The Zune Marketplace has numerous audio and video podcasts that you can subscribe to, but what if you came across a podcast that wasn’t available on the Marketplace site? For example, let’s say you found a good heath fitness podcast which you wanted to subscribe to… how can you do that for your Zune?
In the Zune Software, you can click on “Collection” and “Podcasts” which will bring up the screen shown below:
(click on image to enlarge it)
While I was in the process of reloading files to my repaired Zune 80, I cleared out all my old Podcast subscriptions to start fresh. As I was perusing the available podcasts on the Zune Marketplace, I was amazed on the number of audio and video podcasts that were currently available. When I first got my Zune (back in December), I scanned through the podcasts and signed up for about 10 or so, but I’m astounded by the shear number of podcasts that are on the Marketplace now. What’s especially nice, is the number and variety of the video podcasts.
So if you’re wanting to view videos on your Zune but don’t want to mess with video ripping, conversion, etc. I suggest you try subscribing to a few video Podcasts. You can watch Nova science clips, Comedy Central short performances, or nightly news broadcasts. Audio podcasts are also nice if you’re driving a lot in the car, or traveling on a long plane or bus ride. Just be careful about subscribing to too many podcasts, as you may fill up your storage space really quickly!
The Zune Software will store files in a temporary folder when you sync video files and video podcasts (which requires transcoding). If you don’t routinely clean out this temp folder, it can really fill up with files. I checked mine recently, and it was over 6 GB in size! Here’s how you can check on your system:
First, in File Explorer right-click on the C: drive icon and select “Properties” from the popup context menu. You should see a dialog window similar to the image below:
Time for me to rave again about the available video podcasts for the Zune. I’m normally too busy throughout the day to follow who’s ahead in the political race for the presidency, so I rely on the ABC News and NBC News video podcasts to catch me up at night just before I head off to sleep. I can lay in bed for 20 minutes or so and review what has happened earlier in the day. I get just enough information to keep me informed, all on my wonderful Zune 80! It would be great if I could update my video podcasts at ANY public WiFi location (e.g., coffee shops, hotels, airports, etc.) but unfortunately I can only do so by wired or wireless syncing to my home PC.
I really love the video podcasts, and I’m glad there’s so many to subscribe to. Here’s my list of current podcasts:
I wish that some of the news casts were offered on a daily basis. But, beggars can’t be choosy since I don’t have to watch the commercials. What’s frustrating, is watching the cool Nova Videocasts and having it end at the most interesting part (they want to you visit their web site for the rest of the story). I haven’t had an opportunity to listen to the audio podcasts much (I tried the other night in bed and simply fell asleep!). I’m sure I’ll make more use of them when I’m on a long drive for a business trip.
I absolutely love watching video podcasts on my Zune. The convenience of having the Zune Software automatically sync the latest three episodes for my subscribed Podcasts is wonderful. At first, I subscribed to any and every podcast available that sounded good, but after watching a few of them I’ve selectively removed some of the uninteresting ones. I wished the Comedy Central podcasts were longer in length (or have more episodes available), and I love the GeekBrief.TV (it’s amazing the two hosts are doing Podcasting full-time, and doing such a great job). The Nova Series is great, but again a bit too short (I want more!).
You can subscribe to Video and Audio Podcasts directly from the Zune Software. There’s a good number to choose from, and if that’s not enough you can search the web for more. The web site called PodCastAlley.com has numerous podcasts which you can subscribe to. Just find the one you want, cut the http: address displayed and use it to subscribe from inside the Zune Software on your Desktop PC.
So far, I’ve been watching the podcasts late at night while in bed just before I go to sleep, so I haven’t been watching too much of the World News-based casts (don’t want to go to bed too depressed). But, I travel quite a bit for my day job so I’m planning to use my new Zune for watching movies and podcasts while on the plane, waiting in the airport, and when I’m stuck in my hotel room. The audio podcasts will come in handy for those long boring drives to customer sites. Hopefully, I won’t lose or drop my Zune during my many travels!
