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Can a Zune and iTunes play nicely?
Lindsay Lohan
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm considering a Zune because I have a shot at one really cheap - but was wondering if they can work with iTunes? I figure the Zune likely can't play iTunes protected files - but I don't buy anything from the iTunes store, I buy CDs and rip them into the program myself into MP3 format.
Given that my wife and I both have Shuffles, everything is already sorted and organized into iTunes and I don't want to have to maintain 2 libraries if I get the Zune...Anybody know if they can both use the iTunes library?
Given that my wife and I both have Shuffles, everything is already sorted and organized into iTunes and I don't want to have to maintain 2 libraries if I get the Zune...Anybody know if they can both use the iTunes library?
Lindsay Lohan on
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I love the integration between iTunes and iPod, and I imagine the Zune software is similar. Maybe you could set it to auto-import the stuff from your iTunes music folder every now and then? I don't know, I've never used it.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
I have iTunes and the Zune software on each computer. You won't be able to directly sync iTunes-purchased music to the Zune and you won't be able to sync Zune-purchase (or rented) music to the iPod, but you can maintain two libraries on the same computer.
Your Zune, however, cannot use iTunes to sync music.
It WILL import all your music if you so choose, but this is only wise if you have it in MP3 format so you don't wind up with two copies of each song.
ALSO, Zune software is rather buggy, but the Zune itself is a beauty.
I know this because I have both a 10gb iPod 2nd gen and a Halo Zune
That's pretty much the best way to describe the Zune. I prefer it over the iPod. Except for the fact that 30 gigs is way too low for me, my Zune feels a lot better than the iPod, and navigation on the Zune itself is much better.
The Zune software, though? Jesus fucking Christ is it bad.
How is the Halo Zune? I ask because I've been an iPod user for a while but the Zune is pretty attractive to me, in particular the screen. I have a video iPod right now and that screen is about as small as I can tolerate for video content, so the Zune screen would be a nice step up.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
All I ended up doing with iTunes was set syncing to manual, transferred my library over, and then just popped it open now and then when I had a few new albums to add. Same thing with the Zune software. I just never found managing a library in a media jukebox to be worth the hassle.
Everythng about the Zune is pretty, from the screen to the interface.
I also like the large album covers, and customizable backgrounds.
The software is such shit it makes me cry out to the vast expanse of the internet for an alternative.
Seriously, the program itself takes 5 minutes to setup, and it has a hard time playing media when it is up. And don't even get me started on sync issues. I've had it come up "Unable to sync" 5 times, only to have it go through in seconds on the 6th try. And sometimes it copies music to my Zune TWICE, extra annoying and eats up my space. Biggest annoyance is how it assumes what a song is by title if you copy from a CD with multiple songs by different artists (It gave me some weird Xmas song cover for a mix CD of Hot Hot Heat songs...WTF Zune).
The thing with the zune that gets me is its really poor support of podcasts. Far as I can tell it just dumps podcasts into either music or video and calls it a day. Where as iTunes will manage your podcast subscriptions and doesn't the iPod also have a podcast section keeping them out of your music and video stuff?
One other thing that I'm wondering about is Zune related gear. There doesn't seem to be a lot of it. I'd really dig a clock radio like the iHome for my bedroom and a dock to hook up to my home theater. I've seen some zune docks and speakers for it but no combined clock radio type setup.
At this point I'd imagine we'll start hearing rumblings about a new iPod soon. Part of me says wait, but if it turns out to just be the iPod part of an iPhone, it may not be worth the wait, especially if the added complexity of a touch screen boosts the price. As much as I love my Zune, it's just a solid player with a few throwaway perks and a really nice interface. The low price and need for a capacity upgrade were really the only concrete reasons I bought one. But I'm very much a "my music player is for playing music, that's it" kind of guy when it comes to mp3 players.
This has been so loudly complained about, that I'd imagine it's being worked on. Since they'd have to tweak both the software and firmware to really make it a nice implementation, I wouldn't be surprised if it's just going to be rolled into a larger update that adds a few other features.
That was the same dilemma I had before deciding on the 80 gig iPod last year. Yes, it does have a podcast section. At the time, I was thinking I would mainly use it for audio, so I wasn't too worried about its screen size.
Now that I use my iPod for quite a bit of video, having a screen like the Zune's would be really nice. I would have jumped all over the iPhone if it had more storage capacity. I use an absolute minimum of 15 Gigs on my iPod, oftentimes much much more than that, and it's so nice to have all the space. It makes a great portable hard drive too.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51