Entertainment and sharing to go. That’s the Zune 30 GB Digital Media Player. The Zune plays music and videos, displays images, and unlike the iPod, it even receives FM radio so you can stay on top of local news or sports. Designed around the principles of sharing, discovery, and community, Zune connects people and empowers them with the tools needed to share entertainment experiences. The Zune experience is centered around connection–connection to your library, friends, community, and other Zunes. It’s powered by software that allows users to manage files on the player, rip audio CDs, and buy from a wide selection of music and videos at the Zune Marketplace.

The Zune lets you share music and pictures with other Zune users in the area.
The controls are designed to be familiar and easy to use so you can jump right in and start having fun. View larger.
Zune software can find compatible music files on your PC and copy them to your Zune device.
Wireless Zune-to-Zune sharing lets you share your favorite tracks and photos.
Browse more than 100,000 artist bios and hundreds of playlists in the Zune Marketplace.

The Zune is a 30 GB digital media player, but there’s a twist. You can wirelessly share selected full-length sample tracks, playlists, pictures, or your own home-grown tunes directly from Zune to Zune (within 30 feet). You can listen to the full-length songs that you receive up to three times in three days, flag the ones you love, and easily buy them the next time you sync up–its like test-driving songs before you purchase an album. The Zune’s navigation is simple and intuitive with a scroll wheel and basic buttons, and the big, bright screen makes it easy to browse music and show off your favorite pictures and videos. This attractive, smart device stores up to 7,500 songs, 25,000 pictures, or 100 hours of video. Get creative. Make playlists on the go and watch slide shows while you’re listening. And if you’re watching video on the Zune, you’ll be pleased with the landscape mode that allows you to get the most out of the vivid display.

Zune-to-Zune Sharing
Don’t forget the primary principle of the Zune: sharing. With this device in hand you’re holding an opportunity to share music and photos wirelessly from one Zune to another. Send your favorite tracks or images to your friends, or just about anyone with a Zune that’s within your reach.

Whether you’re walking down the street, in a room with a bunch of friends, at a concert, at the airport, or on the bus, you can whip out your Zune and see all the other Zune devices that surround you. In the blink of an eye you’re connected to your best friend and you can send over your band’s newest song. Another friend might get the hilarious podcast your little brother made at school, plus that hot new song you just downloaded from the Zune Marketplace. And, of course, there’s all the good stuff that your friends want to send back your way. The connections are made and the Zune community grows.

Best of all, the song you sent (or received) isn’t a short 30-second preview–it’s the whole song. Your friend can sample the song up to three times in three days, flag it on their device and then buy it from the Zune Marketplace. You can send pictures, too. If you loved the photo of your dog at the park and you just have to share it with your buddies, shoot it off to whoever is around. And any pictures that are sent or received can be kept and viewed indefinitely.

Sometimes you don’t want to be noticed, and the Zune allows you to fly under the radar. All you need to do is turn the wireless function off, or adjust the privacy settings to control whether people can see you are online. And if you want to keep your Zune private while studying in the library or reading the newspaper on the bus, you can also block Zune devices in wireless range from sending you a song.

Zune Marketplace
Zune makes it easy to find music you love–whether it’s songs in your existing library or new music from the Zune Marketplace. You can easily import your existing music, pictures, and videos in many popular formats from your PC and browse millions of songs at the Zune Marketplace where you can purchase individual tracks or buy a Zune Pass subscription to download as many songs as you want for a flat fee. Plus, you can apply Microsoft Points towards the purchase of music so you can buy online without a credit card for added security. At the Zune Marketplace you can read over 100,000 artist biographies and features from leading magazines including XLR8R, NME, and FADED, and you’ll have easy access to Billboard Charts, including Billboard 200, Hot 100 Songs, and more. You’ll even be able to browse what people in the Zune community are listening to by checking out the Zune Charts.

Pre-Loaded Content
Zune is a vehicle to explore new sounds and share entertainment experiences. With that in mind, the Zune comes pre-loaded with a variety of songs and videos from hot, new artists, as well as some fun films and images. With something for everyone, the pre-loaded Zune content may help you discover your new favorite band, but at the very least you’ll have some entertainment at your fingertips so you can start connecting and sharing. Zune pre-loaded content includes loads of audio tracks, music videos, and film shorts, plus 12 classic rock posters from “Art of Modern Rock: The Poster Explosion.”

Zune Accessories
You can choose from a full line of accessories to outfit your Zune. These three Zune Accessory Packs provide complete solutions for Zune in your car, in your home or while you travel. Individual accessories are also available.

  • The Zune Car Pack includes everything needed to hit the road with a Zune device, such as the built-in FM tuner with AutoSeek and the Zune Car Charger.
  • The Zune Home A/V Pack enhances your experience in the home through five products that integrate Zune with the TV and music speakers: Zune AV Output Cable, Zune Dock, Zune Sync Cable, Zune AC Adapter and the Zune Wireless Remote for Zune Dock.
  • The Zune Travel Pack is a set of five products designed to keep friends and family entertained on the road: Zune Premium Earphones, Zune Dual Connect Remote, Zune Gear Bag, Zune Sync Cable and the Zune AC Adapter.

What’s in the Box
Zune 30 GB Digital Media Player, earphones, USB cable, and sleeve.

Customer Reviews: Read 1367 more reviews…

4 out of 5 stars Good jumping off point for Microsoft

It’s impossible to not compare the Zune to the iPod so I’m not even going to try, but let’s get one thing out of the way right quick: Anyone who calls the Zune an iPod killer needs to have their head examined. Let’s not forget that there are many people who have invested hundreds or thousands of dollars into iTunes music, so they’re pretty much iPod customers for life(as Zune customers will be if they choose to use the Zune marketplace, but more on that later). And in case you haven’t noticed, the iPod is a pretty darn good device. The Zune doesn’t really offer anything that should have iPod+iTunes users jumping ship, but it does offer a compelling option for those looking to purchase a product like this for the first time or iPod users who have chosen to continue to buy CDs instead of digital albums.

The first thing you’ll notice after purchasing the Zune is that if they ever gave away some type of award for product packaging, the Zune would probably win it. The brown portion of the Zune box slips off to reveal a compartmentalized box inside that includes the Zune, the docking cable, stock earbuds, the Zune software, the token cheap felt case, and the documentation.

Onto the Zune itself. Even at 30 gigs it’s a bit longer and thicker than the 80 gig iPod. It is substantially heavier but not to a fault. Those looking to use an MP3 player for active use will probably want a flash player anyway. Where the Zune holds a big advantage over the iPod however is the rubbery-plastic finish. Whereas the iPod’s glossy finish is a magnet for fingerprints, the Zune’s rubbery plastic feel attracts virtually no fingerprints, and when it does they simply wipe off. The screen accumulates them quickly, and while a thin plastic film coating is included, it has some large text on it, so you might have to invest in a third-party screen protector. Bummer. The control pad has been often maligned for not being a scroll wheel, but I don’t understand why. Is moving your thumb around in circles really THAT intuitive?

Onto the software. It’s a bit dissapointing that the Zune doesn’t simply intergrate seamlessly with Windows Media Player 11 like most MP3 players now do. Instead you’ll have to install the dedicated Zune software, which is essentially Windows Media Player 11 in some new clothing and with the Zune Marketplace built in. There have been many reports of hiccups installing the new software, so beware. It seems I was lucky. Once you do get the software going, syncing your music library to your player is a breeze, with a transfer speed of about two seconds per song.

As I said, the Zune software is essentially WMP11 with the Zune Marketplace included. The first time you enter the marketplace the software will ask you for your Windows Live ID. This is where one very cool perk comes into play if you are an XBox Live user. When you login with your ID, your Zune Marketplace account automatically links up with your XBox Live account, so you can share your Microsoft Points you already have across both services! Very very convienent.

Unfortunately, that may be the highlight of the Zune Marketplace. Graphically, it can’t hold a candle to iTunes and is pretty darn ugly. Users can’t review albums, and it as of yet doesn’t offer anything besides music(this is probably going to change very very soon). I don’t even use an iPod and I like browsing the iTunes store to see what’s new and read user reviews. I couldn’t imagine using the Zune Marketplace for anything except buying an album. But even that wouldn’t be advisable, since the music you purchase on the Zune marketplace will work ONLY on the Microsoft Zune and nothing else. So until it starts offering TV Shows and movies, the Zune Marketplace is a major dud.

This is where the real treat comes in, once you get your music onto the Zune and fire it up for the first time, many of your initial doubts will vanish. The screen is large, bright, and the background is fully customizable. The interface is a huge breath of fresh air after using the stale Artist>Album>Song system on iPods and Creative players for so many years. Instead, Artist, Album, and Song are listed horizontally at the top of the screen, and as you move the cursor over each option all of the items spill out down the substantial screen, with thumbnail album art included! When you do choose a song, the album art for that song dominates the screen, and the sound quality is excellent. You can easily adjust the volume by pressing up-and-down on the control pad, and scroll through the song by pushing left and right.

So music playback is a huge “hit”, but how about the video? The format support is pretty limited, and while the Zune software will convert just about anything, the playback format of converted videos is pretty poor. It was also a puzzling move for the Zune to have a 16×9 screen but only support 4:3 resolution. The stretching of the picture doesn’t really take that much away, but it seems a bit pointless. One handy feature is that the control pad will re-orient the controls for the Zune when you hold the player sideways.

One last thing, you might have noticed I haven’t even mentioned the much-hyped wi-fi feature. Why? Because it’s practically useless. Songs received via wi-fi transfer can only be played three times within a three day period, and songs by some artists(such as the Rolling Stones) won’t even transfer at all! The wi-fi capabilities of the Zune certainly offers exciting possibilities for future firmware updates, but they’re certainly not present now.

So that’s it. The Zune offers nothing that will have seasoned iPod+iTunes users jumping ship, and it certainly’ won’t kill the iPod, but the exceptional physical design, vastly superior user interface, and wi-fi possiblities in the future warrant a serious look by shoppers.

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