New Zunes

They're here.

80 gb model with 3.2 inch screen
4 and 8 gb models with 1.8 inch screen

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/zune/zune-2-and-flash-zune-official-306387.php

 

Interesting...it certainly is an improvement to the original Zune...but considering what Apple came out with last month, I don't think these will top it...

How large is the screen on the flash Zune? It looks awfully small...

 

As I mentioned, the flash Zune's screen is 1.8 inches. Kinda small, yeah, I consider that disappointing. I don't think the flash Zune is really that exciting vs. other flash players. It does seem to have a few advantages over the iPod nano though, like FM radio, wifi sharing, and now wifi synching too.

The larger Zune looks more interesting to me. Here there's a clear reason (for some people) to choose it over an iPod: to hold and watch a decent amount of video. A larger screen than the iPod classic, but with much more storage (and less expensive) than the iPod touch.

 

this is the icing on the cake for me! 80gb zune it is. i hate itunes and 80% of my music is wma. with the size of my library the next ipod would be out before my tunes finished converting to mp3!

 

Ah, I see, swarmer. I missed that.

The new Zune does have quite a bunch of interesting features. If this helps motivate Apple to improve the iPods even more, I'm all for having the Zune around .

 

ahh yay! finally some new zunes! hopefully some new Gen1 Zune firmwares for us 1st Gens! but omg they went ahead with the "squircle" idea! i dont rly like that

 

microsoft lost

 

I would be more excited if the pricing was lowered. Their pricing is exactly the same as the Ipods.

 

Haha Sam you crack me up!

Anyways, the new Zune look interesting. I'm not in the market for a new MP3 player so I won't be buying one. Though I'd like to see one in real life, to see how it looks, its size, weight and the quality (music and overall) of the player.

 

yeah theyre the same price as the ipods but they have the advantage of a bigger screen for actual video usage. I had the zen visionM and the zune side by side and you can really see the difference in screen size. the zune is more of a multimedia player than the ipod could be and that is a great price compared to how 30GB players used to cost that much last year

 

I hate how Microsoft made it nearly impossible for the software to be hacked or replaced. Programmers would've made divx files work natively on the Zune a long time ago, and added quite a few add-ons like a clock, but MS totally locked down their software. It totally sucks having to use the desktop Zune software to sync the Zune instead of something else like Winamp. Why the MS boneheads still haven't made it possible to sync the Zune using the wireless connection is beyond me. It's also nearly impossible to upgrade the hard drive. It's like MS originally had a great mp3 player, then took extra steps to cripple it.

While I bought a 1st gen Zune, I only paid a Woot-tastic $130 for it. If I were to buy a new mp3 player, I'd get an iAudio or iPod for the hackability.

 

how do you know the new ipods are hackable? and the issue with upgrading the drive is the same with the ipod too as they use the same drives.

but i agree having to use the software to sync is crap but the ipod does too. you only assume that the new ipods will allow you to do that stuff but they probably wont

 

The iPods are more likely to be hacked due to the greater number of programmers working on it. MS would've had a runaway hit if they made tie-ins for programmers. Could you imagine if programmers could make apps for the Zune like they can for pda's? They would've absolutely obliterated Apple if they let their customers "fix" the Zune software themselves.

The issue with the Zune hard drives was that the interior of the case seemed to be molded in such a way that it didn't permit larger drives, even of the same format.

The sync deal is the same as the hackability. The Winamp people said making a plug-in for the Zune was a low priority for them.

 

hmmm ive seen sites that claim to be able to upgrade zune drives, they even have instructions for it.

i also recall hearing there is hacked firmware for the zune though i dunno just how hackable it is

 

Only firmware hack I know of is to make the Zune usable as a storage drive.....several orders of magnitude of difference between what can be done to the OS on the iPod or iAudio x5.

The only hard drive swap I've seen is for a 80 g drive that costs $300 or $600....can't remember....I just thought "the hell with $600, I'll go buy an 250 gig iPod AND and iAudio and a SanDisk e280 and a new hard drive for my tablet and maybe a nice meal".

 

i think i remember they enabled it to run divx or maybe i was mistaken

but there is no 250gb ipod LOL

yes its a lot of money but that is the price of the drives, not the fault of microsoft. it costs the same to upgrade the ipod too.

its expensive which is why it aint worth using it for anything but videos and music, and the occasional file transfer

 

Oops, I meant a 160 gig drive....and I don't understand how the 80 gig drive is $300-600, but a 160 gig iPod is $250ish....my numbers and data are off since I'm not interested in buying or upgrading, so I'm not looking up anything......as long as I'm in the ballpark....with a big parking lot....and a fence...

 

obviously it is cuz apple/microsoft/creative and whatever buy these in bulk and the 160GB ipod is $349, the 80GB is $249, so your ballpark is wayyyyyy off