New Zune HD Details...

[Jerome36]

Got mine finally since it was X-mas yesterday and wow. Works like a charm. I even browsed the web for a good hour and don't see any issues like most people were... Maybe I'm just not looking hard enough. So nice and love the free games.

The browser wasn't very great when the HD first launched, but it got a lot better after one of the more recent updates. I used mine at my In-Laws on Christmas Eve, to do all my internet surfing and didn't have any issues. Unless you want to do something that requires flash, silverlight, etc., it's not that bad. I didn't mind using it for my email, news and message board browsing.

 

[Jerome36]

Apparently, according to an article on ZuneBoards.com, the Facebook App will be launching this month. This is according to a fact sheet that Microsoft had at CES. On top of that Smart DJ is going to be on the actual Zune player itself as well, and not just on the PC Software, so that's cool. Cnet is also reporting that Xvid support will be added in the spring update, so that's another great bonus.

 

[Blazestorm]

I used the browser when I was getting new tires on my car and it worked great, it connected to their free wifi almost instantly, and few clicks around and I was browsing.

My only complaint is if I'm surfing a non-mobile site, I kinda have to zoom in a lot to hit the button I want otherwise it won't detect my press. And I'm getting better at typing on the screen, instead of making sure my fingers are over the right letters I just press where I think they should go and it seems to work out.

I wouldn't use it for everything, but for me that 30 minutes was all I really needed it for and it worked great.

 

[ob1]

You guys know any sites or forums for new zune HD users? I bought a few for xmas for the wife and kid, and they need some learnin...

 

[Jerome36]

You guys know any sites or forums for new zune HD users? I bought a few for xmas for the wife and kid, and they need some learnin...

I've only been on three different Zune sites, which have either news, forums or both:

zuneboards.com
zuneinsider.com (the official zune site/blog)
zunited.net

 

[adri1456]

I just bought a 16gb Zune HD, and I should have bought it earlier. The navigation controls on the device itself feels natural to me (swipe, tap, swipe, etc), and now I know why people are raving about the software - it just makes sense.

If I had a bit more money, then I would have gotten the next higher up, but I guess I'll upgrade to it when the next version comes out.

 

[heatlesssun]

I just bought a 16gb Zune HD, and I should have bought it earlier. The navigation controls on the device itself feels natural to me (swipe, tap, swipe, etc), and now I know why people are raving about the software - it just makes sense.

If I had a bit more money, then I would have gotten the next higher up, but I guess I'll upgrade to it when the next version comes out.

Congrats, its a hell of a device. I've had 32GB since launch day and have loved it.

 

[Jerome36]

I just bought a 16gb Zune HD, and I should have bought it earlier. The navigation controls on the device itself feels natural to me (swipe, tap, swipe, etc), and now I know why people are raving about the software - it just makes sense.

If I had a bit more money, then I would have gotten the next higher up, but I guess I'll upgrade to it when the next version comes out.

Congrats on the purchase. I find the Zune Software to be excellent. It quickly became my primary media player, at least when it comes to audio, so hopefully they do nothing but continue to improve it.

 

[Wendig0]

Yeah I had a Zune 30 from a while back and I got the Zune HD on release day. The ui on the zune hd is excellent.. The software is great but I recently ran into some conflictions between the software and the windows 7 library system. Only a minor prob with a quick fix.

 

[Jodiuh]

The browser wasn't very great when the HD first launched, but it got a lot better after one of the more recent updates...I didn't mind using it for my email, news and message board browsing.

I fired it up the other day and noticed it still doesn't "wrap" text like the Android browser. Is there a setting I'm missing? Because I wouldn't consider scrolling horizontally an entire page over for every line of text read a good experience.

Fortunately, I'm only using this as a dedicated DAP w/ Zune Pass and in that regard (and for $165 + $15/mo), it delivers! Oh yeah, Audiosurf's great!

 

[Jerome36]

I fired it up the other day and noticed it still doesn't "wrap" text like the Android browser. Is there a setting I'm missing? Because I wouldn't consider scrolling horizontally an entire page over for every line of text read a good experience.

Fortunately, I'm only using this as a dedicated DAP w/ Zune Pass and in that regard (and for $165 + $15/mo), it delivers! Oh yeah, Audiosurf's great!

As far as I know there's no way to have the text wrap on the page like that. It's a little unfortunate, but I pretty much stick to mobile versions of sites, which obviously suit the device quite well. They load 10x faster, and you don't have to zoom in to read text. I just wish the mobile version of HardForum was a little better.

In other Zune HD news three new apps came out.

Labyrinth - marble/maze game
Stopwatch - self explanatory
Solitaire - also self explanatory