120GB and 16GB Zune PMPs Pictured

Terry Olaes

Terry Olaes

I Used to be the [H] News Guy
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Nov 27, 2006
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Zunited.net has some fuzzy shots of the updated Zune players that come in 120GB and 16GB flavors. Follow the jump for a few more shots.
 
I hope the 120GB version has more going for it than a larger drive.

I have the 80GB model and if it weren't so much cheaper per GB than the 16GB model, I would say it's a waste of money. You have 80GB but you're not allowed to use it as a regular mass storage device, which is ridiculous. Also, you can watch a couple of movies before the battery runs out, but they're at 320x240 with lots of motion blur because of the LCD screen.

ALSO, it doesn't play (or even allow you to copy onto the drive) DivX or XviD movies. You have to convert your movies to the crappy WMV format (preferably at 320x240). Your movies are then 200-300MB each so again, 120GB is a waste. I like my Zune, but the limitations are very annoying. I can use my 2GB Lyra as a MTP device, so why not an 80GB Zune?
 
I does not like Zune software still, unfortunately. I am still holding on to my 30 GB Zune though, it's a great player.

That aside, 120 GB is pretty badass. But did the following line sound odd to anyone?!

We can almost guarantee the credibility of this image seeing it was most likely taken from a 2mp Camera phone.
Click to expand...

Are they saying the imagine is most likely credible because it was taken by a 2 mp cell phone? I honestly don't follow that logic.
 
DudeItsMe said:
I does not like Zune software still, unfortunately. I am still holding on to my 30 GB Zune though, it's a great player.

That aside, 120 GB is pretty badass. But did the following line sound odd to anyone?!



Are they saying the imagine is most likely credible because it was taken by a 2 mp cell phone? I honestly don't follow that logic.
Click to expand...

:D I'm sure it was a joke, that's the way I took it!


My Zune30 (V1) is great. More than enough space for me... Considering I have a select 1/10th of my collection that I like to listen to on a rolling basis- I really don't need more. I could probably even get away with an 8GB Nano or something.

That said- I agree Zune software isn't the best. My main complaint is the audio cracks (it's a known problem that hasn't ever been addressed) when using it to play through your speakers.
 
I also have a 30gig Zune. I really like it. The one thing that bothers me is it is so hard to find anything for the Zune, everything is aimed at the iPods and is flooding the market.

I don't mind that I can't use it for a Mass Storage Device and that it sucks for playing movies. I bought it to use for listening to music, and it does that pretty well. I am currently only useing about 6gigs of the hard drive. I think if I ever do switch it will be to a 16gig iPod Touch. Just want to be able to tap into the huge aftermarket choices out there.
 
The EXIF data in the pictures state
8/4/2007, 8/29/2008, and 8/30/2008
 
Wonder if they've added gapless playback this time. Even Apple has gapless, it's time for MS and every other DAP maker to join the 1980's and give us seemless digital transitions between tracks.

To the person who can't fill up 80GB of space, you might consider bigger files. I couldn't fit all my music on 20GB 5 years ago, much less 16GB. 120GB, and I might just be able to store some lossless audio (assuming zune can do lossless WMA files).
 
Big D. said:
I hope the 120GB version has more going for it than a larger drive.

I have the 80GB model and if it weren't so much cheaper per GB than the 16GB model, I would say it's a waste of money. You have 80GB but you're not allowed to use it as a regular mass storage device, which is ridiculous. Also, you can watch a couple of movies before the battery runs out, but they're at 320x240 with lots of motion blur because of the LCD screen.

ALSO, it doesn't play (or even allow you to copy onto the drive) DivX or XviD movies. You have to convert your movies to the crappy WMV format (preferably at 320x240). Your movies are then 200-300MB each so again, 120GB is a waste. I like my Zune, but the limitations are very annoying. I can use my 2GB Lyra as a MTP device, so why not an 80GB Zune?
Click to expand...

You seriously can't?! I was going to get the 120GB to go along as a portable hard drive. Weak move, MS.
 
There is a Registry setting you can enable (iirc, I've only read about it) that enables that functionality but the software for the Zune must be installed, so if you were planning to just plug into any machine's USB port and use it like a portable hard drive for stuff, no, that won't happen.

That's the biggest gripe I hear about the Zune personally, and while it's justified to some degree, I don't consider it a negative as I've got literally handfuls of USB sticks laying around and I've almost always got one with me in a pocket someplace.

If want a portable hard drive then that's what I take with me. :)
 
Didn't they update the Zune software and it pretty much put the complaints to rest?
 
inotocracy said:
Didn't they update the Zune software and it pretty much put the complaints to rest?
Click to expand...

the newest incarnation brings back the best features of the original software and mixes them with the best of the second software. Being a person who refuses to install itunes or anything else by apple on my computer (if it comes in quicktime i just dont watch it) i can't say if its better or not, but the zune software works fine for me, i can drag music around and its database helps me get album art and stuff, and like the original i can correct it if the software is wrong.

So yes, most of the gripes i can think of have been addressed. I may have to check otu the 120 as 30gb is only about an 8th of my music collection and i'm hitting the point that i can't even fit my favorites onto 30. I also only rip to 320, so i'm sure that doesn't help either.
 
Big D. said:
ALSO, it doesn't play (or even allow you to copy onto the drive) DivX or XviD movies. You have to convert your movies to the crappy WMV format (preferably at 320x240). Your movies are then 200-300MB
Click to expand...

You dont HAVE to make them WMV format, i make them MP4 format in fact the same format profile that ipod uses and it works fine
 
nilepez said:
Wonder if they've added gapless playback this time. Even Apple has gapless, it's time for MS and every other DAP maker to join the 1980's and give us seemless digital transitions between tracks.

To the person who can't fill up 80GB of space, you might consider bigger files. I couldn't fit all my music on 20GB 5 years ago, much less 16GB. 120GB, and I might just be able to store some lossless audio (assuming zune can do lossless WMA files).
Click to expand...

As of Update 2.5 ALL Zunes have gapless playback.

and as for lossless wma yes

"AUDIO SUPPORT

Windows Media® Audio Standard[3] (WMA) (.wma): Up to 320 Kbps; constant bit rate (CBR) and variable bit rate (VBR) up to 48-kHz sample rate. WMA Pro 2-channel up to 384 Kbps; CBR and VBR up to 48-kHz

WMA Lossless

Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) (.mp4, .m4a, .m4b, .mov) - .m4a and .m4b files without FairPlay DRM up to 320 Kbps; CBR and VBR up to 48-kHz

MP3 (.mp3) – Up to 320 Kbps; CBR and VBR up to 48-kHz"
 
TechieSooner said:
:D I'm sure it was a joke, that's the way I took it!


My Zune30 (V1) is great. More than enough space for me... Considering I have a select 1/10th of my collection that I like to listen to on a rolling basis- I really don't need more. I could probably even get away with an 8GB Nano or something.

That said- I agree Zune software isn't the best. My main complaint is the audio cracks (it's a known problem that hasn't ever been addressed) when using it to play through your speakers.
Click to expand...

get a dock... ;)

http://www.ihomeaudio.com/products.asp?product_id=10250&dept_id=1006

i love mine. and actually, it never leaves the dock. course if you want better sound then i guess that problem wont be fixed but otherwise it sounds pretty decent especially for a "clock radio" :p
 
etjr said:
As of Update 2.5 ALL Zunes have gapless playback.

and as for lossless wma yes
Click to expand...

Excellent. Wish they did ogg and flac too, but I could batch transcode from flac to WMA and just do WMA lossless whenever I wanted lossless (or batch it if I wanted everything lossless).

Time for me to read up on the Zune's audio section. Can't stick with my Karma forever.
 
I have an 80GB and I like it. Only problem I have with it is the lack of playback of play4sure files. I have a few movies that came with digital copies for mobile/pc playback and they won't play on my zune. Yet they play fine on my Xbox360, so that is where they live for now.
 
nilepez said:
Excellent. Wish they did ogg and flac too, but I could batch transcode from flac to WMA and just do WMA lossless whenever I wanted lossless (or batch it if I wanted everything lossless).

Time for me to read up on the Zune's audio section. Can't stick with my Karma forever.
Click to expand...

Well, the Karma - IMHO - is still the best DAP ever made and I'm not alone in that opinion. Had one for a long time, sold it to pay some bills and dammit I miss the thing. :)

If I can ever acquire another one in excellent condition I plan to mod it with a CF adapter (instructions and pics are out there with a Google search) and either a 32GB or perhaps even a 64GB CompactFlash card someday as a pet project.

"Can't stick with my Karma forever..." Pishaw man, it's solid. ;)
 
Hrmmm... wouldn't you know that as soon as I made that post I discovered the Trekstor Vibez - apparently the successor to the Rio Karma, all Flash-RAM enabled and using almost the same interface. I'll be damned... guess I better get my head out of the cave and back into the DAP limelight. Hrmmm... more info at:

http://www.trekstor.de/en/products/detail_mp3.php?pid=66&cat=0

</thread_jack>

But... I keep an eye on Craig's List here in town also for a great deal on a used Zune, and I've seen some of the original 30GB models go for as low as $65 or so, with a nice leather case, better earbuds, wall charger, other accessories, etc. Just couldn't get it when it was available, but I keep looking.
 
Big D. said:
I hope the 120GB version has more going for it than a larger drive.

I have the 80GB model and if it weren't so much cheaper per GB than the 16GB model, I would say it's a waste of money. You have 80GB but you're not allowed to use it as a regular mass storage device, which is ridiculous. Also, you can watch a couple of movies before the battery runs out, but they're at 320x240 with lots of motion blur because of the LCD screen.

ALSO, it doesn't play (or even allow you to copy onto the drive) DivX or XviD movies. You have to convert your movies to the crappy WMV format (preferably at 320x240). Your movies are then 200-300MB each so again, 120GB is a waste. I like my Zune, but the limitations are very annoying. I can use my 2GB Lyra as a MTP device, so why not an 80GB Zune?
Click to expand...
I agree that the software limitations on the 80 are ridiculous, and I really think MS had a strong competitor for the iPod if they had just set it up as an external hard drive instead of trying to sell Zune Marketplace, BUT I disagree with your analysis of movie watching experience. It'll play h264 which is pretty enough considering the screen size (which obviously doesn't compete with Archos, but is better than iPod Classic) as long as you make it a good bitrate.
 
And for those folks that have Zunes, the easiest and most efficient <insert video file or format here>-to-Zune .wmv format is this one:

Encode360

The creator originally designed it to be a converter for use with his Xbox but added a profile for doing a few different encodings for the Zune. Easy to use, fairly quick (encoding is always slow even on high end machines, it's just how video encoding goes), and gives excellent quality results.

Just thought I'd pass it along...
 
inotocracy said:
Didn't they update the Zune software and it pretty much put the complaints to rest?
Click to expand...

I assume it won't destroy your whole library anymore, but it's still more cumbersome than a do-everything program like MediaMonkey.

That said, it's still a step above iTunes.
 
Do you have to use zune software to transfer songs? or can you drag and drop? Big deal for me since i dont want to use any other software to manage my music other than my creative software for my zen micro that has died.
 
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