review: I like the Zune. I got the brown one (the case has a translucent exterior giving a doubleshot of green around the edge when viewed in the right light). I wanted something like this and pretty much knew I needed to have video.When compared to the other choices I wanted to make sure I did not have to convert my library over (its 50% WMA and 50% MP3) and that it did decent video. I also wanted FM. The obvious choice was the Creative Zen Vision. Alas I am not the type to buy something expensive without first checking it out. I was never able to see one. No Brick and Mortar store carried one for me to look at. So I delayed for months before bying anything. Then I got an opportunity to play with the Zune. Here is what I liked.Its a good form factor for me. I know people love their skinny iPods but for me that would encourage putting in places it will get bent and none of these devices do well with that! Also, I like the size of it because my hands are big and I have something to hold on to.I like the big wide screen but don't be fooled, its still a 4:3 ratio and not 16:9. The best films to rip are fullscreen not wide screen. I've used the AVS DVDtoGO software for that. The picture quality is great. Very colorful and sharp. The size of the screen means my eyes can see it well.The software is good. It takes a bit of getting used to. I was expecting to drag and drop files onto a file system but that isn't how the Zune works. You create a library and it synchronizes. You get a lot of options on how you want to view this library and you get a lot of options on how you create playlists. It took a while to figure out how to keep some files off the Zune (like screenshots for work that I had in My Pictures) but once you figure it out it makes sense.The sound quality is excellent and the reception on the FM radio is also excellent! It uses RDS to get song information and station identification. The interface is very clean and easy to use.Things that are missing that you should know about: The Zune cannot act as a USB hard drive. This is probably a big surprise to many. Also, the Zune cannot record either voice via microphone or its Digital FM signal.I like the Zune quite a bit. Its easy to use and shows quality workmanship. There are some missing features and the software has a short learning curve but for me the combination of its advantages are a real bonus.
question: Is the software installed easy to use for novices?
Its easy to use