Review of the Zune HD 16 GB Video MP3 Player
Average Rating
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I first started to look at MP3 players when my daughter was asking for one for Christmas! I decided to do some research and after many hours came to the conclusion that the Zune HD was one of the best mp3 players and worthy of serious consideration.
The problem with looking at so many of these is that I had brain overload on all of the features. So I decided to go back and record everything for easy comparison. I did that, so here are my findings on the Zune HD, just in case you’re going through the same as me!
The actual Zune that I chose was the Zune HD 16 GB in a black onyx color; it’s available with more storage at 32 GB and 64 GB and also in a platinum color!
What to Look for When Buying an MP3 Player
• Easy set up
• Media Types & Storage capacity
• Screen size & Navigation
• Internet Capability
• Radio Capability
• Gaming
• Download Info
• Size, Weight and Charging
• Popularity
• Value for money
There is an old saying that you get what you pay for! This is often oh so true especially when it comes to electronics! Through the review of the Zune HD 16 GB we’ll take a look at what it has to offer for all of the important stuff.
Ease of Set up
One of the things that stood out was that it could be used more or less out of the box! What I mean by that is usually you have to charge new 
electronic gadgets for sometime before you can do anything with them! Not the case with the Zune HD you’ll be able to start using it in around 30 minutes. So no long delays before starting to play with it!
Zune HD Music Playback & Track Storage
It was important to know that the Zune has plenty of storage space for all of the various media that my daughter loves! Encouragingly the 16 GB of storage that this version of Zune HD will store is around 4,000 of songs, so there’s plenty of room for all of the High School Musical and Hannah Montana tracks!
It’s pretty easy to buy music to download as well, or load albums that you already have on to the Zune HD in next to no time.
If like us you like playing some of the same tunes time and time again then “Quickplay” is right up your street! It selects the songs that you like the most quickly and easily, what a time saver!
How about this, song tagging – hear a tune you like, tag it and buy the download now or do it later, your choice!
The files it plays are WMA, AAC and MP3.
Video Playback and Storage on the Zune HD
It will also handle an impressive 24 hours of video play playback in SD (standard definition) mode, that’s a huge amount of video for such a small device! Or if you prefer to view video in HD (high definition) then the Zune mp3 video player will play back around 5 hours with ease.
It plays these video formats: – MPEG-4, M4A, QuickTime MOV, WMV, M4V and M4B.
Image Storage Capacity
Store all of your favorite images; you are hardly likely to run out of storage anytime soon! The Zune HD will store around 25,000 images in JPG format!
What’s the Zune HD’s Screen & Navigation Like?
One of the things that I always think is important is to have a good generous screen size especially for video playback and picture viewing. It was pleasing to find that the Zune HD has just that in its OLED touch screen.
It measures a generous 3.3 inches; an OLED the screen is bright and responsive and apparently isn’t at all battery draining like some of the LCD models can be!
A couple of useful other points that I found about the viewing experience were:
• This mp3 player has a screen resolution that is large at some 480 x 272. The 16:9 display, gives high definition quality for a superb viewing experience.
• Viewing HD movies and TV in super quality 720p high definition is a bonus; in fact you can view quality video wherever you are!
• There’s a useful touch screen! Need a closer look at something just tap the screen and in it zooms!
As for the navigation, multi touch makes it easy to flick to just the right media that you want to watch or listen to quickly. Everything is just a touch away!
Easy Internet Access
It’s pretty simple to access the Internet using Wi-Fi. Simply connect and browse the Internet wherever you are and providing there is a hot spot connection. The well featured browser gives you full views of web pages that you can interact with on the in-built QWERTY virtual keyboard.
It’s Even Got a Radio!
How cool the Zune HD even has an HD radio included, you can listen to local radio stations that broadcast in HD; superior high quality at no cost!
Game Players won’t be Disappointed!
Game lovers will be pleased to hear that there are a variety of free games that can be downloaded using the Wi-Fi connection of the mp3 player.
What Can you Download?
In addition to the free games there are the latest videos that you can rent or TV show footage that can be bought. You can keep your finger on the pulse with upcoming movies by watching previews and trailers as they become available
How Big is it and How Long Will the Battery Charge Last?
One encouraging thing is that for such a powerful set of features the Zune HD 16 GB isn’t that big! It certainly won’t feel like a brick in your pocket!
In fact it’s not really much bigger than a candy bar!
Height: 4″ Width: 2.07″ Depth: 0.35″ Weight: 2.60 oz
If all you do is listen to some music then you can expect to get around 33 hours of playback with wireless turned off; video playback, is up to 8.5 hours
Charge time
If you charge it on the mains then a full charge is about 2 hours. And about 3 hours when it’s connected to a PC.
How Much Should You Expect to Pay?
The Zune HD 16 GB can be bought from Microsoft for $199.99! You don’t need to pay that price though, look for around $179! The best price currently seems to be on Amazon; they usually are the most competitive for price and reliability as a retailer.
What Other Owners Have Got to Say!
Owners who have bought the Zune HD through Amazon seem pretty impressed! The average customer rating from over 700 reviewers comes in at 4.5 stars from 5 stars in their ratings; it’s also on their bestseller list!
Here are a few things that they had to say:
• “I love my Zune”
• “the Zune HD has what the iPod Touch lacks, such as…”
• “this is one beast”
• “amazing sound quality, fast web browsing”
• “best music player I bought so far”
• “best mp3 play I ever had”
• “just a fantastic media player”
Are there any niggles with the Zune HD?
I saw someone saying that there was a certain video format that he couldn’t play, but then it was a file type I’d never heard of so to be fair it was probably a bit on the obscure side as file types go!
Where Can You Buy the Zune HD 16GB?
You can buy the Zune HD at Amazon. Currently it’s free to ship out to you so that’s a bit of a bonus! Looking around on the Internet it does seem that Amazon offer just about the best deal particularly when you take into account the free shipping. Click here to view on Amazon and don’t forget they also do a next day shipping option.
Where Can You Read Some More Reviews for the Zune HD?
There is no better place than Amazon! Click here for more Zune HD reviews.