Zune deals: Get a recertified Zune 8 and Premium Headphone combo for $83.99 from NewEgg

NewEgg is currently offering a nice deal on a recertified Zune 8 and a set of Premium Headphones. That said, the deal, and this is the important part, is only running through the end of the day today (July 31, 2009).

So, now that we know the offer is time sensitive, lets get into what it includes. Well for $83.99 you can get yourself a black recertified Zune 8 and a set of Zune Premium Headphones.

All things considered, this is a pretty nice deal, especially considering the Premium Headphones are included, in reality they are a really nice set.

[NewEgg]

Zune, Built Solid State

For years now, the cheaper and smaller capacity music player were flash based.  For those with large music collections, it was hard drive territory.  What else was gonna hold all those songs?  The downside was that if you dropped a hard drive player, than all bets were off, and you just might get to cash in on the long term Best Buy warranty that you paid too much for.  I will admit that I do have concerns bringing my Zune 80 out on cold days, and don't like to leave it in the car when the temp is below the freezing mark, although this is hardly evidence based.

Soon though, you just might be able to have your cake and eat it too.  A recent analysis envisions that solid state drive will replace the mechanical hard drives in our music players in the near future.  They are envisioning 100% growth over the next three years in this segment.  Not even Starbuck's can boast that kind of rocketing growth rate these days!  They're talking a 5 billion dollar industry in a few short years, assuming the wheels stay on this economy, of course.  Apparently, much of that growth will be in the 1.8" hard drive segment, which is what the Zune sports.

With SSD capacities already large enough, it's just a matter of time and price before the venerable hard drive gets shelved out of this market segment.  I look forward to dropping my Zune then, and it surviving to tell the tale.

Best Buy Canada offering 4GB Zune for free with purchase of a 16GB Zune

Best Buy Canada currently has a pretty nice offer going on the Zune -- buy a Zune 16 and get a Zune 4 for free. The Zune 16 is retailing for $179.99 and looks to only be available in black, but that aside it sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

A few items to note is that this offer is valid online only and (at the time of this posting) is showing a quantity remaining of 76. According to the Best Buy details, you simply need to add the black Zune 16 to your cart and the Zune 4 will be added automatically.

Sounds like a good deal to me, pick up a nice Zune for yourself, and get a nice extra for nothing. This would surely convince me to add a Zune to my collection, that is if I lived in Canada.

[Best Buy Canada]

Zune Originals adds new artwork, online exclusive colors

In addition to the new software and free Wi-Fi, Zune Originals has also received an little refresh with the introduction of the new Zune hardware. We have already seen the new Zune 120 and Zune 16 hit the retail stores in black, and now Zune Originals has also announced that the Zune 16 will be available in blue, red, pink and green as an online exclusive. Finally, customers will also have the option of choosing some new artwork as Zune Originals has added 14 new designs to give your Zune a little more of a personal feel.

[ZuneOriginals]

Zune 4 and 8 will apparently have no video out

According to Zuneinsider, the Zune 4 and 8 will not have video out. The 720x480 output is only for the Zune 80. Oh well, the Zune 4 and 8 probably wouldn't fit many DVD movies to output onto a lager screen anyways.

Zune 30 Owners: Will you Buy a New Zune?

Opinion Polls & Market Research

How do you know if a company is in a business for the long haul or not? Well, when you make sure that your old product stays up to date at the same time has you release a new product line; it’s a good indication that investment is not a problem and you’re in the market for good.

Apple reached the 100 million+ iPods sold by releasing new products every year and making sure that the previous iPod version was completely outdated. They might have sold more than 100 million iPods, but their customer base is much smaller than that number, because a lot of folks are simply buying the new model year after year.

As early adopters of the Zune, we appreciate that our Zune 30 will be upgraded with most of the benefits of the Zune 80, 4 and 8. But will it stop a lot of Zune owners from buying a brand new Zune? Certainly not me! I’m dying for the thinner Zune, the Zune Pad and the 640x480 TV out. But you, Zune 30 owners? What are you going to do? Are you going to buy a new Zune 80? Cast your vote now or enter your comment!

 

Do we say “Zune 80” or “Zune 80GB”?

It looks like there’s a bit of confusion on the web around the new Zune player names. Do we call them Zune 30, 80, 4 and 8 or Zune 30B, Zune 80GB, 4GB and 8GB?

If you read the official Microsoft press release, the official names seem to be the “GB” versions. But when we listen to interviews or read the Zuneinsider blog, for example, the “GB” is skipped.

Having to write for this blog, I wanted to know how I should write the product names! I contacted Kristin from the “Zune press team” and here’s the answer I had:

“Can totally understand the confusion, and actually, both are correct. In conversation, we only call the devices Zune 80, Zune 8 and Zune 4, but in print, you can choose to add the “GB” or not.”

Personally, I think that it sounds better without the “GB” and it gives the Zune more “personality”.  But from a mass market standpoint, adding the “GB” will help the customer to understand what he will get from a specific model.

Which one do you prefer? Do you like how they called the Zunes now?

Offical word from Cesar: No Clock

Before I go into what I think about his confession as to the missing clock on the new Zunes check out the video (Click Here).  Now lets the attacks on Zuneinsider.com begin.  Before anyone grabs a pitch fork and a torch think of it this way.  What would you want more: Wireless Syncing or a Clock?  Would you rather they work on making the device slimmer or a clock?

Why is a clock so important to so many?  Are you really that pressed for time that every device you own must tell you that its 6:44am?  If you do live by a clock why not invest in a nice Kenneth Cole, or a Seiko?  That is the job of those two devices is to tell people time, very accurately.  But being angry that an MP3 player doesn't also tell you time and cook you an omelet each and every morning seems like a waste of anger.   If you need a better reason to be angry just watch "My Super Sweet 16" but please leave Cesar and the rest of the Zune team alone on this one feature.  Come up with a better missing feature to be angry about.

*looks at his Timex watch*

Wow its getting late I have to get to work.

New Zune Players Release Date: November 13th, 2007!

Zuners, mark your calendars! Amazon takes pre-orders for the Zune 80GB, Zune 8GB and Zune 4Gb now and confirms that the release date for the Zune 2 is November 13^th, 2007. UPDATE: You heard it here first, but Microsoft confirmed the information to Gizmodo. Guys, you're getting a brand new Zune on November 13th!

The New Zunes are not Manufactured by Toshiba

According to Reuters, the new Zune is an end-to-end Microsoft design and Toshiba is no longer the Zune player manufacturer.

The new 80 GB Zune and the Flash Zune are both in-house designs and manufactured by Flextronics.

J Allard said, "To build this product, we really needed to think about it end-to-end,". He also added, "It also brings with it cost advantages."

 

Source. Image by Wired