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 The Zune 80 and iPod Classic go head to head for a showdown to end all! Who wins? Who loses? Read on to get the play by play...
Donald Bell and Co. judge a head to head comparison to see which PDMP reigns supreme! Round 1: Navigation WINNER - ZUNE 80
[the Zune's] Twist interface, multifunctional touch-and-tactile control pad, separate podcast
menu, album art thumbnail browsing--what's not to love? Big fan of this
interface.
Round 2: Sexiness WINNER - ZUNE 80 Maybe I'm crazy, but the Zune 80 has this unapologetic square-nerd-sexy thing
going on that just does it for me. It's like seeing Angelina Jolie in a pair of
thick, black-rimmed glasses. Throw in custom etching and a cool background
image, and this might be love.
Round 3: Compatibility WINNER - iPod Classic The iPod isn't much of a team player either, but at least it's Mac/PC compatible
and can be used with an endless amount of iPod-ready gizmos. The ability to
easily purchase and download TV shows, movies, and audio books through iTunes is
a big plus.
Round 4: Sound and Science WINNER - ZUNE 80 Grr...why get rid of the EQ!? Still, the Zune offers excellent sound quality,
and the Wi-Fi feature is neat, though I'm more taken with the FM radio
(antiquated, I know) and its RDS support.
Round 5: Wallet Factor WINNER - ZUNE 80 I'm going to have to give Microsoft a top score on this one. It's a great player
for the money, but what takes it to the next level is the Zune Marketplace,
which gives you a pretty stellar collection of all-you-can-eat music for a very
reasonable $15 a month. Notably missing are movies and TV shows, but you can't
have it all these days.
And the winner is......it's a tie??!! Holy friggin upset Batman! But they contend, We promise this fight was not rigged. We wanted a clear champion as
much as you did. The Zune seemed to win most rounds by just a hair, but
the compatibility round was the fatal blow to the Zune's ability to
triumph over the incumbent iPod Classic. Microsoft really could have
swept the floor with the iPod if it had just buried the hatchet and
made the Zune both Mac- and PC-compatible. (Supporting its own DRM-WMA
and DRM-WMV formats would have helped, too.)The fact that the
Zune even tied the mighty iPod Classic should be enough to send Apple's
most devout fans into a reactionary hissy-fit. Surely you must have an
opinion on which one should have won this fight.
If so, spill your pent-up gadget anger into HERE or the CNET MP3 forum If you do go to the c|net forums, be sure to tell them THIS isn't really a gret deal....it's the actual sticker price....
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