Creative Zen 8 GB Portable Media Player (Black) by Creative
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Digital camera reviews of Creative Zen 8 GB Portable Media Player (Black)
Digital camera Review: A nice player...
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this player as my first multi-media player. I bought a Zune 30GB for my wife. I was looking for something smaller and more compact for myself, I settled on the Zen 8GB. This is a nice player, like many reviews say, it has a beautiful screen - bright and colorful. Sound quality is very good - I'm not an audiophile, but I've compared it to other players and this one is right up there with the best I've heard. The software is okay, not my favorite - I think the Zune software has the Zen software beat. But, for basic functions it works well and is fairly easy to use.
Why not 5 stars? Two things that bug me: one, there is no 'stop' button. If I want to stop playing a song, I can either pause, shut the unit off, or change to a different function. Why no stop button? I'm confused about that. Second, shuffle play appears to only be available as a 'global' option - meaning that you set it in the main menu and it applies to everything you play in the music menu. I don't get this - there are some things, like audio books, that I have on here that I don't want to shuffle - why isn't this available on a per album or per artist basis? Again, this doesn't make sense to me.
Battery life appears to be good. It would be nice if they included a cover of some kind with the player, as well as an AC adapter - but, then again, no one else seems to do that either - I guess no one wants to take the extra step to offer some bonus stuff to their potential buyers - maybe they should try reading 'The Nordstrom Way' and get some thoughts there.
Overall, a good player for the money. I'm happy with the purchase and would recommend this unit to anyone.
Digital camera Review: A nice, little, MP3 player
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had my Creative Zen for six months and I'm really enjoying it. This was my third MP3 player and my favorite by far. I have it fully loaded with a combination of music and video. Watching old eps of my favorite tv shows makes my hour-long bus ride to work more enjoyable. I've never had any problems with this player, but I'll admit that I don't try to do anything with it other than listen to music and watch videos. I haven't tried to put in an SD card or anything like that. I have a screen protector and a skin/cover on it so it's holding up really well despite being carried in my bag everywhere I go. If you're like me and are looking for an inexpensive player for every day music/video use then this is the player for you.Digital camera Review: A real deal!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have enjoyed many hours of entertainment with my creative Zen. It is easy to use and small enough to fit in my noise-blocking headphones case!Digital camera Review: A solid portable multimedia player
Summary: 4 Stars
I have had my Creative Zen for about 2 weeks now. I have found it to be a well designed mp3 player that has a lot of nice features and only a few setbacks.
The Pros: Great audio quality, small, compact design, amazing display, utilization of expandable memory via an SD card, radio and recorded voice options, ability to play mp4 (itunes) files.
Cons: Tends to freeze up, lack of quality peripherals, recessed grooves around all buttons are virtual dust resevoirs, "so-so" media organizer, SD card integration is not very seamless or integrated, for that matter.
The sound on this mp3 player is excellent. It offers numerous equalization presets along with a customizeable option. The player is small and sleek and fits in my coin pocket in my jeans perfectly. The video display is amazing. The player allows you to create slideshows with customizeable transitions and you also have the option of setting your own wallpaper with a picture of your own. The player also includes some very decent images already stocked for you to utilize as well. A nice additional touch is the SD card option. Although you will be able to slide a card in and view whatever media you have on the card, you basically have to hault all functions on the Zen to access these files. In other words, if you are listening to music and want to look at photos on the SD card the player will stop playing before allowing you to actually view anything. Take in mind too that any media on the card cannot be transferred to the Zen via the player. Any editing would have to be done via the media organizer. However it is still nice to have the option of an SD card port. This comes in handy if you want to share some new photos you have taken with friends without having to take your camera along with you as well.
The button layout is pretty well thought out. The buttons have a good, solid feel to them and I have rarely hit the wrong button other than being a result of my own misdirection. That said, the grooves around the buttons seem to attract just about every piece of lint, hair or dust that they come into contact with. This is primarily a cosmetic flaw, but none the less, it is worth mentioning.
Another problem is I have had the player freeze up on me from time to time with no consistant reason as to why or how. This problem is magnified by the fact that the reset button is so tiny it literally requires something as fine as a needle to access. A toothpick or paperclip are way to thick, so if this thing freezes on you mid-road trip or on a jog, you're probably going to be out of luck, unless you carry a needle with you.
Another slight flaw is the media organizer. While, in itself it serves it's purpose, one big flaw was the ability to manipulate items already in your player via the organizer. For example, I had some songs in my zen that I wanted to move to a new folder, both of which I could clearly see in the organizer. However, for some reason I was not able to transfer the song to the new folder. Instead, I had to find the song on my PC and transfer THAT file into my zen and delete the song file on my zen. This, obviously, will be a headache for those wanting to re-allocate numerous files. This is unexcusable, in my opinion, but it is what it is.
Lastly, I was dissapointed in the peripherals that have been made available for this unit. Off all the cases that are offered, NONE have any kind of screen protection. This makes little sense to me. Sure, you can buy the laminated adhesive clear covers, but these tend to leave a sticky residue and they ALWAYS blister, which would completely contradict this beautiful display. I hope they release something better in the future. As it is, I have refused to shell out any extra money for a cover that I will not be satisfied with, thus I still carefully carry this thing around unprotected.
This review may seem to focus on the negative, but I do like to make others aware of what they can expect. I still stand by the 4 stars I give this product. I do love it, and there is more upside than down. I have yet to come across the perfect mp3 player, but with a few tweaks to the software and hardware itself, the Creative Zen is definitely a front runner. Buy with confidence.
Digital camera Review: AN EXCELLENT MP3
Summary: 5 Stars
I NEVER HAD AN IPOD, AND DECIDED TO BUY ONE TO LISTEN TO MY AUDIOBOOKS AND THIS ONE WAS RECOMMEND BY PUBLIC LIBRARY TO DOWNLOAD AUDIOBOOKS. THE SOUND IS INCREDIBLE. I STILL HAD TO LEARN HOW TO WORK WITH IT AND HOW TO BOOKMARK THE PAGE THAT I AM LISTENING, BUT THIS IS MY ISSUE. VERY AFFORDABLE FOR A GREAT MP3