f*** yeah!!!

just got my zune today, and just wanted to say... it rocks. =) nuff said I am now going to wait for it to charge and organize some more playlists.

I haven't used my Zune in a week. Waiting for Sunday when we fly to Costa Rica. Also hoping to find the Tunepower from Belkin for the Zune on Thursday if they become available so I'll have enough Juice for the flight.

Anybody read the Paul Thurrott review of the Zune...it was pretty bad.  Basically, he says what were they (MS) thinking... http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/zune.asp

haha uhm..

Im pretty sure ahxhlq is a spammer lol

Who wants to buy wow gold! yay..

You *&^% %^&*&^%$  $$** *&^ * and *&^ %^^%$^%$ ever again (*&( &^%&^% )(*^&^

Thanks

My Mate Nick si the devil.  I can get an XBox 360 with gears of war for 270 quid, which is good goin over here.  He is trying to get me to buy one so that I can 'use your Zune tag on it!'.  I am being strong, I plan on queueing up on PS3 launch to laugh at the morons buying sony stuff qwhile I get my 360 ;).  

The Zune, however, is already mine.  It just doesn't know it yet.

Hey, if I create a new blog or site with the word 'Zune' in it, do I get to be added to the cool Zune kids?

Hey Cesar, maybe you consider this Spam, but I have a question for you: who is the Product and/or Project Manager in charge of Zune Peripherals? I am specifically interested in the Dock product since I have some technology to enhance it tremendously. If you prefer email I can be reached at wallyware@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Wally

Hey the Zune it's crackalackin!

Dude it's tough being in a whole ipod family.

Like all my family has an ipod. My Dad,My Mom, My Brother, And soon my sister. And all ipod video.

And I'm the only one who wanted to try somthing different. One thing i think you guys could have done a better job at is making it available to MAC

users too. My friend has a mac and he was dissipointed when he couoldn't get one that worked for the mac. =(

Another review just in, which concludes "The Microsoft Zune is one of those products that you will want to avoid at all costs; at least this first generation."

http://i4u.digitaltrends.com/review4144.html

I have a Zune and people stare at it...they seem to be flocking at all costs. This anti-MS/Zune campaign is fighting against the wind. We all know MS won't give up but only learn and improve. Sorry Apple, deal with it.

fact is, if Toshiba released this product everyone would be saying how great it is - it's simply because it's Microsoft.  Now I used to be anti-MS, but then they started making things that actually work.  This was the novelty I was looking for.  Now I am no MS fanboy, I still think they make some crap and I question some of their business ethics adn I think Steve B really needs to be looked after by someone qualified.  Difference is, I'll judge things on merit, iBoys appear to judge on logo.

"cool Zune kid"???

What are you, like twelve years old or something??

Way to appeal to adults there, Microsoft.

Hey.. when is the software getting a patch. I still cannot log on to market place with a guest account.. get that error message. XXXX65...

Zuneness relax... its all in fun..

Matt -- If Toshiba released this product, nobody would be talking about it at all.

Cesar, I bought a Zune on launch day, and largely enjoy it (sick of Apple) but here are some major issues/suggestions:

Marketplace:

1)Subscription as killer app... currently, I can't get a lot of premium content (Radiohead, Brand New's new album) through my subscription.  Seeing as the subscription model is a major way to differentiate your product, it needs to be a comprehensive solution (I shouldn't have to purchase songs from certain artists).

2)New releases, that Brand New album (Interscope) was a major new release on 11/21 and it wasn't up for purchase until 11/27.  To me this was unacceptable, if I am buying into an ecosystem, it better be lush with content.  New releases from major labels is a minimum expectation.

3)Adding value with video, nice screen, but what does it do right now.

Hardware:

1)Lag when skipping between tracks.  Whether this is a hard drive, firmware, or processor issue, I get a two second lag when skipping between tracks.  As a former nano user, this is a little disappointing but maybe I was spoiled with flash memory.  If there is a software fix for this, it needs to get done.

2)Zune Marketplace tracks have a tendency to skip during the first minute about every 4 to 8 plays.  This is a major buzzkill.  It's not an issue with the tracks themselves (upon subsequent plays they work flawlessly), but with the playback.  This too seems unacceptable.

3)Album art resolutions.  This seems like a pretty easy fix that would help with Zune word of mouth.

Wireless:

1)Functionality needs to be added, whether that's web browsing, instant messaging, or more liberal sharing to encourage people to sacrifice all that batt. life.  A community requires a critical mass, but currently I've yet to spot another Zune user with wireless enabled in JFK airport, Penn station, or NYC subways.

2)Wireless sharing truly can be a killer app, git r done.  Video?  Ballmer likes it.

Matt, if you start a Zune website, I'll add you to the cool Zune kids list, yes.

Zuneless - welcome!

Shutdown! Awesome feedback - I'll send it along to the ZMP team (a lot of them already read this blog's comments, though).

BJ, the thought I had about releasing this product by a different company - while it's true that this product is getting a lot of attention, wouldn't you say that a lot of it is unduly negative because people love to hate "Micro$oft." Agree/disagree? I mean, sure, the product has had some negative reviews, the install is buggy, but we're really proud of this first effort and it only gets better from here.

Steve J - your comment was the s***. Made me f****** LOL! OMGWTFBBQ!

Wally - forgot to mention you. Go to www.zuneguy.com or email billwitt (at) microsoft.com - Bill manages accessories for our group.

Five things Zune team might want to consider near-term for MarketPlace:

1. Earn an Extra Day/Extra Play for every Marketplace Download Song you pass along

2. Make Microsoft Points Default but Optional.  When disabled system displays $dollar value of item/rental and uses stored credit card information for transaction

3. When you add Movies to MarketPlace think about providing it on a subscription basis as well($16.99/mo)

4. Provide Combined Music/Movie Subscription Service at small discount ($29.99/mo)

5. Add Support for Audio Books (Download and Subscription).

Shutdown- you weren't able to get the new brand new album? I'm on the 14 day free trial and was able to get it just fine. maybe you're having another issue.

Ceasar, just a question. Why did you feel it necessary to tell people they can curse on the forums. Is that Microsoft policy now...you must curse while talking?

Thanks for the info Cesar!

I have a question: when will the Zune be released in Europe? Many people here in the Netherlands are desperately waiting for the Zune. They don't want to wait till the end of next year, as said earlier by a member of Microsoft. Please, can you say when i can expect the Zune in Europe? Thanks!

Just wanted to pass along this interesting article about Movie Download Services:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061128/wr_nm/media_summit_blockbuster_highdef_update1_dc

Ryan, my trial was to expire on Wednesday so I purchased the 3-monther.  Perhaps it was a processing problem that happened because I was in some sort of post-trial limbo, I sure hope so, given that Interscope is a Universal label and Microsoft cut a deal with them.  I'll try again today.

zune. stinks.

Ryan, got it to download today... there's no telling what the issue was.  Ready to get crackalackin with "The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me."

Cesar, keep up the good work.  The world of digital music needs all the competition it can get.  As a user, I hope you guys keep improving the product and expanding the scenarios for the Zune.  Like many others, when I bought mine, I was assuming I was paying for a pretty steady stream of upgrades and features, a la XBox Live. Deliver, and this can be a big edge for yall.  Buying an mp3 player has traditionally been a guarantee for buyers remorse within 3 months... it'd be nice to offer a product that improves over the course of it's life rather than becoming another instant victim of planned obsolescence.  

The Shutdown: I see the skipping problem with Zune Marketplace tracks. I have been trying to resolve this by working with Zune support and have been escalated to Tier II.

I did extensive testing (in the meantime) and find that the problem can be reliably reproduced if you reset the zune device and do the following:

1. Select a playlist (or another list like artist or album) with 30 to 40 tracks with MarketPlace downloaded songs

2. Display brightness set to medium, display backlight set to 15 seconds

3. Shuffle is on

4. Select play all and lock the zune

5. Set Zune device down and listen away.

The skipping happens before you have heard 8 tracks (third track was very common for me) and only in the first 30 seconds of playback of the song. You can press "show song list" to see how many you have heard when it happens. If you continue past the song and (I checked upto 2 songs later) then use "show song list" to go back to the skipping song it plays back flawlessly. The song that skips is random as songs that played correctly before skipped at other times.

I was able to make the problem go away by changing the display brightness to low and display backlight to always on.

When I switched back the settings the problem reproduced again. Also, using a playlist with all songs that I ripped using my own CDs does not reproduce the problem.

The Zune software plays these tracks correctly every time. I actually used the "flagging" mechanism on my Zune Device to mark skipping tracks. This is a really cool feature!!!!

My conjecture is that the problem has something to do with how long it takes to process the DRM information. The song probably starts at the end of the Zune Device read ahead buffer and reads are blocked while the device is processing the DRM information (or some other processing that blocks reads). Later on the song plays flawlessly because it is in the buffer!!!

Does any one else see this problem?

I haven't had any other issues with the Zune Device and love it.

Following up to previous post:

Thinking about why turning display backlight to always on seems to defeat the skipping ... I suspect the Zune device might shuts down a execution thread that updates the display backlight times out (I have noticed that the display slowly fades away and can be seen up to minute without any backlight before it turns tootally dark.) Some display code might be getting swapped out of device virtual memory ... hmmm ...

Devil, nice work.  Those are precisely the circumstances/settings I've noted for my skipping issue, since those are pretty common defaults I never bothered to tweak them.  I clearly have less technical know-how than you, but figured it was simply a DRM/processor issue.  I just set it to shuffle all music and get the skipping... I'll be testing it tonight on various backlight settings.  It is a great device, hopefully this issue can be resolved with a firmware update.  Thanks for the info.

Keep your eye on Tavi..they make some nice hardware.  It would be great if the Zune supported the high def video capabilities like their device does.  

http://www.tavi.com

Devil,

    I have the same issue I have been trying to resolve with support. They did tell me about the backlight but that drains my battery too quick. They did call me the the other day telling me it's a hardware problem and to get an exchange, been there done that, and still have the same issue on the new device. It's rather annoying to hear the skipping and I hope they have something resolved soon.

Devil & Karla:

After some testing, the skipping also happens with a single album playlist, set to play, ZMP files.  So I'm not sure that list size or shuffle are variables in the equation.

1 - I'm new here so I apologize if you've addressed this already, but could you please tell me Microsoft is at least working on the album art issue?  Myself and many other people at the ZuneScene message boards aren't having it upload to the Zune at all, or for some people it's very hit or miss.  I know you can't tell me when the next update will be out or if a fix will be included in it, but I'd at least like to know it's high on their radar screen.

2 - Speaking of which, even if you don't correct the resolution of all the album art in Marketplace right away, which could take a while, the next update should at least resize user-supplied album art to 240x240 instead of 200x200.  That seems like a very easy fix, and a very silly oversight to begin with.

3 - Please tell someone to set up an e-mail address or web form for suggestions at Zune.net.  There's only a telephone number for support, and I don't want to wait on the phone to pass on an idea when I don't really need a response.  As you can see I've had to resort to bothering bloggers.

Where is the Clock in the zune ui?

Cesar,

Bill Witt is ignoring me. Do you know if he's out of town or is he just very busy?

Wally

those top songs are horrible

Wally - he's extremely busy - patience, my man, patience

For the most part I love my zune.  With that said, the problems The Shutdown has mentioned are really killing me.  I can't get 4-8 songs before a skip, just about the first 10 seconds of every song I play skips.  Sometimes not so bad, usually bad.

Now I'm not one to just sit and deal with this s*&% so I went out, got a docking station and upped the screen to always on.  Seems to work, but yeah I didn't want to spend $100 and I still didn't buy a car charger which I'll need.  On the plus side, having a remote is cool, because browsing music on my 360 *SUCKS* so with the remote I can plug it right into my aux input and get easier access to the music when downstais.

Those 'cool kids' Three Imaginary Girls have zero references to Zune on their site (try searching!) but loads to the iPod. Cool? I don't think so. Expel them! Gotta have a Zune to be cool!