Neighbors To North Like Zune

It's been a long time in the coming, but Canadians now can finally buy a Microsoft Zune.  I'm always interested to see how users in other countries respond to products that I use and are familiar with here in the US.  Here's a summary of what this reviewer sizes up the Zune as:

It's a nicely engineered, basic looking player with hard-to-scratch screens. The 80 GB model, $249.99, features a large 3.2-inch screen that's not as sharp as the screen on the Zune 4GB ($139.99) and 8GB ($189.99) models. For the money, I would buy the 80 GB because it also includes much better quality earbuds and a lot of space for songs, photos, podcasts and videos.

I agree completely, and for my bux, I bought the Zune 80 as well.  However, the Canadian Zune experience is not entirely the same.  The lacking component is the Zune Marketplace.  For users that constantly want to listen to new music, the pay-one-price, all-you-can-eat plan can be an enticing offer.  It's a good way for teenagers to be able to explore a wide variety of music without a humongous investment upfront.  Unfortunately, despite plans for a country specific, Canadian Zune Marketplace, so far, that leaves users looking for alternatives to acquire their music from.  The article suggests ripping it yourself, and even goes so far as to suggest that you buy it at iTunes!  I hope that Microsoft gets their act together soon, and gets their Zune Marketplace up and running for wherever Zunes are sold!

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