HD Zune: Best Device I Have Ever Owned

Oct 6, 2009 — Dave Robbins at All Access writes:

Part of being a success is knowing when you stand at the edge of something new, something great ... a game changer. Not since the arrival of the CD player has anything like this hit the market.

OK, so I'm a geek. I'll admit it. I love all the tech stuff, but I don't like tech just because it's new. I like it if it's new and it WORKS practically. Nothing is worse than useless coolness.

I must say, I have purchased something online that may be the last device ever needed for audio, video and Internet entertainment -- the HD Zune. It will be difficult to improve on this device.

Now, before I get jumped by all the iPod lovers, I am also a huge fan of my iTouch. The Zune, however, is in a completely different class since I can't get HD Digital Radio on my iTouch. Today, I am fully Zune-converted.

The digital radio on the Zune is unbelievable. I expected the 48 and 64 kbps HDAC radio codec to sound great, but to my surprise, this unit rocks in every other way imaginable, too! I know it sounds like it, but I'm NOT getting paid by the folks at Zune for these comments.

SIZE MATTERS

First off, side by side to anything else it's no comparison. Remember the old "brick" cell phones when those came out? When I am using the Zune, other devices look like the brick of old. They look big, heavy, and outdated next to this thing. This device is cool, wafer thin, the size of a credit card, black, and sexy.

Without fail, when I have it out in public on the train, I almost always get asked "what is that?" It's the tiny size and that delicious HD bright color video picture that catches attention. The Zune is a much more compact unit with a better looking and easier to use interface than anything I have ever seen, and I have played with them all.

SOUNDS BETTER

Whatever they did when they built the amplifier chip in this unit, it's one of the best I have ever owned. Not because it's extremely loud, but it's very, very good on frequency response, which has always been a problem with me. I am extremely picky on audio, but this unit delivers! A few seconds on the settings screen and my EQ was fully set -- deep, rich bass and clean silky mp3 high end, too. Two thumbs up for whoever the audio person was during development pushing for the quality of the amplifier stage. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed!

RADIO NEVER SOUNDED ... OR LOOKED ... BETTER

Let's start with the radio app. It's basic and very easy to use. Tap the RADIO from the main screen and up pops a dial. Flick your thumb across the screen and the radio scrolls right on down the dial, numbers flashing by just like you had spun the dial. After a couple tries, you get a feel for the interface and can stop easily at any frequency. Your thumb on the screen moved left or right moves the dial up and down. One more tap and that station is saved.

Landing on an FM HD station is cool. First you get the analog, then the HD is acquired. The call letters display, artist and title, and all the associated HD channels show up right below the main frequency in sequence.

Another flick of the thumb and you are headed on down the dial to find the next HD experience. The digital radio audio is AMAZING. Phenomenal. This is how radio should be! This is the device we have always wanted for HD.

PICTURE

Nothing to say here but WOW. The HD picture is amazing, with HD out from the unit. The colors are vibrant and it may be one of the best looking TVs in our house and the screen is just a few inches across.

BATTERY LIFE

With the screen on "low" and the screen saver off, I can listen to or watch the device for a long time ... three days' worth of train rides to and from the city at 40 minutes each way. Takes only about an hour to charge the unit via USB port.

INTERNET NOW

The browser is intuitive and sharp. WiFi works flawlessly for downloads on the fly when in a hot zone or at home. Video is so nice. What a great player.

ULTIMATE TEST

My 17-year-old son saw it, played with it for 30 seconds and said "THIS IS SICK!" He wants one in the worst way. Sorry, dude, this is the old man's toy.

Holding the future of radio in my hand, watching digital radio take its place right next to MP3, HD Video and Internet, all on one very sexy device is incredible. If I'm you, and in the music business, on the Internet a lot or in the radio biz, I would get this device as soon as possible. Seeing what folks have said to me so far, this one is a hit.