The Untouchab1e Project

Specifications

Storage: 30GB (Only aproximately 27.7GB free for music)
Display: 3" LCD
Resolution: 320x240
Battery life (est): 13 hours audio (wifi disabled), 4 hours Video (wifi disabled)
WiFi Specifications: 802.11 b/g connectivity
Supported formats: WMA, MP3, AAC, JPEG,WMV, MPEG-4, H.264 media

Now, when looking at the specifications, one will notice that firstly, it only comes in a 30GB version, although a 80GB is according to zunescene.com soon available. Although 30GB seems small compared to what is available from other players on the market, in my situtation, i dont come close of having that ammount of music, I probably never will, and the low storage drags down the price of the player quite a bit.

The supported formats list show that the video format selection is quite thin, however, note that there are plenty of free programs that will let you convert more or less any format available.

The battery life isnt that much impressive, but it should do for the most of us. In this case its the big display thats sucking the juice out of the battery. By keeping the brightness level to a minimum, and the light-timeout short, you will greatly improve the battery life. Keep this in mind.

The resolution is the same as on the newest video Ipods. Many believe this results in poor quality as the display is larger on the Zune than on the Ipod. We will come back to this later on..

There is no touch-sensitive scrollwheel, although it does look like it at first glance. Instead there are regular buttons. The reason for this might be disputed, but I believe the Apple lawyers would go on a powertrip if the Zune came with a similar navigation technology.

Features

The player features all and more than you would expect from a mp3 player. Music playback, Video playback (horizontal and vertical video display), Radio, WiFi (for sharing music and pictures), view pictures, stream music to your TV or stereo, Custom Themes and background images, Updateable firmware (as of now on v1.2 fixing various stability issues and improving album art size support). Im sure i have forgotten a few details, but all in all, the Zune has an impressive ammount of features!

In use

Let it be said, the Zune interface is simply lovely looking! The menu system is much more visual then on the (random example ) Ipod. There is a minor fade effect between the menu shifts, not too much, simply makes the whole browsing experience seem smooth and nice.

Since there is no scrollwheel as on the Ipod and other players, you are left with basic clicking to navigate the menues. To many, this might seem like a much more inferior way of navigating between tens or even hundreds of artists.. However, its not. Its different, but in my mind, not less effective. When you want to scroll through artists for instance, you press the down-button and you will eventually see a big letter referring to where in the artist list you are. If i am at 30 Seconds to Mars, and wish to scroll down to Thrice, i just hit the down button and wait for the letter "T" to be shown.. There you go! Works like a charm. For hardcore Ipod users (like I was), it takes a while to adjust, but trust me, you will be just as effective.

There are loads of things to comment when it comes to various features, such as the Radio, Video, Wifi etc.. But i wont have the energy to comment it all in this review.

I do wish to talk a bit about the WiFi though. When you see that the Zune comes with WiFi, you may get your hopes up a bit too high. With the Zune, what you can do is the following: Send songs or images to a nearby player. Thats it (for now). Images recieved will stay indefinetly, however, Music wont. You can only play the song 3 times, or have it 3 days before it gets deleted from the player. That said, the reason for this limit is understandable. Dont think the musical industry woulndt go mad over the ability to freely share music with eachother. If this is a major setback for you, rest assured, there are ways to bypass this feature. There has already been uncovered a way to transfer .zip files (that can contain anything) that wont get deleted and that you can retrieve once you have connected your Zune to a computer, unpacked and synced! Microsoft has promised that they will develop the players capabilities, including the WiFi Features, and its not unlikely we will see major changes with time. In my personal opinion, i feel that Microsoft is going to bet hard on the Zune card, and we will definetly see improvements on all areas of the player.

Software

To use the Zune with a computer, the Zune Software is needed. The Zune software resemblance to Windows Media Player 11 is astonishing, so in my case, i just uninstalled WMP and i now use Zune for my media needs as it features more or less the same as WMP11 does. A feature of the Zune software i like particulary well, is the fact that it is very easy to automatically organize your ID3 tags. Meaning if your songs have incomplete information, like unknown album or track names, you can easily identify it and update it by simply right clicking the album in the library and select "Change Album Info". After searching you can choose to go through the whole process song by song, or just apply that album info for all the tracks of that album. The Zune player also has a "Find info for all albums" feature, although I havent tried it out myself.

All in all, the Zune software is a pleasure to use. Unlike iTunes it automatically updates the library when new content is added to the monitored albums. No need to add a new folder each time you get a new album!

Sound Quality

One of the most important aspects of a player is sound quality. The Zune does not dissapoint. The sound is crystal clear and is well on-par with the Ipod or the Zen. However, with my Creative HQ-1700 headphones, its difficutlt to make out any minor defects when it comes to the sound quality.. It all sounds good to me

Accessories

Thought id throw in something about the accessories for the Zune. Surprisingly enough, there is tons of stuff you can buy for your zune. Some more usefull then others. Ive personally got the Travel Pack and the screen protector. Both i feel are quite valuable, although the travel pack is a tad bit expensive. The screen protector is basically just a plastic film to place on your Zune Display to protect it from accidental scracthing. The travel pack comes with a nice and well made storage folder for your Zune and other accessories, as well as a wired remote with two outputs with separate volume controls, as well as "premium" earplugs and an AC charger. Pretty neat.

Other accesories includes a wireless remote, a docking station, various cables etc etc.. All in all, it seems like this might just as well reflect the seriousness in the player. Zune is here to stay!

Conclusion

I must admit, i am really exited about the Zune. The quality of the device overall seems really good, and I have no problems with recommending it for anyone wanting a new mp3 player. Keep in mind that its still not available anywhere else then in the US. But its comming, so keep your eyes open! The player does fall short on some areas though, including poor utilization of the WiFi feature, but i believe that the Zune has great potential, and I believe Microsoft will do a lot to fufill that potentional. The player interface is packed with smart neat features and finesses. Some requiring a slight adjustment and getting used to, but once mastered, really help making the music listening experience even better! Way to go!

9/10

Video preview here

Cheers from Oslo!