Shopping Online: Zune Vs. Ipod: Which Is Right For You?

The Apple iPod has long dominated the world of digital media players, but since November 2006 there has been another player on the field. Microsoft's Zune player is a 30 gigabyte audio and video player with the unique feature of allowing users to temporarily share music with each other.

If you're in the market for a digital media player and aren't sure which one is right for you, this quick rundown should give you an idea of which player is best for your situation.

First, there are a lot of things that the iPod and the Zune have in common. Both come with 30 gigabyte hard drives and are capable of playing audio, podcasts and video in portrait mode, though there are iPods with less memory and that don't include a video capability. They both use USB 2.0 to connect to computers, and they both require an online service to buy, download and manage audio and video.

Both run on lithium ion batteries for about 14 hours, and they are virtually the same size (both are 2.4 inches wide, but the Zune is about 0.3 inches taller than the iPod). The Zune weighs 5.6 ounces to the iPod's 4.8.

Once you get past the physical aspects, the battle of Zune vs. iPod gets more interesting. That's because the Zune has one thing the iPod lacks: a built-in community based on the ability to share files between Zune devices that are in close proximity through Wi-Fi.

Users can share most songs, and the person who is given the song can listen to it up to three times in three days before it is disabled. This makes it easy for people to share their favorites and really gets a circle of friends talking about music and sharing more media than they ever have before.

The Microsoft Zune also comes with preloaded audio and video to give users access to music they might not otherwise hear about. The iPod is a blank slate when you buy it, which you might actually prefer.

The Zune comes with a little more personalization out of the box, since it is available in five colors to the iPod's two and also has the ability to change the background image. Zune has a screen that is a half inch bigger than the iPod's, and you can also watch videos in landscape mode on it, which can't be done on the iPod.

Navigation is a little different on the two devices. The iPod has a scroll wheel, while the ZUne has a more tactile button control, as well as a back button, a play button and a hold button.

Another big difference between the Zune and the iPod is that the Zune Marketplace, similar to iTunes, allows users to pay a flat fee for unlimited downloads of a select group of media each month. The iTunes store has no mechanism for unlimited purchases.