It took two attempts, but my Zune 30 finally got sold and was mailed out today.
It was a good 5 months, and worth expanding my knowledge of the player, and the Zune Software.
I loved the sound quality, more than anything else. This thing really shined, especially when using the "Acoustic" EQ setting. The 3.x firmware was smooth and felt very stable (I had tried the 1.x firmware at one point, and the difference was night and day). And, even with the limited 320x240 resolution, the bigger screen did make watching videos a pleasure.
But, I could not get around the software / firmware limitations. No UMS without really messing with your OS, the Zune Software requirement vs. allowing drag and drop, the lack of a usable lossless format for myself (WMA-L was OK, but too limiting - granted, not entirely Microsoft's fault that their format hasn't really caught on). The syncing requirements, in particular, were really an annoyance - I could have downleveled to the 2.5 software to use third-party media-management software, but it seemed too much of a headache in the end.
I knew all this going in, so not MS's fault at all - it was something I wanted to try out and I'm still glad I did.
I had considered a Cowon S9 as my next "touch" based player, but I'm going to wait until the fall to see how the ZuneHD and Zii Egg pan out. If the ZuneHD can avoid some of the issues I've found with the current product line, and the SQ is still excellent, I will seriously consider purchasing one.
Officially Zune-less
