Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: ZuneHD, Microsoft, Touch | Themes: Audio/Video Players
7. Update: Why Software Is So Important
While we initially tested the device to see how it works in the lab, over the last few days we've considered real world challenges. Here, we discovered the Zune HD’s greatest successes and faults.
On the software front, the originally difficult-to-navigate menu system has already become simple and intuitive to use. We don’t particularly like navigating through artist names using the lettering-search system, but it does work efficiently. One missing feature is the ability to skip sections of a song with a graphical control, something the Touch has done since it was first released. Furthermore, videos have this option. Why music doesn’t is beyond us.
The browser, which we originally found to be fast and powerful, has some serious limitations and is clearly not meant for heavy web use. There is no tabbed browsing, meaning users can only have one web page opened at a time. As mentioned earlier, the browser acts like a mobile browser, meaning it will load mobile pages when available. There is no option to open pages fully, to limit what is viewed, or any browsing options whatsoever. The only functions the browser has are the ability to store cookies, a brief and slow-to-render history, and bookmarking.
In terms of speed, the browser is fast. Loading mobile pages took almost no time at all, with pages like NYTimes.com loading in 2-3 seconds. Heavier pages, such as our own Tomsguide.com, are fairly quick as well, averaging 17 seconds, but it’s not faster than the iPhone 3GS/iPod Touch, which renders the pages slightly faster.
Further use of the HD radio revealed a few important details. The radio itself does not have a powerful antenna, so each user will have to gauge how good their reception is before purchasing if the radio is crucial. The HD radio has slightly better quality than standard analog radio, but driving around we found that more often then not, the Zune HD couldn’t maintain its HD connection, though the analog radio worked fine.
The Social network is, while small and growing, an extremely powerful function, should you have friends on it. Xbox Live or MSN/Windows Live users will undoubtedly find friends with “social cards”, which keep track of the latest music they have listened to and their favorites. Zunepass users will be able to listen to all their friends’ music, either through the Zune HD over a Wi-Fi network, or through the Zune PC player. There is also an option to send songs to specific Zune users or email addresses.
As mentioned earlier, the current applications are meant to demo what the Zune HD can do, but most fall short compared to what Microsoft says is in the future for applications. All games come with a complimentary commercial prior to opening (one video ad stops music playback until the video, and its audio, is complete. It isn’t a horrible annoyance, especially if the advertisement is shown in place of a loading screen, but we’d still like to see a loading bar so we know we’re not just reading an ad).
All of the game apps are frightfully slow, and do not look or feel optimized for the device. Force-exiting them will literally stall the screen for at least five seconds, though audio playback will continue. No other built-in functions cause such a slowdown. The few available apps run well enough alone, but once again, they are very lacking.
New applications will be slow to come, as Microsoft is currently managing all new applications itself and has not released an open SDK. We will see new apps, such as Twitter and Facebook, apps this November, as well as more games. These are expected to be free. There is no set release date for the SDK, which is rumored to be free to download.
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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).