Basically, while I was searching online for a pre-owned PS3 (Secondhand gadgets for life, bitches. Plus I’m broke) I came across several “auctions” that would promote this particular website; FreebieJeebies.

Being of the Google Generation (new name for the 21st century), I did a lot of checking up on it and was 80% sure it’s legit.

Now leaves the 20%: trying it out myself.

Basically, I sign up for an account at FreebieJeebies and sign up for a 3rd-party offer they’re affiliated with (I’m signing up for LoveFilm because it genuinely seems like something I’d stick to). After that, I just gather sufficient referrals that would ultimately get me the prize I want. In this case, it’s a 250GB PS3 Slim.

I need 15 referrals.

I need your help. :D

Basically what you do is sign up for the websites FreebieJeebies advertises, and when they receive compensation, they give it back to you in the form of an item. I think the selection includes gadgets of the Apple variety and the new iPhone4 is up too apparently. After that, depending on the stuff you choose hence the referrals you need, just start recommending it to friends and when they decide that they’d try it too, presto! You get one referral. 14 more to go.

But hey, if you’re Mr/Mrs Popular, why not give it a go? It should be easy for you. And tell me if it works.

Just sign up via this link, and you’d be one of my referrers, in which I would be greatly obliged. :D

Here’s the link again, just in case:

http://consoles.freebiejeebies.co.uk/179620

Once it’s done (with my luck I doubt that though), then I can ascertain its success factor. Good luck me, good luck you.

Classes have started just today and here I was getting excited about my 254th consecutive days of pelting peanuts at inanimate objects. A tragedy, really. I’m this close to making a dent on that horridly brown-hued closet with the speed I possess in pelting said peanuts.

Some people are just born talented.

Speaking of which, there was a purpose for this particular post…

I recently purchased the Zune HD.

IN.

YOUR.

FACE.

BITCHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sometimes it’s so remarkable to see how mature I am for my age.

I’ve grown weary of explaining multiple times what a Zune is, but I won’t mind telling it again for your sake.

Just kidding. I love to hear myself talk.

So here’s a brief summary:

Basically, all of you effing pathetic Apple fanboys are gushing over the latest releases by the devil incarnate (sometimes referred to as Steve Jobs). He has like, the Midas-Fucking-Touch when it comes to releasing the latest, up-to-date, age-defying, I-wank-to-it-in-my-parent’s-basement gadgets. The iPod, iPod touch, iPhone (all 400-fucking-version of it) has been well received by society due to its brilliant, flawless designs and novelty sizes.

With all his pioneering status and knack for the trendy and kitschy, he’s also brilliantly named said gadgets with simplistic, yet memorable and esoteric  names that appeals to just about everyone within this neo-futuristic age. He’d never, ever do something stupid like name a product to something that bears a striking resemblance to a woman’s menstrual pad, however.

OH WAIT.

I however, am one of the (unfortunately) minority that completely abhor the hype surrounding a singular brand. I’m not denying that it’s nice to look at or nice to touch (Like Amirah’s bewbies),

Such soft… err.. hair. My right hand is touching her, err… hair.

…Admittedly, the name even has a unique ring to it (save for a particular new Apple release…);

The Apple iPod Touch and the iPhone

Now doesn’t that sound like something that would leave her knees weak when you whisper to it passionately in her ear (as you hang out together under your parent’s basement)?

Also, the Apple App Store is a force not to be reckoned with. An old statistic I remember seeing stated that they dominate about 80% of the world’s mobile app world.

They sold 1 billion app last year. In the span of 9 months.

And of course, learning management science, we’re told numerous times how brilliant the marketing strategies they’ve adapted and how world-leading their after-sales service are. Bla-fucking-bla. Leave a few gaps of silence in reverence to the benchmarking status they’ve upheld and get ready for the blow-by-blow comparison I feel obliged to disseminate to you ignorant masses.

ZUNE VS IPOD

When the world was pining over the latest Apple and granting too great a consumer hold over it, there exists a disgruntled few who just couldn’t understand how someone could salivate over something with diminished capacity compared to other better brands, save that it looks better. There were notable competitions, like the Creative Zen, Sony and iRiver but they hardly stood a chance against the might of Apple fanboys (forthwith referred to as The Retarded Ones), egregious in their enthusiasm and overflowing in numbers.

Finally, Microsoft (Yes, Microsoft) took a stance and teamed up with Toshiba to create what is to be then referred to simply as Microsoft Zune. As Apple evolved, it gradually did too, with the release of the 2nd and 3rd generation, extricating themselves from the alliance with Toshiba in the process and fully propelling the project within their own capacity. It was performing adequately enough, it boosted and outperformed Apple is several categories, but non critical enough for us Zune fan-PEOPLE to go head-to-head with our retarded Apple counterparts… That is, until the Zune HD was released.

HOW THE ZUNE HD FUCKING RULE THE WORLD.

Zune is cheaper (MOST IMPORTANTEST FACT OF ALL).

Pricing (taken from Amazon US):

iPod Touch 8GB: $175.90

VS

Zune HD: No equivalent product range.

—–

iPod Touch 16GB: $199.00

VS

Zune HD 16GB: $164.00 (Black in colour)

—-

iPod Touch 32GB: $264.00

VS

Zune HD 32GB: $238.00 (Platinum in colour)

—-

iPod Touch 64GB: $349.00

VS

Zune HD 64GB: $349.00 (White in colour)

(Okay, maybe this one might be similar, but give it some time. It was just released April this year. :P)

The iPod sound quality pales in comparison to the Zune.

When I say blow-by-blow, I really mean I-am-too-much-of-a-distracted-person-to-type-all-that-much-but-hey-here’s-a-useful-link-insert-smilie-face.

There are plenty of audiophile forums singing high, laudable praises for the Zune (I might exaggerate this a teeny bit) in terms of audio quality, comparing it incessantly with the iPod, all the while noting the iPod’s glaring inferiority. In case the technical jargons might confuse you, here’s an amazon-forum based discussion:

Sound Quality, Zune VS iPod

Don’t take my word for it, take Amazon’s (I think Amazon should pay me for typing that. I’m running a petition soon).

 

The Zune has far superior display.

Alright, the iPod Touch might have a slightly wider diagonal measurement at 3.5″ (beating the Zune at 3.3″) but that’s just superiority in numbers, not actual performance. The deficient 0.2″ is more than made up by the fact that the Zune outfits more pixels in a similar space (480 x 272), making it so much more vibrant and the colours strikingly brilliant. Or, if you’re going to be all fuck-all for that slight technical difference, consider this: The Zune uses OLED display while the iPod Touch is still stuck with the same ol’ boring LCD.

You have to be daft not to be aware of the mountainous quality difference between an OLED and LCD display. In fact, the strongest selling point of the Zune is in its display quality and how it upstages just about every other brand not by a slight, but staggering margin.

 

The Zune weighs less and is smaller in size.

The initial measurements would have the iPod winning preliminarily again. The thickness of 8.5mm is slightly smaller than Zune’s 8.9mm. However, that’s as far as it extends. The Zune totally beats it in all other aspects.

Apple’s product is 2.4″ wide, the Zune is 2.1″.

Apple’s is 4.3″ tall, the Zune is 4.0″.

And despite its smaller size, the Zune manages to weight about 36% less than the iPod, measuring at 76g as opposed to Apple’s hefty 115g. It doesn’t look too light, thanks to the shiny metallic exterior but when you pick it up, you might be somewhat surprised by the contrasting weight (as I was).

 

Zune has better battery life.

I hate it when my battery is completely drained and it’s getting all that much harder to pretend to listen to music so that the shower-challenged guy beside you might take a hint or two (true story). Here’s a short recap:

Apple has 30 hours music playback, Zune HD has 33.

Apple has 6 hours video playback, Zune HD has 8.5.

Apple charges at an 80% capacity by two hours via wall adapter, Zune at 100%.

Via a USB port, Apple requires 4 hours for a full charge, Zune requires 3.

Zune support more video formats at a far, FAR better quality

This is highly imperative for myself, since I primarily watch movies and series while riding the Underground. I’ve watched two seasons of Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives… Err I mean House and CSI on my old 1st Gen Zune and several countless movies, so the fact that the Zune processes 640 x 480 video resolution at 30 frames per second, and is able to decode MPEG-4 and H.264 compression schemes at up to 2.5 Mbps (H.264 PEOPLE!) I literally screamed. In addition, it also handles Microsoft’s native WMV format, which the iPod is simply unable to (They’re restricted to MPEG-4).

Not only that, but the quality of 480p can be extended to a frikkin’ 720p seamlessly, in which even some laptops can barely handle it. The video can be outputted at that quality to a HD TV via composite cables sold separately. And while the iPod plays videos of up to 2.5mb in speed, Zune can perform at a whooping 14mb.

I’m sorry for all the technical jargons, there’s no other way to explain just how superior the Zune is. I doubt telling you “IT IS THE FUCKING BEST BOOYA BITCHESSSSS!!!! FUCKING LOOK AT THAT PICTAHSSSS!” would help much.

 

Zune is scratch-resistant, Apple is basically designed to be covered in scratches within several hours of usage.

I noticed this trait when I dropped my 1st Gen Zune for about 5 tim- err once. ONCE. And noticed that there were no visible scratches on the screen or the casing, despite dropping it on gravel at a magnitude of… well, very hard. I was more than exalted when I discovered the same trait was extended to the Zune HD, since the sleek metallic exterior made me figure it was built the same way as the iPod: classy and elegant, yet magnetized scratches like no one’s business.

Seriously, does any Apply fanboy dare to comment on how scratch prone all the Apple products are?

If you’re in the US, you have a choice of five colours with free engravings:

Latest additions:

Last but not least:

 

Honorouble mentions

The NVIDIA Tegra Chip.

Zune would be the first media player to use this ground-breaking technology. If you’re wondering what exactly the fuck it is, I don’t have a fucking clue either. Google plskthx:

It’s a graphics-based processor inputted into laptops mostly, to ensure quality video playbacks at staggering processing speeds and minimum power output.

Oh man, does this sound bitching:

“Specifically, the Tegra provides the Zune HD with eight independent processors, each designed for a specific class of tasks – among them are an HD video processor, an audio processor, a graphics processor, and two ARM cores. Furthermore, the processors can work together or independently to minimize power consumption.”

The Zune also has Wi-Fi, a Web browser (with tap-to-zoom technology), built-in accelerometer, and a touch-screen QWERTY keyboard.

Seriously, what more can you ask for? Okay, maybe a shirtless Jake Gyllenhaal.

Well hello there, Prince of Persia.

ALL MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED!

One thing to gripe about however, is that it is only released in US and Canada. I’ve been waiting for an Europe release (rumoured since Fall of 2009) but it was just grapevine shit. The only way of buying it was either purchasing it at exorbitant prices from UK-based inofficial stores… or eBay (New at slightly less exorbitant prices and refurbished at much less).

Of course, cheapskate me chose eBay.  Refurbished.

Whatever I have a Zune HD.

PS: Yes, this post update is because it’s 4am and I have to get ready for class at 7am tomorrow… err today.