How the Music Turns

Well, my Zune arrived. Cute little thing. And they sent along some extras -- the adaptor (to be able to charge it up when not near a computer) and ultra-snazzy headphones. I will play it with the headphones that com mit, to be able to comment on them.

Disclaimer: If you're just stopping by for the first time, you may want to read this post. It's some background of why I have this cute little Zune to play with.)

I am not having the problems that Raincoaster is having. She's trapped by technological issues, poor thing. The Zune needs at least Windows XP, with a minimum of Service Pack 2 installed. That second point took me a while to get myself.

So, besides it being cute, what are my first impressions?

I like the interface. Big, clear, intuitive. (Take a look at Cnet.com's review with video showing the interface.)

It annoyed me that I had to get all the updates for my Windows XP. Okay, yes, maybe I should have been on top of that, but still...

I was worried about the implications of the file sharing capabilities this thing supposedly has. You and your friend could be hanging out in a coffee shop, and using the wireless connection, you could throw a song at your friend: "Here, try this one!" Neat...and no, not stealing files. You can listen to a song received that way 3 times before it deletes itself (or something), but it will remind you to look that song up later (when hooked up to the Internet where you can buy it, of course.).

I also like that when you're playing one song, you can navigate all over the thing, browsing your songs, videos, podcasts...but it won't interrupt the song, until you hit play on something else.

More later.

Lori

The Saga Continues...

The Search for the Perfect Digital Music Player takes a new step today...

Last week, Raincoaster posted "The Swag Report", and sent me an email pointing out how I should give this a shot: fill out a brief online survey at Matchstick.ca then wait to see if you fit their profile. If so, they'll send you a Zune mp3 player to try out. I guess I fit their profile...

Since I got the call today, so soon after Canada Day, I feel I should mention that this is a promotion for the Canadian launch, so only Canadians need apply (not USians).

"What's the catch?" I can hear my loyal readers saying...Ah yes, there's always a catch. The idea is that when I receive this thing, try it out, and (hopefully, on their part) like it, I will chat it up with friends and acquaintances. And, as I clarified with the man I spoke to today, if I have problems with it, that I give them honest feedback.

It's always a danger giving stuff to bloggers -- you've got to be mighty confident of your product, and ready to stand back and let them review or not review as they see fit, as the audience will always know a sell-out. But I have absolutely no problem being honest in my praise or criticism.

I've had quite a time in my quest for the perfect digital audio player...

• I started off with a something-or-other provided by Audible.com when I signed up (about 3 years ago now?)
• I bought Metro a Samsung Yepp, which at the time was pretty high-end. He still has it and uses it happily, even though it's got the memory for 1 album's worth of music. Long lasting thing. I don't know what their new products are like, but I'll link to the site -- his has lasted since the spring of '03!)
  
• I then bought the ill-fated piece of junk, the Rio Forge (Here's Metro's blog post about our trials and tribulations with that one!)
• Then we received a video iPod (no link, too much press for that damned company already!), which had awful battery life, so I returned it for store credit. I then did my research and came up with the Archos Gmini -- a thing of beauty, albeit a little bulky. That full story is on my blog, here and here.

So now, the quest continues. I'll keep you all posted as to what I find. And in the meantime, check out the survey, maybe you'll qualify as well. Then we can try out the wi-fi file sharing between units.

Lori