Unbelievable but true, starting today it is possible to pre-order a Zune HD.  Click on the picture below to run out and order yours! 

For more details on the Zune HD, head on over Heather’s link from last Tuesday, <Zune HD Pricing News and Video>

The Full Press Release can be found below the picture:

Microsoft’s new portable digital media player available for online pre-order at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Microsoft Store

REDMOND, Wash. – Aug. 13, 2009 – Zune HD, the next generation of Microsoft Corp.’s portable digital media player, is available now for pre-order and is set to hit store shelves on Sept. 15. The player, available in 16GB and 32GB capacities, is the first touch-screen Zune and includes powerful playback technology to give you a different way to experience media on the go. Combined with unparalleled PC software and online services such as Zune Pass, Zune provides a rich and meaningful connection to music, videos, podcasts and more.

Pre-order Zune HD in 16GB Black and 32GB Platinum through http://www.zune.net/zunehd from Amazon.com, Best Buy, Walmart and Microsoft. Beginning Sept. 15, at http://www.ZuneOriginals.net, both 16GB and 32GB capacities of Zune HD will be available in five different colors with the option to customize your player with one of 10 new engravings designed by guest artists.

WHAT: With a sleek and stylish design, Zune HD is the first to combine these features:

• Built-in HD Radio™ receiver. Allows you to listen to higher-quality sound than is available from traditional radio channels, as well as access additional programming through HD2 and HD3 multicast channels from many of your favorite local FM radio stations at no extra cost.
• HD video output capabilities. Supports HD video playback from the device through a premium HDMI A/V docking station (sold separately) directly to an HDTV in 720p, making it easy to enjoy better-than-DVD-quality video on your own big screen at home.
• OLED touch screen. Allows you to easily flip through music, movies and other content. The 3.3-inch glass screen and 16:9 widescreen format display (480×272 resolution) offer a premium viewing experience.
• Built-in Wi-Fi. Allows for browsing, streaming or downloading new music from Zune Marketplace.
• Internet browser. Full-screen Web browsing, optimized for the multitouch screen with zoom-in and zoom-out gestures.
• Accessories, at home and on the road. Zune HD and AV Dock charges and syncs players while playing supported 720p HD videos on HDTVs. Play HD Radio, music and podcasts from your Zune HD device through your car stereo using the Zune Premium Car Pack.

WHY: Pre-order now to be one of the first to experience the new Zune HD’s advanced design, innovative technology and rich multimedia capabilities powered by the NVIDIA Tegra ™ chip ultralow-power HD processor.

PRICING: Zune HD 16GB: $219.99 (estimated retail price); Zune HD 32GB: $289.99 (estimated retail price)

WHEN: Pre-order starting Thursday, Aug. 13. Purchase in stores on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

WHERE ONLINE: http://www.zune.net/zunehd

WHERE IN STORE: Place a pre-order in person at Best Buy beginning Aug. 16. If you want a sneak peek, visit select stores in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C. areas on Aug. 22 and 23.

There is really no easy way to say this, so I am just going to come right out and say it.  Honestly, I could not recommend watching video on any of these devices.  Their screens are all too small to really make it worthwhile.  If you plan to watch videos, then I suggest you look at the iPod Touch for a nice portable device, or even the Zune 120, which has a very nice screen as well.  For something a bit less portable, the Archos 7 is a fantastic option.

So there, I got that out of my system and I do feel better.  Now, forget I said it.  What we are going to look at tonight is how each of these compares to the others, and which offers the best of the bunch for watching video.  Really, this is going to be one of the shorter entries into the Listen To This series.  There is not a whole lot to it.  Let’s get started.

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After numerous installments in this series, we are finally done with the preliminaries.  we have talked about the design of each of these players, the controls, and even the menus.  Now, it is time to get down to business with what I think is the single most important segment in this series: sound and audio.  Let’s get right to it.

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I was rummaging through my basement over the weekend, looking for some plugs or cables or something, when I came upon a great box of old electronics and gadgets.  I never did find the cable I was looking for, but I did find my first digital music player: The Rio 800 digital audio player.  Back in its day, before Apple captured the field with the iPod, the Rio was pretty much the gold standard for music players. 

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This is just a quick follow up to the hardware post in this series.  In that post, we looked at the hardware and some pseudo-unboxings.  Well, just to finish off the unboxing theme, I thought we could take a quick look at what else comes in the boxes.  And it is not much: a sync charge cable, some headphones, and various other sundry manuals.  Not much controversy there…or so you might think.

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