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Microsoft Zune
Testing: Daily Usage
As I mentioned earlier, I used the Zune for several weeks mostly at work. I quickly got rid of the earbuds as I've never found a pair that are either comfortable or stay put. I found having access to my full collection of MP3s while working was a welcome change as I normally only have 4GB of storage to work with. The weight of the device quickly became apparent while I had it tucked in my front shirt pocket. Stashing the device in my front pants pocket partially remedied the weight issue but made it difficult to maneuver about the lab as my headphone cord was just a bit too short (my fault not the player's). Eleven hours of playback felt much shorter than I would have expected and I found leaving the player unused in my bag over the weekend resulted in a slight loss of charge, something I don't experience with my smaller SanDisk Sansa e260. Clicking through a couple hundred artists gets a little difficult but the quick scroll pop-up letter display really is a helpful feature. I quickly got used to the clicking action of the d-pad but the middle button was a bit loose and not as precise as the surrounding directional buttons. Surprisingly the nearly flush mounted play and menu buttons are responsive and easily found with fingertips. Holding down the play button will turn the device off and on, as per usual.    Overall I was most impressed with the Zune's large display. I've yet to really play with the iPod video for more than a few minutes (stayed tuned in the next few weeks, wink, wink) but I'd have to say the Microsoft screen is superior to the Apple competitor if for nothing else than the size and resistance to scratching. I've been shoving this thing into my front pocket with my car keys for the past few weeks and the screen still looks as fresh and scratch free as the day I freed it from its sienna sarcophagus. In contrast, my Sansa e260 rarely sees anything other than the inside of my shirt pocket or its protective cloth sleeve and it has many surface scratches marring the display.     Videos look better than presentable with some blocking and pixilation. Fast moving objects incur a little ghosting as well. But keep in mind I'm talking about a 3" screen with 320x240 resolution. Interestingly the iPod video displays the same resolution on a slightly smaller 2.5" screen so theoretically Apple's image quality should be just a bit sharper (again, to be determined in the near future). The preloaded "Art of Modern Rock" pictures were actually cool. I quite enjoyed the yellow-eyed evil teddy bear and used it as my background wallpaper. Images display in vivid color with good contrast and brightness and with an optional Zune video out cable, you can display your videos and pictures on your TV. So my abridged verdict thus for the brownie box is a good one. I really quite enjoyed using it as an MP3 player despite the shortened battery life and weighty feel. I'd even watch a movie or two on it. The unabridged verdict, however, is not so cut and dry.
Page 1: Introduction & First Looks
Page 2: Testing: Software Page 3: Testing: Hardware Page 4: Testing: Daily Usage Page 5: Conclusion 
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