^M00:00:03
Hey, I'm Donald Bell senior editor for Digital
Audio and MP3, and today we're taking a first look at
the Microsoft Zune HD. This is a touch screen
portable media player that comes in 16GB for $219
and 32GB for $289. Stores are stocking both
capacities in either black or silver. But you can
also find engraving options and other colors from
Microsoft Zune Originals Online Store. Now anyone
watching this video is bound to be wondering how
this thing stacks up to Apple's iPod Touch. So
let's just cut to the chase. Why would somebody buy
a Zune HD over an iPod Touch? I think the most
noticeable advantage of the Zune HD is it's screen
quality. Microsoft really stepped things up here by
putting a gorgeous 3.3 inch wide-screen formatted
OLED screen that knocks the snot out of the Touch.
Granted the screen real estate is technically a
little smaller but the colors and contrast are
unreal. If I was stuck on a plane and I wanted to
watch a movie, I would choose the Zune HD in a
heartbeat. Plus Microsoft is now offering low-cost
movie rentals for the Zune HD. The second advantage
to the Zune has over the Touch is a radio tuner that
supports both HD broadcasts and standard FM radio.
If you like the idea of listening to your favorite
radio broadcast, no iPod is going to offer as many
stations in as high a quality as the Zune HD. Plus
if you hear a song you like, you have the option to
tag the song and download it later which is pretty
cool. The last feature the Zune HD can really brag
about is subscription music integration. If you buy
a Zune and really love hearing new music, you can
sign up for a Zune Pass subscription that allows you
to download and synch all the music you want for $15
a month. Included in the plan are 10 free MP3
purchases a month which are yours to keep even if
you cancel the subscription plus you get unlimited
song and album streams from any computer when you
log on to zune.net. The long story short the Zune
subscription service is one of the better values out
there and no other device does a better job of
integrating, streaming and downloading
subscription tracks than the Zune HD. A few other
things worth mentioning, the Zune now has a web
browser and it's pretty awesome definitely
comparable to the Touch. Photos look great on the
OLED screen. There's also a new category for Apps
where you can find any games or utilities downloaded
from Microsoft's Zune Marketplace. At launch
they've got a handful of games and a promise of more
to come including Apps for Twitter and Facebook.
And with that we come to the Zune HD's real Achilles
heal when it comes to competing with the iPod Touch.
People are just nuts these days about Apps and
games. There may be a day when the Zune gets a
Pandora App or a Wine Buying Guide or Maps but until
then I think people are going to have a hard time
choosing a premium media playback device over a
do-everything gizmo like the Touch. It also doesn't
help that the Zune can only be used with it's own
Zune software with is a PC-only program. That said
if you're a big music fan looking for one of the
richest music playback and discovery experiences you
can get on a portable device, the Zune HD is it.
And there's one more thing. Everything you see on
the Zune can be output to your HDTV. For another 90
bucks you can get AV Dock with HDMI Out in both
analog and digital audio outputs. Plug in your Zune
and all of your music and videos can be thrown on to
the big screen controlled by an included remote.
It's pretty cool and yet another thing you just
can't do with any iPod. So there you go. That's
the Zune HD in the nutshell. It's a beautiful
product that still isn't destined for mass appeal
but will definitely find an audience with people who
want the very best from their music and videos. For
cnet.com, I'm Donald Bell.
^M00:03:35
