consumerist.com — The Chicago Sun-Times does not like the Zune. At all. "Do you honestly want morons like this to have power over your music player? Then go ahead and buy a Zune. You'll find that the Zune Planet orbits the music industry's Bizarro World, where users aren't allowed to do anything that isn't in the industry's direct interests."
Nov 26, 2006 View in Crawl 4
sixsenceNov 27, 2006
"I think perhaps another main issue is that the UI is really annoying on the Zune. The wheel is misleading; as far as I know there aren't any directional arrow icons on them but they are arrows, and the UI although it has some nice transitions lags a bit. And also, things aren't placed in very accessible locations. And the device itself isn't very good looking, despite its large screen.A world used to iPods won't change so quickly., "Uh, I don't know where you got the zune you tested, or if this is all just in your head, but if you've actually used a Zune, everything you just said is more accurate if completely reversed. As a Zune owner (looking at it right now), I can tell you the UI is exceptionally fast, smooth, and lag-free. Also, everything is much more organized, easier and faster to navigate, and more accessible than on the ipod. And, let me get this straight, you're saying the buttons are misleading because they don't have arrows printed on the buttons themselves to tell you they are directional buttons? Are you kidding? Again, it's better than the clickwheel.And judging by the complete falsities in your statements, and by "As far as I know," it seems to me you haven't even used a Zune first hand, and are coming out with these bold statements. Interesting.On another note, the device looks great to me... and the larger screen has had more of an influence on me than anything else about the zune, surprisingly. Even if it's the same resolution as the ipod, that large screen makes watching videos really appealing and enjoyable. I originally got my zune just for music, but have found myself adding video just because of how much better it is with the larger screen.
rtiniNov 27, 2006
Plays For Sure**except on Zune
rtiniNov 27, 2006
I see I'm getting dugg down for this - does anyone have a counter-argument for my point?
btswrkngNov 28, 2006
THEY JUST HAVE NO TASTE.
spo8Nov 29, 2006
This has been dead for a few hours, but I thought I'd add my thoughts. I just recently got to try out a Zune and within the first few seconds, I could tell it was a crap device. The menus are cumbersome to navigate, and you actually get lag switching between sections. LAG!Compare that to my first minute with the iPod, where I was blazing through the clean, simple interface. Also, once you go Click Wheel, you never go back.
ducksofanaheimDec 2, 2006
Many reviewers have been commenting on the better sound quality of the Zune...and now I know why.192kbps WMA does sound better than 128kbps AAC. And to all the naysayers , yes it has been scientifically verified (double-blind studies based on the Scientific Method) that WMA is a better sounding codec at even low bit rates ;) Imagine that...pay the same for Zune files and get better sound quality. Apple can`t seem to afford the bandwidth for better sound (it saves them money). MS also lets you download all your music again at least five times. Leo Laporte also admitted that the subscription model is a really good idea ;) , but Apple couldn`t afford that.
endersendDec 10, 2006
Moving on to the article above. What a pile of brown Zune squirts (another what was MS thinking?).... I have never, in my life, seen such horrible, unprofessional writing. This guys is supposed to be doing a review, not write the opinions page. I can't believe this guy actually has a job besides kissing Steve Jobs' derriere. Pure baloney. This isn't to say that he doesn't raise some valid flaws, or that Zune is better because the author sucks. All I'm saying is that the author is more suited for The Onion than real journalism.
bangoskankSep 17, 2007
Zune has a bigger percentage of the MP3 Market that Apple has of the OS market