I like the green tinge that the brown model has. I feel that this attribute is the only redeeming quality to the unit.

If I wanted something brown, I would have a sued or tweed case for my iPod.

The Zune actually BEING brown just looks... well like shit.

But I guess Microsoft had to do something so as not to look like they completely ripped of the iPod down to the color.

My guess would be that most of the people who voted for the first choice are apple fanboys, or haven't seen it in person.

I thought it was shit till I went to Circuit City to see it for myself.

With the exception of a 70's Lloyd's plastic woodgrain clock radio, my home is void of brown electronic appliances. I wonder why that is? Maybe I don't have very good taste, huh Charlie?

I'm tired of black and white DMPs in the same way beige PCs got old in the 90's. I welcome a spot of color, even if it does remind me of my last BM.

I personally really like the brown so much to the fact that I actually bought one. I like the green tinge and the fact that the color is unique compare to all you ipod lovers helped in my decision. It seems like it doesn't matter what you guys post on the zune...all apple fanboys will never give in.

I like it. I too am sick of the B&W color choice. Its refreshing to see a company as big as Microsoft take this type of risk.

Personally, I think that Microsoft's choice of color was a clever one, and that it adds a bit of 'retro' styling (read:audio equipment from the 60's and 70's encased in luscious wood) and makes it look somewhat elegant. Additionally, my own shit is usually green, yellow, or black...so references to this looking like a brick of shit are a bit lost on me.

I have a brown zune as well and love it. The green doubleshot looks pretty cool. At first I was wary like everyone else, especially because my 5G ipod was shiny and black, but after seeing the brown zune in person I was sold. Plus it feels good to touch, if you've held one then you know what I mean.

Brown is good for, like, shirts. Abercrombie may be pushing brown; that doesn't mean MS has to, or even should.

I like my technology to be invisible, not noticeable. If there is a color choice, I generally choose the one that I'll see the least.

Since I don't live between a monkey cage and a sewage processing plant, I choose black.

I think the last brown thing I paid money for was a 1978 Pinto. It had a lot in common with explosive diarrhea.

Love the brown. It's just different enough.

What I don't like about the brown Zune is how many reviewers have made leaps of logic along the lines of "I don't like the brown Zune and therefore MS was stupid for making a brown Zune. I think that the brown Zune is ugly and therefore it is empirically ugly."

It's a faulty syllogism to say that one person's subjective opinion on aesthetics is equal to objective proof.

My opinion: the brown Zune is HAWT!

Let's see, that's three posts so far that were, in essence, "I like it because it's not iPod." Apple Hatebois, boring boring boring, identifying themselves by what they're not, trying to be cool by hatin', always missing the mark.

Back to the topic at hand, I've recently seen a lot of new brown styles, in clothing and some in interior design. It looked like a better-designed 70s retro was returning, so I can understand why Microsoft thought it would be a good third color choice. (I'm amazed how well the brown and pink Zunes go together, indicating someone was very careful.) Unfortunately the color doesn't quite work for the general consumer psyche.

I chose "could take it or leave it", because something about that marsh-water green seems interesting. It's not the brown that's interesting, it's the special effects. A friend of mine got a brown celphone, but it worked because it was incredibly dark and glossy.

I'm all for brown if it's done right. I haven't seen this in person but from the press photos, it look horrid. Maybe it's just the shade of brown that resembles a loaf of poo. I have to agree though, why all the black and white only options? What happen to color? MS and others could have really made some dough by allowing us to change out the covers to let us personalize it. Candy apple red or blue anyone?

The brown was what initially sparked my interest in the device. I bought one, and I love it. Brown on green? That's just like a forest. Are all these nay-sayers declaring their hatred of trees?

I like the green tinge that the brown model has.

Yes, swamp gas looks pretty too...till you get in it with your lit cigs.

You know what? I have been on the fence about a ZUNE. But now, after seeing how hated they are and especially the brown one I have decided to get a brown zune. I hate microsoft. They are like a little whore you can't resist.

only b&w color choices? you guys are ABSOLUTELY right. that's allll apple offe- oh wait.

there's the ENTIRE nano line?

if i wanted my ipod colored - i'd go get it custom colored. the people who pick on "apple fanboys" are just as annoying as the fanboys themselves. the only reason you DON'T like something is because apple made it....

doesn't matter who made it - brown = shit. period. even IF apple made such a horrendous design choice - people would say it.

The brown was my least favorite color when reading about the zune on this site. When I actually saw one in the store it instantly became my favorite. The green tinted plastic gives it a look like nothing else.

The iPod may be smaller but with a zune you don't "have" to factor in the size of the case because you can use it without scratching it.

The brown color Sony Ericcson and Nokia cellphones are well received in the Asia region

I've really liked the brown Zune since day one. And then I found out it has a green tinge! That just makes it even better. Similarly, I didn't like the black Zune very much until I saw it's blue tinge. I like it better, but I still like the brown one more.

In fact, I've been wearing Zune-flavored clothing lately -- black polo with a blue sweater; brown polo with a green one. Maybe a Microsoft rep will see me and spontaneously give me a free Zune. Yes, I will keep dreaming about this.

yep... there's an SE k800i with "Allure Brown" which is very nice.

brown may or may not be huge here in America, but i honestly think a lot of people will find it a refreshing choice over black and white. its also an earthy color, which if you look at popular clothing today has become more and more the trend. however if it doesn't take off here i have no doubt it will do well over seas, and anyone that doesn't think so should talk to LG.

The brown Zune is the first DAP I'd ever seen that made me want to own one. I love it. It's like chocolate syrup on key lime pie.

Perfect.

Rob Enderle is a talentless hack. Anything he says is about as accurate as throwing darts.

This is the guy who claims that Slashdot effectively censors Websites it links to by linking to them (yeah, what?), that the iPod is doomed (what's with the weird capitalization in that article?), that SCO will win (Enderle laments that when told this, people "jump to the conclusion that the analyst was bribed"--he should be glad that they give him that much credit, rather than just assuming he's the idiot he is), that Google Earth is hurting our troops (he must've been off his meds for that one), and that national ID cards are the only way to stop viruses.

Yeah, he's a sharp one alright.

You know, until I got the brown one in my hands at Best Buy, I thought it was ugly. But no, there's subtlety to the color scheme with the green and the brown isn't nearly as offensive as it looks in photographs. I also like the rubberized feel.

It's sad. When playing with the interface on the Zune I was very, very pleasantly surprised. For one, unlike others, not having a scroll wheel WASN'T counterintuitive because the way information is managed and displayed on the Zune is, well, really good. On the other hand, the thing is about as big as my VCR and totally incompatible with iTunes so there is just no way I would ever consider one--unless that changed...

What are everyone's favorite Enderle quotes? Here are some of mine:

He said of the introduction of iTunes for Windows: "They're going to have a serious problem with the Windows community," said Rob Enderle, principal of market research firm the Enderle Group. "If they could have gone there first, they could have carved out a beachhead."

On why Apple is doomed: "This impression that Apple is out to lunch from an open-systems perspective is enhanced by Steve Jobs publicly saying that the Tablet PC is a niche product."

He's basically only had one success, which was predicting that Apple would switch to Intel processors. Problem: he predicted this before the G5 was even announced.

And yet he still gets quoted in "reputable" news accounts...

i personally love the brown - it offers a different color not available on any other DMP. If you are traditional, go with the white or black - that's why they offer it in those colors. If they only offered it in brown, i could see how some would complain. But the fact that they offer it in several colors, everyone should be able to find one they like - why all the complaints? I'm purchasing a brown one myself.

So around 400 LOVE IT and 400 or so hate it... and im guessing about 1/2 of those 400 that hate it havent actually seen it in real life and dont get how classy it looks... and are just saying it looks like shit A. cause their apple fanboys here to diss a ms product... or B. they havent seen it in life, yes some may hate it but the numbers will end up scewed... kinda funny that the brown which is supposed to suck has almost 40% saying they love it... lets see release a product that those 40% would like it and 60% wouldnt and would but it... i think those 40% are pretty happy that brown was released such as i am

Red iPod looks like a heavily used sanitary napkin.

Wow Gizmodo, you really show class and non-bias. First, you compare the iRiver s10 to the Zune..."Zune Shmune", when it should have beem compared to the iPod Shuffle since thats what it directly competes with...so where's the "Shuffle Shmuffle" headline?

Now this. I'm not a fanboy of any camp, but I do have a bad taste in mouth from the heavily slanted iFanboydom that you exhibit.

FYI, my demographic is male, 40yrs old, income 170K plus. You just turned me away from your site, and your advertisers.

Lets see if this post makes it, as it's been about a week since my others have not. Guess I'm unlucky in posting comments. *right*

brown may or may not be huge here in America, but i honestly think a lot of people will find it a refreshing choice over black and white. its also an earthy color, which if you look at popular clothing today has become more and more the trend. however if it doesn't take off here i have no doubt it will do well over seas, and anyone that doesn't think so should talk to LG.

Unfortunately for Microsoft, they've decided not to release it overseas until at least 2007 Q4 or 2008.

Not an Apple Fanboy

Don't own a Zune or an Ipod

The brown looks like a piece of shit. Literally.

The 'green tinge' that everyone keep saying makes it good just makes it look like an off color piece of shit.

The whole device is a bust.. but brown just isn't dark enough...

For me it's black all the way.. and I love mine

The brown wouldnt be as bad if it didn't have the green. Or if the brown was a little darker/earthier. The current color is almost crayola brown and with that green tinge it just makes it... I dunno, unhealthy looking. Not earthy like they were probably going for.

The only one I'd buy is the brown one. There need to be more brown mobile devices on the market. I'm sick of white, black, and silver.

The brown one is the only Zune I'd buy. Frankly, I'm sick of white, black, and silver colored mobile devices. They need to have more brown or earthy colored ones.

No other hardware company has come to that conclusion? What's wrong with that? Were there white devices all over the place when the iPod came out?

Have loved the brown from the beginning. It looks even better in situ, by the way. What I like most is how it polarizes folks- you gotta admire MS for being able to offer, as an option- a color that drives hardened gear-whores into hysterics.

Too funny.

This thread has too much discussion of the Zune and not enough focus on Rob Enderle and how he's a big douchebag.

Brown is the colour of my true love's eyes.

I don't really care much if there is or isn't brown. I could live with or without it. I decided to buy a black Zune instead, because I just think the black one looks the best.

the problem is not the brown. the problem is, with a zune you will look like a total nerd whatever the color. thanks god it is not sold in europe, not that anyone would notice anyway...

If brown is good enough for WEEN, it's good enough for me.

At least it isn't one of those fucking fruity Apple colors.

I think that no one should have a Zune so damn ugly! It truely does look like a pile of s***! So to all the people that Decide to by this Zune in the color Brown F*** you and see you in Hell!!!