A Zune Update

It's Day 2 of actually using my Zune and I'm just getting around to uploading more music on it. I initially set it up to be used with my work computer, just as a test to see how quickly the installer would run, and I was impressed that it took less than 10 minutes.

- I wish the software was just included in the box, yeah it makes they packaging a bit bigger but it's kind of a downer. I guess if it's trying to compete with the iPod, that's not really necessary since Apple stopped including iTunes on a disc years ago, but it would be nice.

- Pretty snappy slow syncing/painfully slow Zune software, I transferred about 3 gigs of music from the Mac partition on my hard drive (I'm using Parallels to update my zune since I'm a Mac user) and it was pretty seamless. Don't let the fact that you own a Mac keep you from checking out the Zune; it's doable with a little bit of legwork.

- The earbuds (that come standard with the Zune) are huge and might not fit in your ears very well. It felt like I was attempting to shove a giant tampon in my ear - uncomfortable to say the least.

+ Mac compatible, sort of. You need ot run a third-party app like Parallels or Boot Camp to run it but it's not that hard to set up.

+ Tells you how far along the syncing is on the screen of the device (right now I'm sitting at around 35%)

+ I'm still amazed at how small this thing is, but the video is really clear and crisp

+ Price, compared to Apple's 8GB iPod Nano ($209), the Zune is ~$30 cheaper (at least it is on Amazon.ca)

I made a smart playlist on iTunes of my top rated tracks since my music library is too large for this 8GB Zune.

I'm updating my Zune at 5 am because I have insomnia that's compounded by really bad heartburn.

If you have any additional questions about the Zune, feel free to contact me (my email address is located on my profile page).

The way this program works is that they (Matchstick, et. al) need feedback on exactly how the word of mouth is being spread. If you could do me a favour and fill out a quick survey on Chat Threads, the aggregator that handles all the back end statistical stuff, it would be greatly appreciated.

Log in to ChatThreads and enter your conversation ID: 102 986 0299

Tell them about the conversation and you can either choose to have them donate $5 on your behalf to charity or enter to win a $500 in gift certificates from Amazon.ca.

If you find yourself talking to someone else about the Zune, tell them about this blog post and have them fill out the survey as well, as the goal is to track how the conversation spreads.

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