I missed out on a great Zune deal.

[guinaevere]

The other afternoon I was in my local Sams Club and was looking at the iPod deals.

I then did a double-take as I saw a sign for a Microsoft Zune and Car Adapter Set for $103.98. There was no product under the sign, it simply had "go to Service Desk" hand-written on it in red marker. I re-read the sign about four times, telling myself it was a listing error, it was JUST the car kit and some other accessory.

But I went to the Service Desk and stood there waiting (I admit it) impatiently as a woman in front of me took eight years to return something. Finally another clerk comes over to help me, and I ask about the Zune. She checked the locked cases where they keep the high-priced small electronics after telling me she thought they were currently out. And big surprise, they were out.

I asked her to clarify if the $104 was for the kit and accessory, or the actual Zune also. "Oh yeah the mp3 thing, they FLEW outta here!"

I called my local EB to ask the msrp on the Zune and Danny tells me around $249. I wanted to cry, and I tell him the story. He laughs and says he saw the same sign the other day, and he missed out, too.

So I've been checking online everynight as they restock, and calling every morning at 7 to see if any have arrived. This afternoon I notice the Sams Club website now has my store listed as "Not available at your club" instead of "currently out of stock." So I called... and they won't be getting anymore in.

They carry the white and brown Zune for $228, but not the Black bundled one at the ridiculous price.


Pity me, friends. I was this close to owning an MP3 player. *weeps*

[Steggy]

saved yourself the money... imo the zune is junk...

[apokalipze2]

:applause:^^^^^^What he said

[Radioactive_Man]

I like my Zune.

[RedvsBlue]

saved yourself the money... imo the zune is junk...

Its better than any other 30gb player for $100... ;)

[argyle]

saved yourself the money... imo the zune is junk...


Out of curiosity, why? The best reason I've seen anyone give for not liking the Zune is that it's not an ipod. :roll:

[Number83]

Out of curiosity, why? The best reason I've seen anyone give for not liking the Zune is that it's not an ipod. :roll:

Don't you know? It's cool to say "Micro$oft is teh Sux0RZ!!!1!Eleven!!

[VipFREAK]

Even if I got paid to take a Zune it's not a good deal...

[reibeatall]

Regardless of if you guys hate Microsoft or not, the Zune Marketplace is WAY better than iTunes. 15 bucks a month for all the music I can download? I'd prefer that over a dollar a song.

However, I do wish Zune would get up on the videos to download. That's my only qualm.

[fuzz]

ZEN! people, creative zen. If I found a box of zunes on the street I woud keep walking, no joke.

[ZerotypeX]

Sorry to hear about your lost OP, better luck next time

[Tyga24]

Nice deal if you could've got in on it OP.

[boyboy1080]

i found bought a zune for $123 it was on sale at a bx

[VipFREAK]

Regardless of if you guys hate Microsoft or not, the Zune Marketplace is WAY better than iTunes. 15 bucks a month for all the music I can download? I'd prefer that over a dollar a song.

lmao... oh man, where's that youtube clip where that fanboy moron try's to argue anything they put out is good that deals with the Zune.

Call me when you cancel your $15 a mo. subscription.

[allyourblood]

lmao... oh man, where's that youtube clip where that fanboy moron try's to argue anything they put out is good that deals with the Zune.

Call me when you cancel your $15 a mo. subscription.

why, are you gonna make out with him?

[mrx1]

Its like you missed out on a 60gb ps3 for 300 hundred dollars.Would you have bought it,if it was in stock?Still,a good deal on 30gb harddrive.

[icruise]

Regardless of if you guys hate Microsoft or not, the Zune Marketplace is WAY better than iTunes. 15 bucks a month for all the music I can download? I'd prefer that over a dollar a song.

The BIG issue with these subscription services is that you don't own any of the music you download, so as soon as you decide you want to try a different service or just get sick of paying a monthly fee for your music, you lose access to *everything*. Plus, you are at MS's mercy with regard to future price increases.

If you are OK with that, and can get away from the idea of owning music, they can be a pretty good deal, I guess. I just hate all the restrictions they put on what you can do with your music. iTunes has *very* reasonable restrictions by comparison.

As for the Zune hardware itself, I outlined some specific problems with the Zune in this thread (http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124793&highlight=zune), but the gist of it is that it does almost nothing better than the iPod and lots of things worse. If it were a lot cheaper than the iPod, I could see people going for it, but it's the same price. For $104, though, I might even consider getting one myself, just for laughs.

[Mid Boss]

The BIG issue with these subscription services is that you don't own any of the music you download, so as soon as you decide you want to try a different service or just get sick of paying a monthly fee for your music, you lose access to *everything*. Plus, you are at MS's mercy with regard to future price increases.

If you are OK with that, and can get away from the idea of owning music, they can be a pretty good deal, I guess. I just hate all the restrictions they put on what you can do with your music. iTunes has *very* reasonable restrictions by comparison.

That's not a good comparison, if you're gonna compare itunes to the Zune marketplace, then compare the purchased tracks to each other, not the subscription against purchased music on itunes. In that respect, the restrictions aren't really all that different. Of course you can do more with the purchased music in itunes compared to the subscription music offered by the Zune's store. The subscription model is there for the people who want access to a lot of music right now even if they don't have the money to buy it all. That's how I use it anyway. I use it while I continue to buy CDs so that slowly I can replace the subscription music with what I ripped myself on my Zune and eventually cancel the subscription.

I can agree that a subscription service is not the way to go as your only source of music, but I really can't say that itunes is either. However reasonable Apple's restrictions are to you, they're still more than CDs and services like emusic have and without nearly enough of a discount for them to be worth it.

[icruise]

Fair enough. I was mixing two separate points there and I guess they got confused. One is that the Zune hardware is inferior to the iPod. The other is that subscriptions in general may not be as good a deal as they appear to be. But I'm sure they have their uses, as you point out. If Apple came out with a subscription service, I would at least try it out, but I doubt that they will, since one of the main strengths of the iTunes Store is consistency. Songs all cost the same amount, and you have the exact same rights for every song you download. Subscriptions muddy the waters quite a bit, since not all songs are available for downloading as part of a subscription, and you don't have the same rights to those songs as you do for ones you have purchased.

I personally use the iTunes Store quite a bit, but I also supplement it with the occasional CD and I also have an eMusic subscription (although I sometimes struggle to find 40 songs I want to download each month from eMusic, since they don't have most of the artists I like).

[eldad9]

Just to cheer you up:

http://bdmonkeys.net/brown.png

[chodax]

I like my Zune.

Me 2, i do like itunes more than the zune software though.

[xeno]

Just to cheer you up:

http://bdmonkeys.net/brown.png

E- NUZ!!!!!

[allyourblood]

E- NUZ!!!!!

actually, if anything, that spells "anus".

[XboxHardcore.com]

Its better than any other 30gb player for $100... ;)
Yeah for that price it would have been a steal!

[Zing]

E- NUZ!!!!!
Abort, Retry, Fail?

[guinaevere]

Yeah for that price it would have been a steal!That's exactly it. It isn't a need, but it's about the closest to a need as my want meter can go.

My car cd player died over a year ago, and I haven't had it replaced, because the tape deck still works, and I can listen to books on tape with that. If I have the cd player replaced, the entire unit (cd & tape) have to be replaced and that's a lot of money for me... considering that half of it still functions (well, 2/3 considering the radio works as well). OR I could just have a third-party cd player replacement, and lose the tape player all together.

I'd rather just get a sizable Mp3 player, and toss all my music on there. This way with the cassette adapter, I could listen to my music or ye olde library books on tape.

actually, if anything, that spells "anus".Actually... you're right. :oops:


As to the dl services, that really isn't something I'm concerned with. I'd rather just be able to throw my dvds and my current mp3s onto something. What I don't like about the zune is the Digital Rights thingy, but if I own the cds, that's not a problem, right?

[icruise]

What I don't like about the zune is the Digital Rights thingy, but if I own the cds, that's not a problem, right?
Which thingie are you talking about, exactly?

[MillerTime2523]

E- NUZ!!!!!
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

I hope to god you were kidding.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[guinaevere]

Which thingie are you talking about, exactly?Sorry, medication.


DRM. Digital Rights/Restrictions Management.

[icruise]

Yes, I got that much, but what specifically about DRM are you worried about? If you're using your own MP3s and not trying to use any from an online music store, then you shouldn't have to worry. The Zune does add DRM to songs sent from one Zune to another via it's wi-fi connection, but that's not a very useful feature and you'd have to find another Zune owner to use it anyway, so I doubt it'll be an issue.

[guinaevere]

If you're using your own MP3s and not trying to use any from an online music store, then you shouldn't have to worry.I'm good there, but I also look forward. If I want to dl a song from a store, I want to be able to listen to it for any number of times and for any amount of time.

[icruise]

Well, that's where things get more complex. Since the Zune can only use Zune Marketplace, you'll have to familiarize yourself with the DRM rules for that store if you want to buy anything. Or you can buy from eMusic, which doesn't use DRM (but also doesn't have most popular artists).