Zune HD getting weekend demo at Best Buy

(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET)

Does the thought of being in the same room with Microsoft's Zune HD make your voice crack and your palms sweat? Are you having a hard time controlling your Zune enthusiasm around friends and loved ones, alienating those close to you by incessantly quoting hardware specifications and battery life benchmarks?

The Zune HD's September 15 release date may feel like an eternity, but thankfully, the folks at Nvidia and Best Buy are offering Zune devotees and curious looky-loos a chance to see the Zune HD in-person this weekend.

An announcement from Nvidia (PDF) shows a schedule of dates and times that the Zune HD will be demo'd at select Best Buy locations over the weekend. If you plan on going, be sure to double-check the date, since some of the demos are on Saturday the 22nd, and others are on Sunday the 23rd.

(Via Engadget)

[vabiraj]

What has nVidia got to do with the Zune HD?

[monkeyfun14]

Tegra

[dwpearlexp]

NVIDIA's Tegra chip is in the Zune HD. Tegra is a very very very tiny chip capable of doing a lot of things. The zune will be the first to how off it's capabilities.

[jaguar717]

The wonderful thing about Tegra is...

[tipoo_]

@ Jaguar....Lower power consumption that most other CPU+GPU combinations through merging the two chips, more graphical power with its fully functioning Geforce core, very fast CPU, so on...Just search Nvidia Tegra on youtube and watch the very impressive demo's.

[JMax19]

Tegra is only a deal maker for those of us (nerds) who care about nVidia. Most consumers won't care what that is.

[RockaTech]

I wonder what type of reaction average consumers will have about the Zune especially if they never heard about this HD model coming out

[regulator1956]

That's why they're having the demos. Consumers can't magically hear about things - ads, displays, social networking, etc.

[Cruton502]

So I live about 40 minutes from one of the Chicago stores, do you think it will be worth the drive to see this? My concern is that it will just be to crowded and I won't get to play with it.

[nonicks]

Yes... worth every minute of driving..

But then it depends.. do you want a vertu class PMP (Portable Media Player)

read this article where ZUNE is compared to something from VERTU

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2009/8/12/microsoft-officially-launches-tegra-powered-zune-hd.aspx

lol 40 minutes to see the ZUNE HD. That's not even close to worth it.

[JWolford]

And to think that a Zune post almost went unflamed... a shame, really. Go on, go back to your iHome, and leave the rest of us the freedom of choice.

[Rod Roddy]

Yeeeeaaah boooiiiiii I gonna travel an hour... definitely worth it!!!!!!

[extotherule]

not to be a buzz kill, and it may be an amazing device, but it isn't a phone.

The non phone PMP market , in my opinion is a dying breed. Similar to Blu Ray, it may be awesome, but it is a dead end. Traction will occur with the Streamed on-demand video

[monkeyfun14]

Eh I hate to disagree but I rather have a device that will do one thing exceptionally well then a device that does multiple things like crap.

No one wants to listen to music then be interrupted by phone calls that's especially killer on a dock.

[Firehazel]

very true monkeyfun.
I would prefer to have an iPod touch like device over an iPhone. keep my media separate from my phone.

[chili_dawg]

Um... you can always turn on airplane mode while your docked. They can leave a message if they want to get a hold of you.

[bleu_tropix]

i'd rather NOT miss calls simply because my phone is docked and music is playing. i agree monkeyfun, keep the devices separate.

[streamline35]

Agree with monkey as well - I always get a pretty basic phone (so I don't have to bend over and take it, aka, paying for a data plan), and then have a more advanced mp3 player or netbook that can do anything else I want.

[abundantsnotbob]

If you have an iPhone, the cheapest plan is $70 per month, so if you want to pay an extra $60 or so per month for a slow internet connection that can only be used on one device than yes, the Zune HD is worthless. I will probably get one.

[coolihigh]

I'd have to agree with the Monk. I can't support having a phone call interrupt me in the middle of my music or videos, especially when the music is playing on the dock. I don't like to miss calls, and I would rather have the "option" to ignore them or take them.

[ddiddy415]

exotherule two words - complete moron

don't bring Blu Ray into this discussion. Blu Ray is loved by more and more people every week. Sales are stronger than ever. If you need proof........surf the web.........check your newspapers.........more and more people have stopped complaining about "Blu" and have realized that its the only way to get true "hd" anything onto there beautiful televisions.

[wdcoolwater]

You have to be kidding. Who wants to have their battery killed by their phone/mp3 player always searching for signal or receiving calls... keep them separate and I will be happy. Until there is a truly amazing universal device that I can use all day without worrying about the battery dying (iPhone) I will keep my smartphone and mp3 player separate.

[hananias]

You know you can just close the pop up message that comes up when you are listening to music or watching videos on the iphone. Just 1 -2 seconds to click! That's not so bad... it won't ruin the movie, or the song. Oh, yeah... if I'm playing music, is because I'm working out (so airplane mode!). Who wants to take calls on the 10th rep pushing 130 pounds! If you are home, unless you are a celebrity or some one important... than you probably won't get so many phone calls interrupting your music. I don't understand what is the big deal with people hating on the iphone!!! Speaking on hating the iphone...
I have one, and yeah it's not that expensive... I have a data plan that starts from $10- after $40 of use is unlimited! Japan RULES!!!! Oh, and I got $50 back after buying it for $96. Probably the iphone has been the cheapest phone I got!

[vivac20]

Does anyone know if this thing has a timer and a stopwatch. I kinda need this for the gym. If not, I will buy an ipod touch

[focusonfiction]

I don't know for sure....but wal-mart sells watches and stop watches pretty cheaply.

[firefoxluva95]

Most likely, Even the old sandisk sansas that had a black and white display had stopwatches. If it's got a clock, it most likely has a stopwatch. Heck the old sansas didn't even have a clock but they did have a stopwatch.

[clrgj2]

I think a device this advanced would have something so basic such as timer and stopwatch. Then again, I maybe wrong sort of like with ipod. I kept hoping there would be radio on it but I gave up hope after 3 years.

[Swooley]

Going to the one in SF. Check y'all there

[FranklinH10]

I agree with monk and some of the others.If you are really want to listen to music, and taking phone calls is NOT the purpose of you existence , then separate devices is the way to go. Cellphones need to be replaced every two years or so but a mp3 player ought to last much longer-by buying the two devices melded together into one that must be replaced every 2-3 years you are turning yourself into a sort of tech fashion victim, driven to spend money to keep up with what the other nozzles are wasting their money on to maintain their smug sense of superiority.

[play7]

People are once again talking abut the Iphone as the all mighty all in one geek toy. The ZUNE is not a phone is a media player ................ Apple is NOT the only media player around. Well to those that have a open miond and not a narrow thoughts about the subject.........

[franzenk]

First off I have to say that Microsoft is coming around and this is a very impressive device. With that being said I also have to say from someone who carried two devices around for years it is nice to only have one device on my hip. I am not an audio geek but I love music. I am not someone who texts people constantly or gets multiple phone calls but I like having a cell phone. So for me, I really enjoy having one device for both. I love to listen to my music and have my phone with me at all times but I was getting tired of having to carry two devices to enjoy both. I also like that I can surf the web for my important things any time I want and not have to worry about finding a wi-fi connection. So for me, and I am sure there are others out there, I like having one device that serves both of my needs. One more thing, I am not sure traveling 40 minutes is worth it but if it is near me, I think I might go and look at it because I am curious to see how it performs and looks in real life. If you are someone who thinks it is worth it to travel that far, then good for you!

[david8866]

I had an iPhone. I always worried my phone would run out power when I needed to make calls. Separate them is better.

[steelerfantex]

I bought a Zune when it came out and never owned an ipod. In fact I was anti-ipod just to be different. But, my experience with the Zune software and how it completely jumbled my music library has made me loathe Zune. I spend hours and hours using an mp3 tagging software to make my library pristine, and still the Zune software jumbled my library. I know I'm not the only one who experienced this as forums were full of people with the same problem. Microsift released it without working out the bugs (big surprise) and it's no wonder Zune hasn't made a dent in the mp3 player market.

[macjr82]

I bought an original Zune at launch. The software was crap for a while, but the current iteration is real solid and the zune pass is a steal. well, it's as good as can be w/o stealing :p I l like the fact that both me and my wife can use the same pass on our Zunes and PCs but maintain separate libraries

[NPGMBR]

Which version of Zune Marketplace are you using? That problem you are talking about was resolved soon after v2 of Marketplace was released. Yes the forums were filled with complains but you don't see these complaints anymore, well at least not new ones.

[digitalducki]

um... if you are listening to your mp3 player and its docked, then ur cell rings... u gotta turn down or pause the music ANYWAYS. And if you dont wanna miss a call, then you'll be sure to notice your phone ringing when the music stops and comes thru the speakers of the dock. I swear ppl don't thing before they whine.

[NPGMBR]

Ummm.....not so? While you may listend to your tunes blasting, I don't and I can hear my phone ring when my music is playing and I don't have to turn the music down unless its one of those songs where I just have to turn it up but thats not the norm for me. I hae a 5700 track collection and my Zune is playing from the time I walk out of my apartment at 715am till I get home at 6pm and during that entire time I rarely have to stop my music just to answer the phone.

[Zune30owner]

If the browser supports it, you will be able to send text messages from the Zune HD. How? Just go the website of your cell phone service provider and send a text message from the web.

[iconoclast04]

Let me start by saying that I am a Zune fan-I'm thinking about getting a Zune 120. I even went to Best Buy today to check out the new Zune HD. I can't help but wonder who really needs the whole HD video output feature. This seems like one of those features that's nice to put on a specs sheet, but I have trouble seeing the usefulness of this feature, considering the max memory on the device is 32 gb and you need a special dock to output HD. So theoretically you download an HD movie from the Zune Marketplace onto your computer or your Xbox 360, then put it on your Zune, then output to TV??? Why not just play it off your 360 or stream it from your computer to your TV somehow? So maybe you want to be able to take your movies on the road to watch somewhere else in HD. The problem is that you need to also bring your dock with you. I guess that's not that big of a deal, but you really can't take many movies with you anyway, particularly if you also want to have music, games, and other apps on there, as well. You figure that one movie will take up at least 4-5 gb on your Zune, which is 1/6 to 1/3 of your total space.

This just doesn't seem to be a feature people have been clamoring for and I really don't see it catching on. HD Radio? Maybe. I guess it's a nice feature to have. The device does look pretty cool. The guy at the display was saying MS doesn't want you to play with it (as I started to try it out). I guess I'll just wait to see what kind of gaming experience it provides...

[Swooley]

Ok this was an epic fail. The Best Buy people knew nothing and the Zune representative knew nothing. Out of everyone at the SF store I knew the most. I mean what was I expecting from Best Buy, a store notorious for stupidity. Oh wait! I was expecting to get to hold it or at least see the web browser in use. That's the point of big box stores. I'm almost tempted to never return to Best Buy and only shop at "The Shack." Who's with me?

[iconoclast04]

Yeah, you're kind of right about Best Buy. What, they don't have Wifi in their stores? That's ridiculous. I can't say I learned much at the event, but at least I got to see the device. But I do hate how Best Buy doesn't even let you try things out like cell phones.

[KevinXI]

I just went to the one in SFO, i got a free tee-shirt and my picture taken. and some flyers. woooo!!

[iconoclast04]

sound like you pre-ordered.

[doomsdaydave11]

This looks great. I won't be going the demo, though, because that might make me want to buy it :P.

I'm gonna wait until the next generation of this. I'm hoping for a 3.5" screen, even better battery life, 64GB, and there will probably be some really awesome gaming capability by then, assuming that MS keeps using Tegra.

I'm happy with my 120GB Zune at the moment, though.