I love my Zune!
Well, Microsoft has put out the Zune 3.0 software, and I love it. It fixes the two things about the Zune that bugged me. Some of the features I don't care so much about but are pretty cool, like the ablility to buy songs over wifi, FM radio tagging, and the games. Ok, I like the games, but that is just an added bonus.
First, on an iPod you can tell it to play a certain song next by selecting the song and then holding the center button for a second or two. The iPod will finish playing the current selection and then play the one you just added to the list. You can do that with whole albums, artists, or just one song. Very handy.
Zune used to have a quick list option for every song, album, and artist, but you had to go find the quick list in the playlists section and play it. Not as handy. Now they have a Now Playing list that acts just like the iPod list. You select "add to now playing" and it will play the song next. Or artist. Or album. Very handy. In addition, the quick list had to be cleared manually, just like any other playlist. The now playing list clears when you override the list by selecting play on another media, song or video or podcast.
The other feature is actually a little bit of a hack, but it works none the less. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and like the bookmarking feature that the Zune has in the podcasts section. I just wanted to add it to my books. So, I simply delete the audiobook from the Zune collection, change the genre setting for the book to "podcast," and reimport it as I would a song. Zune sees the podcast genre and puts it in the podcast area. Now it will keep track of where I am in the book for me (the bookmarking feature). As long the album setting on the audiobook file is set to the title of the book, it will treat the different files that make up and audiobook as different episodes of a podcast. In addition, I use a file joiner program to merge the files together and make one big mp3. That way I don't have to keep track of which file I am on. Just a little more convenient.
You are probably saying "iPod has had both of these features for a long time" and you would be right. But the Zune has many other features that I prefer over the iPod, and influenced my decision to buy a Zune.
1. The Zune Control Pad. I hate iPod's click wheel. I can never keep my finger in the circle well enough for the iPod to respond smoothly. Zune scrolls up and down, left and right, just like the interface we are all so fond of; the mouse scroll wheel.
2. The screen is made of glass. Why is that important? After about six months of using the iPod you tell me how easy it is to see the screen through the scratches. It is awful. The glass is much harder than the plastic so it won't scratch. I can put it in my pocket and use it like it was meant to be used and not have to worry about the screen scratching, or have to deal with stupid clear stickers that are a pain. (I know they are a pain; I had to use one on the many Palms I have had over the years.)
EDIT: The day after I posted this I found out the new iPod Nano 4th generation has a glass screen. Finally.
3. FM radio. I don't use it much, but it is nice to know that I have it if I want it.
4. The form factor. I didn't like the iPod nano's form factor when I got my Zune. (I have the 8GB model, so the iPod nano would be the comparable unit) The iPod looked short and fat and didn't fit very well into my pocket.
5. Overall design of the Zune. I like the colors and the metal exterior. I don't know how to describe it. You will just have to see it.
Last reason I got a Zune over an iPod is... it isn't made by Apple. I strongly dislike Apple. But that is a topic for another post (it is in a draft form right now).
First, on an iPod you can tell it to play a certain song next by selecting the song and then holding the center button for a second or two. The iPod will finish playing the current selection and then play the one you just added to the list. You can do that with whole albums, artists, or just one song. Very handy.
Zune used to have a quick list option for every song, album, and artist, but you had to go find the quick list in the playlists section and play it. Not as handy. Now they have a Now Playing list that acts just like the iPod list. You select "add to now playing" and it will play the song next. Or artist. Or album. Very handy. In addition, the quick list had to be cleared manually, just like any other playlist. The now playing list clears when you override the list by selecting play on another media, song or video or podcast.
The other feature is actually a little bit of a hack, but it works none the less. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and like the bookmarking feature that the Zune has in the podcasts section. I just wanted to add it to my books. So, I simply delete the audiobook from the Zune collection, change the genre setting for the book to "podcast," and reimport it as I would a song. Zune sees the podcast genre and puts it in the podcast area. Now it will keep track of where I am in the book for me (the bookmarking feature). As long the album setting on the audiobook file is set to the title of the book, it will treat the different files that make up and audiobook as different episodes of a podcast. In addition, I use a file joiner program to merge the files together and make one big mp3. That way I don't have to keep track of which file I am on. Just a little more convenient.
You are probably saying "iPod has had both of these features for a long time" and you would be right. But the Zune has many other features that I prefer over the iPod, and influenced my decision to buy a Zune.
1. The Zune Control Pad. I hate iPod's click wheel. I can never keep my finger in the circle well enough for the iPod to respond smoothly. Zune scrolls up and down, left and right, just like the interface we are all so fond of; the mouse scroll wheel.
2. The screen is made of glass. Why is that important? After about six months of using the iPod you tell me how easy it is to see the screen through the scratches. It is awful. The glass is much harder than the plastic so it won't scratch. I can put it in my pocket and use it like it was meant to be used and not have to worry about the screen scratching, or have to deal with stupid clear stickers that are a pain. (I know they are a pain; I had to use one on the many Palms I have had over the years.)
EDIT: The day after I posted this I found out the new iPod Nano 4th generation has a glass screen. Finally.
3. FM radio. I don't use it much, but it is nice to know that I have it if I want it.
4. The form factor. I didn't like the iPod nano's form factor when I got my Zune. (I have the 8GB model, so the iPod nano would be the comparable unit) The iPod looked short and fat and didn't fit very well into my pocket.
5. Overall design of the Zune. I like the colors and the metal exterior. I don't know how to describe it. You will just have to see it.
Last reason I got a Zune over an iPod is... it isn't made by Apple. I strongly dislike Apple. But that is a topic for another post (it is in a draft form right now).
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