So it's been around a month or so since I've "traded" in my 160GB classic iPod for the 2nd gen 80GB Zune, and I have to say overall that I'm really loving my Zune. I've been too lazy to give a thorough review because there are a lot of little things to consider (but I forget about sometimes) so here's a quick and dirty review.

Pros:

- Interface: This includes GUI, buttons, etc. The Zune software is definitely much prettier than iTunes. I think there are some animated menus or what not but my video card is too lame to be able to see them. It doesn't have a scroll wheel, but the touch sensitive button works just fine. You can scroll up-down and left-right. I was a little disappointed with the classic iPod's scroll wheel's sensitivity (the old video iPod was much more responsive) so I don't mind not having this on the Zune. The software works well with auto downloading music information without telling it to, although there's times where it wasn't always correct. And if you're adding a folder to the library (like say your music folder), it really does detect immediately if new files were added, something which I couldn't get to work for me in iTunes. I always had to manually add files to my iTunes library. Also, the Zune screen is so much bigger than the iPod (not sure about the iTouch though), and you can choose the background on-device.

- The 80GB comes with premium headphones that work really well. I like these in-ear type headphones.

- It has an FM tuner with great reception.

- It plays more than just my .mp4 format videos. I had .avi and other formats that it picked up and I could actually play them on my Zune without having to convert the format. Furthermore, the videos play in landscape mode (love this).

- Like the iPod, it has an "on-the-go" playlist that you can add to on the device. Unlike the iPod, you can delete and modify the playlist on the device without the software.

- It's capable of wireless sync. I've tried this once and it worked beautifully, but I would probably only use it if I only needed to update a few files. I'm sure the transmit power is draining.

- It has a social network aspect. It's ok, but not of great use to me.

Cons:

- Interface: I didn't like how the Zune software makes it a little difficult to edit the id tags of songs.

- The battery life appears to be less than the classic iPod. Before purchasing the Zune I had read a review that says that the battery lives are similar. For me, I don't see this. My classic used to last days without having to recharge, but with the Zune I need to charge it every other day. I'm wondering if it's because of its standby mode. The iPod would actually shut off if it wasn't used for a while, but I haven't investigated if the Zune does the same or if it sits in standby. The battery seems to drain quickly especially if you play video. One annoyance also is that the battery indicator doesn't seem to always be accurate. Sometimes it says it's about half full but then shuts off. When the battery is low or dead there is no warning for shut off. It just turns off.

- It cannot be used as an external HD. Not a big deal to me because I never took advantage of this with my iPod. I didn't like lugging around the cable.

I think I covered most of the bases. I'll add more if/when I remember them :)

posted by che @ 9:29 AM