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New Zune HD


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Anyone else can't wait for the Zune HD to come out? I've been wanting a portable web browser with music/video playing capabilities without having to use iTunes for a long time.

In case people don't know what it is, it's like an iPod Touch, with less/crappier apps, at least initially, but has HD radio and a better screen. Prices are estimated to be around 250 for the base 16 gig model and maybe 100 more for the 32 gig version.

There's rumors about a trade-up program Microsoft might be setting up where you can trade your old Zunes for credit for new ones. I'd love for that to come to fruition since I have an old 30GB I don't use much anymore.

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Anyone else can't wait for the Zune HD to come out? I've been wanting a portable web browser with music/video playing capabilities without having to use iTunes for a long time.

If you jailbreak your iPod Touch, it's possible to upload files without using iTunes. Also, considering how bad Zune software is, I wouldn't put too much hope on the new software being better than iTunes.

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From what I've been hearing the main reason to look at these is the screen. I've not seen one in person of course, but it appears to be a big improvement from the poor screen on the iPhone/iPod Touch. Deeper black levels and a wider gamut. I'm hoping Apple makes the jump to better screens too in the near future.

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I admit a lot of my interest is due to the possible trade-up offer by Microsoft and the fact that everyone and their mother has an iPod (for good reason, I admit).:P The Zune software wasn't too terrible for me and thankfully not bloated like iTunes, although some things were extremely frustrating, like being unable to rename tracks/artists and even the occasional inability for the Zune database to recognize albums for the tracks I uploaded. It's true that I could just jailbreak an iPod Touch, I suppose. The screen is a 3.3" OLED, 480 x 272 pixels, which is much improved from previous models, and it seems the UI on the Zune itself is nice and easy to use. Also, nVidia's Tegra chip is in there, which both makes the Zune faster than the Touch and intelligently conservative with battery usage as well. Microsoft has to make a product better than the iPod Touch to even make a small dent in Apple's sales, and I think it's certainly trying very hard to achieve that.

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480 x 272, that strikes me as being a rather shitty screen size to deal with.

It's widescreen aspect ratio, 16:9. The Touch's is 480 x 360. So when you're watching movies it's the same size, but is otherwise smaller. I think it's reasonable, for a smaller form factor as well. And yeah, it outputs 720p.

A pic of its internal memory, WM8350, and headphone out:

zunehdinfccpicture12rme.jpg

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The Touch's screen size is 480 x 320 not 360.

Sorry the size comment was more me just thinking out loud, the size overall is probably fine just a bit awkward to design for. Not nearly as horrendous as some mobile screens though, seriously, 128 x220, how the hell do you do anything with something like that. :P

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Oops, my bad. 320 would make a lot more sense.

Another thing to consider is the HD Radio receiver, which I'm quite interested in. Better sound quality than FM, free, and certainly helps when you only have 16GB or 32GB to work with in storage space. You can also tag the songs you hear and like for later purchase. I know I made plenty use of the radio function on my 30GB Zune when I was still regularly using it... it had really great reception.

And I shall now shut up about the HD until it comes out.

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