Zune 80 4

I have had my Zune 80 since Christmas, 2007 (second generation...the good looking one). Overall, I have been quite happy with it. I always tend to spend much time analyzing features before deciding on electronics, and have no regrets so far.

First the good:

+Sound quality is very good. I rip all my CD's with Windows Media Audio (WMA) Variable bit-rate (240 - 355 Kbps), and there is only a negligible difference to loss-less. Also, according to sound snobs, and I agree, WMA is quite a bit better than MP3 overall. They say it is a more efficient compression tool, and sound quality is definitely better at the higher kbps settings, and even so at a lowly 128kbps. I recently had the opportunity to compare sound quality side by side with an 80 gig Ipod. There was absolutely no comparison! After comparing, the guy with the IPod said "Man, I wish we hadn't done this!" To be fair, the person with the Ipod did not know the bit-rate I was listening to (other than 128 Kbps or better), but that is more of a full vs shallow sound than the actual pure sound quality. It definitely reinforced the feeling that I made the right choice in buying a Zune!

+This is subjective, but I feel it is the best looking MP3 player out there. Much better looking than the first generation. Nice size, weight, center of gravity, and has a well constructed "feel".

+Glass screen gives much more scratch resistance than plastic.

+Big screen, and good picture.

+Included ear-buds sound very good.

+FM radio is standard! This costs extra with an IPod

+Touch pad navigation is great - from selecting songs to fast forward, etc.

+Software download, and setup went flawlessly.

+Operation of the Zune is very intuitive. This is my first MP3 player, and I never even had to look at the instructions, even though I'm not a techie.

+Works great with XP Home with SP2, and all the updates. I wonder if many of the people having trouble don't have the latest updates.

+Works great with Windows Media Player 11.

+It's nice to be different from the pack, and competition promotes advancement!

+I guess I have been lucky with the software - no problems other than the occasional double listed song. Just plug it in, open the Zune program, and it syncs to the latest songs you have added to your computer.

+Eighty gig. hard drive - big enough to allow you to avoid resorting to the lack of fullness with 128 Kbps.

+So far 50 gigs worth of music installed, and even so there is very little lag time between song selections, or any commands.

+Pewter finish looks much richer than chrome, and doesn't show fingerprints.

For protection, I bought an aftermarket clear silicone case. It has minimal effect on control functionality (mainly touch pad feel), but I'm thinking a hard case might be more useful. I would recommend a screen shield even though it is glass.

Naturally, there are some things that could be improved upon:

-It has no EQ! The first one had it. I naturally assumed the 2nd generation would have it, and figured at least it would be no problem to add it if it did not come with one. I have entry level audiophile Etymotic ER6i ear-buds as I do a lot of dead-heading so noise attenuation is of great importance. The ER6i's need a bit of bass boost to produce the sound I prefer. Not allowable with the Zune. The included ear-buds sound very good, but have poor external noise attenuation. Now I have to choose between damaging my hearing, or not having the sound I prefer with the ER6i's. What a step backwards!! It is my understanding that it would be fairly difficult to add an EQ, and there are no plans of adding it anytime soon. Too bad! I recently looked at a review of the top ten MP3 players, and every one of them had an EQ except for the Zune! Take a poll, and I would bet nine out of ten would say it is a major influence in a purchase decision. I would trade the wireless function in a second for an EQ! Ok, I'll jump off the soap box. This is pretty much their only big error in the Zune 80 design. For most who don't have a noise attenuation requirement, this won't be a big negative.

-It does not have a line out, so you must use the headphone (lower level)jack if you are going to play it on your home or bedroom system - which naturally limits the output, and you must compensate by turning your system up.

-One more feature that caused me a bit of difficulty was the syncing feature that deletes music from the Zune if you delete it from your computer (unless you select "forget this device"). Glad I discovered that one early on. Ended up having to add a 160 gig internal hard drive to my older Dell for all my music. You can also set it to sign in as a visitor, and you won't end up accidentally having your collection lost.

-I still would prefer to have a printed operations manual in my hands!

-The aftermarket is quite slow to produce Zune accessories. Hopefully, the second generation will promote the Zune enough to change this.

-Battery life leaves a bit to be desired. When they test battery life, I believe they turn it on, and let it play for hours without picking, and choosing songs. I tend to skip around, and it must be that each time the screen is turned on, it uses quite a bit more power. I set the screen display at 15 seconds, but still ended up buying an (aftermarket non-Micro$oft) AC charger for layovers.

+Overall, I feel it is a better value than the IPod (especially after the side by side listening comparison), and am quite happy with my first MP3 player. I'm only giving it four out of five stars because it doesn't have an EQ - otherwise it would definitely be five.

+One year update. I have now had it a year, and have about 63 gigs of music on it. Transferred all of it from the Zune to my new computer in a few hours...very fast transfer rate! Still works great!

+July, 2009 update. Still gives me flawless performance! I'm not dead-heading anymore, so the EQ is less relevant. Lightning fast transfer of songs from my Zune to yet another computer - about one song per second (most 350Kbps)! Try to match that with an IPod! Works great with XP Pro, and the latest Windows Media Player. It hasn't locked up, or even coughed once! Song selection is still very fast despite being 75% full. I couldn't be happier with it other than being aware that I am gradually coming up on 80 gigs.