Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: ZuneHD, Microsoft, Touch | Themes: Audio/Video Players
3. Navigating the Zune HD
Activate the Zune and a lock screen appears, which is unlocked by swatting up. A menu pops up for music, videos, pictures, radio, marketplace, social, Internet, apps, and setting options. Hitting the volume-control button shows the volume level, play/pause status, media playing or waiting to be played, WiFi status, and battery life.
All of the menus in the Zune HD are tiered, meaning once you enter one, you can go back by tapping the enlarged heading on the top of the screen or hitting the home button to return home. We’ll skip music for now and look at the other options.
Videos are sorted by TV, movies, music videos, and other and are listed in alphabetical order. Tapping on the video name brings up a description. Tapping the image beside it will play the video immediately. Pictures are sorted by folder or date. The Marketplace gives quick access to the latest music and apps for you to purchase over a WiFi-Internet connection and a search feature is available if you already know what you’re looking for. A shopping cart is also available, in case you have a list of downloadables. Apps currently have no organization method, but with only nine of them available, it’s not a problem yet. For our look at the apps, see the next page.
Behind all the menu options on the left is a graphical interface that shows what is playing/paused and recently pinned. The interface also displays highlighted music and videos, a brief history of the latest media you’ve enjoyed, and the newest items added to your Zune. When the Zune is shaken, the background shakes in real time with the device. It has no real purpose, but it looks attractive.
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Good article! Brought some of the lesser known features out and reviewed them thoroughly!
Excellent article! Wow, I wanted one before, but thought it might be best to wait and see if the price comes down. Now I'm thinking, where's my wallet?
Ouch. That's kind of a big thing to leave out.
Just a little info: the "Easter Egg" you found (Hello From Seattle) was also on the back of the original Zune.
More on topic, can't wait to purchase one of these! Great review!
"hello from seattle" has been on every single Zune since it's creation. Dont assume you're 'that' special.
Quick Question:
Do I NEED the dock to plug the zune HD to my hdtv or is it optional?
Slow Question:
Can I browse regular webpages with it?
Quick Question
1) Yes, you do. It's 80$ from what I've heard.
2) Yes, but you have to click on the non-mobile button after the page loads (shouldn't take more than a second) and then it will load the full version. It's like the PSP browser.
Quick Question
You can use the old dock that sells for $20 but it won't play HD.
1) Yes, you do. It's 80$ from what I've heard. 2) Yes, but you have to click on the non-mobile button after the page loads (shouldn't take more than a second) and then it will load the full version. It's like the PSP browser.
You can use the old dock that sells for $20 but it won't play HD.
Thanks for the quick (and slow xD) answers.
The dock thing is kinda a bummer though.
amazon has the HD dock for $62 as of RIGHT now
480x320 resolution of the iPhone has an aspect ratio of....4:3?
... 320 / 160 = 2...
... 480 / 160 = 3...
...Am I doing my maths right?
Any word on last.fm scrobbling?
@manjyomethunder
It's possible the iPhone doesn't have square pixels, either that or they've made a mistake with the figures.
Wow...
$80 for the dock, damn.
Just sounds like a really portable video player to me. It would make it easier to play my downloaded films on my TV. All I need is a Zune HD, Zune HD HDMI dock, and a HDMI cable... not sounding all to great any more ($$$)...
i don't live in America so i cant get it, otherwise i would have pre-ordered it. with the dock. imagine using the dock controller to play actual 3d games on tv, taking tegra and arm 11 to the limits.
argh why the hell dont they sell this thing in the UK.. id buy one in a flash if they did
You didn't go into my favorite feature, wireless sync. I love leaving my zune in my car in the garage, and finding new podcasts every morning when I drive to work.
Something neat, when tied to a comp via USB it will run through the PCs network (I was pulling up web-pages with wifi off and did a double take yesterday). Makes web-pages a bit faster but doesn't do much else. Suppose its an easy way to download if ones wifi is odd, but you have the zune software already to do this... so... redundant?
A few notes. First, thanks for all the comments, it was very helpful for the update.
manjyomethunder, your math is correct. The Touch has a 3:2 screen ratio. I'd love to say it was a typo, but it was just wrong information. I myself checked the numbers before, but saw what I thought was concrete info about it being 4:3. Obviously, a poor source we won't be using anymore.
fartblossom, we didn't go into wireless sync too much (did more in the update) because it's not a new feature. I like it very much, but I don't like how it only works on one network. In my house, we've got 3 wi-fi networks on the same router, so unless I'm in the vicinity of my home office, I can't sync wirelessly.
One thing we're not sure about, and waiting for more feedback on, is whether the Zune HD supports ad-hoc networking. Our tests show that it does not, but it could be a problem with our device, since realistically it should be identical to making your laptop into a wi-fi hotspot.
What do you guys think of it so far?
Great article, but I disagree on two fronts. First I think apps work fine - the poker is quite enjoyable to play. Second and more important, is it seems that you are familiar with typing on the iphone. I just recently started testing an iphone app and haven't used the keyboard before and had had horrible time typing on it. keypresses are noted on initial touch where with the zune they are enacted upon release and you have some room to adjust prior to selecting the key. I thought I was going to have problems with the zune given my iphone experience and it works phenomenal for me. Actually, really like it and had to double check my first URL was i typed into it was 100% correct. (and this was in before i realized i could type in landscape mode).