Is the Zune HD still worth buying?

[The DarkSide]

You'll love the J3,...it's the better choice of the 2. I've had Zune HD's, and I had the J3 - the J3 is the ONLY PLAYER I'll admit that I've EVER missed.

[CrowdAds]

[AngryGoldfish]

I'm going to miss my Samsung P3. Even though I've had to send it back for repair once, it's been the best media player I've ever owned. I'll most likely keep it as a spare; keep it charged and whatnot.

[The DarkSide]

I used to love the SQ and watching videos on my P3 as well,...great toy.
Now, if it only ended up getting a bump to 64gb,... ***sigh***

[Confispect]

Whatever you get enjoy.

[Moonrakerone]

Came back from my ABI hiatus to say that as long as you don't mind a lack of apps and WPA2 Enterprise support (what my school uses, fml) than you should be fine with the ZHD's solid music, podcast, and video performance. Especially zune pass. MMMMM.
Anyways, the main point:
http://www.cowboom.com/index.cfm

Check cowboom often (Best Buy's refurbished dealing placeything.) They often sell the 32 gbs for way cheap.

[Flyordie]

Originally Posted by McDougal

If you can get it for a good price, don't need an EQ, and don't mind the Zune software requirement (the software isn't too bad after all), then I'd say go for it.

But for the price I got mine, I wouldn't buy one again. I got my 16GB back in Sept. 09 for $230ish, and IMO it was not worth it.

I got my ZuneHD 32GB for $238 shipped back in Sept 09. lol. Its still alive to this day, not a single hiccup besides the Wolfson Micro sound chip dying and having to send it to Taiwan for a repair run @ Wolfson who covered all costs except shipping. (MS Service wanted like $100 to fix it.. bleh)

I know the one they sent me back is mine as well by the little red imprints I made on the insides of the screws. lol. Anyway, its working fine. Best $240 or so I spent on a device imho.

As for Zune in the future... M'S has killed it I think. Which is sad, even though it didn't sell well they could have at least come up with a side project to base one in the future around the WP7 hardware platform to cut costs. I am sure hardware manufacturers would be more than willing to come up with ideas.

[AngryGoldfish]

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

I used to love the SQ and watching videos on my P3 as well,...great toy.
Now, if it only ended up getting a bump to 64gb,... ***sigh***

If they can fit 32GB of storage into a microSD card, I don't see why they can't have it installed permanently into the players and simply add an extra $30 or so onto the price. I'd pay for it in a chiffy.

Originally Posted by Confispect

Whatever you get enjoy.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Moonrakerone

Came back from my ABI hiatus to say that as long as you don't mind a lack of apps and WPA2 Enterprise support (what my school uses, fml) than you should be fine with the ZHD's solid music, podcast, and video performance. Especially zune pass. MMMMM.
Anyways, the main point:
http://www.cowboom.com/index.cfm

Check cowboom often (Best Buy's refurbished dealing placeything.) They often sell the 32 gbs for way cheap.

Cheers for that. Although I've already paid for the J3 (I bought a second-hand one from a nice guy in the UK), I'll definitely keep my eye out for any $100 ones. Having the HD video functionality will be very handy.

[JK98]

The issue isn't just putting extra flash memory in the player, but also having extra ram to accomodate the song database, and having the player still be responsive with such a huge number of songs.

[AngryGoldfish]

Oh yeah, of course, I forgot about that. Still, it would be awesome to have the extra headroom.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by JK98

The issue isn't just putting extra flash memory in the player, but also having extra ram to accomodate the song database, and having the player still be responsive with such a huge number of songs.

The 64GB Zune HD is still responsive with 6600+ songs on it.....and it has HD radio!

[McDougal]

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

The 64GB Zune HD is still responsive with 6600+ songs on it.....and it has HD radio!

Which is completely useless in my area ! lol.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by McDougal

Which is completely useless in my area ! lol.

I only mentioned the HD radio because it is something JK98 has been asking for on various players for a long time.

[bikertrash]

I think I'll wait to see what Sandisk does as a replacement for the Fuze+. Since the Fuze+ appears to be a bust for them, it would be cool if they came out with a knockoff of the Nano from 2 years ago(the one with the video camera, almost got that). I'd like a player with a camera without going all out with a mini computer like the touch. I figure we'll see next year as that's when the Fuze is due for an update and then they can fix all that's wrong with the Fuze +. The Clip+ is so great that if they carry that over to a higher end though economical player with camera, say 4 gig for 70 bucks and add 32 gig card, I'd jump on it.
It's a shame MS won't keep the Zune around. When it first came out it was superior to the Touch 3g, if they could've just kept it just ahead of the touch like it was at the beginning, word would've got around eventually even w/o ad support. Then again what kept me back was it was a closed system like the Ipod, and while I still strongly considered it, I do like having options. As I understand, Media Monkey will work with Ipods, which is odd but still more option than what Zune had.

[The DarkSide]

The fuse+ rocking tactile controls would be killer!

[AngryGoldfish]

The Fuse+ or Clip+ with a larger storage capacity would be killer, too.

[Vyp3R]

Isn't the Sansa Clip Zip the new version of the Clip+?
Sandisk link
Still only 4GB on board, which is a bit s**t, but it does take a microSD card.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by Vyp3R

Isn't the Sansa Clip Zip the new version of the Clip+?
Sandisk link
Still only 4GB on board, which is a bit s**t, but it does take a microSD card.

Yes, it is.....there are 4GB and 8GB versions, as opposed to the Clip+ which offered those sizes and also a 2GB model.

[Vyp3R]

Ah so there is a 8GB version! The web site is a bit misleading, you have to select the black or grey model in order for it to show the larger capacity version.

[bikertrash]

I think you all want too much from the Clip series, more battery, more space and such. The Clip is pretty much perfect especially since the Zip now has Alphabet indexing. What I hope is the Fuze + replacement will have more space SD card slot and 50 hours of play time and a still and video camera. Take an Ipod Classic, add camera, break it away from Itunes, give it the great Sansa sound, and that would be the perfect player.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by bikertrash

I think you all want too much from the Clip series, more battery, more space and such. The Clip is pretty much perfect especially since the Zip now has Alphabet indexing.

I agree with you on the battery life thing in particular. Every time I see someone say, "I wish it was thicker for better battery life" I wish I could throw something at them.....making it bigger and heavier would ruin what it is, the ideal tiny portable player. And as far as the space, I can see how some will always want more.....but I think that no more than 8GB+32GB is really necessary for a little portable player like the Clip+/Clip Zip. (unless you're one of those "audiophiles" that load a player with FLAC)

After my recent testing of Clip+ and Clip Zip, I wiped both players and my one 16GB card, and when I reloaded the Zip and card, it made me think again about just how much you can fit in that amount of space. Right now it has a little over 2900 songs.....foobar2000 tells me it's an average bitrate of 234kbps, and 9 days' worth of music. I think it is fair to say that you can carry a pretty nice variety of tunes there. With a 32GB card instead of my 16, that would of course be even greater.

There is certainly a place for a jukebox type player.....be it a 64GB Touch or Zune HD or J3 32GB w/32GB card, or a Cowon X7 or iPod Classic.....but that is a different niche than the Clips of the world fill.

So to paraphrase this person........


I say, "leave my Clip alone!"