Zune vs iPod on 30G

So... the war of apple vs microsoft continues, now in mp3 players. Since everybody knows ipod let me introduce my zune from microsoft(thanks uncle Rene for the christmas gift, also to Wit who ship it from NY all the way to SG). I am also writing this blog review for my friend in Jason working for Deltek(o ayan ha special mention).

Packaging: I think, zune packaging (microsoft in general) is improving, well i can compare with the package of iPod. Zune packaging looks cool, like you are opening a nokia/macbook package. Well, for this i give point to zune. In addition zune comes in white, black and brown (I dont know why microsoft decided to have this color, I personally dont like it), while ipod is in white or black.

Size and Weight: Zune is basically larger than ipod. For the Volume=LxWxH in standing position, zune has 0.58x2.4x4.4 while ipod has 0.43x2.4x4.1 making zune heavier than ipod by 0.8 ounce (ipod weight = 4.8 ounce). I go for ipod for the size and weight and i guess this is what matters most for mp3 users (3 points!).

Price: Well, zune is about the same price as ipod. Zune costs 250USD while ipod costs 249USD, what is $1 difference? I give no point for this since it does not matter for a dollar off.

Screen/Resolution: Zune has 3" screen size while ipod has 2.5" diagonal screen, what is this diagonal screen anyway? Both has 320x240px resolution. Whats good with big screen? Well, you can watch movie with a bigger screen now and bigger artist/album clipart. Another thing is that zune screen has a horizontal display mode for viewing movies in a wide aspect ratio. Therefore, I zune gets the point for this.

Connectivity. Both uses USB to charge and sync music with a computers. One additional connectivity in zune is the WIFI (802.11b/g) which enable one zune user to another to share zune music and pictures, and can access it 3 times in 3 days. Question is, what is I am the only zune user in our place? Anyhow zune has an advantage for connectivity.

FM Tuner: Yes! Zune has built-in FM tuner. So if user is sick and tired of listening to the same mp3 music he can listen to any FM station. Ipod only supports mp3, AAC, AIFF and WAV; while zune supports, in addition to FM tuner, mp3, AAC and WMA. Well for most of us and those not into techie stuff, the commonly used are AAC and mp3 for a mp3 player in the market. For this audio type zune has an advantage mainly because of FM tuner.

Earphones. Both zune and ipod earphones are wired, with stereo output. The difference is zune earphones has magnet, making the earphones in order when not in used, unlike ipod the wires may form a knot if not properly arranged when not in used. The only thing I dont understant is that, the earphones color does not match with the zune unlike ipod? For instance, I have white zune, but my earphones are in black.... =(. Anyhow color does not matter to me as long as I can have an organized mp3 player. So,who got it? Zune!

OS Portability. Well ipod have this, for the fact that you can organize files (audios, movies, and photos) in ipod with itunes for bothe Windows and Mac. On the other hand, for now, zune is only ported in Windows; although, there are some application like XNJB for creative that can get info from zune but without permission to copy and write files to zune. Too bad, hopefully microsoft people will be able to port zune in mac, by providing it in their zune software. How will mac users like it? (oppps im a mac user too hehehe).

Battery Life. With wireless off we can expect a 14 hours of music playback at 128Kbps, 3.5 hours for video playback, and 4.5 hours when running a slide show. While for ipod, music playback time is 14 hours, slideshow with music viewing time up to 4 hours, and video playback time of 4 hours. I just hope microsoft will release the fix for their zune.

Dock Connector: Well, for now zune does not have dock connector included in the package. Charging is made directly through a USB cable wire, unlike ipod you nees a dock. But which is handy? now that depends on the users preferences.

File Types Support. Ipod basically supports many audio type and also supports BMP picture type unlie zune (but who wants BMP files? over JPEG?). Anyhow ipod has an advantage of this.

Market Place: Zune has zune marketplace, wherein users can have unlimited downloads for $14.99 USD??? (wow). Ipod has iTunes but does not cater unlimited downloads. Zune has a greater flexibility on purchasing audio files from the internet.

With all the differences and alike, I am not promoting you to buy zune nor ipod, it depends on you, whatever you are comfortable with. This review of zune and ipod on 30G is in my own opinion and may varies per user, and these are all facts and valid at this time. Surely, an apple user will always have apple products for syc and compatibility, as well as for microsoft users. But if you go for size, go for ipod, if you like sharing and FM tuner with wider screen, go for zune. For some like me it does not matter as long as there are ways to get along with, ill just keep in mind that possibilities are infinite (waaa!!! fujitsu hahaha).