Get an 8GB Zune with accessories for $69.99

Looking for a compact, feature-packed MP3 player that's as good for the car as it is for the gym?

Newegg has a refurbished 8GB Zune player for $69.99 shipped with a free leather case and Microsoft Zune Car Pack.

So let's do some math. A new Zune 8 player sells for $128. The Car Pack costs $70. Add around $30 for the leather case and you're up to around $230.

With this deal, your out-the-door price is $70. Nice!

A quick refresher course in Zune goodness: This flash-based player offers a 1.8-inch screen, an FM tuner, Wi-Fi file sharing and syncing (which is truly awesome), and compatibility with Microsoft's underrated Zune Marketplace music-subscription service.

Normally $69.99, the Zune Car Pack comes free with your purchase of a $69.99 Zune.

(Credit: Microsoft)

The Car Pack includes a charger and an FM transmitter, which can broadcast music from your Zune through your car stereo.

The transmitter will automatically select the best available frequency, which eliminates a lot of the hassles of traditional FM-radio gizmos. It also offers two presets for easy switching between commonly used stations.

There's even a dashboard "grip pad" so you can lay your Zune on the dash and not worry about it sliding all over the place. (A windshield mount would be better, but beggars can't be choosers.)

Newegg doesn't offer any details about the leather case, nor about the Zune's warranty, which we'll assume is 90 days.

Bottom line: mighty nice deal. A refurbished iPod Nano would cost you $30 more, and you wouldn't get Wi-Fi, FM, a car kit, or a case. Might not be a bad little stuffing stocking stuffer.

By the way, if black's not your color (or it sells out), you can also get the Zune in blue or pink.

[ducttape36]

i think you meant stocking stuffer. but great find, i'm still rockin my 30gb brown zune after all these years. The Zune HD is almost enough to get me to upgrade, but this thing has been so good to me I can't let it go quite yet.

[akljsdj]

Well said. Brown Zune one word SEXY!

[Haskett2]

I am still rocking my 30gb brown Zune too. I love how Microsoft keeps updating the Zune software to give us all the new features. I keep going to the Zune originals web sight and building different custom Zune HD?s. I would like to see a small HD that would be better suited for working out. I never really got into watching videos on it. I pretty much just use mine for listening to music in my car.

[JDawg1983]

Stuffing stuffer?

[rickbroida]

Oops! Fixed...

BTW you said Newegg is pricing this at $70 out the door. Then why is it priced at $79.99 on the site Rick? I guess Oops forgot to fix that?

[krubby]

wow, my initial reaction is this is a killer deal. I wish I was in the market for a new MP3 player. I just bought a 4 gb Sansa View for a gift for someone for $50.00 - I would of chosen this over that in a heartbeat. Not that Sansa is bad, but double the capacity and the auto tuner locks this as a deal.

[paulyg_911]

got one of these from NewEgg a few months ago. The sound quality is very good and it is easy to use. I have mixed thoughts about the FM transmitter, however. It will send the song information to your radio and it finds empty bandwidth pretty well. All good on that front. However, I find the transmitter to be extremely weak so you tend to get a lot of interference.

[glumag]

I was ready to make an order but one of the reviewers made a great point which I feel it has to be shared here as a warning...and I quote:

"There is a big problem with this this offer. After ordering this unit I found out that the equalizer had been removed in the 2nd generation Zunes. I have a hearing problem that makes an equalizer a must. The Zune is listed as "Standard Return Policy" - I checked this before ordering.

The problem is the "Free" Zune car pack. It is included in your shopping cart. You can not even remove it from your order. The Car pack is "Non-Refundable". If you have to return your Zune and Carpack and fill out the RMA they will subtract the $69 for the "Free" car pack from your refund and refund you only $10.

I have tried twice to contact newegg on this and they will not even answer my email. They do not appear to be even remotely interested in fixing this problem."

[fiver0013]

Bought a 4GB refurb model from Newegg a few weeks ago. Newegg provides no warranty information, but mine arrived with refurb warranty information in the box: 1 year refurb warranty from Microsoft! This is a no brainer, and I'm pleased with Zune software and adore Zunepass subscription service.

[sssrcr85]

Really?!?! I have to check mine. I bought one about six months ago when Rick posted a similar deal but after transferring my music and using it for a couple of days, the Zune would restart itself, deleting all my music. It happened three times and I just threw it in one of my drawers. Do you know if MS will give you a new one or another refurb? That was my first refurb buy and it will be my last.

[jchunt]

Please tell us right off if a Deal Alert is for a refurb or new, instead of making us click through to find out. The holidays are coming, and although some of these deals would be great gifts for ourselves, some of us feel a little funny about giving them to others.

[jchunt]

I wasn't clear - I meant tell us in the e-mails you send out to notify people of the deals shown in the blog, rather than only in the blog itself.

[infomaniacnt]

Aww, I have been watching this for a few days, but now that cnet spilled the beans they are probably going to sell out before I get around to buying one (or two).

[camperguy]

Just a quick note - I have own several of these units for many years now, bought 2 from Newegg, they are great. Understand the FM transmitter, if not free, is not worth using because of its week transmitter which causes static, the same reasons others have mentioned. However, it makes a great fast car charger so worth getting and keeping. Having said that I intend to get another for a gift and the price with free shipping (and no sales tax) is great.
Last point for those looking at the larger units, this is a solid state unit and extremely shock resistant while I have heard the units with the hard drives can be damaged with a good bump, (heard, do not know for a fact).

[viper396]

The harddrive based players are not as fragile as you've heard. Unless you're into tossing your player off of buildings or across rooms, most are generally very resilient to the bumps, jolts, and knocks they get during normal use.

[PandaSage1221]

I think the quality of the transmitted signal depends on where you live. I live in Lexington, which is a very large town/small city (however you wanna look at it) and mine works satisfactorily at least 90% of the time. It even worked pretty well driving to Louisville and back, and that's definitely a big city. It's not crystal clear, of course, but no FM transmitter is. (Check the cnet video on transmitters versus modulators.)

I'd never pay $70 bucks for one, tho. I got mine on ebay for about $20. Plus, it comes with a little gripper pad that sits on the dashboard that is absolutely uh-ma-zing! No matter how sharp and/or fast of a turn I make, that thing will not budge even the slightest bit.

[moneyrules]

zune is junk, it doesnt have apps which provide something to do other than music.

[viper396]

Your ignorance is obvious. I guess with your argument the iPod Shuffle, Nano, and classic are also junk since they don't do much besides play music. Incidently, the zune does play a few games and has a SDK for app development, but like most music players on the market it's intention is a music player first and foremost. This assumption that all music players, or all consumer devices in general, must suddenly do way more then they where designed for is asinine. If someone wants something to listen to music while working out in a gym they couldn't care less if there were other apps or not.

[CrashPad63]

Yeah money rules for you, pay the ransome to hold your cherished iphone. The rest of us will enjoy quality, device driven products, with a premium on the music experience.

[cpulaski]

Great deal!! I love my zune and the zune marketplace is pretty excellent if you, like me, love to download music, but get sick of songs quickly.

I agree with the previous contributors, though, regarding the FM Transmitter. It's pretty much useless, as the signal isn't strong enough (as many that have come out in the past three years) to produce decent sound. Lots of static. Also, if it's like my car kit that I got with my Zune and includes the car charger, it doesn't work too well either. Yes, it will charge your Zune, but the obnoxious feedback noise it causes when plugged in and using an FM transmitter, is not worth it.

[jvbo]

once again, very nice deal Rick..
I like!

[niko_osokin]

8GB is old news. It's all about the 32GB HD!

[joetrainor1]

I'm wondering about users' experiences with refurbished electronics. I love this blog and read it everyday, but I've always been a little hesitant about purchasing used electronics. Many of the deals here are on refurbished items and although the deals sound great, I can't get over the fact that this stuff has been returned by another consumer. When I go into a retail computer store (which is a rarity these days) I look at items on the "used" table as brands and devices that I want to stay clear of, rather than a source of deep discount. If the devices were of good quality and meet customer needs then they wouldn't have been returned. I know that's a generalization and that some returns result from buyer's remorse, but I'm still left wondering how some of these online retailers have that many refurbished items of a particular model that they are able to advertise computers, mp3 players, and such for sale. Do they have that many in stock that they can do this????? And if they do have that many in stock, that makes me really think that the overall quality of the product is poor if they have that many returns. Just my $.02

[sschriber]

The link is now showing $79.99 and no car kit. Is the deal expired or am I missing something?

That was my comment too!

[MEU]

Similar here, but paid $69.99 for the Zune 8 only. I emailed newegg and they said you had to add the car kit and leather case to the Zune 8 order to get it all. They said they would send me the case and have. I searched there site for the car kit and couldn't find it. Then spoke to them and they couldn't find it nor did they offer any more help. Some problem communications here cnet/Rick. Please be more careful and explain all.

I got the same thing.$ 79.99 for refurb Zune only.No car kits or cases.Is this a bad link or what.Called their customer service and they were not aware of this deal.Too Bad

I guess rick got a little ahead of himself??????

[krubby]

deal was there for a few days, does look like it is gone now.

That's funny, considering I just got the email from CNET yesterday, and it's gone already.

Is or was this a 24 hr hot special deal? When I went to Newegg's site this is priced at $79.99. Not thr $69.99 you are saying. Did I miss something?

Pretty wierd, that it is gone already considering I just got the email about it from CNET just yesterday (Thursday). They must have yanked it like immediately!