I rescind my previous praise of the Microsoft Zune portable music and video player.
On paper, it's a great device. Plays music in various formats, and plays video in WMV format (and I was able to find at least 3 programs that encoded files to WMV format, 2 of them were free). The Zune even did a good job of storing and showing my photos.
However, my fear that the Zune had inferior software compared to iTunes is completely true.
First off, the Zune software and the device itself keep crashing. The Zune software crashed during installation on one computer. And consistently crashes when attempting to synchronize with the device. And since "synchronizing" takes so freaking long (long, meaning overnight), sometimes the Zune device itself crashes. FYI, if you're reading this and your Zune has crashed, hold the "back" and "up" buttons together and you'll force it to reset (kind of like CTRL, ALT, DEL to reset your computer). Because sometimes, even the power button doesn't respond if it crashes.
But I told myself that I could live with the crashes, since the video looked good and the display was so much larger than the iPod. That didn't matter however, because...
After converting all my video files into what I thought was the proper WMV format for the Zune (320 x 240 with CD quality audio)... the Zune software decides that it must "RECONVERT" that file before it uploads it!!! So pretty much, it's converting each file twice. What's annoying about this is that Zune.net explains how to convert video to a specific format, so that it will instantly sync with the Zune device, instead of converting a second time. And the problem is that converting them a first time only took 5 minutes for a 30 minute video / show. But when the Zune software converts that same file, it takes 20 to 30 minutes. Meaning that synchronizing all my videos would take hours. I tried various screen sizes, output settings, sound quality, changing every little detail to see if something would work, but nothing did.
Sorry Microsoft, I guess I'll have to stick with the Apple iPod. I wanted to like the Zune. I reallllly did. This was the ONLY time I've ever called Microsoft tech support, and I'll never call again. I was hung up on twice, and was given no answers. I was told, "Oh, if you want video, you should buy them on Marketplace to ensure they're compatible."
"But Marketplace doesn't offer videos yet. Only music."
"Oh, that's right. Nevermind then."
Even when I was returning my device to Costco (two of them actually, since I had bought one for my girlfriend), TWO employees were like, "Oh, is that the Zune?"
"Yeah," I replied.
"You're returning it already? I was thinking of getting one."
"You know, I really think it has a lot of potential, but you might want to wait for 2.0 and a firmware update. Because the software really sucks and the device keeps crashing."
I could tell they were disappointed, as am I.
Actually, the Zune that I got from Costco had already been returned by someone else, and then sold to me. I could tell because the preloaded content was already deleted, and the device was given the name "sayplease" by the previous user.
And seeing how many threads I've seen on the internet regarding the Zune, I won't be surprised if more of them get returned before Christmas.
Quick Summary
Good : I love the screen size. And how you have to turn the device to the side to watch videos. It just seems more natural that way and utilizes the size / shape of the device to show videos in landscape mode. I like the feel of the case. Some people on other sites don't like the controls and buttons, but I like the "click" wheel more than the iPod's wheel. Just personal preference. And others have also complained about the larger size of the Zune (compared to iPods), but I didn't mind that either. For me, I wanted to use it as a portable video player, so I'd rather have the larger screen.
Bad : The software is BAD. Worse yet, the website doesn't offer any kind of update... yet. Technical support was just as BAD. I didn't get to test the battery life, since I could barely get all the files uploaded to the device, I never really tried out the Zune for more than an hour or two at a time. Before trying out the Zune, one of my pet peeves about the iTunes software was that they were constantly releasing a newer version of software. However, now that I've tried the Zune, I don't mind that Apple is constantly revising their software. I wish Zune would do the same.
