Creative Zen 16 GB Portable Media Player (Black)
by Creative
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List Price: Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Creative Zen 16 GB Portable Media Player (Black)
Customer Review: 6th is a charm
Summary: 5 Stars
The Creative Zen is my 6th MP3 player. The first 4 died for various reasons. The last one, Creative Zen Vision:M, still works. I replaced it because, while I like it, I have some complaints (too heavy, confusing interface, short battery life, etc.). What I liked best about it was that it worked with Rhapsody, played videos, and it could take a beating and continue to work. The subscription service through Rhapsody is a thing of beauty, I don't know why anyone would use a Zune or an IPod and not have that feature. I bought the Zen 16GB flash player to address the few complaints I had with my Vision:M. My first player came DOA. Amazon overnighted a free replacement (I am an Amazon customer for life). Here are my Pros and Cons on the Creative Zen 16GB.
Pros
* Works well with playforsure subscription service
* Works with Amazon Unbox
* Great sound
* Videos look/sound good
* Very light and compact
* Improved interface from Vision:M
* Can delete items on the player
* Good trouble-shooting tools (for firmware, reboot issues)
* SD slot
* Plugs in directly to a USB 2.0 cable (no goofy adapter needed)
* Works with Vista
Cons
* buggy: The first thing a new buyer should do is load the new firmware. I didn't, so I was able to enjoy loading all my music and videos twice. Fortunately there are good trouble shooting tools
* Creative Tech support: Good luck finding a number to call
* Headphones are only OK
* Not Bluetooth enabled
* Doesn't come in Green (don't ask)
* Can't record direct to MP3
Overall a great little device that I'm using all the time
Customer Review: Slick Little Player
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very slick little player. It is very small and light, not much bigger than a credit card. It uses flash memory instead of a hard drive, which eliminates many problems I have had on previous players. I've only had to reset the player once. Battery life is very good. I have no idea whether it meets the battery life claims of the manufacturer, but it can be used extensively for at least two days without needing a charge. Transfer of files into the player is simple and can be accomplished using the mfr. software, Windows Media Player, or by dragging and dropping in Windows Explorer. I have tried all three and all work easily. Transfer is fast also. The quality and clarity of the screen is excellent. I have not put on any movies or other video because of a lack of interest in such usage, but photos look very good. The 16 gig capacity is good, and the SD card slot allows more storage. The only difficulty is that you must access SD card storage through the memory card menu instead of the music menu, which restricts your usage of those items somewhat. Navigation is also easy. I have read that some prefer the touch pad on the Zen Vision M, but I used it on my son's unit and hated it, even on low sensitivity. I prefer the one on this unit. I have had no problems at all with the player. My disabled son used it a great deal while his player was being repaired and he was unable to kill it. He has killed 8 iPods, 4 Dells and 1 Creative, so this is a very good durability sign. In fact,our experience with Creative is stellar. This is a very nice, high quality player at a very appealing price. I highly recommend this unit.Customer Review: Creative Zen 16GB Portable Media Player
Summary: 5 Stars
The Creative Zen 16GB portable media player is an excellent product. I can store up to 4,000 tracks and after charging the battery I can enjoy 30 hours of continuos play which I thoroughly enjoy. I can also watch 5 hours of video. I haven't downloaded any video yet but I will get around to it. I installed the software to my desktop computer and I'm able to access the title of my cd's from the internet and if I don't want to get on the internet. The software allows me to type in the information on the tracks I'm syncing to the device which is excellent. When I'm going to work, I like listening to my favorite radion station which is 99.5 on the FM dial and the reception is crystal clear. I have also added some photos to my device which I carry with me. I should have gotten this product long time ago because I'm so thoroughly impressed with the quality of it. I would recommend this product to anyone who loves music, music videos, radio or just a conneisur of the arts. You must get this device. It is worth every dollar and I'm enjoying every track I'm syncing to my device and I just enjoy seeing the album art along with the title of the track and the artist and the sound that comes from the creative zen is awesome. My only comment is the company should make the usb cable a little longer. It is so short. I also love the fact that you can expand the storage by buying an SD memory card so that you can add more which is a feature that sets it apart from other media devices. As you can tell, I am very excited and I'm like a kid in a candy store.
Sincerely,
Stephen Whitley
Customer Review: Quite a nice little player.
Summary: 5 Stars
I picked this mp3 player up because my old iPod Nano 4GB was out of space and I needed more room. I didn't use iTunes at all and didn't really like the new iPod Nano anyway so I decided to look at the other options out there. After comparing my choices I decided on this Zen and it arrived today.
I was able to quickly sync up all my music using Windows Media Player 11 and it was nice to not have to install any new software to get it done (it does come with software but I chose not to install it.) Album art is displayed nicely as well. This player sounds great and I find the user interface simple to get around. The FM Radio is a nice addition and I was able to receive my favorite stations in the house with a nice strong signal. I also updated to the latest firmware without incident.
As a runner the only thing I miss from my old iPod Nano is the Stopwatch feature - I checked the Creative forums and saw that others have requested a stopwatch be added and that request has been passed on to the developers - so we'll have to wait and see if a future firmware update adds one or not.
As others have stated the "sync/charge" cable it comes with is extremely short so plan to spend a few bucks on another option.
Also Windows Vista identifies this as having only 15 GB of space - I doubt this is specific to Creative but it might be important information for anyone that was actually planning to cram 16 GB of stuff on to it.
Overall I'm happy with the purchase and although this isn't as thin as my old iPod Nano it is going to replace it nicely.
Customer Review: A wonderful piece of technology, with three tiny flaws.
Summary: 5 Stars
I should get the bad parts out of the way before I start gushing, because there are only three of them and only one really detracts from the awesomeness of this product. Firstly, the FM radio has mediocre reception--not a fatal flaw, but one that can make a cloudy day even more depressing than normal. Secondly, the bundled USB cable is so short as to be useless--but that can be solved by attaching an ordinary USB extension cord.
The more significant problem is that the Zen works poorly with Windows Media Player's sync function; it has a tendency to freeze when syncing, connecting, or disconnecting, and it's a pain to reach for a pencil lead or a paperclip every time you use it. Fortunately, the player includes all the tools you need to bypass this problem: bundled sync software of its own, and an SD card slot.
Those problems aside, the Creative Zen is a beautiful device both visually and technologically (though the glossy finish does accumulate fingerprints and scratches rather easily). It easily stores more music than you could possibly need, so feel free to add some video files to your library--and with the aforementioned SD slot, you can carry your entire media library in your pocket, regardless of size. The sound is crisp and worth shelling out for a good pair of headphones to fully enjoy, and the video is clear and bright even on a sunny day (even if it does make the smudges and scratches on the screen stand out). It's the highest-quality player I've ever owned, and I'll definitely look to Creative again if I need a new one.