Recently I broke down and convinced myself that I needed an mp3 player. Not that I wanted one, but that I needed one. Where I go to school, practically in the middle of nowhere, we have intercollegiate swim meet bus rides that can be more than three hours. Thats three hours where I am basically stuck on a bus with nothing to do except watch whatever movie that is chosen by someone else, so I decided I would be better off (much happier) if I could watch/listen to media that I chose. Enter the Microsoft ( ! ) Zune.
I found the Zune by chance on the daily deal site Woot.com. It was refurbished but came with a one year warranty for $85.00 shipped. I found it too hard to pass up, so I bought one. Turns out, I had placed my order after they had run out of stock so they forced (?) me to wait an extra day. After a few days went by, I was sent an email from their Customer Service department stating the details about what had happened and also that I would be receiving a complementary travel pack for the pain they had caused me. Lucky me, or so I thought at the time.
The first problem occurred when I placed the CD into my relatively new computer's disk drive. The software was out of date so it said I needed to install updates. Ok, no problem. So I clicked OK and the software began its task of retrieving a newer form of itself. Halfway through the install my CPU usage dropped and it did not seem as if anything was happening so I canceled the install and tried again. Same luck, the software came to a point and then quit again. I consulted a few online forums that said I should download the software directly from the Zune site, and like a good computer user I followed suit.
Again, no luck. The software completely downloads and then locks up. Upon further Googling, I find that there is an issue with Vista compatibility in the Zune's firmware. Big deal? No, but not too amusing.
I take the Zune over to a friend's dorm, update the firmware to the latest version (on Windows XP) and return, only to find that the Zune is still incompatible with Vista because the software will still not install. The computer will recognize the Zune and prompt for a download but even after I give it the go ahead, it locks up.
If a company is going to make an mp3 player to stand up to the all-mighty iPod, it better make sure it has the support needed to allow its use. The original Zune, the one I purchased, is not that old and my computer is essentially brand new. I understand Vista has its quirks but if it is incompatible with other Microsoft products, how does that make me want to stick with their brand name? I am willing to bet I could take (probably) any generation of iPod and plug it into a brand new Mac and have it work without fuss. If there were updates that needed to be installed, they would install after I tell them to. I do not think Microsoft is a bad company, they just need to get their game together and stamp out the little issues like this.
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