Comments on: Zune HD will be a music player, not a super-device

It won't be a gaming device or have its own app store, and it won't feature WiMax. Will HD Radio and the Zune Pass be enough to convince users to buy it over an iPod Touch?

[Aaron Kempf]

Zunes are so awesome, I don't know is paying you Apple fanbois, but you should look at the specs of the new device before talking smack!

[shahamee]

The Zune120 is better than the iPod Classic in every way, better UI, same form factor, 2x larger screen, better sound, wifi sync, wifi marketplace, fm radio, channels, etc. Zune Marketplace is better than iTunes. Looks better, funner to use (although iTunses has a larger catalog, I have never been in the situation where something I wanted wasn't in the Zune Marketplace. BTW you can purchase music from Zune Marketplace just like you do from iTunes or you can get a ZunePass. With Zune you have a choice.

So why wouldn't this product be better than the iPod Touch? The only advantage would be Apps, and that is something that will equal out with time. Not to mention 3/4 of apps just make farting noises. According to this article the Zune's browser will support flash. Hello... flash=apps. It would be hard for any device to overtake iPods marketshare because all the iPod owners are stuck with their library they spent so much $$ on and cant switch or even afford to un-DRM their music. Smart by Apple. But this device will be awesome just like the Zune120 is and so are the Apple products.

[kevinskrause]

Even if your're only looking for a few singles; you can buy most CDs used for under $6.00 at Amazon. Rip the tunes you want and throw away the disc if you deem it necessary. Zero DRM and can be ripped in Apple Lossless or FLAC. Makes sense to me.

[kevinskrause]

This was intended for an earlier comment. I understand that as a stand alone observation it makes no sense so please save the banter.

[mrjef23]

I don't understand all the bickering. No single device, be it iPod or Zune, is the end all be all mp3 player. Both do some things well and BOTH could be improved. That being said, I'm looking forward to the ZuneHD.

[baraclude]

who listens to radio nowadays? i even stopped watching tv when kids wb was down after 9/11. i mean you could basically watch any shows online. But it's definitely a good move by Microsoft. i would buy a zune because i thought apple has gone way too far on prices and their product ain't that tempting. the reasons why many people bought it are probably because their stylish product has little competition and to show off.

[breakaoss]

Something that would be really amazing is if you could stream netflix online movies to the zune hd. I think the capabilities are there.

[Lumiseon]

Seriously, this page of comments is as bad as a religion talk in my Sociology class...

Microsoft is focusing the Zune on what it was originally meant to do. Play music with high quality. Now, I've compared the quality of the exact same song on a Zune and on an iPod with the same sound level and earbud headphones. Zune's quality was way better. The iPod was originally meant to be a MUSIC PLAYER. Now what is it? A damn appwhore. You can't even put on apps that other people made without buying them. That's lame and stupid. Closed software. Full of DRM. Now Microsoft, it's allowing people to make games and spread them around the 'Net as much as they want without having others pay for it. All you need is the know-how to launch the games onto the Zune. Not that hard, and the program to do it is free. You Apple-fanboys keep screaming about the appstore, but is that what we're really looking for? No. We buy the iPod/Zune/Whatever to LISTEN TO MUSIC. I have other things to play games. I have my phone to call people. One way or the other, I'll usually have all 3 with me no matter what. You need to get off Apple's Appstore(store, why should Apple profit on something someone else made?), because that's not what the iPod/Zune should be about. It should be about quality music. And reading about all this, I might go buy a Zune Pass once I pull off getting a job up here.

return0;

[Joe65C02]

You don't seem to understand how the App store works.

There are thousands of free apps on the app store, so you can download them "without buying them".

"Why should Apple profit on something someone else made?" is almost so silly that I'm not sure if you're joking. Just in case you aren't, it's called providing bandwidth and payment processing. You do realize that Best Buy makes money off of items that Best Buy didn't manufacture right? :) Apple's cut of App store sales is actually no worse than most other similar online stores and is a better deal than some. Look into it.

Now, you *do* have to be a registered, paid ($100/year) developer to put software in the store, but users need not ever pay to download.

If the Zune is only a "music player" then why the mobile IE? Why the ability to play video? And Apple still sells iPods intended only for music. The Touch is a combo music player/pda/light gaming device- so you don't have to carry around all three. Looks like microsoft is moving in the same direction with the Zune.

[slayr007]

I'm sorry, but I need to let everyone know this is zune 4.0 not 3.0 it is therefore the fourth gen zune

[Firehazel]

Good. It's about time we return to the roots of things instead of a MEGADEVICE...

[johnnyzero54]

i live in la i love hd radio instead of listening to crappy radio. i get 3 of every channel and alot of other secret channels it does sound better. i guess all the ipod lovers live in the boonies where they dont get fancy hd signals and they have primitive technology like ipods and dsl instead of waiting for the zune and having fiber optics.

[Banshee1990]

Competition the mother of improvements
The Sony walkman thing with OLED and a Projector sounded cool but this I think takes the cake
Now what they need to do is Give everyone a free version of like mobile Halo or something with purchase.

[passingthrough]

I am quite interested in this Zune, mainly due to the to-go feature, or renting music. I look at it this way- my husband spends 120 a month for cable tv. 15 a month to listen to whatever I want when I want is a bargain compared to television- you can have my TV. I also use Linux and am dying to be able to knock that last copy of windows out of our house- I only keep it for Napster to Go- if I can use the Zune for to go music without Windows via my home wifi, I'm in. I have no beef with MS- it's Windows that sucks.

I'll give the Zune a try. BTW, radio is not going anywhere. There are some amazing radio stations out there, such as WWOZ in NOLA, which is now HD. No way would we stop listening to that.