[iPoodz]

Zune HD to get XviD, better playlists | CES 2010 - CNET

I've been excruciatingly indecisive when it comes to a PMP to buy, and decided to hold off and see what CES '10 had to offer. Now that all's said and done, it looks like standalone PMPs are not going to be getting as much love as all in one phones this year.


I was strongly considering S9/X series for their physical buttons, but I've just recently found out that the HD is fairly pocket friendly as well {as well has having phenomenal build quality}, because it uses gestures, similar to the PocketTouch app on jailbroken Touches.

I was placing the S9 over the X and HD because of video playback, which as much as I hate to admit it, is pretty important to me sometimes. HD charmed me over X just because of price {usually 210$ used around here}.

But now, with the inclusion of XviD in ZuneHD's arsenal, I get the feeling that it's edging out X as an all around PMP. Specs-wise, S9 trumps the HD, but I get the feeling that µSoft is going to do right by the HD, in terms of updates. I'm going to wait until the actual update comes out, and see what supported resolutions are.

Also, if Sony would do something similar with video, or drop the price, I'd probably be all over it.

Ok, I'm done rambling. Thoughts? Does this predicted update really make the HD a considerably more appealing choice to you?

 

[scompton]

The linked article says the new playlists will be like iTunes' Genius playlist, which I don't like. If instead they're like iTunes' Smart Playlist, which I use a lot, it may be a factor. The other things Zune doesn't have still will keep me away though.

My lossless is ALAC, which Microsoft obviously won't support, but if I'm going to switch away from ALAC, I don't want to switch to another proprietary format. Unless I'm mistaken, the only lossless format supported by Zune is WMP.

I need at least 160GB of storage. Even at that, I have hundreds of albums that I can't put on my iPod. I have no intention of dropping to 32GB. I know there's a 120GB hard drive player, but from what I can tell, it doesn't do gapless playback, which is another must have for me.

 

[LingLing1337]

What the hell is a SmartDJ playlist? Why do I want one?

 

[ilney]

Does it upgrade improve SQ?

 

[Szadzik]

My only question is: What about SQ?

We are in a forum of people who love music and great sound quality.

 

[Kirosia]

Xvid will only be good if they don't limit it somehow (which they probably will). I still have to convert mp4s and wmvs because the HD can't handle their native specs.

Quote:

Does it upgrade improve SQ?

I hope they add a custom EQ down the line, probably not the next update since they would've mentioned so important. Also, seriously need to add enterprise wi-fi support, the college students have been throwing fits for months.

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I was placing the S9 over the X and HD because of video playback, which as much as I hate to admit it, is pretty important to me sometimes. HD charmed me over X just because of price {usually 210$ used around here}.

You can get new 16GB blacks directly from Amazon for $180-190. I'll be honest, it really isn't worth much more than that once you take all the features into account. The video playback is good, but the small screen size still bothers me.

 

[Dazed&Confused718]

too late for me.... i sold mine

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LingLing1337 /img/forum/go_quote.gif What the hell is a SmartDJ playlist? Why do I want one?

From what I've read, kind of like Pandora. You pick an artist and it creates a playlist around that artist. That's great with Pandora where you may hear something you've never heard before, discovering new music in the process. Nothing special if it just pulls from your library, or in my case, less than 10% of my library.

 

[Scott_Tarlow]

if you have the zune pass, it will pull from the entire zune marketplace if u are on wifi

 

[Ojsinnerz]

I'm kinda happy with what's going to happen, but it's still got a long way to go.

MKV support, bigger album art, custom EQ, better internet browsing experience, Email app and an IM app would be all I ever need. We'll probably get the last 3, but I'm doubtful of the first few I mentioned.

 

[roebeet]

I did a audio test between the HD and the Cowon S9, back when I owned both - when the EQ was flat, I could not tell a different between them. With that said, if the HD managed to get a custom EQ I think it would be a major improvement. And upcoming Xvid support is a major plus, assuming they don't screw it up somehow.

FLAC / OGG Vorbis support would be the icing on the cake, but I already know that will never happen.

 

[iPoodz]

Yeah, FLAC seems to be the thing that American PMP makers shy away from. I first thought that codec support was in part, reliant on hardware, but this story makes me think otherwise. I don't see why they don't just slip it in, even if the majority of users won't utilize it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ojsinnerz /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm kinda happy with what's going to happen, but it's still got a long way to go. MKV support, bigger album art, custom EQ, better internet browsing experience, Email app and an IM app would be all I ever need. We'll probably get the last 3, but I'm doubtful of the first few I mentioned.

WHY WON'T THEY DO THIS? I absolutely adore the way my Zune30 looks when it's playing music: Album art to the edges, with a discreet timebar + track info on the bottom. I realize they need to have space for the touch controls, but there must be a better way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirosia /img/forum/go_quote.gif Xvid will only be good if they don't limit it somehow (which they probably will). I still have to convert mp4s and wmvs because the HD can't handle their native specs.

Ah yeah. I was hoping that because the main reason for this is the HD dock, they'd go easy on the restrictions, but I doubt it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirosia /img/forum/go_quote.gif You can get new 16GB blacks directly from Amazon for $180-190. I'll be honest, it really isn't worth much more than that once you take all the features into account. The video playback is good, but the small screen size still bothers me.

Oh, I was talking about the 32GB Zune. On craigslist, I can usually find one in good condition for 220$.

Quote:

Originally Posted by scompton /img/forum/go_quote.gif The linked article says the new playlists will be like iTunes' Genius playlist, which I don't like. If instead they're like iTunes' Smart Playlist, which I use a lot, it may be a factor. The other things Zune doesn't have still will keep me away though. ... I need at least 160GB of storage. Even at that, I have hundreds of albums that I can't put on my iPod. I have no intention of dropping to 32GB. I know there's a 120GB hard drive player, but from what I can tell, it doesn't do gapless playback, which is another must have for me.

Oh yeah, smart play lists are the best. They made up for the lackluster on-the-go playlist implementation on the Touch. I'm a little sad that the hard drive players are probably not going to get any attention for a while. I don't need the space for music {because I rip in lossy, usually}, but it'd be great to have a big {200-250GB} portable hard drive that plays music.

 

[scompton]

When I was talking about capacity, that was for lossy. I have 164GB of lossy. I'm slowly reripping to lossless. I'm about 2/3 done and I'm up to 538GB.

 

[bjaardker]

The Smart DJ lists are pretty nice, especially if you're in to finding new artists. The comparison to Pandora is a fair one, although I think the music genome project of Pandora provides better matches.

The best part about the Smart DJ though is that if you have Zune Pass (something every Zune owner really should have)then whenever you're connected to Wi-Fi and playing a Smart DJ list, it won't just use the music on your DAP, but will build the playlist using all the Zune Marketplace and stream as well as play local music.

 

[weibby]

The two major DAPs are Ipod and Zune, both have a music store.
It is obvious they will never implement open source formats because they wish for people to buy from their store.