Zune HD vs. iPod Touch, which is better?

By Dan Keylin

Take a short walk around campus and one thing you'll notice is that everyone is holding either a iPhone or iPod.  Apple is the king of MP3 players, and Microsoft is looking to change that.

The Zune HD was released today to a moderate level of fanfare, and I decided to get one.  I've also been a proud owner of an iPod touch, so I'llcompare and contrast the two devices:

[caption id="attachment_2466" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Zune HD is one slick device."][/caption]

The first thing you'll notice is that the Zune HD is smaller than the iPod touch, and about a hair thicker, but it also weighs only about half as much, and feels very well-built.  The OLED screen is stunning, and comparing a Zune HD and iPod touch side by side, you can tell the Zune HD has far better color contrast; the blacks on the Zune HD look deep black, while the blacks on the iPod Touch look dark gray and washed out.

The user interface on the Zune HD is also amazing.  The touch screen is just as responsive as the iPod touch, and menus have really smooth animations.

When you play a song, a background is a picture of the artist, and album art is in the middle of the screen.  If you are playing a song by a popular artist, there will actually be pictures and biographies of that artist that you can see as you play the song.  It's a great touch, and makes the now three year old iPod touch interface look dull in comparison.

"Contrary to the name, the screen resolution is NOT high-defintion."

Watching videos on the screen look great (although contrary to the name, the screen resolution is NOT high-defintion).  The picture viewing is basically the same as the iPod touch, including multi-touch so you can zoom in and out by pinching your fingers.  It seems the multi-touch on the Zune HD works just as good as multi-touch on the iPod touch, which was a pleasant surprise.

While the Zune HD no doubt beats the iPod touch in regards to screen quality and user interface, it also has several shortcomings.

For one, there is no massive application store for the Zune HD, at least not yet.  Microsoft is trying to have iPhone app developers port their applications to the Zune HD, but they aren't in the Zune marketplace yet, although there should be a somewhat expansive app library for the Zune HD by the holiday season.

Microsoft is going to have a lot of trouble catching up to Apple's App Store, so if applications are a deal breaker to you, the Zune HD may not be the device for you right now.

The iPod touch's internet browser, Safari, is also superior to the Zune's updated version of internet explorer, which froze several times on me.

[caption id="attachment_2465" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Comparing (from left to right) iPhone, Zune HD, iPod touch."][/caption]

Perhaps most important is that the Zune HD only works with a windows computer, so all those Mac users will have to use bootcamp or another program to run windows on their Macbook.  If you have a windows computer, Zune Software (Zune's version of iTunes) is really nice, and a new change of pace from iTunes.  Both iTunes and Zune Software have their strengths and weaknesses, with iTunes having a simpler UI with more in depth options, while Zune Software was a much better album artwork matcher (it got pictures for about 90% of my library compared to iTunes which only got about 60%).

Overall, both devices are on an even level.  The screen and user interface on the Zune HD are truly amazing, but it falters when it comes to its internet browser, lack of applications, and support for Macs.

If you have a Mac and don't know how to run Windows on it, you should probably stick with your iPod.  If you have a Windows computer the Zune HD is a bit more compelling option at this point if applications aren't a necessity for you.  Either way, you really can't go wrong.