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While the display is 0.2 inch smaller than the iPhone’s, I didn’t find it too cramped for watching videos. Video playback on the device itself was impressive, too. Video playback on my HDTV looked fantastic, with bright and accurate colors, smooth transitions, and little pixelation. The older-generation Zune menu looked fuzzy and out of proportion on a TV.
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The first thing I noticed: Microsoft improved the Zune HD’s menu for TV viewing, so you can easily navigate the player on your set. Fortunately, Microsoft included the dock in our review kit, so I could test this feature out.
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The Zune HD supports 720p HD video files, so you can play videos through the dock on your HDTV. To fully enjoy the Zune HD’s high-def video capabilities, however, you’ll have to shell out an extra $80 for the HDMI docking station. Zune HD radio is 100 percent free-unless, of course, you decide to buy a song. You can also tag and download the songs you like from the Zune Marketplace. HD radio delivers cleaner sound than analog FM does, and allows stations to broadcast additional channels with different programming for example, the San Francisco alternative-rock station Live 105 has an HD station that plays only classic alternative. Microsoft stepped up the Zune HD’s FM radio functionality by adding an HD radio receiver to the hardware. By comparison, the iPod Touch has 30 hours of music playback and 6 hours of video. Microsoft says that the Zune HD can play music for up to 33 hours, and video for up to 8.5 hours. Instead, while your media is playing, you can just touch the device to bring up the volume controls, which is a lot easier.īecause the OLED display doesn’t require a backlight, the Zune HD uses less battery power. Also, oddly, you can’t actually adjust the volume with the rocker it merely brings up the touch controls. Unfortunately, the rocker is almost completely flush with the metal casing, so it is difficult to press. The power button sits on the top edge of the device, while the volume rocker occupies the left spine. A gorgeous, 3.3-inch, multitouch OLED display dominates the device’s face, and a single, slim physical home button resides below that. It weighs a featherlight 2.6 ounces, or 1.5 ounces less than the iPod Touch. Measuring 4.0 by 2.0 by 0.3 inches, it falls somewhere between last year’s hard-drive and flash-based models in size. Physically, the Zune HD represents a complete makeover-one that’s flashy and sexy. But while the Zune HD is priced competitively against the competition (16GB for $220 or 32GB for $290, as of 9/15/09), you’ll have to shell out a lot more money above and beyond the price of entry to take advantage of all of its features.
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The device marks a huge improvement from last year’s model in speed, usability, video quality, and design, while the Zune 4.0 software delivers some fun music-discovery features and splashy visuals. I found a lot to like about the Zune HD and the Zune 4.0 software. The Microsoft Zune HD is the Zune that I wish Microsoft had released last year. Editor’s Note: The following article is reprinted from.