I could see this actually being a handy device, eventually, once it's been properly hacked.

For me, a HD-based PMP that has proprietary drivers which only run on Windows (and only 32-bit without some tweaking), can't be used as portable storage, and won't work with anything but a custom Microsoft app is about as useful to me as a brick.

But unless someone manages to jailbreak or create custom firmware for the thing soon, I think the Zunes will be obsolete before I have any reason to own one. Too bad, as you can't beat the price.

I already have four mp3 players. 30G zune for ~$100 sounds tempting for me. Should I get one if I am not planning to use it for video? is there is any better mp3 only player with similar capacity out there for less?

#22, it's too late. The deal is expired.

When this deal (or the better deals that were around in the last month or so) comes back, then I'd get one if you need a bigger device. I got two 30GB Zunes and they're great. Value for money at the $90 I paid, best MP3 player you can buy.

#21, plenty of hacks are out there.
Here's one:
http://lifehacker.com/software/zune/use-your-zune-as-a-portable-hard-drive-217010.php

can you be more specific about the restriction thing? All I have is the mp3 songs downloaded from the popular sites. Does it mean all of my music will be played for three days or three times which ever comes first?

These will continue to drop in price. Not the iPod killer but a cheaper alternative, for sure.