Zune HD Review

Well, I've had the Zune HD for almost a week now. I guess now is the time to explain the history over my purchase of the device, and the interesting things that happened concerning it. I placed my order on zune originals at zune.net the day it was released after upgrading my zune software. I originally had the 30 gigabyte Zune in White, and its been a good companion over the years. Of course I had changed from the Zune to the IPOD for a while, but it was the Zune Software, not the device itself, that kept me wanting to return to the Zune. Well, to shorten this story, after I placed my order, I noticed something was off. Microsoft had not charged me after I placed my order. From previous online purchases, I had learned that often it was the case that immediately after an order was placed, I was charged for it. This time, that was not the case. After talking this over with my friends and co-workers, I had figured the best thing to do was to leave it alone. After a few days, I was beginning to have second thoughts about purchasing the Zune, and when still Microsoft had not charged me, I figured the order may not have gone through and that's why I haven't heard anything. I was pretty content and had not given it a second thought until exactly one week after my order was placed.

I received an email from zune originals stating that they apologized for my order being late (they assumed I ordered express when I only ordered Standard), and wanted to compensate me with $15 in Microsoft points. Well, who am I to turn down free points now? Notice they still did not charge me for the order. So now I began thinking. "Am I getting this free?" They still haven't charged me, and I'm even getting free points for an order they messed up. Things were looking pretty neat. Eventually a few days later the Zune HD arrived. Still Microsoft did not charge me, and as of this point that I am writing this, my money is still in the bank in my account. So now lets get on to the review.

On first look, it is considerably smaller than the older Zune as well as the IPOD touch. It is also considerably lighter. Design wise, it is similar to the design of the IPOD touch. On the top of the device is the power/lock button. It has a button on the bottom center of the device that is used as a "home" button similar to the IPOD touch, and has a dedicated "media control" button on the left of the device which brings up the media controls on the screen. The particular device that I ordered had a custom artwork done by...i forgot his name....and it looks awesome. The screen is an OLED screen, which is the first device of its kind to have a screen like that. Now, the screen is smaller than the IPOD touch being only 3.3 inches and the resolution is slightly smaller being at 480x272, but that beautiful OLED screen just shines colors 100x better than on the IPOD touch. The accelerometer is also a place where the Zune surpasses the touch. It is EXTREMELY faster than the touch. The processor on the Zune, an Nvidia Integra Processor, surpasses the touch in too many ways, giving you much more performance and power.

Software wise it runs Zune software 4.1, which you need to connect to the Zune software upon initial boot-up in order to run. It features a unique interface, which was a plus for me being stuck in the IPOD touch's springboard for such a long time (even though it WAS hacked and I had winterboard, it was still boring). On the right you have the generic menu that you would find on the Zune running 3.0 firmware, with the added internet and apps options. On the left you have a new set of menu options. You have a history set, which shows any recent things that you have done on the Zune, from looking at pictures to being on a website and also to playing music on the radio. You can also ping items to a "pins" set, which can include songs, albums, play-lists, websites, pictures, and radio stations. It is an absolutely amazing feature, which cuts down time when wanting to listen to just your favorite tracks or show someone a certain photo album. It also has a "new items" set, which puts all new albums, pictures, videos, and podcast that you have recently added to the device. This is wonderful for music junkies or when you upload content on a regular bases and often forget what you have added.

Now something that everyone wants to know when comparing it to the IPOD touch. What about the web browser? Now, before I get into this, I need to applaud Apple for the safari browser that they have implemented on the touch and iphone. It is YEARS beyond the current competition. Their mobile browser is the best mobile browser that you will find on ANY device, being the closest to offering the same experience you would get on a desktop computer. Now, lets compare the Zune browser to the IPOD touch browser. Its decent, offering a similar experience. Something that I do not like about it however, is that it automatically loads up the mobile version of websites. You can however, just click the button on the mobile site that allows you to view the desktop version of sites, and it is extremely close to a desktop site. It is the closest that you will find to any device that can compare to the browser on the touch. It offers several of the same functionality with the multi-touch screen, allowing you to pinch in and out to zoom in, and the accelerometer moves the screen based on the position that you have it.



I recommend the Zune HD highly to anyone who is in the market for a new media device. Although I must say, the app store on the touch still looks enticing, I love the Zune software and it is because of that and its new features that I bought it, well sorta bought it :).