It seems a lot of the bugs have already been thrown out there and much of the talk is shifting to features. This post is intended for people that are not having software and hardware issues and want to know how they can use the Zune features to do what they need. I think most of us can agree that there are many undocumented features (the help pages are a little...light...) and I wanted to point out a few things.
To set expectations, I will only be talking about features designed into the software and hardware and not focusing on 3rd party apps meant to replace parts of the software, fix software issues, or hacks.
1. Store content on Zune but not on PC
The Zune has a feature called Guest syncing which can be used for this. Guest syncing provides the most control over what you put on your device and has several limitations. This feature is designed so that you can easily get DRM-free content from one Collection and move it to another. Features that will be impacted with Guest sync:
- No automatic sync
- You may not be able to move DRM content
- No automatic syncing of Podcasts
- No wireless sync (part of automatic sync)
In the software, if you go to Settings --> Device, you will find an option to Forget this Zune. That will remove the association between your device and the PC and the PC will no longer be its "Home" PC. Once your device is forgotten, when you reconnect the Zune, you will be prompted to connect as Guest or make the PC its Home. Connect as Guest.
After you connect, you will be able to move any non-DRM content from the Collection to the device. This will have to be done by either flagging the content with Sync To Device or dragging it to the Zune icon.
Once you have all of the content copied over, you can delete the content from your Collection. Verify that it did not delete from the Zune and you can then delete the content from your PC.
In my testing, the only real drawback I saw is that when you use the Zune software to browse the device, album art does not show up. However, album art is indeed on the device.
2. Drag and drop from explorer to Collection
There is a particular hotspot in the gui but I have successfully dragged and dropped music and video. For music, launch the software and go to the Collection --> Music tab. Select the files in Windows Explorer and drag them to the center pane where your album covers appear. The mouse pointer should change to a + and you can drop. A message appears at the bottom of the window stating X Media Items Found or Invalid Media.
You can do the same with movies but need to be on the Collection --> Movies tab.
3. Copy by Playlist
The software is now designed to make sure when you sync a playlist, it puts all of the necessary tracks on the device. Regardless of whether or not it is already on the device, create a playlist, add tracks, and Sync to device. If a song is not on the Zune and it is needed for the list, it should get synched.
4. Import playlist
You can import a playlist created by another application such as Windows Media Player. The playlist directory is a sub-directory of your media download location. To find this, go to Settings --> Software --> General. Make note of the location you selected for downloaded media. Browse to that location in Windows Explorer and you will find a Playlist subdirectory.
Create a playlist with a 3rd party application and save in m3u format. Copy the playlist to your Playlist directory and the Zune software immediately sees it. When I did this, I actually saved the list to that location and it created duplicates in the form of a .zpl, .wpl, and .m3u. I deleted all but the .zpl.
You can easily and permanently delete lists by deleting them from this directory. You can also quickly change the name of a list by opening the file in a text editor like Notepad and changing the name. It is just a few lines down from the top and easy to recognize.
You can also drag a playlist file to the Playlist window.
5. View your playcount
Playcount is now visible on Zune.net but you can also view this from within the software. Go to the Collection --> Music tab and on the right, you can select Browse or List. Select List. Right click on a column heading and select Choose Columns. Find Play Count and make sure it is checked. You can now view your Play Count for each track as well as sort by that column. This can give you a good idea of what you might want to rotate out, rotate in, or get rid of completely.
6. Shuffle...then shuffle more...
This was an update sometime back but may still be a little known feature. If a shuffled playlist isn't shuffled enough, you can continue to shuffle it. Without leaving the screen, toggle Shuffle on and off several times. It will shuffle the already shuffled list.
7. Zoom for that closeup
It is a bit limited but when viewing a picture on the Zune, hit the center button. You will get an option to Zoom In. When selected, you can use the wheel to pan and scan around the picture. A small icon appears in the bottom right that will show you where in the image your focus lies.
8. Use quicklist to repeat a single song
Unfortunately, there is no built in featue to simply select a song for repeat. However, you can add the song to your Quick List and set the Quick List to repeat.
9. RDS and the FM Radio
One of the much touted features of the radio is pulling in RDS (Radio Data System) information. Depending on what the station chooses to broadcast, you can get a wide range of information on the display of your Zune. Call letters are fairly common but I have seen others report one station actually broadcasts DJ information. Here is an article that outlines what is available through RDS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Data_System
Keep in mind that the headphone cord works as an FM antenna. Also, even if the station sounds clear, you might not always get a strong enough signal to get the RDS info. Of course, not all stations broadcast RDS but it is still a pretty cool feature. With luck, in the future Zune users could get the same kind of info on the Zune display as many see with satellite radio.
10. Find location of file
Although we no longer have an actual menu item to Find Location, some may still find the need. Find Location was an option that appeared when right clicking on a file in the old software. It would automatically launch a Windows Explorer window that went straight to that location. You can still do so even though you aren't prompted.
Right-click on a file and select Properites. The path to that file appears in red in the Location area. If you click on the path, it will launch an Explorer Window. This is handy for jumping straight to a directory that contains a file or finding the directory if you are not quite sure how you organized it on the disk.
Feel free to add any other tips others may find useful.
