Apple iPod Classic vs. Microsoft Zune 80

• The Contenders
• Navigation
• Sexiness
• Compatibility
• Sound and science
• Wallet factor
• The winner is...

Round 2: Sexiness

Looks, size, pimp factor

Microsoft Zune 80

The first-generation Zune was repellent to so many people, Microsoft would have had better luck marketing the thing as birth control. Apple's iPod, on the other hand, has been celebrated as one of the greatest product designs of the decade. Will the Zune 80 be able to hold its own against one of the icons of the 21st century? In round 2, we focus on the players' size and design, as well as any additional pimp factor that makes the user feel extra cool.

Player	Jasmine	Donald	Josh	Total
Microsoft Zune 80	4 Oooh...look at that fabulous screen. No doubt, the wide-screen is much more enjoyable for watching video content. The free etching option is supercool too, but the 80 is still a bit hefty for me.	5 Maybe I'm crazy, but the Zune 80 has this unapologetic square-nerd-sexy thing going on that just does it for me. It's like seeing Angelina Jolie in a pair of thick, black-rimmed glasses. Throw in custom etching and a cool background image, and this might be love.	3 The new Zunes are a definite improvement over the old ones, but the device could still lose some thickness and clean up the antennae up top. Credit is due for giving the new 80 a glass screen, which should make it a little less scratch-prone. It still feels a little tender compared to some other device's optical glass screens, but it's a step in the right direction.	12
Apple iPod Classic	5 If there's one thing Apple knows, it's style. The body is sleek, slim, and nicely decked out in understated metallic.	3 Yes, it's an icon of modern product design. Sure, it's an ingeniously conceived ubergadget. Still, it just feels stale to me at this point. After Steve Jobs called it the Classic, it just feels like one of the Golden Girls to me now. I want cool, not classic.	3 I'm digging the move towards metal on the face of the player, but the chrome metal backing and scratch-magnet screen haven't changed since the first generation. The iPhone and iPod Touch have moved to optical glass--it's time for the Classic to get some love, too. I'm waiting for the Classic to join the Shuffle and the iPod Touch as a player that can get stuck in your pocket or bag and not get scratched.	11

Winner: Microsoft Zune 80