The big question: Can the Zune HD attempt with the iPod Touch? I get the faculty that Microsoft isn't aggravating to, exactly.
While the Blow and its apps are a multi use abridged computer, the Zune HD is an change of the PMP—not a corruption of some smartphone model. Every new affection it has is acclimated to aggrandize the way you blot media, from the HD video achievement to the HD radio to the redesigned UI.
The Zune HD is not a simple arced rectangle with a screen, like the iPod Touch, but a advisedly industrial, luxurious, angular and abbreviate design. From the angled aback to the arresting screws to the continued and attenuate home button, the Zune HD is a attending all its own.
Constructed of aluminum, rubberized atramentous artificial and glass, the Zune HD feels boxy and solid in the hand. The widescreen affectation offers beneath amplitude for non-media applications like web browsing, but for media (which, afterwards all, is the Zune HD's raison d'etre), it's a absolutely nice size. It won't absolutely fit in the change abridged of your jeans, but it'll blooper into alike the tightest of approved pockets. The iPod Blow may be a beard thinner, but the Zune HD's narrower anatomy makes it feel abundant smaller.
The attractive 3.3-inch capacitive OLED touchscreen takes up the majority of the device's face. Added on that below. It's amidst by three accouterments buttons: Underneath the awning on the face is the home button, on the top bend is the power/hold button, and in lieu of a aggregate rocker the Zune HD has a button on the larboard ancillary that brings up Quickplay options. These options alluvion assimilate the awning and action volume, clue forward/back and play/pause. Quickplay can be enabled to assignment alike while the amateur is locked.
On the basal of the accent is the proprietary Zune anchorage (the Zune HD will assignment with all of the decidedly easy-to-find absolute Zune accessories) and the headphone jack. It's rated for 33 hours of audio and 8.5 of video, which is absolute able if it's authentic (especially aback antecedent Zunes were defective in array life, to say the least). The Zune HD lacks both a apostle and a camera, admitting neither is necessarily a mark adjoin it. Still, both options would be welcome.
Screen One of the aboriginal PMPs with an OLED awning (the Sony X-Series actuality the added above one), the Zune HD apparently has a bluff account and added blacks compared with LCD screens like the one on the iPod Touch.
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The Zune HD's awning is a 3.3-inch multitouch capacitive touchscreen, in a 16:9 (widescreen) arrangement active at an ironically non-HD 480x272. The iPod Touch, in comparison, is a 3.5-inch multitouch capacitive LCD, but in 4:3 (fullscreen) arrangement active at 480×320, which is added able for web browsing but a decay of amplitude for aboveboard media playback. They're appealing according in responsiveness, both actuality about as authentic a touchscreen as you're acceptable to find.
The Zune HD's awning is absolutely bluff and with truer colors than the iPod Touch, aback compared with the aforementioned video (a standard-def adventure of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations). The iPod Touch's pixels were acutely arresting and the blush seemed done out and anemic compared to the Zune HD. However, it's not a absolute win for OLED: The Zune HD's awning is acutely reflective, authoritative it difficult to apprehend in sunlight, while the iPod Touch's LCD was absolutely accessible to apprehend in the aforementioned conditions.
Part of this aberration is due to technology and allotment of this is due to UI. The iPod blow uses atramentous argument on white for music and video browsing, while the Zune HD is reversed. The Zune HD's atramentous accomplishments acts as a mirror, authoritative it difficult to see annihilation but your own affronted face.
To booty advantage of that exceptional OLED screen, Microsoft is absolutely blame high-quality video playback on the Zune HD. iPod comparisons aside, my sample HD blow (a 720p adventure of Battlestar Galactica bought from the Zune store) sparkles. Tap the awning while video's arena and "Quickplay controls" accompany up every button you need.
Codec support, however, reduces the Zune HD's address as a accepted purpose video player. It plays WMV, MP4, H.264 and DVR-MS (recorded video from Windows Media Center), which agency it will comedy iPod-formatted clips (though of beforehand not DRMed videos). That's missing every codec video pirates affliction about, best chiefly DivX for SD and MKV for HD. If you've got a amount of torrented HD video in MKV like I do, you're a bit screwed—I approved several converters (iSquint, Cucusoft, Handbrake) and never managed to transcode MKV to a decent-quality Zune-compatible file. If Microsoft isn't activity to accommodate a advocate in the software, the Zune HD should at atomic abutment DivX (like Samsung's P3).
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The affair is, the Zune HD is absolutely on par with the class leaders (iPod Touch, Sony X-Series) in codec support: All three force you to either get your video anon from the manufacturer's food or transcode your video into their specific formats. Microsoft could accept denticulate huge with video freaks by acknowledging DivX and MKV. It's bluntly a huge affliction in the ass to accept to catechumen every distinct video I appetite to watch on my PMP.
If you're absolutely into torrented videos, I'd acclaim the Samsung P3, although in aloof about every added way the Zune HD is a far above device.
Zune as Media Center The Zune HD's unparalleled adeptness to achievement video in 720p is a above affairs point for the device, and let me acquaint you, it's aggregate you'd achievement it would be. Video is crisp, bright and smooth, attractive aloof as acceptable as the aforementioned video played through any beefy media streamer. The interface as a accomplished absolutely translates absolutely able-bodied to a bigger screen, hardly dumbed bottomward for speed's account (for example, there's no accomplishments artisan angel on the now arena screen). It's not as full-featured as an HTPC, but for aloof arena aback your media, it does a abundant job. The screensaver on the now arena awning looks abnormally alarming on a big HDTV.
But to booty advantage of HD agreeable on your television, you'll charge to buy the $90 AV dock, which comes with the berth itself (including antenna for radio), a remote, an HDMI cable and a blended cable. Is it account it? I'd say yes, if you've got an HDTV and plan to buy a lot of HD agreeable from Zune marketplace. If you aloof appetite to affectation some video on a TV, you can buy the last-gen Zune's standard-def AV backpack for beneath than $20, all of which is accordant with the Zune HD. However, if you go the cheapskate route, you'll be missing a above allotment of what separates the Zune HD from the pack. Not that it's bad to bung a few 128kbps mp3 files on for a bus ride, but you wouldn't absolutely be demography advantage of what the Zune HD can do.
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Using the Zune HD and the iPod Blow calm is jarring—they do mostly the aforementioned things, but they attending awfully different. The Zune HD's UI is aggregate but an archetype of Apple minimalism, consistently ambiguous amid agenda eye bonbon and complete ocular over-stimulation. It's a white argument on atramentous layout, and has the absolute air-conditioned (and a little ballsy) architecture best to zoom in to assertive items so abundant that they're absolutely circumscribed out of the screen. For example, on the homescreen, the chat "marketplace" is cut off at the penultimate letter. Some will abhorrence the design, but I anticipate it's a absolutely interesting, aggressively apish choice. Alike aback the UI feels too cluttered, which it sometimes does, it's still abundant to attending at.
Homescreen The homescreen is absolutely two homescreens in one. You've got the accepted account of features, in this case "music, videos, pictures, radio, marketplace, social, podcasts, internet, settings," but there's additionally a Quickplay card diminished to the larboard ancillary of the screen.
The Quickplay card mirrors the new avant-garde folio of the Zune software: It shows the anthology art and song appellation of the song that's currently arena (if there is one currently playing), but additionally your "Pins," "History," and "New." Pins are like favorites—you can tap and authority any account (song, podcast, video, photo) and pin it to this top menu. It's abundant if you're alert to article continued like an audiobook or podcast. History is your afresh played items, and New shows the best contempo items you've synced to the Zune HD. That aftermost is my admired of all—I've got a huge and consistently accretion music collection, and tend to balloon which albums I've aloof added to my PMP. It's additionally abundant if you use the ZunePass cable service, aback you'll be downloading so abundant you'll balloon what you meant to accept to.
Content Browsing The Zune HD uses the aforementioned grab-and-flick adjustment of touchscreen aeronautics as the iPod Blow and Sony X-Series, admitting like the X-Series it doesn't feel absolutely as aqueous or amoebic as the iPod Touch. Aggravating to annal absolutely bound through a continued account of artists feels like it takes best than it should, which is apparently why Microsoft implemented an alphabet system. As you annal through the lists of artists, albums or whatever, the absolute belletrist are placed in their adapted spots (on mine, the account of artists will apprehend "Iron and Wine, Islands, J, Jay Reatard, Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros). Tap any of these belletrist to accompany up the abounding alphabet, any letter of which can be broke to booty you appropriate there.
This is a appropriate adjustment to get about continued lists quickly, but I'd accept adopted to abstracted the belletrist from the lists of absolute items. I've accidentally hit a letter aback I meant to hit an artist, and that could calmly accept been apparent with a scrolling alphabet bar on the side.
Browsing through artisan lists is mostly straightforward—mostly. There's a bit of a chain affair with the "one footfall back" function. On the now arena screen, it's a left-pointing arrow in the top larboard corner, which is acutely obvious. But already you hit it, you're on the song's folio (with options like email and rate), but now there's no aback button. Instead, there's a chat accounting in huge letters, so huge in actuality that they're cut off and not readable. Those belletrist absolutely spell out the name of the album, and borer it functions as a aback button, demography you aback to the album. This can be anchored with a firmware update—just add a bright "back" figure like on the now arena screen!
Now Arena The Now Arena awning cleverly finds a photo of the artisan and uses that as the wallpaper, and I adulation the screensaver that boring scrolls the artist, clue name, anthology name, breadth and anthology art. Microsoft nails the avant-garde architecture work—what about the obvious? How do I pause, cross advanced and backward, and acclimatize volume? It's not as accessible as it should be.
All of those controls are relegated to addition Quickplay menu, activated either by the larboard ancillary button or by borer anywhere on the now arena awning that's not addition button. I don't appetite to accompany up a sub-menu to do things like abeyance music or acclimatize aggregate aback almost unimportant options like ratings get their own amplitude on the screen.
Again, I get the faculty that Microsoft was so amorous with the adorableness of the UI (and it is absolutely abounding of eye candy) that they banned to acclimatize it to admit simple playback controls.
Radio Surprisingly, FM radio has become a hot affair in PMPs, acknowledgment to Microsoft's advertisement that the Zune HD will abutment HD radio and now Apple's changeabout on its long-held abhorrence to FM with its new iPod Nano. But HD radio is addition archetype of Microsoft accretion the boundaries of the PMP: "So you abutment FM radio? We're activity to abutment it better."
HD radio allows for both added stations and (hopefully) college affection broadcasts. The Zune HD's radio will generally aces up two accompanying broadcasts from one station, like San Francisco's KFOG-1 and KFOG-2. The Zune HD's accession is excellent, at atomic as bright as the iPod Nano, able to aces up a scattering of HD stations, all with RDS abstracts (artist, song name). Like the Nano, the Zune HD can abeyance and accumulation alive radio, a abundant function, admitting it additionally cannot record.
This is a austere surprise, afterwards seeing the agnate Sony X-Series's browser crash, burn, and again backfire shards of abominable all over me, but the Zune HD's internet browser is solid. The narrower 3.3-inch widescreen isn't as ample as that of the iPod Blow and pages absolutely amount a little slower, but besides that it's a full-featured, fast and acknowledging browser. The accelerometer is absolute quick (way faster than the iPod Touch), animadversion is bland and easy, and the accepted multitouch gestures (pinch, drag) assignment nicely. Unfortunately, the Zune HD does not abutment YouTube or any added Flash video, which would accept been a nice affection for bound alert to new music.
The bendable keyboard is anatomic (if a little small), congenital Bing chase works well, and alike an acute armpit like Gizmodo endless with no problem. Please, Microsoft: Stick this browser in Windows Mobile.
The Zune software has been adapted with a few appearance and slight UI changes to bout the Zune HD. It now has a avant-garde folio agnate to the Zune HD's homescreen Quickplay, and puts added of an accent on Smart DJ, which is an change of Microsoft's Pandora-like advocacy service. If you're not a affiliate of the ZunePass cable service, it'll acclaim music in your own library, and if you are, it'll dig through the ZunePass's massive collection. But it's abundantly unchanged, which is a acceptable thing.
The Zune HD is, like the added Zunes, Windows only. It can abandoned accompany with the Zune software, which is belted to Windows.
This is, of course, a huge aberration on Microsoft's part. Mac users would be appropriate in the demographic candied atom to be absorbed in the Zune HD: Media-loving, style-conscious, with money to bake on gadgets. Hell, the 32GB platinum Zune HD alike matches the unibody MacBook Pro models. But with yet addition Zune abstention Mac compatibility, it seems assertive that Microsoft has accustomed up on converting Apple zealots.
Marketplace The Zune HD gives you admission to the Zune Marketplace, an all-you-can-eat cafe of music downloads. You can download music anon from the device, but this affection seems half-baked: Chase is fine, but browsing is bound and recommendations, a able clothing of the Zune software, are nonexistent. Browsing music is belted to new releases and the album charts, which is appealing bruised for advertent new music. I already apperceive about Jay-Z, Zune. Plus there's no way to download new podcasts on the go, which is article I absolutely miss. All in all the on-device Exchange leaves a lot to be desired.
Apps Well, there are apps, technically. But Microsoft has fatigued that the Zune HD is a media accent aboriginal and foremost—there's no SDK, so absolute development is out for now, and the Zune aggregation seems to accept little absorption in aggressive with Apple's App Store. At launch, the Zune HD has seven amateur and two utilities (calculator and weather) available. The amateur are aloof ports of the amateur from earlier Zunes, like poker and sudoku. Alike further, Microsoft has accepted that Facebook and Twitter apps will appear to the Zune HD, but abandoned about November. For some, this may be the big weakness. The iPod Blow is absolutely a abridged computer with an accomplished touch-based music and video app. Aback you grab a Touch, you're aloof as acceptable to comedy a bold or analysis your email as you are to comedy some music. Meawhile, Archos and Creative both use Android, a adaptable accretion OS, to do agnate things. The Zune HD doesn't accept the account of these ecosystems.
The app alternative aloof confirms that the Zune HD is a PMP and not a adaptable computer. You can't alike move an app to the homescreen; they break ashore in the "apps" section, way bottomward the list, bedfast like a ashore adolescent to their bedroom.
However, the XNA aggregation has aloof appear an add-on for XNA Bold Studio 3.1 that will acquiesce developers to actualize apps for the Zune HD. They've approved a multi-touch cartoon app as proof, which is absolute cool, but remember, apps (like music and video) charge to be loaded assimilate the accent via the Zune software—and who knows whether Microsoft will acquiesce third-party apps into the marketplace.
The Zune HD is the best touchscreen PMP on the market. It's got the best different vision, the best absorbing accouterments and the best admirable software. It's priced adequately at $220 for 16GB and $290 for 32GB, admitting I'd alarm the $90 berth a appropriate accessory.
But I'm not abiding that's enough. PMPs like the Zune HD and Sony X-Series try to beforehand the brand with new and absorbing media playback features, but the success of the iPod Blow shows that that media playback abandoned isn't necessarily abundant anymore. People assume to appetite pocketable computers, either in smartphone or near-smartphone form, or simpler, abate accessories like the iPod Nano and SanDisk's Sansa line. So it's not activity to abduct sales from the iPod Touch, but it should accomplish some Samsung and Sony admiral appealing jealous.
I'm larboard adulatory Microsoft could get its Zune aggregation to assignment with (read: bang-up around) the Windows Adaptable aggregation to put calm a media phone. The Zune HD is a abundant PMP, but it could accept been a jaw-dropping, astonishing phone.
Flashy and abnormal hardware
Accomplished software integration
Avant-garde media appearance like HD video-out and HD radio
Decidedly accomplished internet browser
Requires $90 accent to be absolutely "HD"
UI is beautiful, but sometimes confusing
Capacity belted to 16GB and 32GB
Disappointing codec support
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