Creative ZEN 16GB MP3 Player (Electronics)

Reliability of Creative Zen 4GB I received mine in August as a birthday gift. Up to the time of total failure, after four months careful use, it had provided responsive listening pleasure. Attached to the USB today (27.12.08) for a re-charge and to add some tracks and it died completely. No response in the unit, (dead screen) and no attachment recognition from the PC software. Being a relatively simple device in October it was 'frozen' by a file it couldn't recognise and had to be reset and reloaded (a pain), but this time during a normal event it appears to have turned its toes up completely. It is being returned to Creative but I have lost confidence in it after a minor and now a major malfunction. Obviously temperamental, vulnerable, but not cheap. Do you really need to spend this much to play a tune or two ? The screen is really too small for any sensible viewing and the radio sensitivity is questionable. It also has many openings for dust entry and even a very good case cannot protect against this. It is externaly very well constructed, user friendly and excellent when working, but I wish mine had been reliable. Solid state devices like this are generally rock solid dependable. Have I just been unlucky with a quality issue ?

Avoid this player Received this player and it looked fantastic, after charging and copying video to this device, I got the infamous white screen of death. Tried re-flashing the device, no difference. After much web digging the white screen of death still looks like a major problem with this device. AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE !

Good but could do better!!! I have had my Zen for a few days now, and have sussed how to download albums & video to the player, which is really quite simple , the software supplied works really well, Ihave never owned an Ipod , but from what I have seen of them , the Zen offers much better value, and certainly seems to have much more functions!!! My only gripe is that , I do'nt recall reading , that the SD card memory expansion cannot be used for video or music playback, its only use is to store JPG pictures, which seems a waste of an 8GB card, which I purchased with the player, and obviously it was my intention to store music/videos on the card, which I cannot do, for this reason I give it 3 stars and not 5 as I believe this limation to be a major downside!! I think that if I had known this , prior to purchase I would have opted for the 8gb Zen

Superb Piece of Kit Bought to replace my aging Archos (also good too). Choice based on cost and general impressions of Creative. Boy am I happy. This baby is great. It's sync with Media Center Recorded TV was primary reason why I brought it and it does this ever so nicely and at such high quality direct from Media Player 11. At this price buy before hyper inflation sets in. At least you will have some nice music to listen to :)

Zen 16GB Real world user review. Creative ZEN 16GB MP3 Player Summary: Very Good build quality, despite being plastic. Easy to use interface and works out of the box. Top rate audio quality. Very good quality video playback. Very highly recommended and if you value sound quality and ease of use over owning the latest fashion accessory, you would be a fool to buy anything else. I have just bought this product as an audiophile. I already have a Creative Zen Micro, which is an excellent product, although a dedicated music player. The new Zen is more of a media player as it plays videos, displays photos and plays music. I have used Apple I-pod Nanos, but not the classic, and I so nearly bought a new Nano, until I carried out extensive research, including listening to the new Nano. So, am I pleased with my new Zen? Here goes.... 1) Build quality: The Zen I would give 4 stars out of 5 for this, as it does feel substatntial and robust in the hand. It is a nice, eye-pleasing design, with easy to use controls and a clear, crisp 2.5" screen. It doesn't quite match the aluminium build quality of the I-pod Nano though, which "Looks" as if it will last forever. I have bought a silicon skin for the Zen for when I am at the gym and a premium quality soft leather case for when I am using it normally. I have also bought a screen protector to keep those scratches away. I am careful with my gadgets and I look after them, so I don't see there being a problem with it's robustness for my use. However, i wouldn't want to drop it on the pavement without any protection. 2) Out of the box use: Well, this is where stuff begins to get better, beacuse my Zen plugged straight into my PC by a mini USB connector, configured immediately with Windows XP Pro and was ready to load with files. I dragged and dropped through windows and it was soooooo easy. I just left it to get on with the transfer and within 30 mins it had transferred 7 GB of tracks and a couple of hundred MB of video clips. Easy! I dodn't install the software included as I read reviews that say it's pants. I was rather hoping I could use my existing copy of creative mediasource from my Zen Micro, but it wouldn't recognise the new Zen. A shame, because the old software is the best I have ever used, for ripping your CDs, organising, labelling via gracenote etc. I will make enqs to see if there is a firmware upgrade to enable me to do this. 3) Sound quality: This is the most important trait for me. The sound quality has to be top notch and I have to say that this is where the Zen excels. Forget the bundled earphones though, they are flat and dull and lack any dynamicity. This is expected these days with most bundled earphones. So, I plugged my Senheisser PMX100s in and what a difference. The sound was completely transformed. It is now dynamic, more expansive in the sound stage and you can hear excellent detail throughout the eclectic range. I also have a pair of Phillips in ear, clip ons for the gym, that cost around £35 (premium Phillips), although I cannot remember the model number of them. They too sound awesome and are very close in quality to the Senheissers I have. It took me a while to work out how to adjust the equalizer settings but now this is done, it is perfect. I have to say, I have found the sound quality to be a little better than the I-pod Nano, with more bass and better musical separation, but most people won't notice the difference, especially if you are out runnig or pounding the treadmill in the gym. If you are sat relaxed at home though, REALLY listening, you will notice the better quality against the Nano. The player gets 5 stars here. 3) Video playback: I have to say, for the money I paid for this product (£93 inc P and P) I didn't expect much quality from the video playback. I was wrong. It is very good and other than the smaller screen size, I would say it is about 85% quality of the Sony PSP, which I also have and play a lot of movies on. The sound quality for the movies is very good too. I have only watched the supplied demo vids so far , but there is no jumping or skipping of frames and I haven't yet noticed any digital compression artefacts. Buy it!