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To leave the Zune?

MosBenMosBen Tacoma, WARegistered User regular
edited April 2011 in Moe's Stupid Technology Tavern
I'm having some issues with my old 4gb Zune, and am considering replacing it. Obviously, the rumors are flying about where the Zune brand is going, and it looks like the players are going away while the software will stay around for PCs, the 360, and Windows phones. Well, I don't have a Windows phone, and won't be upgrading any time soon. Plus, I'm willing to have a somewhat larger phone for daily stuff, while I like my Zune for working out because it's relatively small and I prefer not to use up my phone battery on the treadmill.

On the other hand, I love the Zune music service. For a reasonable fee I get to keep 10 songs per month with a la carte access to whatever else I want. I like that the Zune Pass lets me sample a wide variety of music but that I can also pay for and keep the stuff I really like if I cancelled the service.

So, what to do? Try to snag a Zune player while they're still out there? Are there other services that would provide the functionality of the Zune software without tying me into one company's players?

MosBen on

Posts

  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    You could grab the smallest size ZuneHD, I suppose.

    Synthesis on
  • MosBenMosBen Tacoma, WARegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Well, if I stick with a Zune, I'll probably try to snag an 8gb 2nd gen one. I've got the 4gb, and I like it a lot. Good size, and an 8gb one would be more than enough for some workout tunes.

    My question is more what devices and services other people recommend. I really like the Zune Pass. I'm not a big Apple fan, but I probably wouldn't mind getting a shuffle if iTunes had anything like it. I looked at Rhapsody, but I'm not sure if you can keep any of the music if you cancel the subscription, which is something I really like about the Zune software.

    MosBen on
  • DehumanizedDehumanized Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    The Zune Pass is still unparalleled.

    Rhapsody does not allow you to keep anything past subscription.

    Dehumanized on
  • JollusJollus Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    I haven't used it myself, but I have heard a lot of good things about http://www.rdio.com/ lately. It is compatible with the major smart phones, and I assume the iPod Touch. Not sure if the touch meets your size requirements.

    Jollus on
  • MosBenMosBen Tacoma, WARegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    If anyone's wondering, I ended up picking up a refurbished 8gb 2nd gen Zune from Tiger Direct for $70. I'm still considering getting a Zune HD just to have it, but the small 2nd gen Zune is pretty much perfect for my purposes, and now I'll have 8gb instead of 4gb, which was always just a bit to restrictive, even for just loading workout tunes.

    We'll see what happens with the players, but I wouldn't be surprised if I picked up a 32gb Zune HD some time down the road, depending on what kind of announcements come out.

    MosBen on
  • Dark ShroudDark Shroud Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Yeah I wish MS would announce a ZuneHD2 akin to the iPod Touch. Or license the software and let third parites make them.

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  • Ghostly ClockworkGhostly Clockwork Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    But does the Zune really NEED one? I always liked the Zune cause it does one thing, it's a PMP player. It's not a Swiss army knife, jack of all trades master of none. It's only goal is to play media, and it does that extremely well, I think I read something on Engadget that it did it better than the iPod. Making one with a camera or something like that one it wouldn't really do much for me.

    Ghostly Clockwork on
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  • MorskittarMorskittar Lord Warlock Engineer SeattleRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    The argument I've seen is that the iPod Touch is an "entry phone" for kids or people who won't/can't make the full plunge to something with a contract. It then gets them locked into the ecosystem and ready to move onto the full deal.

    The HD is a amazing media player though; it would be too bad to see a new version lose some of that focus on doing one thing extremely well.

    Morskittar on
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  • amnesiasoftamnesiasoft Thick Creamy Furry Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Yeah, this is why I love my Zune HD so much. Sure it has a few non-media features, but it is first and foremost a portable media player. Those other features do not get in the way of my media. The iPod Touch may be a good... whatever it's supposed to be, but it's a terrible portable media player.

    amnesiasoft on
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  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    The ZuneHD has a (very simple) browser already anyway. Granted, on a device that small, it's not exactly easy to use, but it's perfectly functional.

    Synthesis on
  • AretèAretè infiltrating neo zeed compoundRegistered User regular
    edited March 2011
    well, dont need to worry about any future zuneHD eschewing media features for broader appeal. . . as it is more or less officially dead

    RIP Zune

    Love the shit out of my ZuneHD and until I started using XMBC for everything, i really loved the Zune software.

    as it has already been said, it is simply a fantastic media player

    Aretè on
  • Lucky CynicLucky Cynic Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Wait, that isn't really anything new. They were saying for a while now that the Zune HD was probably going to be the last hardware form the Zune will take. The software is still sleek as fuck. As for the device itself, it still sells like a champ at my Best Buy.

    16gig player with an actually respectable screen vs 8gig Nano. The Zune is actually like $15 cheaper, IIRC.

    Lucky Cynic on
  • DehumanizedDehumanized Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Were my Zune HD to fall into a pit of magma or whatever, I'd replace it in a heartbeat.

    Dehumanized on
  • initiatefailureinitiatefailure Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    I'm actually approaching this point myself. My 120g zune loses the right speaker channel more and more and I have no idea why. Sometimes I can mess with the headphone jack and the right side will come back in with a loud and painful pop. I was hoping they'd come out with a higher capacity HD but I guess not anymore.

    initiatefailure on
  • Commander 598Commander 598 Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    Aretè wrote: »
    well, dont need to worry about any future zuneHD eschewing media features for broader appeal. . . as it is more or less officially dead

    RIP Zune

    Love the shit out of my ZuneHD and until I started using XMBC for everything, i really loved the Zune software.

    as it has already been said, it is simply a fantastic media player

    I personally hope/expect a phoneless WP7 device in the future to replace the Zune Players.

    Commander 598 on
  • KyouguKyougu Registered User regular
    edited March 2011
    I always hated the fact that there was no Zune pass (or anything really close to it) for mac users.

    Kyougu on
  • ArcSynArcSyn Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    This reminds me that my sister-in-law still has my Zune120.. I need to get that back at some point.

    Love the Zune software and hardware. I'd love to get a ZuneHD, but been considering WP7 so waiting right now on it.

    ArcSyn on
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  • DaltonCarlDaltonCarl Registered User regular
    edited July 2014
    ---

    DaltonCarl on
  • Ghostly ClockworkGhostly Clockwork Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    I thought they weren't going to produce any more Zune devices, focusing on the WP7 platform?

    Ghostly Clockwork on
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  • amnesiasoftamnesiasoft Thick Creamy Furry Registered User regular
    edited April 2011
    DaltonCarl wrote: »
    wait till the end of the month which is when they are going to show off the next Gen Zune.
    Okay, I'm going to need a link to where you heard this, because I've not even heard the vaguest rumor of that sort.

    amnesiasoft on
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