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Get 'em while you can! Last year's model offers plenty to love, and new firmware gives it a major makeover.
Rick BroidaSenior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
It's no secret that Microsoft's rolling out a couple new Zunes tomorrow. But you know what? The original Zune's none too shabby, what with its 30GB of storage, roomy screen, FM radio, and Wi-Fi capabilities. Plus, the $15/month Zune Pass lets you fill that sucker to the brim with music.
Microsoft's also rolling out a firmware update that gives these "old" Zunes all the new-Zune features: podcasts, Wi-Fi syncing, support for TV shows recorded on your PC, etc.
Microsoft
While supplies last (and trust me, they'll go fast), you can snag the original brown Zune from Amazon (via J&R Music World), Buy.com, and Costco. (Buy.com even has free shipping.) That's a helluva good deal on such a feature-packed player, and the new firmware (which installed easily on my trusty ol' Zune) really rocks.
Update: Woot's got the Zune for $84.99 today only, black or white, and you can nab a free travel kit if you order two! Wowza.
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