Creative Zen media player

Don't bother expecting a breakthrough

Creative have been giving you more bang for your buck than Apple since the first iPod, so they're unlikely to overtake them now. The word "iPod" is to "MP3 player" as "Hoover" is to "vacuum cleaner", and as underpowered and overpriced as Apple products are, you have to respect them for that. As long as that's the case, non-iPod iPods aren't going to have the success they deserve.

My suggestion is that every single time someone's talking about their iPod, ask them "So what's the radio reception like?" Do it enough times and when the swelling goes down you'll be left with that lovely feeling called smugness, and maybe Apple will be toppled off their throne just that bit sooner.

@Jolly: I have a Zen Vision M and have never had any problem synchronising, not even when I uploaded my several thousand tracks the first time I used it. Maybe it is slower than other models, but when I'm uploading tracks I don't stare at the screen waiting for it to finish. Particularly as it's going to remain plugged in to the computer for a few hours to charge anyway.

re: Bundled Software

The advantage of these is that you don't need the bundled software either copy the files across using windows explorer or let WMP do it. Throw the bunled apps CD away.

do you need the software

Do you actually need the software?

I got the zen stone recently for taking to the gym and you can just drag and drop files into the player which is a hell of a lot easier than using custom software.

@jolly

I assume it will follow other creative stuff it will be mtp so you could use media player if didn't like the bundled software and if you're a masochist

Reviewer should become more familiar with interface

Sounds like a similar interface to all the other Zen players.

What you describe sounds exactly right; you select an artist, then select a track, you're telling it to play THAT TRACK. If you want to play everything from that artist, then hit PLAY when you've highlighted the artist. If you drill down and select a track then hit play, then you're telling it to play THAT TRACK.

Same with albums. You highlight the album you want to play, and hit PLAY. If you drill down, you're selecting a single track to play.

Once you realize this, the interface makes perfect sense. Zen players have been like this for a while; my Micro and Vision:M are like this.

The trouble with Zen

..is that it sounds like Zune, and no-one wants Microsofts shite DRM player.

And with the quite wonderful ipod Touch out now, no-one will want this.

If you're that cheap you'll use your phone for music, video too maybe, whats an inch or two while you wait for the train.

Software- We don't need no software

I have a Creative Zen Nano. I just plug it into the USB connector, and it looks liks a USB drive. I can then copy files to my heards delight. It works well on both my Linux and OS-X boxes. I am, blessedly, windows-free, and intend to stay that way. :)

Maybe I can interest you in...

'it's the hype and the smug factor saying 'I'm so cool, I own an Apple''

This may be just what you should be wearing when you encounter the Apple Droids.

http://www.tshirthell.com/store/product.php?productid=910

DAB

Unless the gvt have changed their minds again (???) analogue radio will not be switched off for the moment - there just hasn't been sufficient take-up of DAB, as the radios are too expensive and too power-hungry.

1 of several MP3 players with a DAB tuner

http://www.breezily.co.uk/products/iriver_b20_2gb_dab_radio_mp3_player

Sound quality and volume?

So compared to the Ipod nano, assuming I am playing a high bitrate mp3 which actually sounds better?

And what about the volume ?

My Ipod nano (fatty) does of course come with the EU crippled sound volume, which basically means even with inear phones (Sennheiser CX300) listening to quieter classical music on the street is nigh on impossible.

I have even resorted to using a boosteroo amplifier, which of course is another device to carry around with me.. more leads etc..

Has anyone directly compared the volume between the cripplied ipods and the Zen?

Creative Zen? *shudders*

I have a Zen V, and I thought I'd have a shufty at this review to see what the opinion was.

I take it that the sound processing unit is entirely different to that on the Zen V, which is, frankly, atrocious. Using Shure E2Cs [reasonable headphones] I get lots of low end distortion on Nine Inch Nails tracks with lots of lovely bass. Except with the Zen I just get it crapping out and buzzing. Regardless of the settings for the bass in the equaliser, and the bass boost setting itself.

It's not the headphones, as the problem doesn't exist with my iRiver H320 [the Zen was a workaround till I get a new battery/less watt-hungry HD for the H320], my laptop [ubuntu], nor my desktop [XP] regardless of how I set the bass.

Oh, and the oLED screen started getting dead pixels within weeks.

And another thing - why can't I just create the folder structure that I want, rather than relying on ID3 tags? I have rakes of files mixed up by mates and pupils at the school I work with that either have incomplete tags or none at all, and my Zen just won't see them. With the H320, you just drill down to the folder, Explorer style.

And *another* thing, unrelated to the Zen but hell, I'm on a roll, why the hell do you want 'touch' controls on something you will have in your pocket 90% of the time? I don't want to take it out of my pocket every time I want to skip a track.

I'm sure the Zen is a good little player, but the touch controls and [I expect] the same transfer system as my Zen V means I won't be getting one any time soon.

*goes off to get ibuprofen for rant induced headache, and to hunt ebay for H320 batteries and HDs*