Zune field test: report from an uncontrolled snowboarder

[Zunerama Ed.]

From the Zunerama blog:

Today I took my Zune (and my two daughters and one of their friends) with me on a snowboarding trip to Mount Baker - our local ski hill and, incidentally, home of the world's record for most snowfall in a season (95 feet, no less). Over the course of the day, I put the Zune through a field test of its battery performance, temperature tolerance, and its ability to withstand an unintentional bounce or two.



Battery. My Zune's battery workout started at 7:30am when we loaded up the Sienna and started the 90-minute trip to the hill. I don't have the Zune car pack, so I ran the Zune on its battery (fully charged when we left), and connected it to the car stereo via my Griffin cassette adapter. One hour and a half of play, on the way.

Then I ran it for two hours on the hill, as I snowboarded while the girls took downhill ski lessons. After the lessons, we boarded for another two hours, but I didn't run the Zune then. (Don't like being plugged in when I'm skiing with a group.)

Heading home, we played the Zune through the car stereo for another 90 minutes. At day's end, the Zune had logged 5 hours, which included a lot of player activity (volume adjustment, and navigation based on song requests from the tired threesome in the back of the van). When we got home, the battery still showed three bars out of four. I don't know if I have a magic battery or not, but this certainly exceeded my expectations.

Temperature tolerance. Temperatures on the mountain were not severe - about 28 degrees Fahrenheit. As I expected, the Zune's operations and responsiveness were just as good as its room-temperature behavior.

Wipe-out resilience. I had a few minor spills, and one pretty jarring wipeout that had me wondering how well my Zune had survived.

The Zune was strapped to my left arm with DLO's Action Jacket, and I had picked up speed to get up an approaching slope. "Layla" was blasting in my earphones, probably inspiring me to push it a bit.

Somehow I caught an edge and flipped forward into the hardpack, landing on the left side of my chest and my left arm, with my Zune taking part (but not all) of the impact. Yikes! I brushed off the snow - the Action Jacket does not completely enclose the player - and the player was fine, and still playing. Whew. I'll be stiff in the morning, but at least I won't be blaming Clapton for causing damage to my favorite little tech toy.

[GK86]

Good to hear it passed those tests.  Here in NY its been cold and I didn't get any problems.

[Jander]

That's a nice pic, in fact many of your pictures you've taken for reviews are top notch. What camera are ya using if ya don't mind me asking?

[Sw0rdf1sh]

Nice info.   I'm taking it you didn't have wireless on?

Glad to hear it didn't suffer from "The agony of defeat".

[Zunerama Ed.]

That's a nice pic, in fact many of your pictures you've taken for reviews are top notch. What camera are ya using if ya don't mind me asking?

Thanks Jander. It's an HP 850, 4 megapixel. It's not as portable as I'd like, but I was sold on its 8x optical zoom, and have been pretty happy with it.

[pulse]

I wish we were getting more snow here in upstate ny.  I went to the slopes the other day and the terrain park wasn't open yet...  So i actually had to snowboard on regular trails.    We ended up building a kicker on one of the trails, so it wasn't too bad.  Good to hear your zune survived btw.  lol

[Zunerama Ed.]

Nice info.   I'm taking it you didn't have wireless on?

Glad to hear it didn't suffer from "The agony of defeat".

I did have wireless on, but no takers. I did have one kid - maybe 12 years old - ask me about it in the lift line. He said he'd been wanting one and asked how I liked it. I told him the truth... I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

[DaN]

YAY! I went boarding today also. Too bad I left my zune in the car while i was on the hill. 

[Zunerama Ed.]

YAY! I went boarding today also. Too bad I left my zune in the car while i was on the hill. 

I found having the Zune on my arm with the Action Jacket really worked well. I'd rather use a flash-based Zune for snowboarding, or running... but for now this worked just fine.

[zuneamama]

While, you, your Zune, and your girls were way up on Mt. Baker snowboarding, I was way down south biking around with my little trooper.  No falls or any mishaps, just an enjoyable ride around.  Probably a clip on case or armband would be more partical and safe but I already know from a previous situation my Zune is tough!  Now I guess I'll have to put a watch on next time and keep up with the battery usage. 

[Zunerama Ed.]

I think it's good for our Zunes to get fresh air regularly.