My Zune 8GB Arrives: Review

As some of you might know what I am talking about, Microsoft's infamous MP3 player "Zune" which is a counterpart to Apple's iPod. I ordered my Zune 8GB 3 weeks ago from Amazon and it arrived 12 hours ago, Red color, 8GB HDD.

Box components? well, USB cable, genuine Zune earphones, 3 pairs of colored snares, Warranty card, and Owner's Manual...nothing much, right?...So, there is no charger, it's because Microsoft thought that to cut down on prices, they won't ship any Zune product with a charger, and instead you can use the USB cable to charge it.

Is it any good? YES! and HELL YES!...It can sit on top of the iPod Nano (4th Generation) in many aspects, and I am going to emphasize all of them here (from my 12 hour experience) :


1) Glossy finish which Nano (4th Generation)  lacks.
2) Scratch Resistant screen.
3) Wi-Fi embedded.
4) FM Radio (with the ability to save songs from the radio.)
5) Zune Marketplace from your Zune...download directly without a PC.
6) Only $99.99


Thats what I can think of right now, maybe that include all of the things the Nano misses. This phone is good on some aspects as it is bad on some other aspects...and here they are, starting with the advantages:

Advantages:

1) Wi-Fi
2) FM radio with song saving feature.
3) Relatively cheap compared to other counterparts.
4) Shiny finish.
5) Scratch resistant screen.
6) Ear blowing, crystal-clear sound.
7) The earphones can be attached together by a magnet eliminating them to get tangled together.
8) Plays Podcasts that can be downloaded from the Zune Marketplace for FREE!
9) Zune community, in which you can connect Zune-to-Zune, share and send songs, and add Zune friends using your Windows Live ID.
10) there is no more "bang for the buck" other than this MP3 player.


Disadvantages:

1) Unresponsive clickwheel, so its advisable you just touch scroll with it...clicking it is a hassle.
2) Dull dashboard.
3) shippes with an actual 6.6 GB of space...so it takes a whopping 1.4 GB for system storage.
4) Small screen.
5) we have seen slimmer players.
6) not that many variety of colors to choose from.