The Zune-HD Launch Thread!

http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/zunehd/default.htm



Highlights include:
OLED Multitouch screen
HD Radio
Zune Pass
Wireless G with browser
16gb or 32 gb of memory

Haven't gotten mine yet as Target has not gotten them yet (lots of gift cards there)

Anyone have one yet and would like to share impressions?

Honestly, how is this a good deal? It's about 220 bucks for the 16gb and 280 for the 32GB. Didn't the ipod touch just drop in price?

And the fact the PSPgo is 30 dollars more, just as portable and arguably a much better portable media player not to mention its a lot better in gaming.

OLED is nice yes, if all you use your Zune for is watching videos, but that screen is worthless when you're listening to music or listening to the HD radio on it. I don't know anything about this is but is HD radio a necessity to upgrade to like an HDTV? I'd like to know that myself

[quote name='Microshock']Honestly, how is this a good deal? It's about 220 bucks for the 16gb and 280 for the 32GB. Didn't the ipod touch just drop in price?

And the fact the PSPgo is 30 dollars more, just as portable and arguably a much better portable media player not to mention its a lot better in gaming.

OLED is nice yes, if all you use your Zune for is watching videos, but that screen is worthless when you're listening to music or listening to the HD radio on it. I don't know anything about this is but is HD radio a necessity to upgrade to like an HDTV? I'd like to know that myself[/QUOTE]

I'm actually getting this instead of the PSP Go as the battery life is much better (33 hours music, 8.5 hours watching movies), this is smaller, much better at playing music, videos, touch screen with browser, wireless g. HD Radio isn't really a necessity, but it's really nice to have as the sound quality is much much better and you can stream the artist and song information so you always know what your listening to.

Yeah, i'm not trying to bash it too much, it is a sleek device but looking at the 80 dollar premium car pack and other official Microsoft accessories for it, obviously way overpriced, is basically going to keep me from buying it for a long long time. It's a reason why I don't have the 360 yet either

if it had built in hdmi id be all over it..

how can you even compare this to a psp go?

[quote name='Microshock']Yeah, i'm not trying to bash it too much, it is a sleek device but looking at the 80 dollar premium car pack and other official Microsoft accessories for it, obviously way overpriced, is basically going to keep me from buying it for a long long time. It's a reason why I don't have the 360 yet either[/QUOTE]


Yeah... Microsoft is terrible at overpricing their accessories, however, for those of us that have the 360, we can output hd content like that.

How about the PS3, it works well with that too?
I can compare the Go because they're both portable media players

The Go is a gaming device first, and a PMP second. It and the Zune in two different classes of products, and shouldn't be compared.

[quote name='DarthPuma']The Go is a gaming device first, and a PMP second. It and the Zune in two different classes of products, and shouldn't be compared.[/QUOTE]

Sony will argue otherwise.

What I don't understand is that last years model, there was a 120 gig model. How come there is only a 32 gig model for this year? I dont get it.

[quote name='Xevious']What I don't understand is that last years model, there was a 120 gig model. How come there is only a 32 gig model for this year? I dont get it.[/QUOTE]

The 120 gig was hard drive based. The HD is flash memory based.

The 120GB was a hard drive model. These only have flash memory. (edit) Nevermind.

I'm thinking about getting one. On one hand their really nice, and I've had my current media player for about two years now. However, paying $90 for a Zune30 was a heck of a deal. I'm not sure I want to pay retail now.

[quote name='georox']Sony will argue otherwise.[/QUOTE]

Sony is full of shit.

Received my Platinum Zune HD yesterday. It is now back in the box and en route to Amazon.

I have really enjoyed my brown, 30 GB, first gen Zune since I first bought it, but I have to admit I was envious of iPod Touch Users or more specifically the Wi-Fi abilities and all the applications available for the device itself. However, I do not feel I am pretentious enough to own an Apple product nor am I willing to settle for iTunes after using the Zune Software to manage my media.

The driving force behind my upgrade to the Zune HD was the incorporation of Wi-Fi Internet. Unfortunately, I quickly discovered if the network you are trying to connect to is not completely open and broadcasting the SSID, the Zune HD cannot connect to it even if the SSID and pass phrase are known. Obviously this limitation severely reduces the usefulness of the HD's Wi-Fi abilities. In addition, if you are able to connect, you'll notice the Web browser does not support Flash or even Microsoft's own media player. Adding insult to injury is the fact YouTube appears to think the Zune HD is an iPod Touch - not that YouTube is even relevant without Flash functionality.

Now, the Zune HD is an extremely slick device. The screen in brilliant, the touch is accurate and responsive, and the interface is intuitive. As a media player I believe it is superior to the iPod Touch in almost every way whether it is the hardware or the software used for managing the media. As an Internet device the shortcomings of the Zune HD are unforgivable. Without Wi-Fi Internet, or even with rather limited Wi-Fi Internet, I cannot justify the expense for essentially a more aesthetically pleasing version of my brown, 30 GB, first gen Zune. Therefore, I am regrettably returning the Zune to Amazon. I am hopeful Microsoft will address these issues in future iterations, but I was in the market for the device today and today was disappointing.

----------------------
[quote name='Anthony Egizi of the Zune Product Team:']

http://forums.zune.net/522040/ShowPost.aspx

The Zune Device Team is aware of the problems being experienced by some customers when trying to use wireless on the Zune HD to connect to the Internet.

1. Zune HD does not support connecting to an AP that is not broadcasting a SSID for internet browsing or marketplace
2. Zune HD has been reported to have issues connecting through a Verizon FIOS AP/router configuration. We are actively investigating
3. Zune HD does not support wireless 802.11N connections. Most 802.11N routers support Zune HD compatible 802.11B and 802.11G connections.
4. Zune HD does not support WPA Enterprise and WPA2 Enterprise
5. Zune HD does not support any 802.1x connection that requires non web based credential entry or certificate download
NOTE: Zune HD supports most public portals with web based agreement pages as found at many coffee shops, public libraries, etc. (Not based on my (PlumberBoy's) experience as I continuously encountered errors.)

Anthony Egizi
Zune Product Team[/QUOTE]