New Zune HD Details...

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Jerome36

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With gdgt going on right now Cnet got some new hands-on impressions of the Zune HD. The full article is longer then what I'll put below, but these were some points of interest:

...having just geeked-out with a pair of Zune HDs for about an hour, I am tentatively reaffirming my faith in Microsoft. This thing was worth the wait, folks. Mind you, it's not going to crush the iPod Touch--a product that for all intents and purposes is more mobile computer than media player--but it's safe to say that the Zune finally has the power to make good on the promise of delivering one of the richest music experiences on a portable device.

Another fun little fact for Zune fans is that the Zune HD has ushered in the return of EQ. I guess now that the thing is running on an NVIDIA Tegra chip, they've got a little extra battery life to burn with an EQ DSP. It's nothing fancy--just a handful of presets (rock, acoustic, hip-hop, etc.) with no user setting--but I'm happy to see it come back.

Some other cool stuff happening on the music front: recently added tracks are now grouped together a little more prominently using a more visual music sub-menu (shown here), along with a new feature called pins, where frequently accessed content can be bookmarked.

Speaking of Wi-Fi, the Zune's new Web browser smokes. Not since first using the iPhone have I been this impressed with a mobile web browser. There's no branding on the browser, but I was told it was cooked up by Microsoft's Internet Explorer team (makes sense). Page load was snappy, and pinching and reorienting pages work just like the iPhone and iPod Touch. You also get a fast on-screen keyboard with a nice little magnifier effect with each keystroke. The only bad news on the browser is that there's no support for Flash audio and video content. So Pandora and YouTube are out, but I was able to get onto Facebook and Twitter.

Full Article w/ Photo Gallery
Click to expand...

I'm happy to hear the EQ is back, even if there isn't a custom EQ you can edit and save yourself. Hopefully with a firmware update you'll be able to create your own EQ settings. Also, it's sounding like the web browser is very nice, but it's too bad about the lack of Flash support. Hopefully that will be added down the road as well.
 
AFAIK 1st week of September still. The Zune is really an great device and service. I love my Zune 80GB and Zune Pass! Most Zune owners (yes all 10 including me:p) seem to like them a lot. I'm looking forward to this device as it's probably the harbinger of WinMo 7. From stuff that's floating around this device will best attempt ever at an iPod killer. Actually the hard drive Zune units are iPod killers but Microsoft never pushed them hard.

So it's going to be a great device and no one will care it looks. Microsoft, please get the guys who did the laptop hunter commercials to do a Zune campaign!
 
unrealsword said:
Is the release date still september?
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I haven't read any exact dates yet, though it has been said that it'll launch in September. I think September 6th or 8th was one mentioned, but it could have been a rumor, or a leak from somebody close to Microsoft. Cnet's article ends simply with:

For another hands-on take with the Zune HD, check out Matt Rosof's Digital Noise blog. Also, stay tuned for a formal, full-blown CNET review once the product hits stores this Fall.
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Hopefully they give a specific date soon though. My 8GB Flash Zune recently died (my own fault), so I'm waiting for the HD to come. One other cool thing from the article (though pretty much expected):

The Zune's coolest music trick, though, is that it automatically pulls in a gallery of band photos, biographical info, and similar artist recommendations for any currently playing song--regardless of whether the track is from Zune Marketplace or your friend's hard drive or torrents. It's feels a little more like digging through Last.fm now, instead of just a straight-up music directory. If the Zune's connected up to Wi-Fi, listings of related artists will link though to the mobile version of Zune Marketplace, where tracks can be streamed and purchased directly.
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I might have to snatch one.. I'm still debating whether or not it would be a good buy. I have the Zune 30gb right now. I also wanted to get a SSD drive for my computer.... aaahh.
 
heatlesssun said:
So it's going to be a great device and no one will care it looks. Microsoft, please get the guys who did the laptop hunter commercials to do a Zune campaign!
Click to expand...

I think Microsoft FINALLY got the right idea with the Zune HD having integration with Xbox Live. It's actually a shame it's taken them this long to do it, as it probably should have happened right when the current Zune software had television shows and other videos added to the Marketplace. What sucked was if I wanted to buy a video on Xbox, I couldn't get it on my Zune without having to pay for it again. Thankfully that will be no more! It should have never have been the case, considering both marketplaces share resources. The Zune points cards and Xbox Live points card can be used with both marketplaces.

Anyway, I think it'll be a huge benefit for Microsoft having the millions of Xbox owners see "Zune Marketplace" (Or “Zune Video Marketplace”... whatever they're calling it) on their 360s with NXE update. It might get them thinking about checking out the Zune. I'm sure there will be some videos, like Major's Minute on Xbox Live, showing off the Zune HD and the Xbox Live integration once the player launches. I'm sure plenty of Xbox gamers will be interested in being able to download movies, music, etc., and share them between devices. Again, something that shouldn't have taken so long to come, but it's great to see it finally arriving.

The icing on the cake, as far as winning over a lot of Xbox gamers, would be having something like XBLA on the Zune. Who knows if that’s exactly what they plan on doing, but there will be games in some form I’m sure, considering the current Zunes have games on them. With XNA development available for the Zune platform it’d make sense to offer indie game purchases as well.

I guess we’ll see. I can’t wait for more info.
 
If Apple will announce/release their new iPod Touch in September also, it'll be an interesting month for me and a friend who's birthdays are both in that month. :D
 
Here's what I'd like to see - Since the Tegra is so powerful, it would be SWEET if they had a handheld "Dock" for the device that used the port on the bottom that basically turned it into a handheld gaming device ala PSP. So you buy the basic zune, and if you want the ZuneBox you buy the dock for it. Think about it, that would be an IPOD / PSP killer.
 
Bohica69 said:
Here's what I'd like to see - Since the Tegra is so powerful, it would be SWEET if they had a handheld "Dock" for the device that used the port on the bottom that basically turned it into a handheld gaming device ala PSP. So you buy the basic zune, and if you want the ZuneBox you buy the dock for it. Think about it, that would be an IPOD / PSP killer.
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That makes a lot of sense actually. I'm sorry but touch screen buttons for games just don't work right.
 
People use EQ? For what? :D

Disclaimer: I never have used EQ since CDs first came out - my logic is if the mastering engineer has "ears of gold" and he/she and the band were happy with the finished product, why fuck it up with some crazy EQ settings so I have been listening to music "flat" for decades, as it should be. This is of course with headphones, primarily, but in reality most of the home audio equipment I've used has little to no need for EQ given the way I prefer to listen... not everyone listens the same way I do (basically at my desk, with monitors - and I don't mean displays).

Today I can't seem to walk outside without someone riding by booming entirely too much bass and treble on car stereos or even Walkman-style devices (aka DAPs in today's digital age) and I can hear the damned things from several feet away. People are just murdering their hearing, and over time they won't be able to get enough bass and treble... BLEH.

Anyway... the Zune HD shows a lot of promise. Will it make a dent in the iPod touch market for a non-phone capable DAP? No, not even a dent, unfortunately. What's going to kill it could be the price alone - not to mention Apple coming out with their next generation of iPod touch, or the potential tablet device that's currently putting the rumor mills through their paces.

We'll see what happens in a few weeks, or sooner...
 
Joe Average said:
Anyway... the Zune HD shows a lot of promise. Will it make a dent in the iPod touch market for a non-phone capable DAP? No, not even a dent, unfortunately. What's going to kill it could be the price alone - not to mention Apple coming out with their next generation of iPod touch, or the potential tablet device that's currently putting the rumor mills through their paces.
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Microsoft just needs to stick with it and continue to make great stuff and not worry too much about the numbers for now. There are enough people out there that won't buy Apple hardware to make a few bucks. Just do the right thing and the thing right and things will be alright.

As for the Apple tablet need to see one first and figure out what kind of device it is. Then I need to see what potential devices are coming that might be the form of a netbook tablet. I just don't think that giant iPods are going to do a lot. Maybe some sort of wireless deal with Verizion? That could be intresting.
 
Now I need to decide if I want this as a late birthday present or for Christmas :D
 
Zune HD??? Who cares about that, I want a Zune 360 Mobile Phone... or a Sony Ericsson PSP Go Phone... or a Nintendo DSc... or a super gaming PC in a handheld form with a mobile version of Windows 7 with HDMI output with Bluetooth keyboard and mouse connectivity...

*grumble grumble*

*dreams on*

*cries in bed*
 
monkeynetman said:
Zune HD??? Who cares about that, I want a Zune 360 Mobile Phone... or a Sony Ericsson PSP Go Phone... or a Nintendo DSc... or a super gaming PC in a handheld form with a mobile version of Windows 7 with HDMI output with Bluetooth keyboard and mouse connectivity...

*grumble grumble*

*dreams on*

*cries in bed*
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All of those unnecessary features to get around and to suck your battery life wouldn't make a good mp3 player.

All I want is a good mp3 player that has a good interface and battery life. I would like it to play high quality music, radio, video files, and internet access would be awesome. Some basic games are fine, but i have my psp or nintendo w/e it's called. (i hate portable gaming), and I have my cell phone for making calls. On the other hand, a zune phone would be sweet (I'd buy one).
 
So what is this Wolfson DAC all about in the Zune's? I remember one of my information science professors saying that the Zune actually reproduces sound better than iPods do (which I wouldn't doubt). What is the sound device in the iPod/iPod touch like? Is the Zune noticeably better at reproducing sound than the iPods?
 
The major difference between the two wasn't the reproduction capabilities as much as it was the included headphones. When the Zune 30 + 80 was introduced MS included "premium" headphones which were actually pretty good for included headphones. Thus, a lot of people were under the illusion that sound reproduction was "better" on the zune. And to be honest, it was a real shame they stopped that practice with the second gen Zunes (I got my 120 in Jan. this year).

I love my Zune, unfortunately don't use the marketplace (poor college kid), but my only gripe was I took it running with me a few weeks ago and it freaked out and the firmware crashed, causing me to lose all of my music. And to make matters worse my external backup also failed the week earlier while I was waiting for a new one. So... (cry).
 
The consensus, if you measure it, over at HeadFi.org would say that yes, the Zunes have better audio quality both from the headphone out as well as line out (using the dock connector) than any iPods made so far. The hope is that the Zune HD will just keep that reputation solid when it arrives. The audio quality on the previous Zunes with the "premium" earbuds got started on that because they were Sennheiser earbuds, not the generic crap the standard Zunes come with (and the craptastic ones the iPods come with, of course). Those Senns were actually not too shabby...

It looks good, especially in that "spy video" posted in this thread, but I'll still have to wait and see one in my actual hands. My biggest gripe about these devices is they're too small - I would prefer them to be roughly 20% larger than they currently are, but I'm a fairly large guy (6'6", about 380 lbs) and I have big hands too... <hint, hint> hehe

I mean, they're ok, but, dammit, if they could just make 'me a wee bit larger I'd be ever so grateful, but alas, the world is meant for "normal" people and that irritates the hell out of me. Always has, always will...

My nearly 5 year old Dell Axim has a 3.5" LCD in it and it's 640x480... can't they do better than 480x320 or 480x272 or whatever these days? UGH... COME ON, WE'RE MOVING FORWARD, NOT BACKWARD.

(I wonder what features of the Zune HD's software/operating system might bleed over into the next update for regular Zunes... if any...)
 
If there were a hard disk version in the works, I'd drop my iPod in a heartbeat.

Alas, I am stuck with my skippy 160 GB iPod, last of the great HDD players.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't the 2nd gen Zunes HDD players as well?
 
Going to snatch one up if the price and storage are right. I was debating buying the 120gb zune because my 30gb zunes battery sucks. Hope HD is worth the money for the packages they release
 
Joe Average said:
I mean, they're ok, but, dammit, if they could just make 'me a wee bit larger I'd be ever so grateful, but alas, the world is meant for "normal" people and that irritates the hell out of me. Always has, always will...
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haha I know what you mean. After I saw that picture of the Zune HD next to the iPod touch, i was like "Why would they even THINK of making it smaller than the competing device on the market?" I'm 6'4-5" and the iPod touch feels tiny in my hands, so the Zune HD will feel smaller.

Then again, if they made devices (or even pants) geared around the 20% of the population who are freakishly tall, 80% of people would be irritated
 
iGrooCk said:
Going to snatch one up if the price and storage are right. I was debating buying the 120gb zune because my 30gb zunes battery sucks. Hope HD is worth the money for the packages they release
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Good thing you didn't buy the 120gb because you would of wasted your money. The battery life on the 120gb aren't that much better than the 30gb. My 30gb somtimes last longer than my brothers 120gb but it does matter how you use them and what volume level you listen at.

p4gs said:
haha I know what you mean. After I saw that picture of the Zune HD next to the iPod touch, i was like "Why would they even THINK of making it smaller than the competing device on the market?" I'm 6'4-5" and the iPod touch feels tiny in my hands, so the Zune HD will feel smaller.

Then again, if they made devices (or even pants) geared around the 20% of the population who are freakishly tall, 80% of people would be irritated
Click to expand...

lol, instead of Big and Tall stores there would be Small and Short stores :D.
 
iGrooCk said:
Going to snatch one up if the price and storage are right. I was debating buying the 120gb zune because my 30gb zunes battery sucks. Hope HD is worth the money for the packages they release
Click to expand...

It's a good thing you've been waiting because other than increased storage battery life really didn't change much. I'm also going to bite on one of these if price is good. Guess we'll just have to see. It would be awesome if they had an 80GB as the biggest instead of 30, but since it's always apple first, us 2nd, probably not.
 
LstOfTheBrunnenG said:
If there were a hard disk version in the works, I'd drop my iPod in a heartbeat.

Alas, I am stuck with my skippy 160 GB iPod, last of the great HDD players.
Click to expand...

I don't think we'll see a hard disk version of the Zune HD, because from what I understand a hard drive interferes with capacitive screens, which is what the Zune HD has. I could be wrong though. Anyway, from what I remember reading the Zune HD is going to replace the current flash Zunes, and they'll continue selling the hard disk version for those who want a lot more storage.

I don't know if the Zune 120 will be getting a hardware revision at some point, but hopefully they'll release a firmware update so the older players get some of functionality of the upcoming Zune HD. I'm fairly certain somebody had asked that same question and the answer was they were hoping to be able to bring some new features to the older players, but obviously without the touchscreen it's probably only going to be some small minor stuff.

As far as the sound quality question asked earlier, I think Cnet also did some tests and even when you remove the earbuds from the equation (since earlier Zune 80's had the premium headphones) the Zunes had better sound quality then any of the iPods.
 
Gizmodo has some rumored prices that are coming from the best buy inventory system -

$220 for the 16GB

$290 for the 32GB

Available 9/08/2009 (It's a Tuesday.. apple's usual day to release new stuff)

I'm not saying that this information is accurate, but if Microsoft is hoping to compete with Apple and take at least some of their marketshare, I can't think of a better way for them to do it.

Release before the new iPod touch, at almost $100 less than the current prices with insane battery life (folks are saying 7 days of continuous music playback.. and judging from nvidia's own tegra specs, I'm almost inclined to believe it, but confirmation would be nice. )
 
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Andrmgic said:
Gizmodo has some rumored prices that are coming from the best buy inventory system -

$220 for the 16GB

$290 for the 32GB

Available 9/08/2009 (It's a Tuesday.. apple's usual day to release new stuff)

I'm not saying that this information is accurate, but if Microsoft is hoping to compete with Apple and take at least some of their marketshare, I can't think of a better way for them to do it.

Release before the new iPod touch, at almost $100 less than the current prices with insane battery life (folks are saying 7 days of continuous music playback.. and judging from nvidia's own tegra specs, I'm almost inclined to believe it, but confirmation would be nice. )
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Wow those are some great prices...

Any word on if there'd even be a basic version of flash available at launch? It'd be nice to have that in the meantime when they get flash video and audio sorted out.
 
I'm still happy with my 16gb. I got it for $140Cdn. I'd like the playback screen and the wiFi though on the new HD Zune.
 
Sigh.

Figures it'd be shit for capacity. 32GB isn't worth my time; I have a 30GB, 80GB and 120GB because my collection doesn't fit on any ONE of them.

Also! For those of you complaining about battery life, you need to do this EXCEPT ON ORIGINAL 30GB - set up the Zune somewhere where it is not on a charger, not connected to wireless. Use the original included headset only. Play it till it completely dies with the red battery warning, and won't boot due to lack of battery. Attach it to your system, and let it fully charge up - this will usually take 2-3 hours at best. This helps retrain the charge circuit, even though it really shouldn't. You won't see huge gains, but I've seen two 120's that have glitched out and shorted the battery on 30-40 minutes of runtime.
Don't do this on an original 30GB, because it won't help, more often than not. The 30GB's are old, and the batteries are getting tired. You may want to look into the few shops that sell replacement batteries. My 30GB spends almost all it's life in docks, so I haven't seen any change in effective battery life.
 
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AreEss said:
Sigh.

Figures it'd be shit for capacity. 32GB isn't worth my time; I have a 30GB, 80GB and 120GB because my collection doesn't fit on any ONE of them.

Also! For those of you complaining about battery life, you need to do this EXCEPT ON ORIGINAL 30GB - set up the Zune somewhere where it is not on a charger, not connected to wireless. Use the original included headset only. Play it till it completely dies with the red battery warning, and won't boot due to lack of battery. Attach it to your system, and let it fully charge up - this will usually take 2-3 hours at best. This helps retrain the charge circuit, even though it really shouldn't. You won't see huge gains, but I've seen two 120's that have glitched out and shorted the battery on 30-40 minutes of runtime.
Don't do this on an original 30GB, because it won't help, more often than not. The 30GB's are old, and the batteries are getting tired. You may want to look into the few shops that sell replacement batteries. My 30GB spends almost all it's life in docks, so I haven't seen any change in effective battery life.
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We've known it would be flash based for quite some time. What capacity would it need to be for it to be a worthy purchase? Flash memory is still a good deal more expensive than hdds.. too much capacity and they wouldn't be able to move many units.
Do you have a bunch of lossless music or a ton of music in lossy formats? It's hard for me to imagine a music collection that large.
 
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Andrmgic said:
Gizmodo has some rumored prices that are coming from the best buy inventory system -

$220 for the 16GB

$290 for the 32GB

Available 9/08/2009 (It's a Tuesday.. apple's usual day to release new stuff)
Click to expand...

Somehow I completely missed your post, but Engadget has the same news posted on their site as well. I can't remember where I read it, but somebody had asked about price and was told they weren't ready to release figures yet, but made it sound like both sizes would be available for less then 300 dollars. I wouldn't be shocked if these prices were accurate. I'm hoping they are, considering a 32GB iPod Touch is $399.00 (for now...), though you can obviously getting for slightly less online or at Walmart. A $290 dollar price is fine with me! :)

EDIT: Amazon.com has a page listing both models with text saying "Available for Pre-order." Unfortunately once you select one of them you get a 404 page. I suspect that will change VERY soon, and you'll be able to pre-order one. I was hoping Amazon's prices would be slightly better then Best Buy's prices, by maybe 10 bucks or so (again, assuming these figures are true), but that's alright. I still can't wait to buy mine.
 
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32GB ain't enough? Really? I mean, I've got 140+ DVDs with FLAC files stored on 'em nowadays, but I'd never dare dream of even attempting to carry all that with me, even in LAME mp3 files... just a small subset of the entire collection.

With a browser and actually useful Wi-Fi this time out with the Zune HD, I'm damned sure hoping it'll do some Internet streaming... I know about the radio but, geezus, FM radio is shit, and just making it HD ain't gonna help much either.

Hell, for that matter I'd probably just stream my own content at times... but 32GB ain't enough? Geezus... ;)

The prices look GREAT to me, besting the iPod touch by ~$80 on the 16GB model and ~$110 on the 32GB. It's really a shame these things can't operate like Windows Mobile devices, it truly is. That would have absolutely made them excellent replacements for PocketPCs, etc... dammit Microsoft, you're starting to be like Sony: come out with something that is soooooooooo close to being absolutely awesome, yet you leave out one single aspect that just leaves us with...

"Meh..."
 
Well I think MS got me sold on this one. I thought I'd care about capacity since I'm still rocking a 30gb iPod video with an 80gb+ music collection. But then I realized I don't listen to nearly half of it anyway so I think 32gb will be fine. Plus whereever there is WiFi I can get Slacker or Pandora radio which is fine for me.
 
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