The Microsoft Zune HD is an mp3 player that rivals the Apple iPod Touch. It comes in 3 hard drive sizes: 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. All of them share the same features other than capacity. Interfacing is done through the 3.3″ touchscreen which is a 16:9 OLED display with 480×272 resolution. With the Zune HD you can buy and play games, listen to music, watch movies and television shows, all by purchasing them from the Zune Marketplace or transferring them from your computer. Movies and television shows are available in the Zune Marketplace which play in 720p HD. These can be viewed on the Microsoft Zune HD in 480p, or can be ported to an HDTV for full 720p resolution. This requires the Zune HD AV Dock.
The Microsoft Zune HD is Wi-Fi capable and can sync to your PC wirelessly. Wi-Fi is how the Zune HD surfs the web as well. A large number of apps are available so you can customize the Zune HD largely however you want. For example, apps are available that let you connect to Facebook and Twitter. There are other apps which are games, and some which let you get work done (if that’s really what you’d like to do). When necessary, a touchscreen QWERTY keyboard pops up so you can enter in information. If there are things that you do often and you don’t want to always have to navigate through menus, you can use the quick play feature to access them instantly via shortcuts.
The physical details of the Microsoft Zune HD are as follows: The dimensions of it are 52.7mm x 102.1mm x 8.9mm and it weighs a mere 2.6 ounces. It can fully charge in 3 hours when charging through a PC, and can charge in 2 hours when charging through an A/C adapter. The battery life of the Zune HD depends on what you’re doing with it. It can last up to 33 hours when playing music with the wireless connection turned off. When playing video it should last about 8.5 hours. The touchscreen is made of scratch resistant glass. When it comes to colors you have a couple of options. The basic retail model comes in black. There are Zune Originals which are special models that come in platinum, black, blue, red, green, purple and magenta.
Besides being able to listen to mp3s, the Microsoft Zune HD offers free HD radio access. With this feature you can listen to stations in crystal clear quality, and tag the songs that you like so they are played more frequently. Another feature is called smart dj. It is a feature which creates custom playlists for your based on your favorite music. Simply choose an artist, album, or song and it will generate a playlist based on that suggestion. The Microsoft Zune HD has a built-in accelerometer which makes playing games more immersive.
The only accessories which are worth mentioning besides the HD AV dock are the chargers. An A/C adapter is available in case you lose the one that comes with it, and there is a travel charger available for when you take long trips in the car or have a long commute and don’t want to be caught in a traffic jam with a Zune that doesn’t work.
Sources:
http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/zunehd/default.htm
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2351538,00.asp