The Microsoft Zune HD Media Player
Whether you’re new to the wireless revolution or out on the frontline, the Microsoft Zune player is the device you need. On the road or at home, the Microsoft Zune is a high performance entertainment center providing you with HD quality audio and video. Wireless connectivity means that anywhere you have a Wi-Fi network you have access to the latest news, sports and weather information over FM or HD radio stations. If that’s not enough, you can use the built-in browser to search the internet. You’ll be able to check email and connect with friends on social media sites. It also comes with a synching cable so you can connect to your PC.

Unlike many of the other media players, the Microsoft Zune makes all this easier through touch screen technology and a QWERTY keyboard. And, if you’re not connected you can still enjoy all the multimedia you can handle. With 32 gigabytes of storage, the Microsoft Zune HD can handle 10 hours of high-definition video or 48 hours of standard video. If your thing is music or family pictures, it will store 8,000 songs or 25,000 images.

The Microsoft Zune player is built for quality image and sound playback. The 3.3 inch OLED screen supports a resolution of 480 x 272. Download TV shows or HD movies anywhere and then watch them where ever you choose. If you’re not interested in watching video on the road, the Microsoft Zune HD is also capable of connecting to your home media network wirelessly or through a dock.

Significantly, the Zune isn’t tied to proprietary or obscure audio and video formats. Support is provided for standard audio formats such as .wma and .mp3 along with advanced Audio Coding formats. It can handle wmv or mpeg videos as well as high-definition files. You can listen with using the supplied headphones or others having a standard 3.5 mm connector.

And despite all that it offers, the Zune still comes in a compact, lightweight form. It measures roughly 4 inches tall and 2 inches wide. It’s also a slim one third of an inch thick. Weighing in at 2.6 ounces makes it easy to carry. The battery fully charges in between 2 and 3 hours and then you can listen to over 30 hours of music or watch over 8 hours of video. Overall, Microsoft Zune player 32 GB is an incredibly powerful and versatile media center that will fit in your pocket, but make you think you’re sitting in a theater.

Why oh why does iTunes continuously add duplicate tracks to my collection? Aghhhh!!

Seriously, If there’s one thing that bugs me with all the iTunes problems; that’s it.  All I want is for my music library to stay organized with the ability to easily burn cds.

Simple right?

Insert disk, select a playlist you want to burn, and click burn! You’d be surprised by how much of a hassle its been to burn a cd with some of the other media players out there.

Well, that was my problem…

Since I was already on the verge of downloading a new media player and instead of digging deeper into the iTunes culprit which adds duplicate tracks, I decided to review alternatives.

I downloaded media monkey. The additional features are what sold me.

First off, note My deciding factors for any media player download are the ease of cd burning from a playlist, like iTunes, the ability to keep my (your) library organized, along with a few others.

The media monkey album art is pretty cool too.

So far I’ve encountered one problem with media monkey but it’s now resolved. Media Monkey, by default, cross fades tracks out of the box. I find this annoying because I do not want to hear cross fading when I’m rocking out to every beat. I want my next track to start in rhythm. Ya know? =)

I couldn’t locate the disable cross fade anywhere but after a weeks of getting fed up with the cross face problem, I finally searched and found a forum post at the media monkey forum.

Could it have been so simple? Duh, LOL. Here is a short video explaining how to disable the cross face in media monkey. And thanks to this thread at the MM forum.

I recommend Media Monkey.