In my last post, I discussed the latest software and firmware updates for the Microsoft Zune. There are a few things I forgot to mention in that post, and in my initial review of the Microsoft Zune. One of those items was the fact that the player refuses to recognize DRM-protected audio files in your “watched folders”. I also neglected to discuss the options available in the Zune software for converting your audio files before adding them to your Zune. I also failed to mention the fact that the Zune software updates finally added the ability to tag your video files.

DRM Files

For me, the fact that the Zune software would not recognize DRM files was especially annoying, because the only DRM-protected files I had on my computer were ripped directly from CDs that I own.

I did not realize, however, that there was an easy solution to my particular problem. I must have initially ripped the files using the Gigabeat Room software that came with my old Toshiba Gigabeat, as all of the files in question were in WMA format.

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About a week ago, Microsoft released Zune 2.5, the latest update for the Zune media management software.  Apparently this software update adds in some functionality that was previously removed (smart playlists) and adds quite a bit of new functions.

Other than the addition of smart playlists, Zune 2.5 didn’t really add any functionality that I envision myself using very often.  I found a very good, accurate review of the new software and firmware on Paul Thurrott’s Web site.

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As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently went through the trouble of restoring our family computer to its original factory settings in order to try to get a little better performance out of it. However, even after all of that work, the computer is still performing fairly poorly.

Therefore, I went to the Web to look for some fairly inexpensive options to upgrade the computer. I happened upon crucial.com. Now, I’ve heard the name of that Web site thrown around on a lot of forums, but I have never bothered to visit. In the past, it was fairly easy to purchase memory upgrades, because there were only a handful of different kinds, and every memory stick worked on every motherboard.

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About a week ago, my parents provided me with the recovery discs that originally came with the eMachines computer they gave my family last year.  The computer has been running dreadfully slowly since they gave it to us, and it’s been getting worse by the week.

Of course, the kids are the main users of the computer, so I’m sure it’s become chock full of all kinds of tracking cookies, spyware, adware and everything else from the various things they try to download.  Therefore, I decided to completely reconfigure the computer, starting with the recovery disc.

I backed up the handful of files that were on the computer that I needed, and then restarted with the recovery disc in the drive.

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Well, I’ve now had a Zune 2.0 80 gig digital media player for a little while, and I’m ready to offer up my review.

First of all, let me preface this review by getting the following facts out in the open:

1. I, personally, have only owned one other digital media player, which was a Toshiba Gigabeat F-40 (which was actually an early predecessor of the Zune). I have a bit of experience with a Creative Zen and using a PSP as a digital media player, too.
2. I have extremely limited experience with iPods, so I can’t comment too much on how the Zune’s features compare to the iPod’s
3. Although I am in many cases anti-Microsoft and to a certain extent pro-Mac; I am, oddly enough, pro-Zune and very much anti-iPod.

Now that I’ve explained my limitations and biases, it’s time to move on with the review.

What’s in the box?

The 80 gig Zune comes with the Zune itself, a user’s manual, a pair of “premium” headphones and a Zune sync cable. It’s quite a step down from the box my Gigabeat F-40 came in (which included a cradle, a software CD and a remote control, too), but it seems fairly standard for today’s media players.

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Toshiba announced today that they are pulling out of the race to win the HD format war. They will no longer be developing the HD-DVD format.

Toshiba’s president admitted that Warner Bros. decision to exclusively back the Blu-Ray format was basically the nail in the coffin for Toshiba.

Fortunately or unfortunately, that means that Sony’s Blu-Ray technology is the out-and-out winner in the format war. What will this mean for us as consumers? I really can’t say. There still seem to be rumors floating around that Sony is burdened by the cost of producing Blu-Ray compatible players and discs, even selling them at nearly 10 times the price of a standard DVD equipment. I’m hoping that the production costs will drop significantly now that they have no competition. Otherwise, it will most likely be a very long time before Blu-Ray overtakes the standard digital video disc.

At this point, will we begin to see more and more Blu-Ray drives being packaged with new computers? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.