Zune HD Dock alternatives

[syst3m]

Originally Posted by Broodbeleg

I was just browsing through my video collection and noticed a lot 720p movies. Although my television isn't a HDTV it would be awesome to just be able to not have to redownload a lower quality one. So I searched for the sync dock on amazon, and found it. Hooray! However, can I still connect it to my tv with the delivered cables or do you have to buy those separately like the hdmi one?

Cheers for any help again.

Thats just the sync dock, so cables not included. Someone mentioned that you can buy 3rd-party cables for cheap though.

[CrowdAds]

[DaveMac-MS]

The sync dock doesn't come with any AV cables, the AV Dock pack does - that's the difference. If you bought the sync dock, then you'll need your own cables.

Cheers, Dave.

[Broodbeleg]

Okay so to get it straight:
The Zune Home AV Pack V2: Works with the Zune HD, does video and audio but does not support 720p videos.
Zune HD Sync Dock: Works with the Zune HD, does not come with any cables to connect it to your tv.
The Zune HD AV Dock: Works with Zune HD, comes with all the cables and works with non hdtv's with audio and video. Works with HDTV's aswell with 720p videos.

Right? Because if this is true, I'll go look what's the best choice for me to buy.

Thanks for any help, again.

[sonorguy]

Originally Posted by Broodbeleg

Okay so to get it straight:
The Zune Home AV Pack V2: Works with the Zune HD, does video and audio but does not support 720p videos.
Zune HD Sync Dock: Works with the Zune HD, does not come with any cables to connect it to your tv.
The Zune HD AV Dock: Works with Zune HD, comes with all the cables and works with non hdtv's with audio and video. Works with HDTV's aswell with 720p videos.

Right? Because if this is true, I'll go look what's the best choice for me to buy.

Thanks for any help, again.

If you want the ability to output HD signals, I would suggest going with the Zune HD Sync Dock without cables, and then buying an HDMI cable from somewhere like http://www.monoprice.com.

[Broodbeleg]

I don't live in the US and I don't want to trouble my friend with multiple deliveries. So I hope amazon.com has those cables, otherwise I just buy the more expensive dock (money isn't a problem anymore, my dad wants to chip in ^^)

[Broodbeleg]

Well, bought the zune HD and the dock. Now I got another question. What do you use the AC adapter for? For powering the dock or just charging the Zune? If it is for powering the dock, what kind of voltage converter do I need to be able to use the dock here in the Netherlands?
I've searched a little bit and came across a website with these huge boxes. Do I seriously need those or are there other possible solutions? If not, which of those boxes do I need to buy?
Cheers for the help.

[djca]

I don't have the AC adapter since I only bought the sync dock package. So I only use the USB cable to both power the dock, and also sync and charge the Zune. The dock needs to be powered to do TV-out.

The AC adapter is just a USB to AC wall outlet adapter. I don't know if what the Zune A/V Dock package provides is an auto-volt AC adapter. If it's just for 120V, then you need an adapter for 230V to 120V to be able to use the Zune AC adapter. An alternative is to just find another USB-to-AC adapter in your country, like what's available for iPod and other devices. It should be pretty standard.

[Broodbeleg]

So you dont really need the adapter unless you're gonna charge your zune through the wall plug? (dunno if that's the correct word :$) Or dont you have the dock connected to your tv? And you do need it if you want to stream audio/video to your tv?

Sorry for the many questions, don't quite understand it. :$

[djca]

The dock has to be powered for it to be used for any function. It is powered through the USB cable. If you can plug the USB cable to a USB port, then you don't need the AC adapter. If you don't have a USB port nearby, then you need to plug the USB cable to the AC adapter which you then plug into the wall outlet.

If the AC adapter supports the voltage in your country, then you don't need any other voltage adapter. If not, then you need to get another USB-to-AC adapter.

[Broodbeleg]

Well, I searched and seems the AC adapter only supports 110 volts. Now I just need to know, does the AC adapter use/need 50 Hz? Or 60 Hz? (me hopes 50 :$)

Just read that the hz isnt a real danger for any electronic device.

O, reminds me, what wattage does the dock uses? 100? Or is that waaay too much? I need to know it to be able to buy the correct "invertor". (The invertor I found, Dutch but the technical specifications should be easy to find.)

Thanks in advance for the help

[poisonousjuice]

If your dock remote doesn't seem to respond, check to see if your room has any 'energy efficient' CFL light bulbs and turn them off. A lightbulb I got from IKEA was creating IR interference making the remote barely respond as if the battery was dieing.

[djca]

Originally Posted by Broodbeleg

O, reminds me, what wattage does the dock uses? 100? Or is that waaay too much? I need to know it to be able to buy the correct "invertor". (The invertor I found, Dutch but the technical specifications should be easy to find.)

As I've said you can easily buy something like this USB-wall adapter and it should work fine. You don't have to use the Zune USB-AC adapter.

[Broodbeleg]

That's one brilliant piece of equipment. Ordered it with a coupon,15% off, I found online, got free shipping because I dont need it within 3 weeks, what more do you want?

Super mega mega thanks djca!

[Jamal88]

Hi guys,

I am new in this forum.

To Broodbleg:
I am wondering whether you have bought a Zune HD and if it works well.
Can you tell me about the quality of the audio,video and internet streaming? and what about the power adapter? do you have to buy another set of power adapter to charge your Zune HD since it's a US-made product with 110 volt capacity? I am gonna use Zune in the Netherlands and Indonesia (both are in 230-volt area)
Because the player is not available in the Netherlands, I have a plan to buy a Zune HD from ****** (http://www.******.com/main/product/Z...hp?prod=132471)
where did you buy the player, if you don't mind telling me?
Well, I think I have given you too many questions..hope it's ok with you. I need some advices before I finally make my decision whether or not to buy a Zune HD.
Thanks in advance

Anyone else is also welcome to leave additional comments

[Broodbeleg]

Hi Jamal, welcome to the forums.

I bought both the dock and the zune from amazon.com. The only trouble i had was powering the dock, but buying a 5$ usb-adapter was enough to fix that. I always charge my zune HD on my pc, via usb, and that works flawlessly. Since the dock works fine with the usb adapter I guess the zune HD will charge fine too with that. I can try it if you want to, to be 100% sure?

The video quality is great. I use the microsoft expression encoder 3 to encode videos to the best video format. So when that's done you get the best experience out of your video.

Since this is my first real pmp I cant compare the sound/video quality to other players, but for my standards its more then perfect. (And what i've read on these forums is that the sound quality is great according to the audiophiles (although they really would really like a costum eq))

About the internet, I cant connect to my home wireless network, because we have static ips and the zune cant work with that i think. I havent tried it somewhere else, so I cant really comment on the internet experience of the zune HD.

Hope I helped a little bit!