2. Zune Unit

The Zune and included package

The Zune catch phrase, "Welcome to the Social."

The Zune is available in black-blue, white and brown-green. I received the brown one, which came pre-installed with an array of graffiti pictures, skate videos and Paul Oakenfold raves. I was pretty psyched to see these built-in one minute skateboarding clips and full-music videos; the Zune seemed to hold a bit of rebellion in it. Were the cops going to come and tell me there was no skateboarding here? Screw that U2 iPod! The video was crisp and the photos looked spectacular during a slideshow. The Zune has a 3" screen, one half of an inch larger than the iPod. May not seem like a big difference, but while holding the two hand-in-hand, the Zune's one-half inch larger display was impressive and noticeable. The Zune has a built-in radio tuner, which worked fantastically. Inside most buildings I was able to grab local radio stations free of static. When you're tuned in to a station, within a few seconds the Zune displays the station name. The radio feature is certainly one the iPod could learn from, and was seen as a pleasant surprise. If you are watching a movie or viewing a slideshow, the Zune automatically displays your pictures and video horizontally. Another awesome feature was the ability to set any picture as the background image on your menu page. Before I go on, here are the Zune specs:

Size and Weight

4.4 in. x 2.4 in. x 0.6 in. (h x w x d) Weight: 5.6 ounces

Battery[1]

Music, up to 14 hours (wireless off), up to 13 hours (wireless on); pictures, up to 4 hours; video, up to 4 hours Charge Time: 3 hours; 2 hours to 90%

Display

Size: 3.0 inches Orientation: Vertical and Horizontal Resolution: 320 x 240 pixels

Audio

Windows Media® Audio Standard (.wma): Up to 320 kbps, CBR and VBR, up to 48-kHz sample rate MP3 (.mp3): Up to 320 kbps, CBR and VBR, up to 48-kHz sample rate AAC (.mp4, .m4a, .m4b, .mov): Up to 320 kbps, Low Complexity (LC), up to 48- kHz sample rate

Pictures

JPEG (.jpg): All resolutions (desktop software will automatically convert to 640x480 at sync time)

Video

Windows Media Video (.wmv): Main Profile, CBR or VBR, up to 1.5 Mbps peak video bitrate, 320 x 240 pixels, 30 frames per sec., with Windows Media Audio up to 192 kbps, 44.1 kHz, stereo audio; Simple Profile, CBR, up to 736 kbps video bitrate, 320 x 240 pixels, 30 frames per sec., with Windows Media Audio up to 192 kbps, 44.1 kHz, stereo audio.

Wireless

Connectivity: 802.11 b/g Range: Up to 30 feet

The Zune is larger than the iPod, so it felt a bit bulky in my pockets, especially when I carried my cell phone. I had to bring my belt a notch closer just to keep my pants up.

The 14-hour battery life as advertised proved legit. I was not able to test the wireless features of the Zune, as nobody I know owns their own unit, so the 13-hour advertised wireless battery life remains unknown to me. The audio output of the Zune was on target with an iPod, but the headphones included were horrible. The included plastic ear buds were highly uncomfortable and sound quality proved generally crappy, with nearly no bass response. I'd have tested the sound quality more if I could have stood keeping the ear buds in my ears for longer than 30 seconds. The buds can be likened to a five-dollar drug store pair that leaves your ears numb with pain. I preferred to use the Zune with my Etymotic ER-6s for the best quality.

The most upsetting part about the Zune itself was its support for video playback, with no available video downloads in the Zune marketplace, which I describe below.