Zune 80GB Review-Larry Holmes inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame

Lump of the Morning to you. Wednesday is review day at BUMPnLUMP but before we get into that how about a warm Bump n Lump to Larry Holmes for being inducted into the boxing hall of fame. The Easton Assassin was the last (and maybe only) Heavyweight to ever challenge Marciano's 49-0 record. Holmes went 48-0 before losing a close decision to Michael Spinks. Larry was the last dominant heavyweight fighter prior to Tyson. He held the heavyweight crown from 1978-1985 and defended the belt 20 times. Things I remember about Holmes:

1. He had one the all time best jabs in boxing.
2. When he beat the snot out of the "Great White Hope" Gerry Cooney
3. When he dissed Rocky Marciano after his loss that would of tied the record. His quote was "If you want to get technical about it, Rocky Marciano couldn't carry my jockstrap."
4. But my all time classic moment was when he puked going back to his corner during the fight against Holyfield. Classic YouTube moment.

OK so now to my long ass but detailed review of the Zune 80 GB Digital Media Player Black (2nd Generation). I still have not taken a sip of the iPod Kool-Aid, there are so many other mp3 player options out there if people took the time to look around. Anyways here we go:

Let me start off this review by saying I bought this Zune to replace a Creative ZEN Micro 5GB from 2004. It was an awesome mp3 player that if you don't need video or photo viewing still holds it's own against a lot of the current mp3 players out there. I replaced it because I finally filled up the 5gb of space. I was hoping to replace it with a newer version of the ZEN Vision M but that product never came out. Creative decide to go the Flash route and came out with the very cool new ZEN. I almost bought it but could not justify the $250 price for only 16gb of storage when I could get the Zune with 80gb of storage and a much bigger screen for the same price. Now Creative has a 32gb ZEN but they want a whopping $320 bucks. If the 32GB was $250 I would of picked it over the Zune, but it isn't sooo....I gave you all the background because even though I love the Zune it is lacking a bunch of basic features that my mp3 player from 2004 can do, that's why I am a bit frustrated.
Let me go over what I like about it.
Size: It's not a huge brick anymore like the first Zune was, it is much thinner and lighter. This was very important to me because 90% if the time I use my mp3 player at the gym. This Zune probably would look corny on an arm band, but as for a belt clip it would work fine for gym use.
Ease of use: Menu system on Zune is very basic and so is the Zune software. This is a pro and also a con (will get into that later).
Screen: beautiful screen, I love seeing album art, pictures look great, and video is very good too. I have watched 30 minute shows and it was easy on the eyes.
Sound: Sound quality is great and I really like the in ear buds that come with it. People are complaining about not having an EQ but it really does not bother me.
Price: $250 for 80gb is a good deal. I doubt I will have to replace this anytime soon because it is out of room.
FM radio is also cool, when it gets a station it actually pulls up info about what kind of music the station plays. I also like the fact that you can do video out with the Zune. I played a photo slide show on my 42 inch TV the other day with music playing as well, very cool. Video out on the TV was so-so but that really is just an added feature, I will watch most video on the Zune itself (if I can find any).
Here are my issues. I am going to ramble off a lot but obviously none of them have been deal killers otherwise I would have returned it. However, damn Microsoft, some of them are so basic, I have no clue what you guys were thinking.
Video-Such a great screen yet you STILL do not offer any real video content (music videos don't count) in the Zune Marketplace. When are you going to get TV shows and movies like Apple, Amazon, and Walmart, already have? You are one of the biggest companies in the world, ink a damn deal already. The good thing is that I have Microsoft Media Center running on Vista. So I can record shows and transfer them onto the Zune. However here comes another negative. Anything you record via Media Center needs to get converted by the Zune Software before it transfers over. And it TAKES FOREVER. 30 minutes shows take about 40 minutes to transfer onto a Zune. However an MPEG 4 file of a 30 minute show will transfer over in about 15 seconds. Why does a file created by a Microsoft product need to get converted to work on another Microsoft product? Which brings me over to my next gripe.Can't play protected WMA's and you can't use Microsoft Media player. The Zune is a Microsoft product and it doesn't even play their own file types nor use its own media product.Zune Software is sooo basic, that it doesn't let you rank or organize your collection as good as Media Center. It also doesn't work with auto play lists nor does it come with any preset play lists except "ZUNE GEMS" which is useless.With my 3 year old ZEN I can transfer files via Media Player including DRM WMA files. My ZEN comes with cool play lists. My favorite is called "Rarely heard" which picks 20 songs that have the lowest play count. This makes sure I hear all the songs on my player. I can't do this with the Zune because it doesn't come with it and it does not work with auto play lists that you can create in Windows media player (A Microsoft product).
Another thing my ZEN can do that the Zune can't is delete files directly from the device. You have to be docked to the Zune software to delete files, how dumb is that?Also if you delete a file from your collection on your your Zune Software, it also deletes it from the device, why the hell does it do that? Dumb again.As for the wireless feature I really could care less. I don't have a wireless network in the house and it really is not a big deal to plug in the ZUNE before transferring files. Plus the odds of me finding another Zune owner that I want to "share" files with is slim to none.
A few other things that drive me nuts.
Lack of accessories. It is unreal that I cannot find a decent case for this thing. Only ones available are very feminine leather cases that are bulky, and do not have belt clips or kick stands to watch video. They should of come out with some decent cases at launch. Since there are a decent amount out for the old Zune I am sure some will follow for this one as well, but now I am afraid to bring this thing to the gym until I get a case.
My final rant is not only about the Zune but about most mp3 players out now. Most come with no accessories other than headphones of some sort. Not even an AC charger. They make you shell out another $30 bucks for that. My ZEN MICRO that is almost 4 years old came with: headphones, TWO removable batteries, Case with belt clip AND kick stand attachment, and an AC Charger. I think it's a joke that most the players coming out now including the Zune can't even include a decent charger or a very basic case.Anyways I know I sound like I bashed the ZUNE but it's really only competitor (high capacity under $300 with video playback) is the iPod Classic, and I still believe the Zune is a better deal out of the two.The iPod touch is a totally different (and overpriced) product and the flash players such as the new ZEN and Sansa View don't have enough capacity (yet).I'm sure by next year around this time there will be plenty of 30gb or higher flash players in the market under $250. But I needed/wanted something now and the Zune fit's most of my needs even though its feature set is still a bit frustrating.
Larry gives it 2 1/2 Lumps out of 4