Well, ladies and gents, it has finally happened: the Zune HD is now available for preorder and yes, the prices are really 219.99 USD for the Zune HD 16 GB version and 289.99 USD for the 32 GB Zune HD portable media player. One nasty surprise has clouded my hype though and I guess you will have to keep reading in order to find out what that was. Before we get into that, however, a quick tour on what the Zune HD is.

The first device to be announced as using NVIDIA's Tegra technology, the Zune HD could pretty soon become the first launched employing it. With the help of Tegra, the Zune HD can display 720p HD videos without breaking a sweat, is able to offer a complex and fast interface, as well as run pretty demanding games. I remember seeing a tech demo with a mobile device playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare... which is a pretty huge display of awesomeness, if you ask me.

It has a 3.3-inch OLED touchscreen with a 16:9 aspect ratio and a 480 x 272 resolution. As for storage, the Zune HD is available in 16GB and 32GB versions as well. There was a rumored 64GB version said to make its appearance later this year but that remains to be seen. HD Radio, Wi-Fi, the possibility to receive instant HD video streaming on the Xbox LIVE marketplace and a full-featured web browser with a touchscreen QWERTY keypad make the Zune HD something out of this world.

What I don't like is that in order to sync the Zune HD to your computer, you need the Zune HD Sync Cable (19.99 USD), and to actually stream to your HDTV, you'll also be required an AV Dock, sold separately for 89.99 USD. This will bring the price of the Zune HD (of course, you could forgo the dock like I am planning to) to almost or beyond 400 USD.


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