ezraa

MyZune

DecyferFrontLine223

-emory-

dperrella

I NEVER buy music via iTunes, I still buy CDs and rip them so everything is legally MINE no matter what. That's why I think I'm leaning towards Zune. The last iTunes software update has been dreadfully slow and video never worked right for me. Zune seems much faster and so far less glitchy. so far...

Rabbi Dave

Airfoil has been around basically as long as the Airport Express has been around. so that isn't entirely accurate (at all). in addition they now have a Windows XP version as well.

and i quote :

"With Airfoil, you can now send any audio right through your AirPort Express. Use RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, WinAMP, and almost any other application with your AirPort Express."

sounds like what was being asked for.

http://www.rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/windows/

i tried it out... but i don't like the latency between pressing the "Play" button and hearing the sound for the Airport Express in general. it's the same reason i normally just run RCA cords to my stereo if i am doing anything other than playing through a whole playlist.

that said... for someone who is already using an Airport Express and doesn't mind the latency... i see know reason why Zune + Airfoil + Airport Express wouldn't work the same as iTunes + Airport Express.

x23

Which is fine with me, cause pumping music out to 6 AP expresses is so much fun!

J

javbw

woody56292

???POints????

wtfpoints

I do know that my thumbs will be be the same size now that I don't have to deal with a scroll wheel. Now both thumbs are fat lazy button pushers.

DNABio

I agree that if you're not already deeply embedded into the abyss that is iPod/iTunes then I'd suggest a Zune in near future. However, personally I am waiting for a few months. They seem to have plenty of bugs with the player/software to work out. (not to mention, hopefully they will figure out that the current wireless situation absolutely sucks!).

As for podcasts, sorry...personally I could care less. Most "average" music listeners won't care neither. Podcasts are a novelty that will hopefully die very soon.

Smart playlists? No thanks, I like my regular playlists just fine. Not a big loss there either.

In summary, I love the fact that the Zune looks this good in the first generation. This really is exciting because finally the iPod will have some real competition.

I'll likely be getting a second gen Zune (or a very middle-life first gen) if I can figure out a reason to get rid of my amazing Zen Vision: M.

xxdesmus

Kesh

woody56292

I thought all smart playlists were was the playlists that specify certain criteria ( such as only songs with 4 or more stars ) and updates as new songs meet that criteria.

for example I have a comedy auto-playlist. When I changed "White & Nerdy" to "Comedy" genre, it was added to my comedy auto-playlist. When I changed it to "prank" genre, it was removed. also whenever a new song comes in under that category, it is added to the auto-playlist.

it can also be categorized by many other things... so how is it different from iTunes smart playlists? ( is there something I am not seeing on my itunes? )

woody56292

bjarkith

color_guru

Jason Chen

hxgaser

FYI, Zune does have smart playlists.

They call them " Auto Playlists ". It does all the same things as Smart Playlists, only it also has an "rss" type that will automatically add new songs based on your criteria. ( so it can update podcasts for example )
however, it doesn't have a way to auto delete old ones of off your Zune, so it still isn't a "podcast feature" yet.

just thought you might want to know since you seem to love smart playlists.

-Woody

woody56292

teamgood

Quote: "...concept of "Auto Playlist" for syncing, and only for syncing..."

In the Zune software, if I right click on Playlists to the left, I get Create Auto Playlist. I then create my "Rock with 4+ Stars" auto playlist and I can play that on my desktop, just like iTunes had. Or is there something else you can do with Smart Playlists besides listening to and syncing them (which is all that I use them for).

Germ007

Seems to me that Gizmodo should have picked a side.

iomatic

cpoindex

SrsRevo17

What you're doing isn't actually, technically, legal. Despite that it absolutely SHOULD be, the DMCA makes it illegal to use any method or technology which circumvents copy-protection. This includes burning & re-ripping.

And so while I advise everyone to continue to remove the DRM from their files this way, recognize that the DMCA is flawed by making this illegal.

Brad

Elvisisdead

Phlipper

bubba451

it would be interesting to have seen the memory footprint of the software compared as well. i've always found that iTunes takes more memory than a music organizer should, but Microsoft is generally no better in this category.

metafile

inajeep

I like the general direction of the Zune software's design, but it seems unfinished and flat to me. Not that I'd hope for some giant, gradient-happy, glosstacular of glass and neon. I love the idea of having the current-playing albums track list over on the right, so you can browse your library, but keep that list handy.

bteverybody

InfoMofo

Jason Chen

chillywilly

I don't particularly miss smart playlists but I was never a very extensive iTunes user. I use Rhapsody for most of my music purchases (still do and still will for a while, more on that in a minute).

Functionally as far as what buttons and functions are advertised in both products it's a toss up for me.

Use wise though I hate them both. Itunes is laggy even on my faster system and browsing the store is a pain, Zune is faster but crash prone and however they're doing their DRM is still buggy. I have a subscription to Zune currently so I should be able to download songs... I can on one PC, I'm supposed to be able to on three PCs but for some reason I can't on any other machines except my work PC. The error is great too, sends you to a webpage that has almost nothing at all on the actual issue and the helpdesk tells me to 'wait 30 minutes and try again' which translates to 'I don't know and I'm off in 30 minutes.'

I really, really like my Zune but for now just because of what a pain in the ass it is to use their software I'm still using rhapsody, buying music, burning it, ripping it, then adding it to the Zune library so I can sync it. I'd rather go through all that than have the sofware crash on me 'again' because I tried to download some 50 cent by clicking on the DOWNLOAD button.

Lance Wallen

calebc

You 'should' be able to burn a CD of all your DRmed music (legally purchased) and then rip that CD into MP3s with no DRM on them anymore This falls within legal 'fair use' for purchased music. (read: If you buy a CD you can rip it to MP3 and listen to them on whatever player as long as you don't distribute, etc.)

I can't speak from experience on Napster or iTunes or that other store I can't recall at the moment but I'm a Rhapsody user and all the tracks I bought that had Plays4Sure on them I simply burned, ripped and am actualy listening to right now on my Zune. Legally. I would assume the same process would work on any legally purchased music by burning the CD from the native software you purchased it in.

Lance Wallen

Irregular_Joe

So Zune has an FM tuner and a poorly executed wifi sharing method. Way to go. Def. makes up for being 5 years late to the game.

BTW I can use coverflow OK and I have 1GB of RAM and a 200GB library...

Dr. Paul Proteus

brinycbri

BlindsidesDork

You can use audiobaba to do automated similarity playlisting in WMP or iTunes:
http://www.audiobaba.com/

jgoodwin

jimmyrizzo

Music-Lawyer

Andy Zhang

David Schloss

Andy Zhang

brinycbri

The zune player looks like a computer program that just happens to play and organize music.

DeeJayQueue

bobman1235