Comments on: New Year's hangover for Zune users

After countless 30GB Zunes froze up on New Year's Eve, users spent the first morning of 2009 trying to chip away at the problem, with mixed results.

[Minnesotamadmom]

My son's Zune did not respond favorably to the freeze fix and instead he received a message to contact customer support with a #5 code. After being on hold for a very long time he was told that he would have to send his Zune in for repair and it would cost him $129.00 because it was out of warrenty...I quickly took over the call and was told the same thing. I demanded to talk to a supervisor ( I was advised I would be told the same thing) I persisted and did get a different person and explained that it was absolutely unacceptable to me that we should pay for a problem they created. I also mentioned that every Attorney General in the nation would have a field day with this because you cannot invent a product that self destructs and then charge the consumer to fix it. After many times on hold, we were given a reference code and told to check back in 24-48 hours as they have received many calls similar to ours and are working on additional fixes...?. I'm not sure what the outcome will be, but I certainly hope Microsoft officials are smart enough to avoid the PR fallout that will follow if they don't protect those that were some of the first to trust in their product. The moral of my rather long post is to stand firm if you are being told you will have to pay to fix your Zune.

[nixermac]

Extremely sorry to hear of your son's plight with the Zune. Please help your self, go get and iPod. It would be easier and if things do go wrong (of it does at all) you can always walking into a Genius Bar at the Apple store for help. They do.

Wait for the 48 hours and see the Attorney. It would be good for MS and your costs...

[expatincebu]

I am sure the 20 people who were foolish enough to buy Zunes were very upset.

[imotionsrt4]

I wasn't upset. I was confused until I found out the reason, then I just decided to use my sansa/

So your statement is flawed :)

[wjsteele]

I find it interesting that a lot of people are so against Microsoft in this instance. First off, they figured out the problem within the day. Not bad considering it was (sort of) a holiday and most of their engineers were on vacation. Secondly, after investigating the problem, it turns out that Microsoft didn't write the faulty code. In fact, Freescale (the cpu maker) did. The newer devices from Microsoft did not have this problem Thridly, most of you are probably not aware but the first generation Zune wasn't actually a Microsoft design, but was in fact a Toshiba Gigabeat player that Microsoft simply licensed.

I personally have a Zune 30 and a Zune 4. I find it to be one of the best media players I've ever owned. I have owned several competing brands (including Apples iPods) but I use both of my Zunes exclusively now. I love the $15 per month all you can eat plan that not only covers BOTH Zunes, but it also covers 3 computers.

Also, my Zune 30 came back right at 7am this morning, just like their support group said it would.

[DeclinedDoomed]

I was making jokes about this all day to a friend who insists that the Zune surpasses the iPod and had his Zune die. I actually checked my iPod to make sure it changed the date okay, but then I remembered that the iPod doesn't suck, and all was fine.

[pablouk1]

You would have though after Y2k Microdummies would have looked at this possibility.



PS: hate Apple products as well, will not have cheap crap in my house.

[onlinebuyer--2008]

I am an avid Apple user, Mac computers, iPods, iPhones, and the like. Yet I agree, we need the Zune to gain in the market share and become a major player. Microsoft needs to gain strength and produce an OS that is solid and holds Apple and other companies accountable to make even better products.

The Zune has a lot of great features, one on them being the radio!! Apple what happened to that? Also yes, the screen is a good size over the Ipod classic. Both companies can learn from one another.

[linkalus2]

At least it wasn't this bad http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Classic-***-The-Bug-That-Shut-Down-Computers-WorldWide.aspx

[ozidigga]

Nothing against microsoft but they are ruining their own reputation by not sticking to what they do best. To many fingers in too many pies it seems, they lose focus on their core business with distractions like the Zune.

[nixermac]

My name sez it all. I am an Apple fanboy and proud of it. I run a all Mac network at home and my primary system at office is also a Mac.

Being a developer I understand that things go wrong and I do not see that Zune is bad because it froze due to the leap year roll over issue. Actually the core code does not contain the auto sync that would adjust the clocks on the Zune. Google for the 2 second leap year change and you will find a load to read.

Every one has the right to choose and use a media player as per their needs and liking. I used an iPod 3rd gen for almost 5 years till some one stole it from my car. It was really good and I used to like it too. I have and iPhone now and it suffices my need for a media player. I used to have a Sony Walkman phone and that was good too.

Any electronic device is nothing but a tool. It not my life. I love using Apple products for my own reasons. Let us not argue that Zune users should go and buy an iPod just because it froze once. The iPhone had its problems too but I did not think of switching. Small issues happen and people like me help resolve the issues.

I kid. I kid...

Now for the real advice. Please ignore most of what I said earlier. Go get and iPod. They are better any day. No matter what you say about its sound being lower quality - it is because of lower bit songs you may have encoded in. The iPod sells more because it is the best.

Make sure to send the monkey boy his money player.

[foxlound]

i hate zune because they cause so much problems i have one but i am going to swich bback over to ipod because stuff like this happen all the time.

[hen15]

Yesterday, Dec. 31 i unplugged the battery but that fix only lasted about 3 hours then it would try to reboot and get stuck, so i just unplugged it a couple times to reboot it. now today i can't get it to startup at all if i let the battery run out and charge, it tries to reboot but freezes, and if i try unplugging the battery it starts up kindof the zune logo screen goes away but all there is a black screen, and then i can restart it but it gets stuck at the startup screen. I called Microsoft support but they weren't any help since my warranty was up *sigh*

[imotionsrt4]

way to follow the instructions from MS.

God forbid you can't use your mp3 player for 24hrs.

[LusodoRibatejo]

The most amazing, very fantastic and truly amazing event that I just became aware of, is that I don't own either.... Zune or Ipod :(
However, I believe that I am mostly sympathetic with fellow cybernaut arosania, who in the forth comment kind of reminded ppl that this place should not a a playground with whining babies saying "...my toy is better than yours..."It's all subjective to interpretation...don't you all agree?
An then one should not judge the full line of one device just because one of those devices is a piece of crap...C'mon...we all know better...nothing is perfect in these days..some things work well, others don't...

jeeez.....did I just wrote the above????

[Rod Roddy]

Who even has a 30gb Zune anymore? Most I know have upgraded o the latest generation, which have no issues with freezing.

[lupinlion]

Aww, nice try, but your statistical slight-of-hand doesn't quite cut it. I wasn't making reference to the iPod or Zune's HDD models (i.e. the iPod 'Classic' and Zune 30, 80, and 120). Rather, I was comparing the more popular, ubiquitous flash models both lines offer. When these are compared, the iPod is clearly the superior device. The 4G Nano's screens (and yes, they're glass) are larger than those on their Zune counterparts, at 55mm; it's also perceptibly' brighter. It offers dynamic playlists, a feature missing from the mighty Zune. As for which feels like plastic, and is more impact-resiliant, I would give that edge to the iPod, with it's seamless aluminium shell, to that of the Zune (which yes, does feel like a cheap, pre-paid mobile). In my line of work, I've seen an iPod Nano which had been placed in an oven, and smashed -- and still the casing was flawlessly intact. That's quality. When it comes to overal format compatibility...you may not want me to talk about it, but I suspect that's 'cause your point doesn't hold up against the facts. So, which device has wider format compatibility?

The iPod supports the following formats: Audio - AAC/M4A, Fairplay AAC, AIFF, WAV, Audible, MP3, Apple Lossless; Video - MP4, M4V, MOV

The Zune supports the following formats: Audio - WMA, AAC, MP3; Video - WMV

Hmmmmmmmmm....interesting. Oh, and good luck with the Zune if you enjoy listening to/viewing Podcasts!

You know alot of people with older Zunes, ya say? Wow, I am surprised....not that they're old, but that "lots" of people with a Zune at all. Maybe there's a secret commune somewhere.... Anyhow, myself and others whom I know, have older iPods, which haven't ever failed us. So much for anectdotal evidence.

On a final note, the prizefight between HDD Zune and iPod on Cnet, doesn't apply here for the reasons I already mentioned. Even so, the iPod came up short, due to the "judges" tauting factors such as affordability, and the presence of Wi-Fi sharing and an FM tuner in the Zune....things which no one honestly cares about. but the "judges" fawned over.

[ywkhgqo]

The zune doesn't only play wmv, it plays the same formats as the ipod. look it up. it's on microsoft's website. So for video, they're equal. For audio, the zune supports:
AAC, MP3, WMA, WMAPro, Audible
did you do any research or are you just a blind ipod owner? its only missing wav
What's your point about the podcasts mean? There is an option for them right in the menu. They're easy to sync and everything? don't get what you're trying to point out.
Yes, i know a lot of friends that have zunes. All three of my best friend's have them, while i have an ipod. They all received theirs when the zune launched. I have a 5th gen ipod video. I had to turn one in after a year cause the battery was shot, and they gave me a refurbished one to replace it. 4 days after the 90 day warranty ended the click button now will either not click or clicks twice. But, none of my friends zune batteries are giving out, no usability problems nor is there really any cosmetic damage on them while i have scratches all over mine even with a case. I take outrageously good care of my electronics and the ipod almost invites beating. Microsoft made the 3.0 update available to all zune users while apple stopped updating my ipod over a year ago. Even the genius feature which is simply a software feature is only on the current ipod classics?
Watch the prize fight again. Things like audio quality, constantly updating features, zune subscription, large screen, easier navigation, multi-player game support, wifi music downloads, tagging FM radio tracks are what won the reviewers over.
And your last point, about it being a cheap prepaid mobile talking about the zune flash model and then saying almost like that i was trying to deceive people by talking about the HDD models. The article was about an HD zune, it wasn't unreasonable to think you were talking about the HDD version. I am not interested in a any device that has less than 30 gig cause my music collection is about that size. I've noticed with the new nano's though that they glare on the screen really really easily.
Again, I'm an ipod owner.

[t8]

I am surprised there are any problems with Zunes because that means that there are some people out there who actually own one.

[Sumatra-Bosch]

Hey, Steve! See if you can get your old job back at Duncan Hines!

[LPKccusuedu]

I have a brown Zune 30 and it has been rock solid for a year and half. Although this YT09 bug has been a pain (halleluiah mine restarted after the new year) I still think it is a great media player with that competes very well with the iPod.

1- Zune Pass (Unlimited music permanently keeping 10 songs a month $15)
2- Wireless and wireless sync
3- Media sharing with the XBOX 360 using the Zune software
4- increasing media content supported by Zune like audible and overdrive

[Imalittleteapot]

In all fairness a wrong comparison like that is a mistake any programmer could make. Every programmer probably has done something similar.

However, it was just plain bad luck I suppose that it made it out of testing and into so many devices. In what little code I have written I've made similar mistakes myself, but I've always seemed to have caught it pretty quickly when testing the loop, but it really sucks that basically what amounts to a missing break statement could cause so much bad press. As bad as it was I'm not even sure I'd fire whoever did this because it's just a dumb mistake that anyone could have made. I may have fired one the testers though.

Anyway, I guess this teaches us the how important reusable pre-tested code is compared to rolling your own. Unfortunately in an embedded device you don't always have a choice but to roll your own so I can't fault them for that neither.

[guitarman1194]

most people know that microsoft embelishes all their coding. they put thousands more codes then actually needed. that leaving an easy mistake like what happened even easier to miss the mistake. i have been an ipod owner for 4 years, and just this christmas switched to zune and am way hapier with their more creative interface that supports way more music codecs that the 4 you can use on an ipod, and they clearly sound better. plus the ipods use the crapiest harddrives. i have had two that just completly crashed thanks to toshiba. and now that zune makes a 120 i can happily fill it up with my 20,000 songs. and even make some of my favorites .flac files. which is a huge advantage over apple.

[Sporlo]

"supports way more music codecs that the 4 you can use on an ipod"

I think it's the other way around...
Check your facts next time.

[Darkest Horse]

Amazing.

Someone does the work to figure out the code problem on the zune and rather than publicly recognize the user who did the work to figure his/her way through the problem, you guys credit ArsTech because they happened to "notice" the user's work.

That is lame; it really crosses the border of media arrogance.

How about some recognition credit for the user who did the work and actually provided the information?

uname: itsnotabigtruck
Kudos! Way to go! Good job!

dh