I read two really informative reviews on the Microsoft Zune, and I have to say Im happy I dont own one. It some good features but at the same time there are issues with this product from Microsoft. Like usual when it comes from Microsoft it will have problems from day one, people were hoping that Microsoft would start from scratch with this, but there were issues.
The Zune is a player riddled with a lot of small issues — death by a thousand cuts. Do we think any particular one is a deal breaker? Well, even given our nightmarish software issues, not really. Do we think they should have worked out the kinks and sat out this holiday season? Probably, yeah. Do we think there’s potential for betterment of the platform and especially the player through software updates? Given enough time, absolutely. Would we recommend the product for purchase, like, right now? Not a chance.
Here are the Reviews:
This is the Zune with all its kinks and features.
There is something that is extremely annoying that they keep forgeting to mention, which is DRM. What is DRM you ask. Well it is something I wanted to clear up since it is quite important to your user rights.
DRM limits what you can do with the audio or video that you buy. Basically your renting the audio from the content owners, and you only have the audio for a limited amount of time. You can not transfer the audio to any other machine, and you can not burn it to CD.
I dont want to go into the details of what DRM is, but I just wanted to say how it might affect us. Whats good about iTunes is that once you buy the song its your and you can burn to CD and make transfers if you want. I am all for legally buying audio, since their audio is very high quality. The way DRM is its like your renting audio cds and you can only play in one car, and you cant play it at home. That is just rediculous who rents CDs?!?
This is just an issue that has been getting under my skin, and I hope that the Zune fails miserably because of this issue. I honestly think that the Zune is a cool looking player, but not the way it works. Makes me hate it, and Microsoft even more.
You could see that the product is already having problems from Engadget.
Windows Vista?
Playstation 3?
Blu-Ray DVD?
HD-DVD?
Mac OS X v10.5 “Leopard”?
When I with people and these discussions come up its literally non-stop about when and where. In the next couple of months lots of new products coming out. People have heated discussions about being first adapters or waiting for the kinks to get worked out, I have learned from my mistakes and I will wait for a little bit for the companies to work out the kinks, but Im not sure when I will adapt Windows Vista. It has a lot of strange rules! And Im going to have a first time apple experience then Im going to wait for Leopard! Im not too enthusiatic about Blu-Ray or HD DVD. Im happy with what I have. I have seen some HD DVD and I have to say that its amazing on the right screen. But still Im going to wait on it a bit. PS3 is a whole other matter on its own. People are going nuts, even though they had delays because of problems. Companies are always trying to push to market first, but I dont think the customers benefit in the long run. Im just going to sit back and watch the pandemonium begin!
Ok these people are nuts! Weeks before the launch of the Sony PS3 and they are waiting in line. Honestly I would wait a little while before buying the PS3! There were delays for a reason. I think there are going to be stampedes and people are going to get the crap beaten out of them! Im going to look forward to this! I want to here who killed who for a PS3!
Link: Engadget
This is the type of mp3 player that Im looking for! Its cool as hell yet functional. This MP3 player has a lot of cool features including the capability of playing all types of DRM, and plays all the other types of audio. It hasnt been released in the states yet, but it will be at the end of this year. There will be a 8 GB ($220), 12 GB ($250), and 15 GB ($280). The pricing is extremely reasonable compared to other mp3 players and it has a lot of features but no built-in FM tuner or video playback. For now thats fine for me, I just want a different mp3 player with good features. Its has 20 hour charging time, and it shows up as a hard drive once connected to the PC. It has editable playlists, and its compatible M3u and WMP playlists. It also plays JPEGs on the screen if you wanted.
And I just like this picture below! hehe
Sony came out with the 52 inch LCD since everyone seems to be going big with LCD these days. This another great LCD from Sony, I dont know anyone who isnt happy with Sony’s LCD TVs. This one is fully featured like any other HD TV.
Just listing a few of its features:
- 1080p
- 3 HDMI inputs
- 7000:1 Contrast
- 3 Composite Video Inputs
- 1 PC input
These are just the numbers I was looking at not including the amount of the screen which is viewable!
Its priced at $6800.00 fromt Sony.com which is about 1986.000 KD, which means 3500.000 KD at Sony and 3000.000 KD at any other electronics place in Kuwait. Damn that screen looks good!
Link: Uncrate
These Logitech Z2300 are the best 2.1 Speakers I have ever used or seen! I used to have Harmon Kardon speakers back 2001, and then the speakers blew out 2 years later. So I wasnt too impressed with their PC Speakers, but I have to say that these speakers are nothing short of perfect. I have had mine for two years now with extensive use for movies, tv episodes, all types of games, audio editing, full audio blast (for entertainment purposes), and connected to two PCs through a KVM.
Positives:
- Crystal Clear
- Very configurable
- Low and High tones with no Hiss
- External volume controller which can be switched off directly
- Solid Build
- Nice Design
- Very powerful Subwoofer
- Price very reasonable
Negatives
- Subwoofer is pretty large, but if the size of the subwoofer is an issue then I recommend the Z-10 because its even better but without the sub, and the bass in those speakers are really good. But I tend to like a room to shake when the an explosion occurs in a movie, anime, and tv episodes.
Price: $99
Link: Amazon
Rating:
For those who have an X-Box 360 dont perform the next Dashboard upgrade! Modded and Un-modded X-Box 360s are displaying the red ring of death, and some of them are not displaying at 1080p on certain screens after the update. Microsoft must have went overboard with this update, it has fried a few things on some 360s. So Just put off the upgrade!
Link: Engadget
I think these guys have seen too many Apple Ads, but I have to say that I do like their thinking! hehehe!
Link: YouTube
I have to say that I didnt know about this previously or else I would have ordered it a long time ago. I have a PC hooked up to the my Sony LCD, but it only has an RGB connection so I use an adapter to connect with the DVI connector. The quality is pretty good but I wish it could be better. I was roaming through amazon and I found that Monster Cables made a DVI to HDMI connection. When I found it I automatically ordered it, and I got it with my initial Amazon packages. Since then I have been slow to hook it up since I didnt feel like going through all the wiring. But when I did go through all the effort I have to say I should have done it sooner. The anime, movies, and tv episodes look so much better on HDMI, made a huge difference and I recommend this to everyone! Its worth every penny!
