I ended up getting a Zune last week. They're pretty cheap right now since V2 is coming out soon. You can get it for under $100 if you look hard enough.

I've never had an iPod, so I can't really compare the two, but I've been pleasantly surprised by how well it works. I'm not thrilled with the synching software, but it's not horrible either. Maybe it's because I'm used to Windows Media Player. The interface is pretty much exactly the same, but with a few less features. There was one nice side effect of installing the Zune software is that the codec for .mov and .mp4 files is better than the one I've been using that's part of the K-Lite pack. Before, I could play the files, but not see how long the file actually is. Now, I can see how far into it I am, and can fast forward or rewind.

Anyway, I'm already looking around for what else I can use it for besides music, videos and pictures. I don't have 30 GBs of music - more like 4 or 5. I don't have videos that will fill up the rest of it either. I'd like to be able to use it as a hard drive, but the solutions I've seen thus far are hacks. Now, I'm not above using a hack, but this is too much even for me.

I'm also looking forward to the new features in V2, since they'll also be added to V1. Being able to wirelessly sync will be nice - I hate wires. Unfortunately, right now, all I have to charge the thing is a USB cable. I may have to pick up a dock.

And yes, in the picture, I was listening to the latest TWiT. The other item in the picture is a Bluetooth dongle that plugs into the stereo jack (Jabra A120s, $24.22) and allows me to listen via my Bluetooth headphones (Jabra BT620s, $41.89) - meaning I'm listening to my podcasts wirelessly. Nice! Yes, those are referral links, but they're items I use on a daily basis and I've been extremely happy with them and Amazon has the best price I've found.

Bottom line: I'm having fun with my new toy.

Tags: Zune | Podcasts | Bluetooth