CREATIVE LABS Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra 40GB Digital Audio Player by Creative Labs
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List Price: Our Price: $129.76 You Save: $170.23 (57%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Network Media Player See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of CREATIVE LABS Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra 40GB Digital Audio Player
Digital camera Review: Bet buy
Summary: 5 Stars
GET THIS. Not that having a cool MP3 player is the most important thing in the world,but I think everyone can agree that the ipod is the coolest. But who cares. If you are going to buy an MP3 player go all out. Get one that will last, one that has more space than youll need. This is the right one for everyone. This player does everything you need it to. and its not as expensive as the ipod.Digital camera Review: Built like Crap, works like a dream
Summary: 4 Stars
The case is mndblowingly awful. If I squint very hard at it the front cover pops off. I only have to slide the catch a fraction of an inch and it pops off, exposing the battery, which is packed loose and so can fall out immediately depending on the angle. The front panel slides across the front of the device if you press it, in a disconcerting way. Basically the build quality is on a par with a sub 10 dollar tape walkman from a backstreet in Hong Kong, and is criminally shoddy for Creatives flagship mp3 jukebox.Having held an Ipod for a few minutes, it feels as if it was hermetically sealed in pressurised chambers by aliens who breathe through their arses once every six years. Build quality is a chasm of difference between this and the obvious comparison of the ipod.
That aside... I love the damn thing more than any other gadget I have ever owned. It is very easy to use, works ok with windows (buy Notmad on the web for a user friendly, powerful and funky companion), and packs a punch sonically. The inclusion of WMA encoding lets you pack alot more music on than MP3 at higher quality, which is a massive bonus not to be overlooked. It just takes a moment to weigh resenting microsoft against having a much larger, better encoded wma library.
You mixologists will agonise over the break between songs; it is a split second, often not noticeable, sometimes quite noticeable, but much better than the second of silence the ipod jams between all tracks. For purists the only way to go is an album in one file I'm afraid. I have alot of mix albums, mostly down temp and it doesnt seem to hurt them at all. Something more driving is a bit more noticeable but not much.
EAX = so so. The normalisation of volume is a godsend late at night or when playing tracks encoded by different packages, bitrates etc. Although the geezer below me who listens to everything as if he lives in a church has me mystified. The only person I know of who lives in a church is Peter Stringfellow. Yike.
Great product. I love it. I was going to go for the RIO Karma but it hasnt really hit these shores. I don't regret my purchase for a second.
Oh, the sound quality (small point) Creative have been in this game a long time, and were building the first generation of music sequencers when I was in short trousers, so as far as I can tell nothing touches this device in the sonic stakes.
Digital camera Review: Buy it!
Summary: 1 Stars
I've had my Zen for over 4 years now (hard to believe I've had it that long). I still haven't filled up the memory on it, I've never had a day's trouble with it, and it's easy to use. I'm starting to find it a bit bulky now in comparison to some of the smaller, sleeker-looking players on the market, but I still have the attitude "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". The zen is superb, it's reliable, it's solid and easy to use, and I just don't see the point in changing to an ipod purely for aesthetics. I love my zen, and I wouldn't be without it.Digital camera Review: Buyer Beware...
Summary: 1 Stars
Mind you I did not buy my Zen from Amazon, however I bought myne back in May - 40gb.
Within 3 months, just after the warrenty expired, the headphone jacks died. I have a friend who has been trying to work on the jacks now for several months, and still no luck. Apperently they are attached ON the board instead of through the board. They have apperently been made horribly. For the price you pay for these things, they should work.
At this time, I'm very skeptical about buying another Zen due to this problem. I have read some reviews which states new ones have been made in July with a case with a window. Unfortunatly, it is very hard to figure out if you bought a new one or old one when your buying them.
I'm not sure how trusting it is to buy another one of these machines as they seem to be crafted for 10 cents and sold for 300$
I'm thinking spending the extra 100$ for the Ipod might be a smart idea at this time. You get a 1 year warrenty and you will not have to worry about this jack problem, at least nothing ive heard of anyway.
Buyer Beware... Think and read this before you buy the Zen.
Digital camera Review: Buyers Beware
Summary: 3 Stars
I usually expect quality product from Creative, however, after buying this product and trying it out for a week, I felt ripped off and returned it. Now I'm starting to realize why the iPod is such a superior product compared to the Zen Extra (FYI: I am not a big fan of the iPOD or Apple if you're accusing me of being an iPOD fanboy). First of all, it's such a pain to navigate through your collection with the way the buttons are placed. My fingers felt cramped after operating it for a few minutes. The hard drive in the unit vibrates when it is searching for songs. The unit also freezes up on me many times and requires pushing the reset button. It does it for me after reseting the unit for more than 10 times and discovering that more than 80% of all the songs I upload were no where to be found when the unit "rebuilded the library" after resetting it. However, when I looked into the database, the missing songs appears to take up disk space, yet no where to be found in my library or with the Creative MediaSource Organizer.
The EAX console and the 97dB Signal to Noise Ratio were the main reason I bought this product. The unit produce excellent sound quality which is about the only good thing (not with the earbuds it came with, which is no good). However, the EAX console was a big dissapointment. When you enable the EAX enviroments, the volume is cut in half, maybe even more. But I found myself reaching for the volume up button whenever I turn this feature on. I just gave up on it after trying it out a few times.
My friend owns an iPOD and it sounds good with easy controls. I was just turned off on the $500 price tag for a 40GB player and the "extra" accessory I needed to purchase to get the most out of the iPOD so I went with Creative (haven't triend the iRiver yet). I must say that buyers beware of purchasing this unit. I recommend purchasing the product at a place where it is returnable and trying it out.