New Zunes @ NYC Event: What I found out

[jaxim]

I just went to the NYC Zune event that Caesar, from ZuneInsider, was hosting.  At the event you could have as many drinks and orderves you wanted all on Microsoft's dime. (Caesar seemed especially to like the crab cakes.) But most importantly yesterday evening, Caesar was showing a number of Zune 4s and one Zune 80. So here are my in-person impressions.


I wasn't crazy about the Red Zune 4 glossy "lipstick" finish. It seemed like it wouldn't be as durable as the doubleshot of the Zune 30. Caesar related a story of some US soldiers who emailed him about how they love how "solid" the Zune 30s are. The soldiers were stationed in Afghanistan who took a picture of their doubleshot Zune30 with machines guns and a hummer, which are all pretty durable equipment.  I'm afraid that some of the Zunes may not be as durable. The green Zune4 wasn't as glossy and it wasn't as prone to smudges like the red version, so it may have seemed more durable. But it still didn't SEEM as durable as the doubleshot finish. (I could be wrong.)

Overall, I was very please with what I saw. The best thing was the zune pad. From the videos, you many not be able to tell that the pad is actually a button, not just a trackpad. I had originally thought that you could click on the zunepad like a laptop trackpad and it would register as a tap. That's thankfully not the case, The pad is also a movable button. You can turn off the touch feature and use the zunepad exactly like how you use the current Zune button. It is this feature, that I think will make the Zune80 beat the iPod80 and possibly have the zune4 and zune8s beat the Nano4 and Nano8s.

Below are some of questions I had about the new firmware that I got answered and I thought I'd shared them with Zunerama.

 

-  Are there any other extras? i.e. games, contacts, notes, etc?
Currently there isn't. Sorry. That also means no Zune Clock. I even specially asked Caesar this, (just as a joke).

 

- Can we finally delete files from the Zune w/o the need to use our computer to delete stuff from the Zune
No! :-(

 
- Can the Zune be used as a external storage space: i.e. plug-n-play style?
No

 
- Can we zoom more than once into a photo? Would be great for maps
No, you can still only zoom just once

 
- Video thumbnails?
Yes! You can now see thumbnails of your songs and your videos

 

- View photos by tags?
No.

 
- Will the new firmware update allow you to cross fade your music so it sounds like a radio station - like how Windows Media Player can do?
No

 

If you have your wireless off and you try to send something (a song) will it ask you to turn on the wireless instead of telling you to turn it on under settings?
Yes

 

 

[Ricardo Dawkins]

great...cameras weren't allowed ?

[Zune-Meister]

you didn't comment on the look and 'feel' of the finish of the 80gb model.  Any details there?

[bunnybash]

no news on the amount of colours the screens can show??

[jaxim]

>you didn't comment on the look and 'feel' of the finish of the 80gb model.  Any details there?
The finish of the zune80 was similar to the green zune4. It was made out of scratch resistant matte finish metal. The screen was glass and not plastic. The material COULD prove to be as durable as the Zune30s, but I think time will tell on that subject.


>no news on the amount of colours the screens can show??
One of the other attendees did ask about available color. However, I'm not that technical so I didn't retain that info. I heard something about 520 or 580 mentioned on the subject. I'm not sure though. All I know is that the screen looked pretty sweet. Of course I think the current Zune30 screen looks good too.

[jaxim]

>great...cameras weren't allowed ?

Yes they were allowed, and Caesar and a few other attendees even took a few photos. But no spy videos were taken if that's what you're asking. I'm didn't even think of taking any.

[segadc]

Thanks. I am sure other people went there from zunerama so we will get more info.  Lets be patient everyone.

[swanlee]

Any idea when the new firmware will be out for the Zune30's and when the new marketplace is coming out? I would suspect it would be out a little bit before the Zune80 Launch

[pinksage]

awesome! i will link on my article aswell

http://generationzune.net/?p=452

[thenumberdevil]

awesome! i will link on my article aswell

Your article mentions new "loveit-hateit" rating system ... yuck! this is a regression to the "5-star" rating system.

I this is true ... I hope it is only on the device!

[pinksage]

yeah, I was told that Cesar said people might relate to this better.

[JIGGY24]

I was at the event too in t NYC with Ceasar. from ZuneInsider. I thought i was was the only one there from the Zunerama. Anyway jaxim did a nice review already so i wont have to write to much. Once we were there we Cesar only had the Flash zunes and not the ZUNE 80!!!.

We where all disappointed by that. I cam from NJ just to test out the Zune 80. Ceasar said his friend had it that wasnt at the event. But, 2 hours later his friend came by and gave him his Zune 80 back with the Batter dead. Good thing I had had my charge and cord with me. We wasn't able to find a outlet but i just used Ceasar laptop to charge the Zune 80.

Zune4/8

This Zunes are very cool!! The Gui is very Fast, the Zune pad is very responsive. The screen is jsut gorgous, and i know alot of people was company thats its .2 inch smaller then the ipod nano. I thought that I wouldn't like the black boarder that the Zune 4/8 has. But it was weird Becuse, once you srat playing with the Zune you dont even notice the black boarder. The screen is very sharp and clear.

Zune 80

WOW, the GUI is very fast the and Zune pad works outstanding as well. The new firmware is very nice, you will notive that the album art is just a little bigger on the new firmware. It doesnt have gaps in between the albums like our ZUNE 30 has now. Also, when you are in the albums section and you click on a album, you can see the album arts of the albums on the top of screen of and the Zune 30 you would only see the name of the album on the top of screen.

The screen was bright, but I didn't like that i was able to see the pixels more. Still has 65k colors too.

ZMP

The new ZMP is very NICE, Simple, and has a nice split screen when you are looking for albums that you have and albums on the podcast. Personally I think they did a really nice job with the the ZMP and i cant wait to check it out on Nov 13

Overall I think the new Zunes are kick ass. I dont know if they are as durable as the first Zunes. Because the red flash zune has a glossy finsh, that shows your finger prints. Also put glass screen you have to clean more to keep it clean.

[JIGGY24]

awesome! i will link on my article aswell

Your article mentions new "loveit-hateit" rating system ... yuck! this is a regression to the "5-star" rating system.

I this is true ... I hope it is only on the device!

I didint like the new rating system either. A heart if you love it, and a broken heart if you dont. I wish there was a way to choose what rating system you want to use. Hope they give us the ablity to do that. Becuase you can organize you collection better with a 5 star rating, then a love or hate rating.

[segadc]

I do not use the Star system but it is better then this current system. If you do not like it then you would delete it already.

[Heatwave316]

Did Cesear happen to mention if we would be seeing the Zune80 in new colors anytime soon?