- Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 25 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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7 out of 9 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"I'm repulsed and shocked at Donald Bell's ratings..."
Pros: Stable release. More aesthetic design. Better integration with The Social. Better integration with Zune Marketplace. Mixview CLEARLY beats "Genius List". Ease of use.
and, to top it all off.......a Zune Pass makes the deal even more compellingCons: Still uses up more system resources than it should. Uses more graphic rendering resource than it should.
Summary: I have owned a few mp3 players here and there that CNet never reviewed, including one iPod. I'm disgusted at CNet's reaction to the Zune brand. Yes, the first gen interface and device were both rushed out the door and barely marketable, but times have definitely changed, so says anyone on the street or any of my friend willing to tinker with the Zune or its software.
But giving the software a 3-star ranking?! Come on..
Zune's software is WIDELY ACCLAIMED by EVERYDAY users to be superior to iTunes. Sure, iTunes offers movies and a larger music selection...but pirated movies are everywhere...and most people want homevideos or Youtube videos on their devices anyway. I think you yourself said iTunes was too bloated. Zune Marketplace offers a fantastic deal with the Zune Pass, as well as a large-enough selection for 95% of users.
The connection and syncing issues were solved with v2.5, and the new features (wireless downloading, games) have all gone without a hitch. It infuriates me to the point of screaming when you make a case against the Zune software for only supporting one type of device and not having Mac support. You should know most Macboys wouldn't touch a Zune. You should also know that the Zune software was designed to give a feeling of uniqueness, and they sure have delivered on that note.
Lastly, the Zune itself is superior to ANY iPod. Of course the iTouch has apps and such...but how much can you really store on a measly 32gb flash drive? Most people want something they can carry a large chunk of their collection with them, and not have to wory about making room for games, apps, videos, etc. The Zune 80 and 120 combine the best of mp3 player capabilities that are within reason.
Mr. Bell, before you lose too much respect from people actually using the software without bias, please reevaluate the Zune and it's software.
- 5 replies to this review
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i agree mostly with what your saying here. i believe zunes dont get anywhere near the amount of credit they deserve.
and as for what killkill3 says.... i think you are narraw-minded and arent seeing the full view of things... i mean apple makes you use their computers to use their software, they make you buy their parts for upgradeing their computers, they dont have free updates for their mp3 players so that you would buy a new one or purchase the update....i mean how do you not see this trying to be a monopoly. just because microsft is bigger and more popular doesn mean their more of a monopoly. they allow outside companies to come in and work with them and are much more open than apple. -
I use both products. If you purely look at the functionality the Zune software is still missing some very important features for me.
- automatic file handling: while Zune only monitors folders iTunes can manage you files and folders. You just drag music into the program and iTunes takes care of the rest.
- gapless playback: some music albums need to be played back without interruptions. Zune supports no crossfading
- normalization, equalizer and sound effects: iTunes has more customizations I really need to optimize and personalize my listening experience. Zune hasn't
- Ratings: in Zune a song is neutral, loved or bad. I like to differentiate my ratings (1 star, 3 stars, 5 stars)
- Album art resizing: I can't resize the album art in the different views
- hiding of clutter: in iTunes you can hide all the stuff you don't want to see (Genius, iTunes store, radio, ...). In Zune everything is there if you want it or not...
Therefore: iTunes is still a better platform for my needs -
Repulsed and shocked? I think those adjectives are a little strong. Someone reviews a product and based on their experience and their opinion they rate it. If you want to give it 16 stars out of 5 congrats to you, I am sure your website will be extremely popular.
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I think most reviews of the Zune and the Zune Software dock it one point because it is still Windows only, and rightfully so. I love my Zune and although I think that the Zune software could use less resources I still think its cleaner then iTunes. But I think that the world is not only Windows PC's. If the Zune software worked on Apples, and if they even had a Linux release all from MS your talking about gaining back a lot of that ratings ground.
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You are just as bad as the reviewer because you yourself are biased in the zune's favor, just reading your unverifiable or subjective claims clearly shows me that.
As for Microsoft, I don't care if they make the holy grail of hardware or software, they will always be to me that conglomerative monopolist bent on taking over every market in the world. Anti-trust should disassemble that reprehensible company so that we will see more competition and less junk.
