Zune HD

The SoundGate product looks like a really cool solution, but I'm not quite ready nor bothered by it enough to start messing around behind the dash of my 3-month old Accord. Besides, this car came with a line-in input built in, so I'd be duplicating that by adding the SoundGate device.

On top of that, it doesn't look like they're quite updated for the Zune HD yet.

No speaker.

Is this a complaint? Really? The iPhone/iPod Touch built in speaker isn't high quality at all. And who wants to use a PMP player as a speaker?

No built-in email app.

No built-in map app.

No YouTube.

Microsoft has not been promoting the Zune HD as a portable computer. It's been, from day one, a music player that offers much better audio than the iPhone and iPod touch.

No weather. No calculator.

Then what did I download?

HOw about built-in contacts, calendar, notes, cut/paste, Exchange compatibility, ...? I don't think that's there.

You're pointing out things that Microsoft never said they would have.That's like going into a Mexican restaurant and complaining that you're not going to be able to get polish food.

No volume rocker switch.

Yes there is. It's on the side of the device.

No voice control.

No voice memo.

No Bluetooth.

No Spotlight (index) search.

No play/pause/mic on included headphones.

At least 25% Less music, movies and tv shows in the store

Between the Zune Marketplace and Amazon, there isn't a song I haven't been able to find. So when you say at least 25% music. Do you have a source for this? I'm pretty sure that at Amazon.com I'm able to get any song from iTunes (between digital download and purchasing the CD) that isn't an exclusive.

You're going after the Zune for not having the app support the iPod Touch has, how long did it take for the iPod touch to have apps? Over a year.

Ulairi wrote:

I think Malor is right, next time you feel the urge to post just make a blank post and we'll all know what you're saying. Now, back under your bridge.

Hey quit yappin' at the mirror.

The question was asked. I posted my complaints. You don't have to share them. IF you have some complaints please share. If you have reasons for not having the same complaints I do then please share.

If you don't want to discuss my complaints then say nothing about them.

Otherwise shut up. You're contributing nothing. Zero.

I'm a big boy. I can take reasoned discussion about any product without going fanboyz. Seems you have a little trouble with that. I get it.

And so not having email or maps or Youtube built-in are complaints for me given that I found these very useful. Same thing with calendar, notes, cut/paste, ... and everything else I mentioned.

those will only work on the wifi network. If the iPod Touch had built in 3G mobile internet, I would see that as a real complaint. But, with most phones now having access to those very "apps" and having mobile internet, the wifi ability to access isn't that big of a feature to me. It seems so many times I'm out and about, if I want to use the wifi the place wants to charge me.

The speaker is awesome. Surprisingly so. The quality sucks, but that's not the point.

It's a great way to share a tune or a video clip with someone. It's less hassle than having headphones on when watching a movie. More comfortable. You can still hear the door or phone or ...

Also it was great for my kids when they used it.

Big speaker fan. So a lack of one is a complaint for me.

The Zune volume switch doesn't adjust the volume. It just brings up the volume controls on the touchscreen afaik. Not the same. Not as handy.

Good point about Amazon and iTunes and cds. That covers the music availability complaint I had irregardless of how much the Zune marketplace is behind in the amount of music.

I understand the Zune's late start, but as a consumer it doesn't matter to me. The difference in app stores is pretty staggering at this point. I don't do my complaint justice by just saying no app store (relatively speaking.) I could list 50 apps as missing feature complaints.

We had the category discussion above. Where do you draw the line? The Zune has a browser, video player, weather app, calculator, and MS said it is going to make a Facebook app and some other app. MS is also going to make a game or two for it presumably in the next 6 months or so. It is priced similar to the competition and looks fairly similar.

And so not having email or maps or Youtube built-in are complaints for me given that I found these very useful. Same thing with calendar, notes, cut/paste, ... and everything else I mentioned.

Doesn't matter to me if MS didn't promise those features or if their marketing tries to play the discrepancy off. Those features are quite useful to me.

Anyway not "going after the Zune." I don't see it that way. Merely throwing my complaints out there in response to the question. I'm even happy I was corrected on a couple. Information doesn't hurt.

I'm still on the fence. I'm a prospective buyer in this product category.

Ulairi wrote:
And so not having email or maps or Youtube built-in are complaints for me given that I found these very useful. Same thing with calendar, notes, cut/paste, ... and everything else I mentioned.

those will only work on the wifi network. If the iPod Touch had built in 3G mobile internet, I would see that as a real complaint. But, with most phones now having access to those very "apps" and having mobile internet, the wifi ability to access isn't that big of a feature to me. It seems so many times I'm out and about, if I want to use the wifi the place wants to charge me.

Well that's a whole 'nother story to bring phones into the picture.

If I had a do-everything phone I wouldn't consider a Touch or a Zune.

My wife has been pushing me hard to get us iPhones. But we don't pay anything for our current cellphone service so going up to ~$200/month in fees is holding me back for the time being.

Although not as handy, 2 Touches would save us $200/month. And give me a music player and everything else. With the Zune not having that extra stuff it's just difficult for me to see why I should buy it over the competition hence my complaints.

But with Verizon getting an Android phone, well, .. I'm going to take a hard look at that. Not sure how well it does music/media. But we would just have to pay for the data plan if we stuck with Verizon.

trip1eX wrote:

The speaker is awesome. Surprisingly so. The quality sucks, but that's not the point.

I too like speakers in an PMP, and am a bit disappointed for it not being there, but it is a very minor "complaint" for me. Apple was actually late to the game for adding this in. I have creative PMPs that have built in speakers and at the time I used to "complain" that the iPod didn't have it.

trip1eX wrote:

It's a great way to share a tune or a video clip with someone. It's less hassle than having headphones on when watching a movie. More comfortable. You can still hear the door or phone or ...

To counter this, if two people have a Zune, you can actually transfer the song or video to their Zune and they can watch it themselves. Not really a big feature, but it is neat.

trip1eX wrote:

The Zune volume switch doesn't adjust the volume. It just brings up the volume controls on the touchscreen afaik. Not the same. Not as handy.

I would say this is a plus. I don't know what is on the iPod, but my cell phone has a dial on the side that can be used to increase and lower the volume and I am always accidentally lowering the volume. I button that brings up the interface is better IMO.

trip1eX wrote:

I understand the Zune's late start, but as a consumer it doesn't matter to me. The difference in app stores is pretty staggering at this point. I don't do my complaint justice by just saying no app store (relatively speaking.) I could list 50 apps as missing feature complaints.

If apps are a big deal for you then this is understandable. I perdict in a little over a year the Zune might have enough apps for you to change your mind. I have been hearing that many apps are being ported and since the Zune uses the same SDK as the Xbox 360, there are already a lot of developers familiar with making apps.

trip1eX wrote:

And so not having email or maps or Youtube built-in are complaints for me given that I found these very useful. Same thing with calendar, notes, cut/paste, ... and everything else I mentioned.

Are you really complaining about cut/paste? Did you wait until the iPod touch added that feature in before buying it? It was one of the biggest complaints about the iPhone since launch.

trip, do you have a Zune HD?

Does anybody know of a way to get video to sync with the ZuneHD and actually have it playable when that video didn't originate as a .wmv file?

I resized some stuff from gametrailers with Quick Media Converter and it worked ok, but it started out as windows media files. If I use that same program to convert .AVI or .FLV or anything else to the same format .WMV file they play fine in VLC or WMP on windows but won't sync to the Zune. I get a corrupt file error when I start the sync.

I was going to rip a DVD or two and throw them on there to see how it went, but I can't figure out how to get all those .vob files combined and converted correctly into something the Zune will accept.

Well, for DVDs I'd recommend DVDFab or something similar. As far as your other issue, I've no idea. Try a different converter.

NSMike wrote:

Well, for DVDs I'd recommend DVDFab or something similar. As far as your other issue, I've no idea. Try a different converter.

Apparently it's entirely easier to convert to .mp4 and just skip .WMV altogether. I found a program referenced on the Zune.net support forums called EncodeHD. It's freeware and already has a conversion profile setup for the ZuneHD. Converting the first .AVI now to see how it turns out.

*Works like a charm!

NSMike wrote:

The SoundGate product looks like a really cool solution, but I'm not quite ready nor bothered by it enough to start messing around behind the dash of my 3-month old Accord. Besides, this car came with a line-in input built in, so I'd be duplicating that by adding the SoundGate device.

On top of that, it doesn't look like they're quite updated for the Zune HD yet.

That'd be a a big minus, but I only mentioned it because their Core Pack is what I use for a line out right now. It's a shame to waste the clarity of audio from the Zune by running it through FM.

So do the old docks not work with the Zune HD? Is the dock connector different?

So do the old docks not work with the Zune HD? Is the dock connector different?

Actually the old dock does work to an extent, but I haven't experimented with it enough to know if it works completely. Although the next and back buttons definitely work, so my needs would be suited as far as that goes. Still. 3-month-old car and all.

NSMike wrote:

Well, for DVDs I'd recommend DVDFab or something similar. As far as your other issue, I've no idea. Try a different converter.

I used DVDFab to rip and Handbrake (iPod touch Presets with Audio kicked up to 160kbps) to encode. Slick as snot! (and free)
I'll need to check out that encodeHD thing because Handbrake seems to choke if I try to transcode any of my mkv files!

Rezzy wrote:

I used DVDFab to rip and Handbrake (iPod touch Presets with Audio kicked up to 160kbps) to encode. Slick as snot! (and free)
I'll need to check out that encodeHD thing because Handbrake seems to choke if I try to transcode any of my mkv files!

Is DVDFab free? The only link I found was to pay $30 for it.

EncodeHD worked just fine on the one .mkv I used it on so far. It also handled a couple .avi's and a .wmv that wouldn't sync. They all play fine now.

Thin_J wrote:

Is DVDFab free? The only link I found was to pay $30 for it.

You have to look under Free Stuff for the version that just offers ripping. Having never noticed the HD support, I'm curious now to try attaching my Xbox 360's HD-DVD drive to a PC and see just what happens.

I actually found a way to advance/go back on tracks than using the overlay back/next controls. Just swipe your finger across the screen in the direction you want to go over the album art. No need to bring up the interface, and the album art is roughly dead-center of the screen, so you don't need to make sure you're hitting the right spot.

NSMike wrote:

I actually found a way to advance/go back on tracks than using the overlay back/next controls. Just swipe your finger across the screen in the direction you want to go over the album art. No need to bring up the interface, and the album art is roughly dead-center of the screen, so you don't need to make sure you're hitting the right spot.

I'm trying to imagine using this device without knowing that and can't

wow.. the Smart DJ feature is really cool.. as is the full screen view when your playing it.. I have it on my Acer Revo connected via HDMI to my plasma in my living room and had it playing in the background last night with a few friends over and everyone was convinced it was the latest "thing" from Apple..

I had to actually show people it was the Zune and Microsoft for them to believe it fully.

To bad Microsoft's mobile division is run by halfwits.

Heads up to Zune HD Users:
New Software Update fixes things!
Engadget
I've been running the Zune software every day and never received notification of an update being available... but maybe I missed it.

Still loving mine, despite the glitches I've encountered. The output with decent headphones is just phenomenal.

My iPod video died a few days ago. I've been considering new options.

-new iPod classic - a smart option since I have iPod format car hookups.

-120GB Zune. The direction I'm currently leaning.

-wait for a 64GB Zune HD. I absolutely cannot buy anything smaller than 64GB.

Has anyone heard any rumors on a bigger Zune HD?

I haven't heard anything about any larger sizes coming out, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Most of us are still turning blue waiting for anything approaching an app 'store.'
Now if you're considering subscribing to the Zune Pass stuff then by all means go Zune! Otherwise there's comparable/better hardware out there closer to the specs you want, and already having iPod connectors/cables makes a strong argument for one of those. Plus, I'm sure all your music is already in iTunes. The Zune software would be like a fresh start on that which can be somewhat frustrating.

Depends if his music is DRM free or not.

I would hold out until December, because leading up to Christmas seems the logical time for them to announce a 64GB model. If not then, who knows when they will.

I would get away from an iTunes-related solution simply because the Zune music management software is so much nicer, IMHO. I still miss drag-and-drop occasionally, but I have a flash Zune now and it just syncs random music every time, so I don't have to worry about that. I'm not picky about what music I have.

Looks like the 3d games are here. I am currently downloading Audiosurf and PGR.

No DRM of course!

I hate iTunes but currently use it because I have both an iPod and iPhone. I guess I'm trying to de-Appleize my life by going the Zune route, getting rid of iTunes, and eventually moving to an Android phone once they come out with one worth consideration. I really only use iTunes for syncing - I use Media Monkey for my player and tag editor.

breander wrote:

Looks like the 3d games are here. I am currently downloading Audiosurf and PGR.

Whoa, really? Audiosurf for the Zune HD? That is f*cking AWESOME.

Podunk wrote:
breander wrote:

Looks like the 3d games are here. I am currently downloading Audiosurf and PGR.

Whoa, really? Audiosurf for the Zune HD? That is f*cking AWESOME.

It is pretty awesome!

Uh, hey, Audiosurf!

Does anyone else have the Zune Pass? I have 4 song credits and I'm not exactly sure what I should use them on. I'm thinking about starting a Zune Pass Catch All for sharing songs and stuff.

Ulairi wrote:

Does anyone else have the Zune Pass? I have 4 song credits and I'm not exactly sure what I should use them on. I'm thinking about starting a Zune Pass Catch All for sharing songs and stuff.

I'm on the trial right now, but that's a damn good idea.