I am a huge Microsoft fan, the Xbox 360 is my favorite console, Windows is my favorite OS, and the Zune has been my music player ever since it was first released (The Dell DJ was my music player before that). On the day a new model of the Zune is released it is somewhat of a tradition that I run out to Best Buy and pick one up. There are currently four Zunes in my household.
In the past the Zune has not been without its problems, it seems to take the development team a incredibly long time to fix issues with the software, it is very easy to lose all of the music you have purchased in the marketplace, the accessories feel very cheaply made, and there is no support for the device in cars or home theater audio systems. Another sore spot for the Zune has been its marketing, in the past there was no way of knowing what the commercial was trying to sell you until the Zune logo popped up at the end as opposed to Apple marketing where the entire commercial centers around the devices.
Although almost any device these days is a ‘music player’ I am more excited about the ZuneHD than I have been about any other Zune device. Built on the Tegra (NVIDIA) platform which offers a great amount of power and including a new OLED screen, a web browser, the Zune 4 software, the application store, and the inclusion of HD radio; this is most likely the largest step the Zune has taken in its progression thus far.
I will be picking up a ZuneHD as soon as the local Best Buy opens up, but if the issues continue this is likely to be the last time Microsoft wins my business. I might have to hold my nose and buy an Apple product, after all.
-Drew