Well, it's been a very long time since I've posted.  In fact, almost 5 months.  Most of my other posts have been about development, so this is a bit of a deviation.  However, I hope to return to posting programming tips and small applications before too long. 

I've been following the Zune since about a month before it's November launch.  I've always been interested in MP3 players, but I listen to music at work and home.  Both are places where I have computers, so I haven't seen a lot of use in buying one.  However, the Zune has a screen that's much larger than the comparable iPod which makes it much more appealing for watching videos.  That's what attracted me initially.  I wasn't sure how much I'd use a player only for MP3's, but a decent video player, that's something I'd use.  I searched around for something in a similar price range that played videos and couldn't find anything in an price range I could afford.

When my wife asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I told her I wanted a Zune, fully not expecting to get it since it's significantly more expensive than what we spend on each other for Christmas.  Well, she coordinated with her family and mine and on Dec 26th, I picked up my Zune.  So here's my review of the device and my experience so far in the past week.  I also picked up the Home A/V Pack, so I'll provide some review information about that also.

Also, I'd like to state that I have no affiliation with Microsoft and have no reason other than personal interest to write this review.  Also, I've never owned another MP3 player, although I have played with an iPod on a couple of occasions.

What I like about it

I have to say I like pretty much everything about the device.  The device has a lot of room for growth, and I certainly don't plan on using some of the features a lot if at all (Radio, WiFi - until they add some functionality).  I'll discuss some of the features that I'd like to see added a bit later.

In the words of my younger brother, the Zune itself looks "Hot".  I bought the black Zune, White was just a bit too iPod, and the Brown, well I can't say much about the color that someone else already hasn't.  I did find a Copper Zune for sale on the Office Depot site which I thought was interesting - it's not even an officially listed color on the Zune.net site.

Video on the device is awesome.  Some of the video I've put on the device doesn't look as nice as it could, but probably has more to do with the conversion process than the device itself.  Pictures I've placed on my Zune look nice and crisp (one of the reasons why I think the video issues have more to do with conversion).  Music sounds great, and although I'm no audio geek, it sounds just as nice as the music when played from my computer.

One of the other functions that I like is the ability to change the background on the device.  Overall, the interface of the Zune is very nice on the eyes. 

My wife is now 33 weeks pregnant, and when we had to make a trip to the ER on Friday (my wife is fine BTW), the Zune was a lifesaver.  Our DVD player wasn't recharged.  I had converted a couple of my daughter's DVD's for the Zune, so I grabbed a pair of headphones.  My 2 1/2 year old daughter watched Barbie and Pooh videos the entire time we were at the hospital.  I also let her watch a movie during a trip to the grocery store this weekend, a place where she regularly gets grumpy because she gets bored.

A/V Pack - I mentioned before that I also picked up the Zune A/V Pack.  I like that it easily connects to my stereo/TV setup.  There are a few quirks that I found odd about the A/V Kit, but I'll discuss those in my gripes section.

Gripes (Includes issues with the Zune software)

Lossless WMA isn't supported - As I mentioned before, I'm not an audio freak, so the difference in quality isn't noticeable, but it irks me a bit that the default rip format for Windows Media Player is a format that's not supported by the Zune.  On the other hand, WMA Lossless files are huge, so it did make my media library a bit smaller which means I have more room on the device for more music and videos.

Album Art - I've seen comments online that the album art isn't as nice as the device supports.  I have to agree, the device has an awesome display, why put low resolution album art on it?  At least make this configurable for people who don't want to take up space with the album art.

Video - It would be nice to see support for more types of video on the Zune.  Even though everything I've seen states that WMV, MP4 and H.264 are supported formats for the Zune, the software simply converts everything to WMV.  And without the help of this hack, there'd be no way to get the converted music/video/etc off of the device, which means a conversion every time you sync to the device. 

Sync - I've already mentioned the above issues with converting media for the Zune.  However, there are a few things that I haven't discussed.  If you have media in a format that's not Zune-compatible and you're using the auto-sync, the media will be re-converted EVERY TIME you connect your Zune to your computer.  Apparently it converts the media before it checks to see if it already exists on the device.  I'm assuming this is to allow multiple copied of the same song.  This can be disabled, but it's the default functionality.  In the case of video, that doesn't auto-sync by default, but causes other problems.  I had a couple of TV episodes in MP4 that I moved to a different folder.  The Zune software knew the video files had moved, but for some reason, it removed the episodes from my Zune on the next auto-sync.  I know that if I remove media from my computer, on the next Sync, it removes it from the Zune, but files that were simply moved?  Especially if I have to go through a long conversion process, this should probably be fixed.

Conversion - Something else that I find interesting is that the conversion process can only be started during a Sync.  Apparently the software will also convert files in the background, but only if the software is open, the Zune disconnected, your computer is running on AC power and has been idle for 10 minutes (there may have been some other criteria, but I didn't see this anywhere official).  The Zune help directs you to Windows Media Encoder 9 to convert files, but it doesn't support MP4, so only some types of media can be converted with that software.  I'd really like to see support for more file types/codecs within the WME software at the least.  Also, it would be nice to be able to save the converted files on your computer to avoid re-conversion (although I've pointed out a simple registry hack that will allow you to pull your converted files off of the Zune, it would be nice if there was something automatic).  What if I want to convert my files while I'm using my Zune?  Currently it's not possible.

Video Information - Currently, the Zune software only supports editing of the title of the video files.  It would be nice to be able to edit all of the file's information like I can with my MP3 files.

A/V Pack - The functionality itself is nice.  However, it would be nice if the Zune went into TV Out automatically when docked.  I can't just dock the Zune and pick up my remote.  I have to dock it, get into settings and turn TV Out on.  I understand that this may not be enabled because of people who are using the dock without a TV, but this should be configurable.  It automatically switches to its own display when undocked, why not the other way around?  The display for TV-Out seems to clip the sides of the video.  The menu system is also compressed compared to what is displayed on the Zune screen, so it makes me feel like the interface is cramped even though I'm seeing it on a much larger display. 

Things I'd like to see added

Album Shuffle - For some reason, it's not possible to shuffle the contents of an album from the menu.  When I'm viewing audio in any other sort, I get a Play and Shuffle option.  For some reason, I don't get Shuffle with an album.

Killer functionality for the WiFi - Since I have the Home A/V Pack, I'd like to see a wireless sync and possibly wireless control (through a PC, not a remote).  Please add something that makes the WiFi something nice to have rather than something I just turn off to conserve battery power.

Games - It doesn't have to be anything amazing (although I'd love to play Doom on my Zune), but it would be nice to have some small games on my Zune.

A/V Pack - Automatic TV-Out on dock as well as a better display for the TV-Out.  I'd also like to see higher-resolution video supported for TV-Out. 

Problems I've had so far

Once when I was listening to music, the device shut down.  I had it in my pocket without the hold on, but the combination of keys required to turn the device isn't something I would expect to happen in an empty pocket.  I'd hate to have to start rebooting my Zune as often as my PC.

Lost Video - I discussed this in my gripes, but during an Auto-Sync, it removed some converted TV shows because I moved them to a different folder on my hard drive.

Wrap-Up

All in all, I really enjoy the Zune.  There's a ton of room for growth.  I'm excited to see what MS has in store for it.