I really, really want to like Microsoft but they just make it so hard sometimes. Back when I was flush with cash in Texas I decided the time was right to buy an MP3 player. It really isn’t right that someone who is as in to music as I am that I don’t own one. So I did some shopping, rejected the iPod as an option, and headed towards the Microsoft Zune. After many hours attempting to install the software on my laptop I gave up and returned my 30G player to Target just 12 hours after purchase.

I’ve since sometimes regretting returning the little piece of hardware. My laptop isn’t the best piece of equipment, in fact it hasn’t even been turned on in months, and my desktop is fairly modern and very current on updates – the Zune would have likely worked without issue.  But now I’ve come to realize that I’ve made the right decision.

At around 2 AM on December 31th 100% of the 30G Zunes locked up. It seems that the software writers over at Microsoft ‘forgot’ about  leap year which caused the small computers inside the players to get confused and just shut down. Engineers out in Redmond say that it should be okay later today if owners allow the battery to drain completely then recharge it, though a complete new Sync will likely have to be done for DRM reasons. They also say they should have a fix out by next  leap year, 2012.

So does anyone have a player out there to recommend?  Zune is out for good and I really don’t like the idea of an iPod. What else is there?  I need something big, really big…30G really wasn’t enough.