Zune 4, Zune 8
They are impossibly small. The pixel density is amazing. The device fits in your hand really well. The Zune pad gives you plenty of room and the button placement makes navigating easy, even when you aren’t looking at it. The radio gets great reception. The double shot is more subtle then the Zune 30’s but it gives the device a richness that is almost indescribable. The display was bright and could be set at high, medium, or low. Photos look really good on flash Zunes. I couldn’t tell if the pictures had been downscaled. Regardless, they looked great.
Zune 80
Cesar had to pull some strings to get the Zune 80 at the event and as a result there were some ground rules. Mainly no close up pictures or video. It was a pre-release unit. Cesar said that the color wasn’t exactly the same as the release unit. The glass screen looks amazing. The interface pops! No lag in the UI at all. Both pictures and video look amazing. The default background is really cool. The device is luxurious. The metal back is matte and showed no fingerprints even after being passed around the table a few times. The player feels really solid and well built. I would have liked to take more photos of the Zune 80 but we didn’t want to scoop anyone.
Zune 30
The new firmware looks awesome and works great but lacks some of the same magic that you get with the Zune pad. There is no doubt in my mind that Zune 30 owners will be happy with the upgrade but so much of the experience, for me, is wrapped up in the Zune pad. The firmware update will go live on November 13th.
Check out the rest of the photos here.
I’ll post about some of the other features later this afternoon. Also feel free to ask any questions. Who knows? Your question might remind me of something I learned last night.
Hey, thanks for the info! I don’t know if you’ve seen the little cardboard-pamphlet versions of the flash Zune at Target stores, but I’m guessing that they’re the same size as the actual device? If so, that’s amazingly small. Wow.
I forgot to ask in the previous blog post, but what did you think of the green Zune 4/8?
cool…what is the menu layout for Zune 80 ?
Did you get into Settings ?
With the new firmware on the Zune30, does it run about as fast as on the Zune80 minus any expected benefits you would get from the new hardware?
Were you able to see if there is an audible alert when another zune is attempting to send something to you?
Cool. Did you notice that when scrolling down the Album list on Cesar’s Zune that it shaked quite a bit? I could literally feel it in my hands as if it were one of those fuzzy things with the ball tied to them.
@Ranger The green is awesome. The color was lighter then I thought it would be.
@Kaiser I could see no difference in speed on the players. The Zune 30, Zune 80, flash Zune all run at the same speed. No lags at all.
@Jaxim I didn’t get a chance but no one mentioned it.
@Eddie I scrolled through 4 album lists on 5 different Zunes (4 Zune 4/8s, 1 Zune 80) and noticed no shaking at all. That issue might have been related to an earlier pre-release unit.
Thats it. I’m preordering!
Why no photos of Zune 80? Haven’t some photos and videos already been released?
sk- Cesars models wasn’t the release version of the Zune80.
As such it was really hard for him to even allow us to see it since it was a pre-production model.
Also you can see the Zune80 (albeit blurry) in one of the pictures above. It’s the black Zune.
Great pics! Thanks man how heavy was the Zune 4? As heavy as the Zune 8? I heard that Zune 4 is identical to the Zune 8 except for a software lock that locks the user out of 4gb of capacity. So they are probably the same wight
MrDiggs, I’d have to say you should take that rumor with a grain of salt.
I haven’t looked into it personally, but to be honest that would make no sense.
The only times you’ll see things like this happening would be in the case of (using this purely as an example) the PS3.
The PS3 has 8 cores to the Cell, but only 7 are enabled.
The reason why is that Sony designed the PS3 to have 7 working units but when they looked at their average failure in manufacturing they added an 8th just in case one didn’t work. If all 8 work then they just disable one of them.
Now with flash memory this theory just doesn’t hold true. Flash memory is such a proven technology that there’s no need for artifically limiting a system.
If it were true then all one would have to do is dump the firmware from a Zune8 and flash the Zune4 with it.
That would dispel the rumor pretty quickly when it still sees just the 4GB of flash memory.
Now as for how heavy they are. They are fairly light, but they feel pretty solid when you hold them. I’m the type of guy that I hate small devices because of the size of my hands.
I can barely work my wifes LG Chocolate because of the design of the wheel, but I can work the Zune4/8 just fine.
It’s funny because it’s almost the same exact size as the Chocolate, just thinner and the Zune Pad is much easier to navigate.
I want to know more about the Zune pad. Does the flicking feature work in any direction or does it have to be a horizontal or vertical flick?
Keith–I found that the flick worked best up and down and left and right. You can still depress it like a traditional d-pad or press it in to select. I’d need a bit more time to actually get more familiar with it.
does it support asian characters?
Keith- It’s a 4 directional pad whether it is in touch mode or being used as a standard d-pad.
That being said it is very responsive once you get used to the way it feels, which is pretty quick actually.
For instance if I move right and down it will move down and to the right. I can do this all in one easy motion and it will follow.
Can you adjust the size of the font that’s used for the navigation? Even though it’s a thin font I don’t like the idea of my graphic being covered like that.
Also will there be any other colours to choose from in the Zune80. even thought I will be able to enjoy the new firmware in my first gen Zune, brown… I can’t wait to get the new one, please Microsoft add more colours.