Zune

I am looking to get a new mp3 player.
My previous ones have been the iRiver, and Creatize Zen W, which recently broke.
I was looking into the Zune 80 gb (version 2).
Does anyone have any experience with any of the zune products, particularly the new Zune 80 gb?
How do you like it and would you recommend it?
Any pros and cons?

I have a Zune, and I don't like it. I found the software harder to use and quite slow. I did like the player's interface. The battery life was okay. And I don't think it looks very attractive, though the newer ones look better than the older ones. I don't have any particular experience with the new 80 gig one though.

I have one and I like it.

A disclaimer - I have no part in the Microsoft vs. Apple thing. I got my zune for Christmas after the Creative Zen I first recieved froze up and died. I picked the zune on a whim (it wasn't even my initial first choice, it just happened to be next to the empty Creative Zen display) and have had it for a year and 1/2 now.

I have a 30 (first gen. 30 gb) and aside from a few things, it's relatively the same as the 4s, 8s, and 80s. Obviously, it's a little smaller in gig size and price next to the 80, but it does gets EVERY new update and feature the second generation gets. Other than that -
The 30 has an equalizer. The 4/8, & 80 have the touch pad/squircle.
The 30 has a nice thick durable outer shell. The 4 & 8 are thinner and shinier (but still durable).

Like I said before, I do like it. It has its cons, but in general it's a really good player. But since cons can be deal breakers, they are:

-All your itunes files will have to be converted. It can take a lot of time if that's where all your music comes from.

-The zune won't sync with WMP without a special hack. Instead there's a specific zune software you have to download. I will say this though, the software has come a looong way. I've been there since the beginning, and let me tell you, it's amazing now. There are still little things that might bug people, the biggest thing being the last con:

-If you link your zune to your computer, you won't be able to delete any files from your computer without it deleting from your zune as well (i.e. you rip a cd and put all the songs on your zune. You delete the songs from your PC and then they delete from your zune as well).
There is a simple walk-around this, however -- you can make your software "forget" the device, or never link it at all. Either way, you can still sync and add/drop things from your zune without it being linked. What I do is "forget my device" rip and add songs to my zune, then relink it again. It will never delete anything that's already on your zune when you link it, so you're good :3

That's it for the cons. Now my personal experience with it:

The software in general is not slow for me. It's also very user friendly now, very easy finding and editing songs. You can download it free from the zune website to see how much you like it though.

As a music and video player, the zune runs fine - probably equal to the ipod. I do like how the catagories titles scroll horizontally at the top of the screen and then the music/playlist/albums scroll vertically. If you have a zune 80 (or 4/8), the zunepad is kind of like a mouse scrolly-button - if you flick it it will scroll through the options fast and then start to slow down... nice little feature to play with it.

Continuing with the music, you can wirelessly sync your stuff onto the device. Sometimes I'll add things to the queue on my computer, then start the wireless sync while I get ready for class. The range is quite wide, so instead of sitting around waiting for it to finish, I can do what I have to do with my zune in my bag and my zune will still be syncing! When it's done, I just plug it to my fm car transmitter and go, without having to go back inside, run downstairs and get my zune.

Which brings me to the zune card. The zune card tracks what you've recently listened to, your favorite songs, and the top artist/albums you've listened to in the past month. You can send the card wirelessly from your zune or the software to your friends and they can see what you're listening to :3 If they have a Zune pass the card can actually download the songs for your friends for them to have and listen to themselves =D

If you don't want to send your card, you can always send the actual song to them wirelessly. It'll play up to 3 times before it stops working (there's also a way around that, but I don't think it's intentional...)

What else... Some people don't use the radio often, but I do. Sometimes I just get sick of my music and just want to listen to something new, and having a radio around is a plus. The radio will also work if you ever go to Europe and Asia for whatever reason (vacation, school, etc).

This might be a con to some, but instead if visualizations, when you play your music in concert mode, the background is all your cd album covers. Here's a shot of mine:
I like Three Days Grace (http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/7568/never2latekc3.png)
I just think it's different and nice. If you have more covers than squares, it changes every few seconds. In my experience, people love sitting and trying to match artists to their cd covers ^^

There are currently no 'official' games, but the last firmware update has made it possible for you to make and download them. Several people in the community have jumped at that chance! I don't think we'll be seeing about 'official' games until the zune 3 comes out later this year though.

Oh, a personal con for me is the lack of clock on the zune. I do have a watch and phone, but there was a time when my phone was decommissioned and my watch was dead, and it was horrible T_T (well, it forced me to be early where ever I went so that's a sort of pro...) Someone in the community has made one, though, so that's a new plus :tu:

So yeah... would I trade my little icy zune for an ipod or creative zen now? Nope, it's my baby. Do I recommend it? Totally, totally. Just try it, at least. You can download the software for free and use it right now. You can always return the zune if you don't like it. What have you got to lose? :)

An iPod would be great.Think about it!

Oh, a personal con for me is the lack of clock on the zune. I do have a watch and phone, but there was a time when my phone was decommissioned and my watch was dead, and it was horrible T_T (well, it forced me to be early where ever I went so that's a sort of pro...) Someone in the community has made one, though, so that's a new plus

The software update that included games included a small clock in the upper right hand corner; you may have to go to the settings to turn it on, though.

I have a 30 GB Zune (Special Halo 3 Edition...Not really aware of what gen. it is), and I love it just fine. If I drop it, it's not likely to break into 3 pieces. Not likely to break at all.

You may have a time converting videos to put onto the device, though. And if you save pictures that are put onto the device, animated ones won't show, but that's a minor price to pay.

The Software updates make it so that you needn't buy the next generation product to get the latest stuff (like APPLE). You may want to seriously invest into another pair of headphones, the Zune ones are a little odd.