Looking to go into Journalism and would inspire to be a Review Editor for large technology review si...
Looking to go into Journalism and would inspire to be a Review Editor for large technology review sites such as CNet or Which. Have a vivid interest in consumer electronics and any product I buy will do my best to write a detailed and Indepth review
Member since:18.10.2007
Reviews:3
Exactly 6 years ago today Apple launched their first portable media player, The First Generation iPod Classic. The idea for the Ipod came from Apples digital hub strategy. Apple started by creating software for the already growing market of digital technology such as camcorders and digital cameras but soon realised that the existing digital music players in the market back then were being classed as 'Big and Clunky' with interfaces that were 'unbelievably awful and hard to use', this break in the market is where Apple stepped in and decided to develop something of their own. This I can truthly say was one of the best decisions Apple has probably ever made! In less then a year a team of engineers designed a product which that and its successors have changed the world twice over, with a sale of over 110 million units since it was first launched.
On October 23rd 2001 the Ipod was born. The original Apple iPod gave the portable MP3 player market something new by combining a small hard drive, a unique "Mechanical Scroll Wheel" controller for easy one handed operation and simple, easy-to-useMac software called iTunes. This in Apple's eyes made it easy to manage one's music collection between the Mac and the iPod.
Six years have now slowing but surely passed and Apple has managed to no surprise due to the success it has had, launched another 5 generations of the Ipod classic model and also managed to create smaller flash memory players, known for their smaller size and appeal for a different market. These include the Ipod Mini which has now been replaced with the Ipod Nano and the low-end screen-less Ipod Shuffle. The newest model in the ever expanding iPod range is the sixth generation Ipod Classic. It comes with an 80 or 160 GB hard drive capable of supporting up to 20,000 songs or up to 40,000 songs.
Externally,
the iPod classic models are similar to the iPod Fifth Generation but are enhanced in design with a 2.5" colour LCD display but use slightly thinner cases with either a silver or black anodized aluminium front and a chromed stainless steel back, compared to white or black fronts on the previous models. Most notably the iPod classic models are the first classic iPods not to be offered in white!!
The iPod classic models also offer substantially improved battery life compared to their predecessors, 30 hours of music and 5 hours of video for the 80 GB model and 40 hours of music and 7 hours of video for the 160 GB model, compared to 14 hours of music and 3.5 hours of video for the previous 80GB model. Interface enhancements have been added including a Cover Flow option for selecting albums. Three games are bundled as well, iQuiz, Klondike, and Vortex. The RRP price of the new Sixth generation with a minimum hard drive of 80 GB starts at the same price as the older Fifth generation 30 GB model. Far better value for money you will agree and with the interface improvement and new anodised case, is this yet again going to dominate as the best HDD Music player on the market. Will Apple ever step down and let someone else have a turn!
It seems no digital music player over the past 6 years has even come close to dominating the market like Apple has. 20GB and 30GB players from manufactures such as Creative, iRiver, Samsung, and Sony have all tried their hardest to design a product which will someway compete with the Ipod by having the right combination of usability, style, and compact size and try and knock it off the top spot. Apple's 30GB iPod still provides the lowest cost per gigabyte at £6, followed by Creative's Zen Vision:M at £7. The Creative Zen in my mind has been the closest competitor yet, the Zen Vision:M has a few more features (i.e., personal organizer, recorder, more song storage, more hours of video, and an FM tuner) than the iPod but Creative couldn't get the price to compete with Apple and overall affected sales. Don't get me wrong the Vison:M is a great product and many people still today believe its ten times better then the Ipod. So it may be with its extra features and better video playback but it didn't create that spark and provide enough style and elegance that will lure 90% of the US market alone to switch from their ultrasleek Ipod's.
This could be until now!!
Back on November 14th 2006 Microsoft brought out a brand of digital music players called ZUNE. The players came in 3 colours, Black, Pearl White and Rich Brown, had a 30gb HDD, 3" LCD Screen and offered the playback of music and videos, the ability to view pictures, FM radio and also on a limited bases share files wirelessly with the Xbox 360 and other Zune players. Cases are made from silicone rubber and feature what is known as a doubleshot effect. This is produced by painting the inside of the case a different colour then the outside. The two-tone look is quite impressive and looks great. Controls are not touch-sensitive like the iPod but offer a circular controller with four buttons for direction as well as a middle button to select a song etc. The user interface is definitely the Zune's strong point. intuitive, easy to use, and really pleasant to look at. What also makes the interface great are the controls. Touch interfaces can be obnoxious and inaccurate, so hopefully Microsoft will continue to use clickable buttons in future Zune generations. The Wi-Fi is a feature Microsoft wanted to have on the Zune, but they never decided to develop any significant uses for it. However, it is a work in progress. Other wireless features will be added as new versions of firmware are released, but at present there is not too much to get excited about, After all Firmware updates can only do so much. As of now you can only use the wireless feature to transfer photos and music. Photo sharing luckily is unrestrained; you are free to do whatever you want once you receive images. Transferring music though is another story. Music transferred to another Zune can only be played 3 times or for 3 days, whichever comes first. There is no doubt that the Zune's wireless feature is weak and underdeveloped and probably only added on the release model to prove a point that it has something the iPod doesn't. But over time I believe it will come around to something momentous. For instance, a tie-in with Microsoft's Live and Xbox 360 would be something convincing. However, I don't think that the wireless feature will be anything substantial until the second-generation Zune, The Zune we see today is just the beginning. The Zune was deemed the Ipod Killer and if Microsoft wanted to get it right the Zune couldn't just be as good as the iPod. It had to be substantially better. It had to offer evident and direct benefits over Apple's system and it had to be cheaper. With Microsoft's own subscription service (Zune Marketplace), a bigger 3" screen that even the new Ipod Classic didn't howse, unique wireless features and a built-in FM tuner, Microsoft had hopes they had succeeded. Sadly things didn't quite work out as planned. The Zune is not only bigger, heavier and offers worse battery life then the sixth generation iPod, it costs the same! The Zune does not run on Mac systems and is also incompatible with music sold from the iTunes Store as well as all of the Windows Media-based online services, hardly going to win over the iPod fans there. Despite Microsoft's heavy marketing, launching several campaigns to so call jumpstart the Zune. A 60 Million campaign was unleashed with the theme, 'Welcome to the Social' and 'Music the way it wants to be' sales of the Zune did not make an impact on sales of the iPod. I can only assume that the 'Welcome to the Social' wording printed on the side of every Zune packaging is supposed to refer to the wonderful wireless capabilities of the device, enabling users to share photos and music wirelessly with other Zune users. Sadly though not only does the phrase diminish the Zune with users questioning that in this iPod dominated world, will this feature really come in useful but due to DRM transferred songs can only be played 3 times or left on the device for a maximum of 3 days. Hardly worth it you might think! But like I said earlier this is only the beginning for Microsoft, while Apple got it right near enough straight away, remember they had literally no competitors at launch of their first generation iPod, I remain optimistic because I see the Zune following the same development route as the Xbox with slow but steady firmware and hardware improvements. I can only see with a corporation like Microsoft, the Zune will only get better with time. During launch week the Zune was the second most sold portable media device and ranked 7/10 on Amazons top 10 best selling MP3 players. But with the success of the ipod over the last 6 years it had a long way to catch up. The main reason the Zune didn't work from the very start was because of the Digital Rights Management it had. Protected music purchased from or rented from Itunes, Napster, Rhapsody and any other online media service would not play on the Zune. What an earth were Microsoft thinking trying to persuade the 90% market of Ipod users in the US to switch to the Zune when literally their whole collection of music would not be compatible with the player. The overall problem with the Zune is for the same price as Apples mainstream product it only provides the most basic functionality and features one can get from the iPod. The few noteworthy features which the Zune does have, if not flawed should infact bring it to a close contender with the iPod. Sadly until Microsoft gets enough backing and starts to contend with the massive iPod ecosystem, sadly these features are just ineffective and not worthwhile. With the IPods additional features, a choice of generations, a choice of thousands of accessories and add-ons, access to online store with huge collections of music, movies, TV shows, music videos and podcasts at the moment sadly it will just be you and your Zune. 'Welcome to the Social', more like, 'Welcome to going it on your own'. If Microsoft learn by their mistakes and take into account the current flaws with the first generation Zune and rectify them we could see the next generation of Zune being a hugely close contender to the iPod system. All we know at the moment is the Zune 2 will include a 80 GB HDD and will initially only be available in Black.
Hardware Differences from the Zune 30 GB are 27% smaller a 14% larger screen and 20% lighter overall. All good on paper it seems.
The Zune 2 will have Wireless sync: wirelessly updates content on the device when it is within range of the PC with the Zune Collection on it, or on the same wireless network. It will have expanded wireless send capabilities. You can now keep a track for three plays and send a track you have been sent, to other Zune owners. Not a great improvement you may think, but at least were getting somewhere with the Digital Management Rights. Lossless playback will be supported on every Zune as well as Podcasting - that is, automatic RSS based subscription to both audio and video podcasts via Zune Marketplace and you will also be able to sync your Vista Media Centre TV content to your Zune and watch it on the go. Where Apple has taken six generations to get it right, can Microsoft do it in two. All I can say is potential customers today you're going to have to wait and boy am I waiting!
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The other one must of been deleted because I can't see it anymore. Great review. Good detail! xx
Bollinger28 18.10.2007 12:24
Sorry but it's against the rules on Ciao to post the same review in different categories. I realise you possibly didn't realise this, but if you email Ciao (info.uk@ciao-uk.com) they can remove this duplicate for you.
Advantages: sharing with friends, ease of use, price Disadvantages: wireless feature limited, size, available in the US only, horrible software (not any more)
FirstToTry 15.12.2007 (15.12.2007)
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Review of Microsoft Red Zune 30GB
Advantages: You may send music to you friends wirelessly & has a built in radio & long battery life Disadvantages: Syncing is very slow for movies, especially if it is not with the right format
rs_2_trader 16.12.2008 (16.12.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Microsoft Red Zune 30GB
Advantages: You may send music to you friends wirelessly & has a built in radio & long battery life Disadvantages: Syncing is very slow for movies, especially if it is not with the right format
rs_2_trader 16.12.2008 (16.12.2008)
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Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Microsoft Red Zune 30GB
Oct 18th, 2007
very helpful by (100%):
