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lamewing · Apr 15, 2008, 05:55 PM

Hello.

I have a little story to tell. I have used iPods (and other DAPs) on and off since my first 1st Gen iPod. When the Zune first came out I tried it. The hardware appealed to me in a clunky kind of way.

BUT, I walked away from the Zune because the Zune could not display Japanese, Korean or Chinese. I rarely used iTunes to buy music as I prefer CDs over electrons.

Fast forward to 2008. Two weeks ago I bought a Zune 80 and 8 from Best Buy and Amazon. The hardware is great. Love it. I don't care about games, clocks, calendars, PDA stuff, etc. so the Zune did what I needed better than the iPod 5.5 I have. I don't care for the Classic and the Touch didn't have enough space. The new Zune software is easy to use and I can eaisly switch between it and iTunes with no problems.

YET...I returned both the Zunes after a week. Why? Because the Zune Team has yet to provide East Asian language support on the Zune. After a 1.5 years and the fact that all the major players support East Asian language support, MS still doesn't have it. What is worse is I called the Zune support center and talked to a supervisor who seemed in the know and she stated that the Zune team has no interest in adding East Asian support until the Zune is released worldwide. Yet, she couldn't provide a date when this worldwide expansion was to take place.

So, I am now about to take the plunge and get a refurbished Touch 8GB to hold me over (hello smart playlists and less videos) until a 64GB Touch is announced. I really wanted to see MS do well with the Zune as it would allow for competition in the marketplace, yet they seem so inept that I don't think it is possible for them to do so.

It is a shame. Oh well.

::maroma:: · Apr 15, 2008, 06:45 PM

I guess MS doesn't think that there are Asian speaking/reading people in North America. And we all know if MS thinks it, it must be true.

SSharon · Apr 16, 2008, 11:14 AM

reading this only makes me wish my ipod/iphone could display hebrew characters the same way itunes can. and the ipod has been out way longer than the zune.

mdc · Apr 16, 2008, 12:31 PM

How did you use your Zunes on your Mac?

bishopazrael · Apr 16, 2008, 01:14 PM

He's on windows.

analogue SPRINKLES · Apr 16, 2008, 02:43 PM

I really can't understand how the Zune could appeal to anyone other than the Apple hating crowd or the Microsoft loving one.

It is such typical "Me too" crap from microsoft and I don't see any advantages that it has over the iPod Classic or especially the touch.

bishopazrael · Apr 16, 2008, 02:47 PM

Well to be fair... I just cannot fathom how Steve let the ipod team put out the touch and the ipod phone with the calendar not supporting catagories from iCal. I mean honestly it should have been a no brainer to have ical on the phone and notes from the Stickies. Why on earth they didn't do that is beyond me. The other bonus of the Zune is it's FM radio.

Yeah, I would like to be able to have am/fm while I'm sitting around in the pharmacy with the unwashed masses, because my touch is only 8gb and there's only so much you can stuff in there.

lamewing · Apr 16, 2008, 04:56 PM

Originally Posted by mdc

How did you use your Zunes on your Mac?

Macs have been intel-based for 2 years now.

mdc · Apr 16, 2008, 05:06 PM

I'm aware that Macs have been intel-based for two years.
I was wondering if there was any OS X software that had been released recently or if you were sharing all of your music with your VMWare Fusion/Parallels Windows and using that for your Zune.
The main reason I asked is because this place is called macnn and maybe I'm wrong but I can't imagine too many people being okay with having to use VMWare/Parallels just to sync their music player.

I agree with analogue SPRINKLES about why anyone, outside of those two camps, who would buy a Zune.

lamewing · Apr 16, 2008, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

I really can't understand how the Zune could appeal to anyone other than the Apple hating crowd or the Microsoft loving one.

It is such typical "Me too" crap from microsoft and I don't see any advantages that it has over the iPod Classic or especially the touch.

Uh huh. Because they wanted to get into the business they are in a "me too" fashion. Then is Apple doing a "me too" for putting out a HDD-based DAP after Creative did in early 2000? The Creative might have been fugly, but the capabilities of it were incredible...to optical outputs for Christ's sake!!!

I will ignore your earlier comment as coming from a Apple fanboy. I am neither an Apple lover/hater any more than I am a MS lover/hater. I use both, big deal.

But, to answer your question. The Zune hardware is a solid as the iPod Classic. Each have advantages and disadvantages; screen size, codec support, battery life, wireless, radio (yes I listent to NRP)etc. I absolutely hate the new Classic as the Classic OS is terrible (fine on a flash-based system) on a HDD-based player. I ended up buying a refurbished iPod 5.5 from Apple recently to replace the Zune as I won't touch the new Apple devices.

You see, it isn't about being a "top dog"-killer or having "better features". I would rather have nice sound quality versus gimmicks like games, clocks (I have a watch), calendar (I know the day of the week), etc.

You made a comment that it doesn't compare to the iPod Touch. Well...hmmm....DUH!!! It is a competing product with the iPod Classic. That is like comparing the Classic to the Touch; they are totally different beasts. I have no need or desire for an iPod Touch or iPhone. I am sure there are any number of Apple folks who are level-headed enough to see that.

lamewing · Apr 16, 2008, 05:11 PM

Originally Posted by mdc

I understand that Macs have been intel-based for two years.
I was wondering if there was any OS X software that had been released recently or if you were sharing all of your music with your VMWare Fusion/Parallels Windows and using that for your Zune.
The main reason I asked is because this place is called macnn and, maybe I'm wrong, but I can't imagine too many people being okay with having to use VMWare/Parallels just to sync their music player.

I agree with analogue SPRINKLES about why anyone, outside of those two camps, who would buy a Zune.

I am aware of what the website is. I have been a member since 2004 (mostly lurk) . I have also been using Apple computers since my first Apple IIe and IIc. I even use Linux sometimes (not often) I never stated that I only used Windows for syncing a music player. I use Windows for a few proprietary programs that are specific to work that have no Mac equivalent.. But no, there is no OSX port of the software. For day to day use, ripping, etc. I still use iTunes because it has the best unicode support.

In regards to your agreement with Sprinkles. You really believe that every person who uses a Zune player is an Apple hater or MS lover? Come one now..

lamewing · Apr 16, 2008, 05:17 PM

Originally Posted by SSharon

reading this only makes me wish my ipod/iphone could display hebrew characters the same way itunes can. and the ipod has been out way longer than the zune.

I am surprised to hear that Hebrew isn't supported. That is a real drag. Are there any other languages the Touch/Phone won't support? I have used the Touch and was impressed that I could actually input Japanese kana with little problem.

analogue SPRINKLES · Apr 16, 2008, 07:59 PM

Originally Posted by lamewing

In regards to your agreement with Sprinkles. You really believe that every person who uses a Zune player is an Apple hater or MS lover? Come one now..

Oh sorry I forgot to include ignorant people with bad taste

lamewing · Apr 17, 2008, 12:52 AM

Originally Posted by analogue SPRINKLES

Oh sorry I forgot to include ignorant people with bad taste

/sigh When all else fails it is nice to know folks can rely on sandbox politics.