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With all the mud being slung around from the Apple guys about the Zune. I thought this might be a good point to stop what I am doing and explain where I sit in the Music Player Market.

I will start off with Zune. I am not a Microsoft Employee. I am a Fan and Online Evangelist of Windows Mobile and Pocket PC Products. I am a big fan of HTC Windows Mobile Powered Devices. Based on my community involvement running Aximsite.com, iPaqHQ.com (now Mobilitysite.com), I have been awarded Microsoft Mobile Device MVP for four years now. When Zune was announced last year, I naturally latched on to Zune. I admit that the Zune 30 was no iPod, nor iPod killer, but I still would rather support it than an iPod. I ended up purchasing 4 different 30 gb Zunes in the 1st couple months. I kept two for myself gave one to a reviewer and gave one away. Since then I have also purchased a Ford Pink Zune and gave it away on Mobilitysite.

Have I ever used an iPod? Yep. In fact I have the following iPods in my home now. ( all of which I purchased ) I have an iPhone. I have also given two iPhones away in contests. I have two generation 1 iPod Nanos. I have given a couple of them away as well. I have one generation 2 nano as well as one generation 3 nano. I have a 30gb black iPod Video. I have an iPod Touch. Lastly, I have an 80gb iPod Classic.

My music player addiction doesn’t stop at Zune and iPod either. I have 4 different Sandisk Sansa players, two of them are e200s, one is the Sansa Connect, and I also have the Sandisk Sansa Shaker. ( The Shaker was provided as a review unit from Sandisk, the others were purchased) I have 4 different Dell DJ players. I have purchased, tested, and gave away numerous other players such as the Samsung YP-P2, the Creative Zen 8gb, the Sony Walkman, and an Archos 605.

My dislike for the iPod pop culture and the elitist attitude from Apple cronies is one of the reasons why I am not a supporter of the Apple iPod line of products. I have said it before and I will say it again, The iPods are really great players. The iPhone is one of the best entertainment devices on the market. It’s a great phone for the average consumer. I don’t use mine because of my need for full exchange support and the lack of 3rd party “INSTALLED” applications.

The 1st Generation Zunes were not perfect, but they were good enough to where I didn’t miss anything about the iPod, in fact I do not like iTunes period. I also prefer the “$15/mo all you can eat” method of music collection. I have had a Zune Pass for the last year and a Yahoo to Go account for the past 2 years.

Since the 2nd Gen Zunes have made it on the streets, I have purchased 3 Black 80GB Zunes, 2 different 8gb Flash Zunes, and 2 4GB Zunes. One of the 80s, I use. One was just given away in a contest and the last one is in the mail to a friend. I have also given away a red 4gb Zune in a contest here and gave the pink one to my daughter. All purchased, no freebies here.

One last disclosure that really isn’t relevant to Music Players, but I am also a member of Mobius, a Microsoft sponsored and run focus group about Windows Mobile and the future of Mobility. Mobius is an invite only event that is limited to 25 persons per meeting. These meetings are 1 – 2 times a year.

To sum all this up, I am not paid by Microsoft. I don’t get free Music Players. I don’t like Apple. I do like Microsoft and the Zune.