ZUNE Launches June 13th in Canada!

[alltherage]

We just got all our Zune accessories in anticipation of a confirmed June 13th launch date, so finally we are going to have all the wireless song transfering goodness that is ZUNE in CANADA!!! I'm excited.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by alltherage

We just got all our Zune accessories in anticipation of a confirmed June 13th launch date, so finally we are going to have all the wireless song transfering goodness that is ZUNE in CANADA!!! I'm excited.

Why are you excited?

Have the removed the wireless song transfer restrictions?

[alltherage]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Why are you excited?

Have the removed the wireless song transfer restrictions?

Well in our FAQ it says you can share full length songs from Zune to Zune wirelessly, and you can sync to your PC wirelessly too, so hopefully that answers your question!

[FanIn80]

The "3 plays" restriction still exists. They dropped the "3 days" part of it, though.

Edit: Also, the wireless sync still embeds DRM into everything it transfers... even if it's an MP3 of a song your own band recorded out in the garage 30 mins ago... when it syncs, it gets the DRM... which means if you share it with someone else, they only get to listen to it 3 times.

[alltherage]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

The "3 plays" restriction still exists. They dropped the "3 days" part of it, though.

You are right, actually. I didn't see that part until now. You can listen to it 3 times and if you like it you can purchase it from a store or you can... find it... for free... sometimes... if you are 1337 h4x0r

[llama64]

In other news, the iPhone is getting released....

I seriously thought the Zune was dead last year. Interesting to see Microsoft continue to try to push a product that most people don't get the point of. By all accounts though it's a great device. too bad it's based on Windows Media technology (ick).

[alltherage]

Honestly, I still think it has some advantages over the iPod. People seem to forget that iPods are monogomous with one computer, and that you need 3rd party software to get your music back off them. The only clear cut advantage I see to the iPod is the vast array of accessories aqnd support they have from 3rd party companies... so if you need to have a direct interface sync to youtr car sterio you might be smarter to go with iPod... but that's pretty much it.

iPods are so horribly mass produced that Apple doesn't seem to have a handle on batch testing either. The other day I needed to replace an iTouch that was on demo because it crapped out and I pulled out two factory fresh iTouches in a row that were defective. They are easily the second most returned item just after xbox 360s for warranty repairs and defect issues.

Hopefully the Zune will be better... MS doesn't exactly have an outstanding track record, but time will tell.

[Bobblehead]

I'm not a huge fan of Creative, but their media players have been great for me.

I have the Zen Vision:m, I can drag and drop music onto it from the Explorer (no iTunes required), and it will play video recorded in wmv, XVID, Divx, etc (no transcoding required).

I understand that people love the click wheel on the iPod (I also have a Nano), but my Zen is just a better all around player for my uses.

[alltherage]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

I'm not a huge fan of Creative, but their media players have been great for me.

I have the Zen Vision:m, I can drag and drop music onto it from the Explorer (no iTunes required), and it will play video recorded in wmv, XVID, Divx, etc (no transcoding required).

I understand that people love the click wheel on the iPod (I also have a Nano), but my Zen is just a better all around player for my uses.

People do love creatives, including myself. They are actually the highest consumer rated mp3 player available (as per cnet) and they are just awesome for interface, ease of use, and now, expandable memory. Their newest nano killer actually takes a standard SD card and has a bigger screen for $50 cheaper!

[McMack]

I can't use an iPod because iTunes won't work on my XP64 bit machine, and Apples iTunes format is not supported by many devices outside of Apple's own hardware. For example, I have networked media players in my house and they support MP3, WMA, DIVx and MPEG4, but not iTunes.

Anyway, even if you hate MS's music store service and WMA format, the Zune will still function as a generic MP3 player, no?

[FanIn80]

Yeah, I'm not really an advocate or activist of any particular company's player. I just know where I stand with DRM and my freedom to do what I want with files that I create.

It's one thing to tell me I can't share my Korn CDs with other people (iPod)... it's an entirely other thing to tell me that I can't share the recording I made of my kid playing the piano (Zune).


And yes... as for my own personal preference... any of the Creative or Samsung players are the way to go. (except, of course, for the Touch or the iPhone - they bring so much else to the table that I can overlook the easily-hacked protection stuff).

[Russic]

I try to be a tech geek as best I can, but I had no idea the zune was still even in production, nor did I know that it wasn't in canada yet. Great news to those who were looking forward to one though.

[Engine09]

iPods are monogomous with one computer, and that you need 3rd party software to get your music back off them.

Deal breaker for me and the reason why I will never own an Apple product.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Kryzsky

Deal breaker for me and the reason why I will never own an Apple product.

I've had iPods and have never once been locked into this restriction.

The trick is to stay away from iTunes.

[llama64]

Originally Posted by alltherage

Honestly, I still think it has some advantages over the iPod. People seem to forget that iPods are monogomous with one computer, and that you need 3rd party software to get your music back off them. The only clear cut advantage I see to the iPod is the vast array of accessories aqnd support they have from 3rd party companies... so if you need to have a direct interface sync to youtr car sterio you might be smarter to go with iPod... but that's pretty much it.

<snip>

To each their own. The advantage of the iPod is the ease of use that the monogamy brings. Personally I hate the idea of dropping mp3s into a directory on a flash drive the way most other players work. I find managing playlists becomes cumbersome and awkward in that setup. iTunes makes it much easier and honestly, I've had to retrieve a song off my iPod maybe twice in the 3 years I've used one.

Never had a need to actually manage an iPod on more then one computer either. If you want to copy songs to friends, use a flash drive. My usage has never shown a need to transfer music files using my iPod.

People seem to forget that iTunes can encode MP3 files and that the iPod can play MP3 files. It's only when you start encoding to the apple format (AAC, lossless) that things start getting closed off and irritating. I don't do that, so I don't care about it.

By all accounts, the Zune is a good little MP3 player. But the software used to manage it is brutal and the store ecosystem is terrible. If you go the Zune route, you'll likely end up buying music off Amazon (very nice source of DRM free music btw). The MS backed store is awful.

[HotHotHeat]

I understand the iPod isn't for everyone, but I've used a Zune for a week while I was down in the US (I returned it before I left) and the thing was complete garbage. The Zune software was a terrible..Just gross. I can't see the Zune having any sort of an impact in the decision making process for people that are in the market for a new portable media player. In fact, I think it will do even worse in Canada (Apple's market share is even stronger here than the US). If nothing else more competition is never a bad thing. As a business venture for MS, I don't understand their rationale for trying to push this product so hard. As others have said, each to their own.

[MacFlame]

Wow...I know people get angry at apple for some of their marketing tactics...but come on people....this is Microsoft!

Seriously though, at first glance, it looks like Zune has more red tape....that zune subscription looks great if you download more than 15 songs a month...that is until you decide you don't like the service anymore....and just like that your music will be deleted....it's not yours anymore. Seems a little harsh..no??

[dobbles]

i have had real good luck with a creative zen. got a 16gb flash one and it is ral easy to use. llama 64 above talked about having software to manage your library, and you creative offers that, but i am the opposite and love dragging and dropping. mine has an sd slot for expansion, fm radio, microphone, etc. so its a nice little pickup for under 200 u.s. got the wife the 4gig version for like 100. the 4 gig may not have been the lowest price for that size, but i wanted her to have the same model as me so we have less things to worry about fixing.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

I'm not a huge fan of Creative, but their media players have been great for me.

I have the Zen Vision:m, I can drag and drop music onto it from the Explorer (no iTunes required), and it will play video recorded in wmv, XVID, Divx, etc (no transcoding required).

I understand that people love the click wheel on the iPod (I also have a Nano), but my Zen is just a better all around player for my uses.

Yep, same here.

I love my Creative Mp3 player.

[Igottago]

Creative players are all I've ever owned, and I've been very happy with them...but, seems like they aren't making any high capacity players anymore for some reason, which really annoys me. I have a Zen 8 GB which is great for the gym and stuff, but I still want a player to store all my media, so my only options are Ipod and Zune.