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20 reasons why the Microsoft Zune is better than the Apple iPod
By Vito Cassisi, 26/9/2008 2:07:04

Many audiophiles believe that Apple’s iPod range aren’t the best media players on the market with sub-par audio quality and limited functionality. While fancy, they are fairly basic with inflated prices. The iPod’s popularity is fuelled by fashionistas and passionate Apple fans but also by consumers that get caught up in the hype – buying Apple because it’s ‘cool’. The Microsoft Zune aims to change this, and to an extent, they already have. We’ve extracted the top 20 reasons why we believe the Zune is the better choice in the media player war.


20. Wi-Fi
The Zune was the first to implement Wi-Fi in their portable media player. Wi-Fi allows Zune users to exchange music and photos with other Zune devices, as well as to download media from the Zune store when connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot. It is also possible to sync your media wirelessly to a PC via the supported 802.11a/g protocols.

19. File sharing
Sharing the love is what humans do.  Capitalising on the popularity of peer-to-peer networks, the Zune can share music and photos with people within a 9 meter range via Wi-Fi. The downside is that the music is sent with a 3 day use limit enforced by dynamically attached DRM. Despite this, it allows peers to share their interest in music, not to mention it ultimately supports the music industry.

18. Bigger screens
Video playback is only enjoyable when the screen is large enough to see the image clearly, without straining your eyes. Fortunately, the Zune screen is large enough to fit the frame of the player, making it easier to view from a distance. The resolution of the screen is on par with the iPod, making its size a key selling point.

17. FM Radio
Most would consider FM radio as an essential (and expected) feature of any media device. Nonetheless, Apple omitted this basic feature while the Zune, despite being similar in size to the iPod range, managed to fit it in nicely.

16. Preloaded Games
There are times when one needs a distraction. Whether to procrastinate, entertain or to unleash those trigger-happy urges, the Zune provides the goods. Texas Hold ‘Em and Hextic are pre-installed, while tools such as the XNA toolkit allow developers to port games to the Zune as well.

15. Unlimited downloads
Zune’s Marketplace offers users a pay by month subscription which lets them download unlimited music. This is excellent for those who love their music, but don’t want to spend a fortune.

14. Social networking
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Comments
Principessakika
Very good points! As the owner of a gen1red30, I would have to agree with everything expressed here. I even bought an iPod Shuffle just to have an idea of what it would be like to deal with... Where is it now? Somewhere on a shelf, lol.
9/29/2008 3:58:08 PM
that's about right
Thought this would be another Microsoft vs Apple thing, but you're on the money son, nice.
9/29/2008 4:24:27 PM
Alan
The one big downside to the Zune is the confusing implementation of their "sync" capability. Songs that are deleted from the orginal PC directory are automatically deleted from the Zune when it is plugged back into that computer. My niece kept losing all her music when she plugged in her Zune to the family computer using an account other than hers (as her mom gave her a very restricted account). I had to do some serious research on the internet to find out how the sync process worked.
9/29/2008 5:38:39 PM
James
As a Zune owner let me be the first to say, there is no mic in the zune and no line in recording... Already had this comment deleted once, but i will keep posting it...
9/29/2008 10:55:06 PM
wombat
Wow, this article is full of false statements and half-truths. If that's the best you could come up with, why did you even bother to write anything?
9/30/2008 12:48:07 AM
wombat
Wow, this article is full of false statements and half-truths. If that's the best you could come up with, why did you even bother to write anything?
9/30/2008 1:00:30 AM
Dave Jansen
Hey James, your original comment about the microphone was only deleted because it was no longer relevant to the article since the error was oorrected. As always, we welcome feedback about articles on gadgetzone.
9/30/2008 11:43:06 AM
Anonymous Coward
You know, the iPod has preinstalled games too...
9/30/2008 5:14:35 PM
Anonymous Coward
Okay so apparently you just deleted my comment too. I'd like to reiterate a few things. First, the iPod comes preinstalled with three games, which is more than the two found on the Zune. Second, dimensions wise the iPod is about 9% smaller than the Zune, which is the same ratio of the weight difference, yet that isn't mentioned? Thirdly, they both have identical RRPs in the US of $249 for the 120GB version. No price different there.
9/30/2008 5:30:06 PM
Anonymous Coward
And now my comment reappears, how bizarre.
9/30/2008 5:30:59 PM
Phil
or you jumped to a conclusion?
9/30/2008 7:03:11 PM
Chicken McNobody
About the price thing, yes they are the same price with the same ammount of storage, but yo uhave to pay $30 bucks more to get an FM tuner on an iPod. So you are getting more for your money right there, there are other features that could be thrown in as well, but this is the most relevant.
10/1/2008 2:43:33 AM
Matty
I own a Zune80 and I live in Melbourne. After using the Zune for 2 months, I'm actually quite frustrated with it. It cannot play multidisc compilations properly, cannot repeat single songs, no video playlists, a sub par battery life without wifi, they got rid of the quicklist and u couldnt even transfer that list to your computer anyway and editing metadata on the zune software is so basic and the most painful thing to do, especially with a large music library. Also that big screen isnt that flash when the resolution is still at 320x240 with 65k colours, you can see individual pixels too easily. Basic functions when it comes to the music/video experience are lacking in the zune but are found in the ipod... But the Zune has made music discovery and listening to my music more enjoyable, it just needs a few more tweaks to be great.
10/1/2008 3:46:44 AM
Andy
I am looking for anything other than Ipod. Have used Ipod for 3 years and I am sick of it. Other players have more features, and quality of sound and video sucks on Ipod. They are ripping people off...! I am willing to try Zune, Creative, or Sansa.
10/1/2008 5:45:49 AM
BeautifulZune
Nice article. A few points are off though. First, the iPod does come with games. Second, I believe I read somewhere that MS is not going to be bundling premium headphones with the 3rd gen Zunes and going forward. The reason being that those who care are going to buy something else anyway.
10/1/2008 5:53:36 AM
wetworker
Welcome to the social, I’m glad people are finally seeing the value in the zune, we early adopters knew that two years ago. …Haduken!!
10/1/2008 7:19:04 AM
Lucas
No mention of the Zune Pass? Its what sold me!
10/1/2008 9:40:17 AM
Brian
Sorry, but I think this meets the definition of EPIC FAIL. FM tuner? Really? You're probably one of the types who wouldn't buy a G1 because it doesn't have a 3.5mm headphone jack.
10/1/2008 1:20:13 PM
Jon
I won a zune in a random drawing a few years ago, and was pleasently suprised. The UI is significantly better than the ipods (In my opinion), and I definately prefer the zune music organizer to the ipods (although itunes has some nice playlist creation features). The comment about sincing issues was dead on though. There were a couple of times where I would delete a folder that would have a song or two buried in it, and the next time I plugged in my zune, the song got earased. Not a huge deal once you know about it, but a bit frustrating.
10/1/2008 2:51:28 PM
Tuli
Seriously, this is one of the most bogus articles ever. So many half-thruths. Not putting down the Zune (However poor it really is), but the author of this article really needs to check his/her facts about iTunes & iPod before writing such crap.
10/1/2008 2:53:14 PM
Huh?
• iPod does both NTSC & PAL. It's under settings. • iPod comes with pre-loaded games and many many more are available from the iTunes Store
10/1/2008 2:57:57 PM
Notahijacker
Ok -- I don't own either one of them, so I'm doubly frustrated by those above saying "bogus article" and "half-truths" without actually explaining what's bogus and what's a half-truth in the article. EPIC FAIL TO THE HATERS!
10/1/2008 5:10:20 PM
LolaBandita
I have a Zune, my brother has an iPod that I steal fairly often, because I don't like my Zune. The Wi-Fi sharing is awesome.. if you can find another Zune user.. The FM radio is very temperamental, you can walk across our porch and lose signal. And no, that doesn't happen with other radios at our house.. it's not just bad signal. I've never used Buy From FM, so I don't know anything about that. The games are seriously crappy and you can't add more. My Zune came with headphones, but they aren't any better than the ones bundled with the iPod. The Zune is a pretty light device , but not noticeably lighter than any iPod I've ever messed with. If you're really being taxed by how heavy your media devices are, you might want to get your heart checked. One thing that didn't get mentioned on here is the controls. I was happy to hear that they were adding touch controls, but the new Zune touchpad is really sensitive. Too sensitive. I have quite a lot of music on my Zune, and if I'm not really careful I quickly zoom past what I was looking for. I was really glad when I figured out how to turn the touch controls off. I do like the fact that whatever letter of the alphabet you're zooming through displays on your screen when you're scrolling through the play list. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I think Alan is right about the stuff having to be removed from the program for it to no longer sync to your ZUNE. I don't really know, because I don't put stuff on there that I don't like. And before someone says "You're only being so critical because this is the first Zune you've messed with.." Let me stop you. I had one of the First Gen, brick shaped, huge Zunes. I still have it. I loved that thing. But after.. 3 years??.. its battery started not staying charged and the size of it started bothering me since I wasn't toting it around in my backpack anymore. So I decided to buy my new Zune. Hope this is helpful to someone.
10/1/2008 7:03:10 PM
EriK
Actually, version 3.0 of the Zune Software enables you to manually synch all audio/video and photos, this will no longer delete the files on the Zune when you delete them on the PC.
10/1/2008 7:57:34 PM
Tommy_G
I notice that "ease of use" was not in your top 20 list. With good reason I might add.
10/1/2008 10:41:03 PM
Scott
At first I thought this article was from 2004, considering the Ipod in the picture is. But no, the Zune wasn't released until late 2006, 5 years after the original Ipod. You can't argue that a new Zune is better than an old Ipod...the Ipod touch is the current Ipod release and that has many of the features the Zunes have.
10/1/2008 10:44:16 PM
Seabear70
I won't speak to the accuracy of the article or which one is better. I will say that every long time Ipod owner that has tried my Zune has bought one.
10/1/2008 11:22:30 PM
Craigevar
This article seemed too much like advertising not reporting. Microsoft is this massive corporation with massive resources and this is the best they could come up with? It is ridiculous to say the least. I do not want to argue with my technology. I do not want something i have bought to tell me how to use it. my saw does not do this, my boots don't do this. why didn't they make it play java games? why restrict the file sharing by assuming we are all thieves. why make a substandard piece of equipment to please who, not the consumers but the drm people? well ask the drm people if they will buy your production run. modern corporations are designing and operating for the benefit of their corporate partners, well wake up, it is the consumers that will make or break your product.
10/1/2008 11:47:38 PM
Brian
I have a first gen Zune 30, and I just recently bought a second gen iPod touch. If you compare the Zune to the touch, there is absolutely no contest. You get wifi that actually lets you go online, you have a massive library of applications you can download and add, the new genius playlist feature which works wonders, and it's much smaller and much lighter. I like my Zune, and will still give it love, but my new iPod touch blows it out of the water.
10/2/2008 12:17:40 AM
Kelly
Let's go over this alittle bit; 1) Wi-fi - Available on the iPod Touch, downside to having it; it drains your battery faster. 2) File Sharing - You can use the iPod as an external, sure it isn't any hip as wireless, but it beats out the 3 day use by a long shot. And the touch has the feature to share actual files, not just songs as the zune does. 3) Bigger Screens - New iPod Nano and Touch have this covered. 4) FM Radio - There is the option as an add on on the class or nano and the fact it's an option is good, how many people still listen to the radio frequently. The touch has many applications that support this. 5) Pre-loaded games - All iPods come with them. On the touch you can download them and buy them wirelessly. 6) Unlimited downloads - sure iTMS doesn't have this. 7) Social networking - Ok so maybe the zune beats iPod here; to some degree. It's only as good as the number of friends who have one and the iPod touch has socail networking apps, for msn, aol, iChat, yahoo, twitter facebook and myspace (among others). 8) Weight - Arguable depending on the device. The zune 120 does beat out the classic, by about 12 grams, which you know would totally wear you out if you lugged around whole extra 12 grams for the day. The zune 4 GB weighs more then the iPod nano which is 8 or 16 GB. The nanos sell far more anyway. 9) Tool Kit - well if you want alot of diversified games you would go for the touch or the iPhone which do provide alot more features then your regular iPod/Zune possibilities. And the new iPod adds the accelerometer to them too, does the Zune have that? 10) . WMV and WMA - The iPod Support more formats, more then I am willing to list (google it people!) and iPod supports MP3, MP4, AAC and JPEG too. 11) Intuitive Interface - you can change the font size on the new iPods and well the whole music and video option was rather smart of Zune - if every other device that play music and videos didn't put it first. 12) Line-in recording - That fact is false, new iPods have line in capability. - This journalist needs to come out of the rock that he writes under. 13) Xbox 360 - Fair enough you win, but I don't have a 360 but I am not going to now or anytime soon either so I won't miss out on much. 14) Vista Windows Media Center Integration - iTunes does the same thing, thanks for finally coming up to speed. 15) Price - Another reason I think this write should have skipped the lobotomy his parents got him when he was a kid - they ARE the same price for the 120 and the classic, the touch is 20 dollars cheaper. The 4GB zune is $149, while the 8GB is the same price 16) Two-way syncing - Apple does only syncing with purchases to prevent mass privacy, I have't used a zune (nor will I ever) to really look in on this feature, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was something missing from that blurb that makes the zune not as friendly - does it let you 2 way sync all music or just the tunes you bought. 17) No required extra software - Well you claim you give customers choice, so how many programs can you use for the zune? Thought so, now that sir is lot of choice. 18) Decent earphones - I find they are excellent headphones from Apple and you can turn up the bass if you like. what I like about the iPods - they aren't UGLY. And you have the choice on colour a fair bit if you get the Nano.
10/2/2008 12:44:17 AM
IPOD4LIFE
Oh you guys... like the Zune will even be here in a year or two. It's junk.
10/2/2008 12:50:20 AM