Creative Zen Micro 5 GB MP3 Player Black Review

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(More customer reviews)The Creative Zen Micro is no iPod killer. It is the iPod for the rest of us. Where Apple's product is stylish and fun to use, it has that unfortunate Apple characteristic of locking users into buying their music strictly from Apple. iTunes is a fine online music store, but there are many others and some (MSN and Musicmatch for example) are as deep in selection and easy to use. And the Creative Zen Micro gives us a player every bit as intuitive and stylish as the Apple product and the benefit of FM radio, Outlook synchronization and the use of every online music store other than iTunes.
Everyone knows that the Micro comes in an array of colors. Mine is silver. I like the blue glow and the shiny white case that compliment the silver face. Personally I think the black model looks best, but I didn't buy the unit for the color. I've seen a number of reviews of the Micro from people having trouble with the vertical touch pad. After two adjustments, I had no issues with that controller at all. It is more intuitive than running your finger in a circle. The touch pad and menus it opens are user adjustable. I was having trouble getting the Micro cursor to stop where I wanted when scrolling though the menu lists. I adjusted the touchpad sensitivity setting to low but that didn't help. I adjusted it to high and the problem was solved. It may seem counterintuitive to select high sensitivity to better control the touchpad. If you're having touchpad issues, try the high setting and see for yourself.
The Micro comes in with good quality ear buds, a hard shell case that accepts adapters to help it serve as a belt clip or a desk stand. There is also a carrying pouch, a USB 2.0 cord, universal AC adapter, and the removable, rechargeable battery. Other accessories are available from Creative. I am not a big fan of ear buds, but these are pretty good and the cord doubles as the FM radio antenna. I selected Auto Search and the Micro found strong signals for all of its 32 presets. I live in an area with lots of FM radio, so performance in other areas may vary.
Volume on the Micro is controlled by the touchpad, not a separate button. Some folks prefer a separate wheel for volume. It is more important to me that the volume reaches acceptable levels and is EQ adjustable. Both are true on the Micro. There are a number of EQ presets and a limited ability to customize adjustments.
You can create playlists on the fly which is a great feature of the Micro missing in many other MP3 players. It is also possible to create playlists on your computer using either the included Creative software or Windows Mediaplayer 10. I like the interface in WMP 10 better than the Creative software and the Micro syncs with WMP 10 flawlessly.
The Micro has a microphone for recording voice notes. Speak normally into this mic or you will get distorted sound. At normal speaking volumes, the quality was fine. You might be tempted to shout to such a tiny device, but don't.
Creative says the battery will play for 12 hours. Early buyers of the Micro are receiving an extra battery in the package, which is a great bonus. I charged the extra battery and keep it in the pouch to be handy when needed. I've not run a battery test where I drain the unit dry, but I probably won't get 12 hours anyway, because I set the backlight for bit longer than the default. I was pleased to learn that the Micro charges either from the AC adapter or via the USB cable when it is plugged in for syncing. That is a nice touch.
My unit is full with just over 1000 songs, far short of the 2500 claimed for the 5GB drive. This is my fault. The 2500 claim is based on using only WMA format songs recorded at 64kbps. I have a mix of WMA and MP3 files and I usually encode at a much higher rate. This is another reason the Zen Micro is the player for me. The original iPod and other devices are just too big. I don't have anywhere near 10,000 songs to carry around. I am pleased for those folks who do, but drives that big would be a waste of space for me. The 5GB units provide just enough room for me to carry around my digital collection. As the number of songs I own grows, I can always compress them to fit better on the Micro or become more selective about which tunes get synched.
Creative has a winner in the Zen Micro. I really believe this is the music player for the rest of us and, with some marketing behind it, it can do for the other online music stores what the iPod did for its brother iTunes. Thank goodness for choice.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Creative Zen Micro 5 GB MP3 Player Black

The Zen Micro digital music player from Creative Labs packs an incredible 5 GB of storage capacity into a shell small enough to sit comfortably in your jeans pocket. It also rides nicely in your hand, with a palm-fitting profile and thumb-friendly front-panel controls. It's a bit shorter than an Apple iPod Mini, yet its rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides 12 hours of continuous playback--50 percent more than iPod Mini's. The Zen Micro is compatible not merely with MP3s and WAV files, but with WMA as well. Toss in USB 2.0 connectivity and you're looking at one spiffy portable music player.But playing isn't all the Zen Micro does. You can use it to receive FM radio (with 32 station presets to keep your favorites at the ready), and to record, either from the radio or from live sources such as voice dictation or lectures using the Zen Micro's built-in condenser microphone.Trimmed in a luminescent blue glow and with easily visible backlit buttons, this stylish black player holds up to 1,250 songs (83 hours) at 128 kbps or 2,500 songs (166 hours) at lower-fidelity 64 kbps (MP3/WMA)--that's a solid week's worth of music listening, never playing the same song twice. Compatibility with Microsoft's WMA compressed-audio format grants access to over 2 million downloadable songs offered promotionally or for sale online.Perhaps the Zen Micro's coolest attribute is its DJ feature, which will shuffle not only all the songs you've loaded or all the songs in a given album, but also, at your discretion, only the tracks you listen to most, or only those you rarely hear, taking the work out of selecting your favorites or hunting out all the music you're still getting to know.For navigation, the device features a vertical, linear touchpad designed to make searching through songs or playlists easy, quick, and fun. The unit's blue, 160 x 104-pixel, electroluminescent LCD shows key functions and song details at a glance, and you can even customize the main menu to keep right at your fingertips the features that matter most to you.Another of the Zen Micro's handy features is its personal organizer. You'll never forget an important anniversary with the onboard calendar, and it also includes a to-do list and a contacts list, all of which sync seamlessly with Microsoft Outlook (Outlook thus required for use of these features). In addition, the device offers a sleep timer and alarm so you can drift off to sleep to the strains of one playlist and wake to a completely different one.The Zen Micro's removable battery is easy to swap with another fully charged battery (additional batteries sold separately), extending your listening by a half-day per swap.What's in the Box The Zen Micro player, stereo earbud headphones, a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, a USB 2.0 cable, an installation CD, a quick-start guide, and Creative MediaSource software.

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Monster RadioPlay 300 Universal Full Spectrum FM Transmitter (MBL-FM XMTR300) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the BEST product of it's kind. Unfortunately, that's not saying much. Unless you have a tape deck in your care or you're willing to drop about 4 bills, an FM transmitter is the only universal tool for hooking up your mp3 player to your car stereo.
We live in DC, and considering that the radio waves are pretty crowded here, the transmitter works very well. There is some fuzziness between songs, but we have found a few stations that offer mostly good quality sound. It is essential if you live in a metro area to purchase a transmitter that allows you to use any station.
However, in order to change stations you must first save it as a preset station and then move to that station. You can't just push an up or down button and stop on a station you want to use, you must first save it. This can be annoying and almost impossible if you are driving.
Despite all this, I would recommend this product specifically for anyone looking for an FM transmitter. Trust me, this is my third one!


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Alpine iDA-X200 In-Dash Radio/MP3 Player (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)I was surprised there was so little info on the web about the Alpine iDA-x200. It's one of the only car stereos that can control your Creative Zen and other mtp (media transfer protocol) mp3 players like an iPod. When you plug your zen into the usb port, it takes about a minute of searching before it will play music. You can search by playlist, artist, album and others. You can skip to the next song but you can't speed search through a song (this limitation is only with mtp players). Also, when you turn off the car and come back, it will return to the beginning of the track you were listening to (only with mtp players). This means, for practical purposes, you will want to carry your podcasts and any lengthy tracks on a flashdrive or ums mp3 player. The alpine can speed search tracks on ums devices and it even remembers exactly where you left off within tracks when you disconnect the device and reconnect! Plus you can do all the same searching by artist, album, track, file name ect. So you're probably wondering, why not use a ums mp3 player exclusively? Two reasons. First, you won't get playlists. If you want playlists, you have to get a mtp player or iPod. Second there are currently no small ums flash players with large capacity (32 gb) and great sound (Sansa Fuze blows in comparison to Zen V Plus). Two other quick notes, there is no cd player and going to radio presets requires a few clicks. Finally, I want to mention how much better the sound quality is when you allow the Alpine's 24 bit burr brown d/a converter to process the sound (using usb connection) rather than letting the mp3 player decode the sound and send it into the car via minplug aux connection. If you current stereo plays mp3 cds, do a little experiment and listen to the same song on mp3 cd compared to your mp3 player plugged into the aux. Keep an eye on the horizon for when the Microsoft and Ford sync exclusive deal ends. Then you may be able to buy a non-Ford car or an aftermarket head unit that works with mtp mp3 players and has voice command. Should be within a year. One more thing, if you upgrade your Zen V firmware, the Alpine will control it too. Also, I can't tell you about the power of the internal amp because all my speakers have a separate amps. Even though it's the only game in town in aftermarket car stereos that can control mtp music players, it does an admirable job.

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Easy control, super-fast music search and great sound make the iDA-X200 perfect for iPod users. The iDA-X200 and iDA-X100 come with a large Double-Action Rotary Encoder Knob - so you can utilize multiple functions like QuickSearch for finding your songs and adjusting your volume. Plus you get the best iPod sound experience thanks to a digital USB iPod connection. Better yet, go all the way with optional IMPRINT sound for the most ideal sound experience in your vehicle. In addition to the best solutions for your iPod and sound quality- the iDA-X200 features iTunes Tagging - so you can Tag songs you hear on HD radio, then automatically access them later through iTunes for purchase and download.

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Creative NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra 40 GB MP3 Player Review

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(More customer reviews)I think that several reviewers are confusing this player with the last generation 40 Gig player. One reviewer pointed out the differences in the packaging and the protective case between the two earlier, and that reviewer was right on the money.
This model is shipped as described by the previous reviewer, and has the latest firmware installed. Mine is too new to give a long term report on, but it seems to be a top quality unit so far. The USB 2.0 port is awesome fast. I dowmloaded 1700 MP3 and WMV files to my Nomad this evening without a hitch, and each batch was completed before I could select the next batch. Very fast compared to the old USB standard.
The controls and layout are great. I don't know if there is a difference between new and old, but even the selector wheel has a good feel to it, and I have not had a misfire when selecting a menu item with it. I do agree that it would be nice to have an audio tone to go along with button movement, but it isn't a showstopper.
The included carry case is very well made. It will probably protect the unit from shock well enough to allow it to survive a fall. Some complained about the plastic structure, but it is built to be as light as is possible, while still maintaining a solid feel. I like it.
The software isn't the greatest by any stretch, but it does work, and I was able to transfer music and data without resorting to the manual. There are other packages available for Windows that do the job in a more intuitive manner for only a few bucks. There are also a number of free packages available online that allow you to use your Nomad on a linux system (for those of you who have grown tired of the Windows nightmare). Also keep in mind that the entire OS (firmware) of the Nomad is writable, and there are people working on their own enhanced versions as we speak.
One more note. The ipod has a problem with connecting with more than one computer. I suspect that is a built in hurdle to prevent people from sharing music, but it doesn't help those who use several computers during their work/play week. I was able to transfer song files between multiple computers with the Nomad without any problems. The latest version of the firmware (as shipped) also correctly displays track information for Russian tunes in cyrillic font. It's a small matter, but it can be important to those who enjoy Russian music.
To sum it up, the newest version of the 40Gig Nomad is light, has a great control layout, solid construction, and the headphone jack seems to be as good as any I have used. I think it's a great player, and for the price, it can't be beat. The earbuds that come with it seem to please many reviewers, but I think ALL earbuds are awfull. I have a collection of them now, and they are all junk. Even the ones offered by name brand audio companies. Buy a good set of Sony or other ear hugging phones for $20, and enjoy music in more quantity and quality than you have ever heard before.
Did I mention that the Nomad comes with Creative EAX as standard? Those of you who have an Audigy sound card in your computer know what I'm talking about. It can be used in selective fashion, and sounds just as good as the PC version. There is more than meets the eye with the Nomad. It might take awhile to master all of it's features, but you will be enjoying fine music from the very first battery charge (lots of classical music and EAX demos built in).
This is an amazing player. Even with a total of 2000 songs loaded, I can still rip a DVD movie to an ISO image at a friends house using a free prgram lke "DVD Shrink", download it to a data folder on my Nomad, and burn the disk on my PC when I get home. For that matter, the Nomad can hold several DVD ISO images at any one time.
Someone mentioned that they didn't like the fact that it wasn't weather proof. Neither is the ipod. Then again, with a one quart Zip Lock plastic bag, and a drop of glue, you can make both players beach proof in a few minutes. Just puncture the plastic bag enough to allow three inches of the plug end of your headphones inside. Seal the puncture with a drop of glue, put your Nomad or ipod in the bag, plug in the headphone jack, zip the bag, and let it rain all day.
A good set of light headphones only costs $20. A Zip Lock bag is about 10 cents. Use your imagination here. You can walk in the surf without placing your Nomad in danger.
Aside from the minor complaints about the software, the only other thing that bothers me is that the max volume should be higher. It's not bad, mind you, but it doesn't allow the head banging levels that other MP3 players deliver. This is a minor complaint, and can probably be fixed at the firmware level in the future. Meanwhile, I am happy to report that using a generic cassette adapter, or an "aux" input port on the latest car audio systems will geive you enough CD quality music to make a trip from one coast to the other and back withought being forced to listen to the same tune twice.
That's it for now. If my opinion changes because of problems with the Nomad, I will update this post in a heartbeat. Meanwhile, it gets 5 stars without hesitation...
Update... It has been Months since I wrote this review, and my Nomad is still a constant companion at work and play, It has been dropped, used, and abused. The early problem with the headphone socket must have been fixed, as my headphone jack has been ripped out of the Nomad countless times, and it still works as new. This update was posted on July 2 2005.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Creative NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra 40 GB MP3 Player

Creative Labs Nomad Zen Xtra - Among the smallest MP3 players available, the Nomad Zen Xtra has huge 40 GB storage for thousands of songs. With USB 2.0-1.1 connectivity, data transfers are swift and easy.9.5-ounces with built-in Li-ion batteryComplies with SDMIReprogrammable firmware supports MP3, WMA, uncompressed WAV plus additional future audio playback formats and software extensionsSound spatializer for enhanced playback performanceStylish anodized aluminum caseIncludes stereo headphone, AC adapter, carrying caseIntegrated, removeable rechargeable batteryUp to 14 hours continuous play per charge

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Creative Zen 32 GB Portable Media Player (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a great choice for those people who previously limited their flash players to workout duty, or only holding a small piece of their large music collection and having to change the music on it every so often. With a 16GB capacity most people can fit their entire collection on here without difficulty, and even have room for some videos.
First impressions of this player are very good. It is extremely appealing to the eye, everyone who sees it will ask about it. It is about the size of a credit card, just thicker (less than 1/2inch). The front is a very glossy black plastic that looks great until you touch it, instantly covering it with fingerprints :) The back is a rough, cheaper feeling black plastic. Overall it has a nice solid weight and feel to it, but not very heavy. This will easily fit in a pocket.
The 2.5" screen is absolutely gorgeous. Very bright with vivid colors. The viewing angle is very good, two people can easily look at the screen at the same time while watching a movie for example. The menus are all nicely animated and intuitive to navigate. The icons and text are big clear and easy to read.
One of the big perks to having so much capacity is plenty of room for videos. This was one of the first things I've tested as it was a big reason for my purchase. First of all it DOES play Amazon Unbox videos perfectly. Transferring files was very easy (just a few clicks) and very quick. The quality of the video was great as well. The max size of videos is apparently 320x240, I have not been able to get it to play anything larger than that. If the video is smaller (for example widescreen) you have the option of playing it at the correct aspect ratio, or fill the screen (stretched out). I've gotten it to play videos encoded in Xvid and WMV format. Xvid files were encoded with AutoGK, and the WMV files were encoded with Arcsoft MediaConverter. If you synchronize with Windows Media Player, you can put in *almost any* video file and it will automatically convert the file into WMV format and then transfer to the player. How long it takes to convert depends on the type of video you're encoding, how big the file is and of course the speed of your computer.
Music sounds very good on this player, but please... get rid of the stock headphones they are horrible. Using a decent pair of headphones makes a HUGE difference. The EQ options are OK, there are about a half dozen presets and a customizable EQ. The "Bass Boost" option just made it worse in my opinion, it just distorted the sound. Otherwise it is a very even and balanced sound, very similar to the Vision:M.
The FM radio has a whopping 32 presets and the reception is pretty good. Strong stations are in stereo, weaker ones come in mono. I haven't had a chance to test out the built-in mic.
I easily transferred music and playlists onto this player from Windows Media Player and MediaMonkey, as well as protected music (WMA) from Napster. Everything was very easy, usually just dragging and dropping. The speed of transfer is probably the fastest I've seen. I've used this player on XP Home and on Vista Premium 64-bit.
Regarding the SD cards. I think its only a slight inconvenience that the memory card media isn't directly integrated with the other content. Meaning if you have videos on the SD card you don't go to the "Video" menu where all the other videos are, you have to access them through the "Memory Card" menu. Once there, you browse through the file structure like normal. If you organize the content smartly on your cards you should have no problem. And really its a small price to pay for that feature. Currently SDHC cards are up to 16GB in capacity, meaning you could double the capacity and carry around 32GB worth of content in your pocket. Amazing. I tested a Kingston 512MB SD Card and a Kingston 2GB microSD card (with adapter of course) and they were recognized and played the content without difficulty.
A quick note about the firmware. Mine came with 1.10.05. When my player turns off, it really turns off. With newer firmwares when it turns off it goes into a sleep mode for a while before it finally turns all the way off. What that means is with the older firmware each time you turn it on it has to "boot" all over again, whereas with the newer firmware you get an "instant-on" at the expense of slightly reduced battery life (since it is asleep and not off). Something to consider before you decide to upgrade the firmware.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Creative Zen 32 GB Portable Media Player (Black)

This credit card-sized ZEN has a stunning 2.5-inch color screen and is perfect for music, videos, and photos. Enjoy up to 8,000 MP3, WMA, or AAC songs; watch up to 120 hours of videos; and share hundreds of photos with your friends. Even expand your portable music, video, or photo collection by adding additional content through the convenient SD memory slot. The ZEN player also is available in 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB capacities.

Credit Card-Sized Player Supports 16.7 Million Colors View your album art, videos, and photos on this 2.5-inch razor-sharp TFT display. Your favorite photos will burst to life in 16.7 million colors on the fresh, new ZEN-patented user interface. The TFT display works under sunlight and allows everyone to watch your home videos and vacation slideshows from any angle.

Truly a Multimedia Player ZEN is the first Creative player to support the unprotected AAC format, so you can enjoy all your favorite CD tracks that you've ripped through iTunes software. ZEN also supports iTunes Plus tracks from the iTunes store, in addition to MP3 and WMA music tracks. It is also compatible with music subscription services such as Napster To Go and Rhapsody.

ZEN also supports audio books from Audible.com. Download your favorite books to keep everyone entertained on long road trips, or download daily news reports every morning and listen to the news during your morning commute.

Watch purchased or rented movies and TV shows from online services like Amazon Unbox. Share home videos, or load your TivoToGo recorded movies and TV shows.

Plus, share your collections of latest photos in 16.7 million colors. Instantly turn your slideshows into attention-grabbing multimedia extravaganzas by adding your favorite song to the slideshow.

Expandable Memory Need more space? Add additional storage capacity with the built-in SD slot and easily play new music, videos, or photos on your player. With SD cards to go, carry virtually unlimited amounts of your digital library, anywhere you go.

FM Radio In between your tunes, use the built-in FM radio to keep yourself up-to-date on world events, sports scores, or traffic reports. Or tune in to the program airing on the gym's TV while running on the treadmill.

Battery Life Enjoy up to 30 hours of your songs or 5 hours of video on a single charge--over a full day of music. Or 10 episodes of Scrubs!

What's in the Box Creative ZEN 32 GB player, earphones, USB 2.0 cable, installation CD, and quick start guide.

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Creative Zen Micro 6 GB MP3 Player Black Review

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(More customer reviews)NOTE: this review is for the 5gb player. I wrote this lengthy review for that model, and it didn't show up and I can't re-submit it now. DARN thing! All the specs should be the same though.
I've been behind the times using the same portable CD player for the last 6 or 7 years... so this was really a BIG step up for me. Hopefully this review will be helpful if you have never owned an mp3 player before....
I have no idea how this compares to the ipod, but here is a list of the lesser known features of the zen micro:
PROS
+++ It tells you the number of tracks, albums & playlists uploaded. Total Mb & Mb remaining.
+++ FM radio.
+++ Removable battery & micro hard disc.
+++ If you're halfway through a song (or paused) & you shut it down (or it shuts down after being inactive for a while, IT RESUMES WHERE IT LEFT OFF in the middle of a song when your turn it back on again!! :-)
+++ You can change the idle shutdown time, backlight time, contrast, touchpad sensitivity, language (there are 15 languages installed!!)
+++ sleep timer
+++ You can personalise (configure) menus, much like with mobile phones.
+++ PLAY MODES: normal, repeat track, repeat all, shuffle, shuffle repeat & track once.
+++ You can find songs by albums, artists, genre, playlist
+++ DJ menu: album of the day, random play all, most popular & rarely heard tracks.
+++ There are 10 bookmarks, which I have absolutely no idea how to use, but it must be put onto this list anyway. ;-)
+++ 12/24hr time, alarm, calendar, date (several date formats and you can even choose between the following separators: space, dot, dash, slash)
+++ Variable microphone sensitivity.
+++ Organiser; tasks + contact lists. (synchronised with creative sync manager)
+++ Smart volume + Equaliser (numerous modes: Off, custom, acoustic, classical, disco, jazz, new age, pop, rock, or vocal)
+++ master reset.:-0
+++ track name, title & artist on LCD display.+ battery indication, and various other on-screen icons while a song is playing, such as EQ & repeat modes.
+++ Gives the length of a song as a bar graph so you can tell the progress of the song...
+++ A lot of stuff in the box: remote control, belt clip & cradle, pouch, usb cable, charger, earphones, software (easy enough to figure out).....
+++ Last but not least: a cool blue glow + white backlit screen!!!
+++ There ISN'T a one second delay between playing each song.
+++ My zen micro hasn't crashed on me yet (and I have been sucessful in crashing every computer product known to man, eg: my Ericsson T39m phone several times!)
CONS:
--- The touch pad can be annoying sometimes. So you either have to hold it by the edges when playing a song or put it on hold mode, otherwise your palm will set off a whole bunch of menus.
It's okay when you're using it though.
--- You can't hear any music while fast-forwarding through a song. I am used to being able to go by ear while doing this, but you can't do that with this thing. Maybe a future firmware upgrade will fix this issue? Please??! Creative???!!
--- I walked all around sydney and couldn't find this in *ANY* shop. So I had to buy it online. All the photos of the zen on the 'net are front on.... and I didn't realise until I opened the box that the back & sides of the zen micro were coloured WHITE!!! ARRRRGHHHH! I hate white! Aaaahhh well, I suppose I'll get used to it soon enough.
--- I find the lowest volume setting isn't all that low. I can still hear songs well in a fairly quiet room during the daytime. At 3:00am I think this might be just a tad louder than I would have liked. [This is with panasonic earbuds though]
--- You have to first aportion (partition) the HDD to be used as an extrenal flash drive. Available sizes are: 128, 256, 512Mb, 1, 2Gb. You should be able to just use whatever is available. This isn't a big problem though.
--- Earbuds are too thick for my ears. Wearing them is like stuffing a peanut lengthwise in your ear. It pulls your earlobes out.
--- There is practically zero information (on how to use the menus) in the instruction manual.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Creative Zen Micro 6 GB MP3 Player Black

The Zen Micro digital music player from Creative Labs packs an incredible 6GB of storage capacity into a shell small enough to sit comfortably in yourjeans pocket. It also rides nicely in your hand, with a palm-fitting profileand thumb-friendly front-panel controls. It's a bit shorter than an Apple iPodMini, yet its rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides 12 hours of continuousplayback--50 percent more than iPod Mini's. The Zen Micro is compatible notmerely with MP3s and WAV files, but with WMA as well. Toss in USB 2.0 connectivityand you're looking at one spiffy portable music player.
What's in the Box The Zen Micro player, stereo earbud headphones, a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, a USB 2.0 cable, an installation CD, a quick- start guide, and Creative MediaSource software.

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Creative Zen Vision W 60 GB Widescreen Multimedia Player (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)The first thing you'll probably notice about this player is it's gorgeous widescreen. How big is it? Well, technically speaking it's 480 x 272 resolution, 4.3 inches wide diagionally, and capable of displaying about 262,000 colors(same as Zen M). For those of you who now own a Zen M, to illustrate how big the screen is on the Zen W: You can lay an entire Zen M on the Zen W, and the entire area of the Zen M is about the size of the screen of the Zen W. For you Psp owners out there, the Zen W screen is exactly the same resolution and size as the screen on the PSP. Although, the PSP screen is actually more advanced and can display over 16 million colors. Though both of these screens are much better than the screen on the video Ipods(which is only 320 x 240, and only display 65,000 colors). The screen on the Zen W does the job very well, and you can adjust the brightness levels. Even at %50 brightness, it's adequate. Though it outshines the Zen M in screen size, I noticed that it's not quite as sharp and the colors are not as vivid as on the Zen M. Also, I noticed that while playing Divx video, the Zen W doesn't play the video as smoothly as on a computer. The video frame-rate seems to look more jerky and less smooth. Although the pre-installed videos looked fine in Xvid, so this may only apply to Divx videos. Some other great features about the player are it's built in FM radio, voice recorder, custom sound equalizer, built in speaker, and Compact Flash slot. The built-in speaker can get surprisingly loud and is adequate for watching videos... But if you're an Audiophile, it's not good for listening to your music. It's sounds quite tinny and is only a single speaker. One huge improvement over the Zen M is that you no longer need to carry a stupid adapter to charge or upload songs or media. The mini-usb power, and A/V out ports are already built in to this player. Also the magnesium casing seems much sturdier than the Zen M's plastic casing... and probably not as prone to scratches. The thing looks and feels very solidly built. The interface is also simple and easy to figure out and very similar to the Zen M interface.
The only big difference is that the Zen W uses buttons instead of the touch thumb-pad on the Zen M. I think they should have tried to integrate the thumb-pad somehow because it worked so well on the Zen M. In this respect, the Zen W buttons seem like a step backward in progress. However, I do like the fact that they made all the buttons on the right side so you can effectively use the player with only your right hand. (sorry lefties).
The built in Compact Flash slot is also a very cool idea. You can backup your compact flash or microdrive photos onto the player with the slot. The only thing is that you can't use the compact flash as a secondary hard-drive... meaning you can't just slip a compact flash card with video on it and watch it straight from the card. You must import it onto the player first before you can play the media. You can't play mp3s or browse photos straight from the CF card either. All the files must be imported onto the hard-drive of the Zen W first. This seems pretty lame to me because you're not using the slot to it's full potiental. Hopefully there will be firmware upgrades that will let you do this in the future. Another thing about the player that needs to be improved is it's thickness. The second thing you'll notice (after the lovely huge screen) is how thick this thing is. I mean, it's barely pocketable. So it's not quite as portable as the Zen M. How think is it? Well, it's nearly an inche thick... a little less thick than a PSP. If they could cut the thickness in half, it would make this player much more portable.(not to mention sleek and sexy). Here's a quick run-down on Pros and Cons.
Pros:
-Gorgeous 4.3 inche (480x272 resolution) screen that displays up to 262,000 colors. Movies look so much better than on a 320x240 (Ipod)screen. And if you like to watch Anime, you'll have no more problems reading subtitles.
-Built in mini-usb port, power, and Audio/Video out port(for tv output).
-Sturdy magnesium casing and solid feel.
-Lots of extras like FM radio, organizer, calendar, voice recorder -Audio/Video cable included, plays Xvid and Divx files.
-Built in compact flash/microdrive slot for photo backup.
-Removable battery (yes, finally!)
-Optional wireless Remote control available (built in IR reciever)
-ZenCast organizer (allows you to download/organize Podcasts to Zen W)
Cons:
- Pretty thick at almost an inche thick. (barely pocketable)
- Divx playback (Frame-rate) a bit jerky. Screen not as sharp-looking and colors not as vibrant as Zen M. (I'm nit-picking, you may not even notice the difference...especially if you don't have a Zen M)
- No video line-in for video recording. It would be great if they had this built in and you could record from any video source... don't know why they don't.
- When viewing files on Compact Flash using CF slot, you must first import/upload files over to the Zen W drive first to view.
In conclusion, this player packs alot of punch for the money. And almost everything it does, it does very well. If you love movies and music like I do, you will definately enjoy this device. It's very impressive and looks and feels sturdy. The biggest flaw/turn-offs to me is it's thickness. A device made for portability should be ... well, more portable. In a world where other mp3 competitors are sizing down their players, creative seems to be sizing their's up. If they could somehow cut the thickness of this player to half while not sacrificing any of it's other features, it would be perfect. Still with it's minor imperfections, this player is still worth every penny and outshines it's competitors. If you value portability over video capability, I'd go for the Zen M. The Zen M still plays video... but on a smaller screen.(And it's cheaper too)
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Click Here to see more reviews about: Creative Zen Vision W 60 GB Widescreen Multimedia Player (Black)

The Creative Zen Vision W Multimedia Player lets you take all your movies, music and photos in a light, pocket-sized device that is loaded with 30 or 60 GB of memory. At this capacity you can carry tens of thousands of photos, 240 hours of movies (500 Kbps MPEG4-SP), or up to 30,000 songs (WMA encoded at 64 Kbps), all in the palm of your hand. You can also tune in the radio (32 station presets), record your favorite talk show, or make personal voice memos with the built-in microphone. And the big news about the Vision W is that it displays your media in a widescreen, 16:9 format.
Multimedia Powerhouse in Your Pocket Today's big screen blockbuster, yesterday's picnic home video, and even your favorite TV shows--they all now fit in your pocket and are ready to be shared. Zen Vision W supports many video formats, such as AVI, DivX 4 and 53, XviD4, MPEG-1, -2, -SP, WMV9, and Motion-JPEG, which simply means you have more choices and less restrictions. Instead of busting out your wallet to show snapshots of your kids, you can enlist the Zen Vision W to give viewers a glimpse of your precious memories--tens of thousands of them. Complete with a thumbnail gallery, the device makes it easy to scroll through your entire photo collection. Of course, music files are a big portion of anyone's digital canvas. Perfect for taking with you on the road or just around the house, this device makes all your music sound as good as the Zen Vision W looks. And with eight preset EQ settings and 97 dB signal-to-noise ratio, you can fine-tune your listening experience for any musical genre.
Great Connectivity You can also connect the Zen Vision W to a projector or TV with the included AV cable, and put on a big show from this little device. Synchronize music files with photo or video montages for a taste of spectacular, personalized big screen magic. You can also transfer pictures from your camera to the Zen Vision W in no time flat. Simply slip in your camera's Compact Flash (CF) memory card, and let Zen Vision W do the rest. The optional CF card adaptor also lets you use other popular memory card formats, such as SD, MMC, Memory Stick and more.
Widescreen Machine Viewing images and video on this device is a pleasant experience. The SharpPix 4.3-inch, high-resolution LCD screen features a 480x271 resolution, and hundreds of thousands of colors. What all this means is you see crisp, clear detail in every movie and photo, even under bright light. Creative didn't scrimp on design, either. The Zen Vision W features a lightweight magnesium casing that is both elegant and protective, and it sports a simple, intuitive keypad that makes navigation a breeze. And you'll get loads more playback time with the included removable, and rechargeable, battery. Enjoy up to 13 hours of music or 4.5 hours of movies on a single charge.
Other features include a personal organizer that you sync with Microsoft Outlook, and an integrated voice recorder that can store hundreds of hours worth of recordings. The Zen Vision W Multimedia Player uses PlaysForSure technology. Look for the PlaysForSure logo if you're shopping for a portable music or video device and you want to make sure the digital music and video you purchase will play back on it every time. Match the PlaysForSure logo on a large selection of leading devices and online music stores. If you see the logo, you'll know your digital music will play for sure. Choose from a large number of digital music and video stores, including MTV's Urge, Rhapsody, Yahoo!, MSN Music, MusicMatch, MusicNow, Napster, Wal-Mart Music Downloads, and many more.
What's in the Box Creative Zen Vision W, earphones, power adapter, USB cable, AV cable, pouch, installation CD, and quick start guide.

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Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra 30 GB MP3 Player Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)When I first started looking for a portable jukebox, I--like everybody else--was drooling for an iPod. Then I did my research, and here's why I decided on the Zen Jukebox Xtra: (1) the iPod battery is not user-replaceable, you have to pay $60 for a two-year Apple plan in order to get it replaced, and you have to send the unit back to them to get it replaced (evidently it starts losing its charge about six months into ownership); (2) huge storage space--I have my entire CD collection on it plus a whole bunch of downloaded tracks at high quality and I've still only used half the space; (3) sound quality is fabulous, especially if you spring for a decent pair of headphones. As far as durability goes, granted I haven't passed the dreaded 90-day-warranty mark, but it goes with me trail-running daily (because of other reviews I've read, I hold it in my hand over rough spots so it doesn't get jostled too much) and in the car on long drives a few times a week. I've also dropped it from a pretty good height with no damage. My one complaint? No support for MP4. BUT...you can upgrade the firmware to be Real Player compatible (their downloads are only 49 cents) and I've found the process easily done. Good tech support as well. I just don't think there's a better value for the money.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra 30 GB MP3 Player

Featuring a large, hi-res, blue backlit LCD, the NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra builds on the industry-leading music features of the NOMAD Jukebox Zen product line.

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