zune: my first problem

it locked up.  well, i'm not sure lock up is an accurate term as i still saw something going on, but maybe i was jaded by an animated gif :-0.

here's what happened...i'm trying to test out the video feature a bit more, specifically movies, etc.  my goal was to put a new release movie on the zune.  my wife and i just watched the da vinci code (no i didn't read the book, but i really enjoyed the movie -- good suspense, good subtle action).  so i seeked out some dvd rip software to get a dvd to wmv or something like that.  i tried xilisoft software that seemed to have the most options.  i put the dvd in and set it to WMV format full mode (keep aspect ratio).  now, i'm not sure if it is my laptop speed, etc., but it took forever!  like 5+ hours.  i did get a WMV file, but it played super 'choppy' like stuttering every few seconds -- not a clean encoding.  so if anyone has recommendations, let me know please.

so i started wmp-zune and plugged in my zune.  i dragged the wmv file (800MB) to the zune and clicked start sync.  it started, it completed...but then held in a "synchronizing..." pattern...on the device and in the software.  then i got a popup window in the software saying that the connection is "slow" and that i should re-connect and/or reset the device (note: to reset a zune you will press *and hold* the up and back buttons for about 10 seconds).  okay, done.  connect the device again, and it just hangs -- i can't view what files are on the zune now.  frustrating.

i *do* think, though it has something to do with resources having already been consumed on my machine because of the overnight encoding that the laptop was doing.  so i rebooted my machine.  okay, back from reboot, plugged it in and was able to do what i needed. 

one thing i did notice though was that the sync is a true sync.  in itunes, i can change the option to let me control the sync...and i like that option.  in wmp-zune, i don't see that option.  so if i deleted files from certain folders, on the next sync (which is automatic upon plugin) those would be removed from my device.  this is *not* something i like.  why?  well, let's take movies.  i may be converting a movie for specific purposes and don't want the extra space on my computer to be consumed...once i've moved it to my portable device, i want to delete it from my computer -- but keep it on my device.  hmm...i'll have to research.