How Does the Zune HD measure up?
Its not everyday that Microsoft gets the praise of the blogging world for a job well done. So you can imagine that the folks in Redmond are a little more then happy for the recent success of their Zune HD and all the praise its getting from those in the gadget world.
But is it really worth it, or is it just another media player trying to capture the spotlight of the iPod line? Well for one, you know it can’t be that bad when blogs like Gizmodo give it ratings that are only deserved for the Mac’s. But if that wasn’t enough lets take a look at four of its main features.
Tegra is really a beast. While the iPod Touch 3G packs 600MHz, the Zune HD bumps up the specs to a full 1GHz. Not only that, but with dedicated ARM cores as well as GPU the Tegra totally blows away the competition on paper. Unfortunately we are yet to see an application that puts the proof in the pudding, but we’re sure that’s soon to unfold.
HD Radio is something you enjoy in your BMW, in your house and pretty much in a lot of other places, but Zune is one of the first media players to bring the wonders of this new technology to the palm of your hand. Yes there is something much better about HD radio then regular FM or worse AM. I wont try and convince you, but if you disbelieve me, go check out an HD radio at your local electronics store and see.
OLED screen. Its not that OLED is more environmental safe then LCD (frankly couldn’t care less), but it’s the fact that it totally kicks but in resolution. Although the Zune HD and iPod Touch 3G share almost identical resolutions, it’s not hard to see the difference between both screens when compared side by side. Colors are more vibrant, pictures more crisp, black is blacker, white is whiter and Barack Obama just got a bit more interesting.
HD Output. Although it doesn’t do the full 1080p thing, you still gotta give Redmond credit for producing the first mainstream PMP that is not afraid of your HD screen. That said the Zune HD outputs 720p which means you’re getting mid range HD. And if you doubt that Tegra can actually support such demands, I dare you to try one.
Albeit its not all bed and roses for the Zune HD as its browser is lacking, apps are scarce at the moment and video and movie selections on the Zune Desktop software 4.0 is looking mighty scanty at the moment. That said its still a hell of a player and we’re sure Apple won’t be sitting in their kingly seat for too long without feeling the cold chills of competition.
