monthly pass, you can't burn the music to CD. That doesn't bother me as I have a tape adaptor. And two, that one marketplace subscription works for two Zunes. My fiance` also has a Zune, and uses my subscription to download her music. The CD burning capability; or lackthereof, doesn't bother her as she has an FM transmitter.Searching is easy, downloading is extremely fast; an entire album typically taking less than five minutes, and syncing is also quick. The only thing wrong is the Zune is default to sync automatically with any songs that have been recently downloaded, perilously exposing my precious punk-rock Zune to the vehemient likes of Beyonce` and Britney Spears, that of my fiance` disgusting taste. Not to worry, as you can disable this in the not-so-easy to find options menu.

Currently, there are no videos available to download off of the Marketplace. I downloaded a program, called ZuneIt, that allows me to rip any video off of websites such as YouTube or DailyMotion directly to my Zune in one click, so it doesn't bother me.

One drawback is that once you cancel your Zune subscription, you lose your songs, just like that. It's almost a rental service. It's highly recommended you put your sub on a credit card or otherwise automatic paying cash source, so you don't forget to pay every month, right on time.

You can sync pictures directly to your Zune from your computer, and use them as wallpapers for your Zune. I haven't done this yet, however the Zune picture capabilties are rather standard, such as slideshow, scrolling, etc.

Battery life is advertised as 13 hours of music playing with the WiFi turned on, 14 without. I call shenanigans. The battery is hungry constantly, and the WiFi definetly demands more than one hour of appetite. If you aren't totally certain there's someone with a Zune nearby, don't use it. Especially considering the fact that not only do you have to be very close to share songs, but the Zune takes a long time to fully charge, reportedly in the area of 4 hours. It's not like a cell phone, where you can plug it in for a half hour and have a decent amount of charge. And unfortunately, unless you buy the expensive accessory packs that are hard to find in-store, you can only charge it on your cimputer, one at a time, when the computer is fully logged into Windows and running. This is a hassle as I don't enjoy sleeping to a hard drive hum at night just to charge my Zune.

For the record, the Zune advertises about 4 hours battery life while playing videos. I'd report that as accurate.

Accessories are coming out slowly, but surely. The cases add signifiagant bulk to the already hefty Zune. I have opted to buy a skin and a clear coat for my screen. It's cheap, easy, much more styligh, and changeable. Accessories are difficult to buy in-store. I live in a heavily populated metropolis and still can't land them. Best to order online, but if you're like me and want your stuff yesterday, then it can be a pain, for now at least.

One of my favorite capabilities is the option to sync with your XBox 360. Rip songs from the 360 or upload them to it, it's your choice. Since I have a computer that is Windows Media Center compatible, my Zune, Xbox and computer are all sync'd to eachother.

Does the Zune offer long-term capability, or is this an experiment that will eventually fade like every other competitor of the iPod? Microsoft has recently unveiled plans to release a flash drive Zune, with a smaller capacity, likely to compete with the Nano. Also likely in the works is an 80GB model. Microsoft has backed the Zune with a top of the line staff, and plenty of money. The only realistic risk is whether or not to buy the first version, which may present growing pain problems. This is a risk with anything, and it's up to the consumer whether or not having the product is worth it right away. Microsoft has promised several firmware updates, but that obviously doesn't cover the hardware itself. Popular Zune blogs present very minor (skipping) problems to the slightly more rare yet more serious problems (screen cracking due to overcharging.)

Ultimately it's up to you to decide when to buy, however whether you buy now or later, you will be satisifed with the product itself. It may not take the iPod down immedietely, but it IS indeed a legit competitor, something Apple hasn't seen yet. It really comes down to whether or not you will enjoy the product, and I thouroughly enjoy mine, and will continue to enjoy it for years to come.