I recently discovered a DVD to video program specifically built for the Microsoft Zune.
The software is responsible at $29.95 and the company offers a free trial version. The program is just 2.2 MB to download. The features include:
1. Converts your DVDs to MP4 format that is perfect for your Zune, iPod or PSP
2. Works very fast and has been tested on most DVD drives (use the trial version to see if it works for you!)
3, Enables you to different video options including MP4 video codec Xvid and H264, a rich list of different resolutions, video bitrates, video frame rates, audio bitrates, audio frequency, etc (see interface below).
Here is an image of the DVD to Zune converter interface.
Now that the Zune is out, I’m sure you guys want to hear from other people like you. Every day people who have purchased a Zune them selves. If you have, do a little review and let other people know what you think of the Zune, all reviews will be published, good or bad. So no more long CNN style reviews, lets hear from the every day users out there and what they really think.
With the Zune MarketPlace being out and all, and the Zune its self only a few days away, if you are any thing like me and have a massive video collection but all of which are in non supported Zune formats then you have allot of converting to do. I went hunting this morning for a video converter to do the job and came across Cucusoft Zune Video Converter.
After downloading the install, which was a little over 6mb, this is the start of the install.
And this is what the program looks like once all installed and up and running. Its pretty much 3 separate windows just sitting next to each other, so you can move each one around and re arrange them to suit you. Its a really easy to use interface, and very simple to set up and get going. There is no need to tweek any of the settings which you see on the right, they are all set to the right settings to suit the Zune. So you can be converting you videos with in a few seconds of opening the program, just drag and drop the Videos you want into the box and hit convert.
Once clicking “Convert” it fires up and starts converting the video into MP4 or what ever format you wanted. The on screen Zune is there the video is played while converting, but its all jumpy and no sound, so its just to be used a reference for you to know where its up to.
All done.
Once converted you can have it open the file directory of where the converted video has gone and then do as you wish with it.
So thats the Cucusoft Zune Video Converter, its a very easy to use program and simple as any thing to set up and start converting. How ever this program is not free, and if you download the trial version, your videos will have a big water mark on it. The program retails for $39.95 and can be purchased from here.
Until I find a good enough free program, looks like this converter takes the top spot for Zune video converters.
Let us know what you think of this program, or if you find any other converters that you think are good, let us know.
As you know the software to go along with the Zune is the Zune MarketPlace, and this was unofficially released today by a BestBuy shopper. Well here is the run down on the Zune MarketPlace and how it all works:
After the install Its time to choose your Zune tag, seems “cooper” (my name) is already taken. People work fast these days…
And then you sign into your Live account, which can be several things like a Hotmail account. By the off chance you don’t have one, then it give you the option to go off and create a new one. A word of warning thought to people out side of the US, when you try to sign in to the MarketPlace you will not be able to, unless you selected “US” in your country when creating a Live account.
Signing in….
And welcome to the Zune MarketPlace! This is what you will be greeted with on starting the program.
There are 3 section on the left: Playlist, Library and MarketPlace. Pretty obvious, MarketPlace tab is the shop side of the program which is made up of several sub categories, first one being Playlist.
And then Charts, Which have several charts available, Top Albums, Top Songs, Billboard Carts, Zune Charts
Active Downloads, Nothing really here, but this is where your downloads in progress will be.
Artists, browse songs by artists
Albums, browse songs by albums
Songs, browse individual songs with in albums
Genre, browse by genre
Year, browse by year
This is now you private section of your own music. When the MarketPlace is installed it automatically starts scanning your folders in the background for your media. The abstract purple (purple is not the only color) album art is what goes there if no album art is available. This section will be pretty firmilure to users of Windows Media Player11.
Now we come to the video section of the Zune MarketPlace. Sadly it will scan your hard drive, but will only put in the videos that are supported on the Zune, and seeing as most of my video files are AVI, I have allot of video converting to do…
The happy snap picture sction.
This is the options to the way the files are displayed (just like WMP11)
And the options drop down menu
Now this thing is pretty cool. This is what pops up when you click the minimize button down in the right bottom corner. Its a little (actual size) remote looking device that can sit up the top of your screen and let you keep control of your beats that your rocking out to.
And as said before, the MarketPlace can be downloaded by going to this page.
So as the Zune release date for the US draws every so closer, the number of various Zune reviews grows. Here is a listing of all the Zune reviews, where the reviewer had some one on one time with the Zune and have done some very interesting in depth reviews. So lets begin:
Site: 2Old2Play.com
Zune Review: Reviewed on 20th of October - Link
Details: One of the first independent full hands on reviews of the Zune. These guys go into great depth and try to explain every thing about the Zune the best they could. They do not really go into great detail on the Zune MarketPlcae and there are no videos or pictures as well. But 2Old2Play.com do cover the core aspects of the Zune: The Zune setup, music sharing, video playback, and user interface.
Site: Cnet.com
Zune Review: Reviewed on 2nd of October - Link
Details: No surprise Cnet.com has done a review of the Zune, Cnet is one of the leading consumer product reviewers on the net. These guys opinions are usually pretty spot on and holds allot of weight as far as product reviews go. The Cnet Zune review covers: Body design, interface and the Zune features.
Site: Gizmodo.com
Zune Review: Reviewed on 3rd of November - Link
Details: One of the big tech blogs out there and my personal favorite one as well, Gizmodo has carried out a great review on the Zune. They cover some of the things not covered that well in other reviews, including the Zune Marketplace, where they get to try it out and see how it works on a PC. Gizmodo also covers DRM protection, with and interesting point:
Another not-published or seldom-talked-about feature is guesting. A friend can take his Zune over to your computer, set up a “guest” relationship with your Zune Marketplace software (as opposed to a regular owner relationship), and you’re free to drag songs and pictures from your library onto her device. These songs do not have the 3 play 3 day limit on them. Depending on whether you purchased or you’re leasing these songs, you can do this with either 5 or 2 Zunes, respectively. So in essence, if your wife wants to grab a few songs off your library for listening to…
Gizmodo has some great pictures of all 3 colored Zunes (Black, Brown and White) as well as some video clips of them using the Zune MarketPlace.
Site: Engadget.com
Zune Review: Reviewed on 3rd of November - Link
Details: The Engadget review is more for the people who do not like to read and are more visual. There are various pictures on the Zune, that pretty cool looking Zune case that they are carried around in and the Zune MarketPlace. Engadget also has a really in depth video walk through, where they do a complete interface walk through, showing you every nook and cranny of the Zune and the things it can do. That video can be viewed here or download it here (109mb)
The following is a list of the reviews from 6 music industry bloggers who were flown out to Zune HQ a few months ago for a first hand look of the Zune:
SteroGum.com
Coolfer.com
MOKB
3Hive.com
There were 6, but the other 2 were not really that good, so I did not include them.
Well that about wraps it up on the Zune reviews. Get enough info there? If I have missed out any reviews, please leave a comment and let me know so it can be included in the list. If all this reading about the Zune has made you interested in buying one, you can pre-order your Zune at the ZuneInfo.com shop which is powered by Amazon.com
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