Zune HD or...

[0ddity]

Looking to get a new mp3 player to replace my Sansa e250. My wife has an Ipod Touch 4th Gen, and I'm not too fond of it (or iTunes.) So far I've narrowed my choices down to Zune HD or Cowan J3, leaning towards the Zune. Does anyone have either of these players, or would you recommend something else? Main uses would be listening to radio, podcasts, and watching movies.

 

[Splych]

i have the ZuneHD and it's a nice piece of hardware .

Pros:
- Gorilla Glass = unscratchable screen [so far i have none and i don't use a screen protector!]
- nice UI [it's easy to use and is clean and not heavy on aesthetics]

Cons:
- no expandable memory [well , you can't expand . so you're stuck with whatever you have which is something i dislike]
- not many apps [apparently they are in development . and they are in beta , so i hope to see some better development] .
- browser isn't that great [well it is mobile . but comparing it to the iPod Touch's browser , it gets slapped xD]
- being restricted to using the Zune software IMO is a disadvantage since the Cowon is just drag and drop .

BUT , seeing as you say the main uses are radio, podcasts and movies , then well here's what i feel:
- the radio on the ZuneHD is good . but i never use the radio .
- i don't watch podcasts .
- video player is okay . though you may be more satisfied with the Cowon since you'll have expandable memory .

EDIT: their own site , ZuneOriginals have stopped selling ZuneHDs .
which means that they are discontinuing production . which possibly means discontinuing the actually Zune line .
so best to keep that in mind . i am trying to browse through the store and i see no more ZuneHD apps ?

i realized i can't see the apps because i set my email to my main which is Canadian .
before i had one just for the Zune which is for the States but now , i heard they brought support to Canada so i switched it .

 

[nando]

zune got discontinued last year i thought.

 

[Nathan Drake]

Zune probably left the market. They were always seen as a direct competitor to Apple, and in that respect, they weren't really a competitor at all. Their original devices were gigantic. You could easily beat somebody to death with it. It was by no means a bad device though, and it was more affordable. It didn't have the aesthetic appeal of what at the time, were newer, smaller, sleeker Apple music players. They tried to introduce the Zune HD as an all too obvious competitor against the iTouch, but the device never really stood a chance. They took minimal popularity and tried to expand upon it with a new, sleek product, but people would have none of it. With the price being so close to an iTouch anyways, many were more willing to jump on the more ready and supported device.

As the Zune HD has clearly shown a complete inability to deliver at this point in time, I would suggest most anything over it. It's disappointing too, as the Zune HD showed a lot of potential as a serious competitor. I guess its development wasn't taken as seriously as it should have been though. It's a shame they just rolled over and let Apple have that market.

The COWON J3 isn't a cheap player itself, but if you don't mind the price, it does seem to be a better value.

 

[0ddity]

i have the ZuneHD and it's a nice piece of hardware .

Pros:
- Gorilla Glass = unscratchable screen [so far i have none and i don't use a screen protector!]
- nice UI [it's easy to use and is clean and not heavy on aesthetics]

Cons:
- no expandable memory [well , you can't expand . so you're stuck with whatever you have which is something i dislike]
- not many apps [apparently they are in development . and they are in beta , so i hope to see some better development] .
- browser isn't that great [well it is mobile . but comparing it to the iPod Touch's browser , it gets slapped xD]
- being restricted to using the Zune software IMO is a disadvantage since the Cowon is just drag and drop .

BUT , seeing as you say the main uses are radio, podcasts and movies , then well here's what i feel:
- the radio on the ZuneHD is good . but i never use the radio .
- i don't watch podcasts .
- video player is okay . though you may be more satisfied with the Cowon since you'll have expandable memory .

EDIT: their own site , ZuneOriginals have stopped selling ZuneHDs .
which means that they are discontinuing production . which possibly means discontinuing the actually Zune line .
so best to keep that in mind . i am trying to browse through the store and i see no more ZuneHD apps ?

i realized i can't see the apps because i set my email to my main which is Canadian .
before i had one just for the Zune which is for the States but now , i heard they brought support to Canada so i switched it .
The 16 gig one is more than enough for my purposes, right now I only have 3 gigs and I still never fill it, as I am always swapping out content. I am in Canada and I can see the Zune store, and the Zune apps. They just added a few more on August 1st, so they're still making those, although while it may be nice to have a few games, that isn't why I want one. I've looked at the cowan, and my only qualms are it's kind of a niche company, and there are lots of reports about the UI being unstable.

zune got discontinued last year i thought.
They stopped selling the customized ones but they are still in production and available in retail box stores in the US. I'll have to go to Amazon to get one.

QUOTE(Nathan Drake @ Aug 4 2011, 08:01 PM)

Zune probably left the market. They were always seen as a direct competitor to Apple, and in that respect, they weren't really a competitor at all. Their original devices were gigantic. You could easily beat somebody to death with it. It was by no means a bad device though, and it was more affordable. It didn't have the aesthetic appeal of what at the time, were newer, smaller, sleeker Apple music players. They tried to introduce the Zune HD as an all too obvious competitor against the iTouch, but the device never really stood a chance. They took minimal popularity and tried to expand upon it with a new, sleek product, but people would have none of it. With the price being so close to an iTouch anyways, many were more willing to jump on the more ready and supported device.

As the Zune HD has clearly shown a complete inability to deliver at this point in time, I would suggest most anything over it. It's disappointing too, as the Zune HD showed a lot of potential as a serious competitor. I guess its development wasn't taken as seriously as it should have been though. It's a shame they just rolled over and let Apple have that market.

The COWON J3 isn't a cheap player itself, but if you don't mind the price, it does seem to be a better value.

I am told audio quality and battery life is better on the Zune, (though not as good as the Cowan J3.) I don't really care about the popularity of the device, I want functionality, and the Touch just doesn't do it for me. It seems more like a PDA first, media player second.

 

[jonesman99]

They moved their Zune support to their Windows phones and to Xbox Live service... which im kinda bummed about. Anyone that already has one and wants to get theirs repaired can't anymore because they no longer support the Zune or ZHD players. On top of that, support for Zune Accessories have become scarce, so if you wanted to get a case for it you'd have to relegate to ebay or amazon as stores may not have them.

I'm not sure about the support for the Cowan line as this is my first time seeing them, they actually look pretty nice for Android-based MP3 players.

@0ddity the battery life of a Zune or HD is pretty good, thing is if you want it to stay that way you have to turn off the wireless when you are done with it.

I loved my Zune120 ever since I bought it, but what i'm about to say goes for the ZHD as well.

It has a good and lit screen for videos, podcasts, and pictures. It has more than enough room for my everything I want on it. From what I have seen from the specs from both they are about the same (the cowan vs the zune), only thing about the cowan is that they don't support as many media codec forms as the Zune.

 

[Splych]

ah okay , so the 16GB is good enough .
it dropped in price once to around $150 once , so it might actually be worth waiting for since i doubt the stock will disappear .

 

[FluffyLunamoth]

Coming from someone who went from a ZuneHD 32 to a Cowon J3, go with the J3. It is far, far better of a music player, and doesn't need the crappy Zune software to work.

They moved their Zune support to their Windows phones and to Xbox Live service... which im kinda bummed about. Anyone that already has one and wants to get theirs repaired can't anymore because they no longer support the Zune or ZHD players. On top of that, support for Zune Accessories have become scarce, so if you wanted to get a case for it you'd have to relegate to ebay or amazon as stores may not have them.

I'm not sure about the support for the Cowan line as this is my first time seeing them, they actually look pretty nice for Android-based MP3 players.

The newer ones are the only ones Android-based. The J3 is not.

 

[Terminator02]

cowon's players all have insanely good audio quality, it's just their UI is sometimes buggy, you should check out the anythingbutipod review

Edit: i'd also like to point out that the zune isn't completely dead

 

[0ddity]

cowon's players all have insanely good audio quality, it's just their UI is sometimes buggy, you should check out the anythingbutipod review

Edit: i'd also like to point out that the zune isn't completely dead

For me, the UI issues are a dealbreaker, from what I've seen of the Zune's, its very nice. I also like the Zune software, and use it anyways for my podcasts and music management instead of iTunes. On my wife's ipod, when scrolling down lists of songs or whatever, the interface slows down and gets choppy, and I haven't seen any of that on the Zune. Also, I'm not an audiophile, but I can tell the difference between the Touch and my Sansa with Rockbox, the difference between the Zune and the J3 wouldn't make much of a difference with the type of headphones I will be using.

 

[Terminator02]

also just looked up the zune being discontinued thing, that was zune originals, where people could get zunes "in a variety of colors engraved with unique artwork, the customer’s Xbox LIVE Avatar, or a few lines of text"

"The closure of Zune Originals, however, does not mean that the Zune service is on its way out. Zune is an ecosystem, not a device. Dave McLauchlan, the Senior Business Development Manager for Zune, has made it very clear that “this year’s Zune hardware [is] Windows Phone.”"

"Zune devices, particularly the Zune HD, will still be available at online and brick-and-mortar retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. In the words of Zune MVP Marques Lyons, “if you have a Zune HD, enjoy it. If you don’t but want one, go grab one.” The closure of Zune Originals is disappointing, but Zune devices are still available wherever fine media players are sold."