Zune (second generation, 8GB, red)

Pros: Zune Touch Pad, Easy to Use UI, Easy to Use Software

Cons: Doesn't come with AC Adaptor (required for wireless Sync)

Summary: Having Never owned a MP3 player before I don't have anything to really compare it to, but I'm pretty happy with the Zune. There are some things the prevent it from being perfect in my mind, but it is well worth the money and works real well for music. For the most part I'm impressed.

I did a lot of research before buying an MP3 player and decided on the Zune for a few reasons. Some of these reasons turned out not to be as important as I thought and others didn't work right out of the box, but a couple of them are really impressive. I was really intrigued by the Automatic Wireless syncing, but to do this you'll need to buy a separate AC power cable. You can still sync wirelessly by going to the menu on the Zune, but this uses up a lot of batteries and the only included way to charge it is with the USB cable. So, unless you're going to go out and buy the power cable you don't really get wireless syncing. Another thing that was advertised was syncing with your recorded windows media TV shows. I've tried setting this up, but I couldn't figure out an easy way to do it in the Zune Program. It could still be possible but, if it is it isn't as simple as syncing with your music collection. The one feature that really works and sold me on the device is the Zune pad. I tried it out in the store and it is even better in practice. It is really easy to scroll though the long lists of artist/albums/songs on the Zune.

The Zune player itself seems pretty well built. Its small and light weight. The screen looks beautiful for the album art and for pictures. Video looks good too, but it is a little small. The Zune Pad that I mentioned before is a great feature. You can brush the pad to scroll through music and change the volume. It also responds to pressing it like a button. Overall the Unit is pretty nice. Battery life is good enough from my experience, I've never ran out of power when I needed it. However, like I mentioned before I don't have anything to compare it too.

The software, though downloaded separately is a pretty big portion of this player and, thankfully, it works real well. When you first load it up it should be able to find all the music and photos and videos, unless you store them in a weird place. If thats the case you'll have to tell the program where your media is before it will find it. Syncing is painless and you can set it up to sync all your media, or just your music, or specific items. There are a lot of options for what to sync and what not to. Using the software is pretty intuitive and I doubt any one would have trouble getting acclimated to it. The Zune Store isn't too bad either. It uses Microsoft Points, which is 80 points per dollar and is the biggest downside, but the quality of the music is better than the music from iTunes. There isn't as much selection as iTunes, but for me most of my favorite music was there. You can actually download the software and give it a try without buying a Zune, which is something I recommend doing.

There is also a social aspect to the Zune, but I wont go into it much. Right now it consists of a Zune Card that shows what songs you've played and a friends list where you can track the plays of your friends. Right now it can only be accessed by going to zune.net. Unless you have a lot of friends who also have a zune, I don't see this being very useful.

Overall, the Zune if very functional and fun. Although it didn't live up to all my expectations, I am still very happy. The Zune is a great looking very fun portable music player and I would encourage people to give it some consideration for their next MP3 player purchase. I don't think you'll be disappointed.