Accessories

Great, but one major annoyance
I like it, let me say that first. I like it a lot. I want to preface this review that way, because I found one flaw that I consider fairly major and keeps this from being a 5 star item, and I may have been too generous at 4.

Things you cannot do with music files on an SD card:

--Create a playlist
--resume after shutting down
--do anything else on the Zen

When playing from the onboard memory, you can go off and do other functions, like check your calendar, etc.

I can listen to all the files in a folder, but not create a playlist or resume. Creative needs to add a feature where music files on the SD card are treated as part of the music library and available from the Music option in the OS.

I sort of wish that I had saved up for the 32GB version, but then I would still be waiting, rather than enjoying my Zen, which I do, despite the annoyance.

Better MP3 player than any other
I just bought this ZEN last weeek and it proves to be the best MP3 player I've ever had. I don't like iPod which is high-priced and sticked to iTunes. The Sandisk Sansa E260 I used before has small screen (1.8" compared to 2.5" of ZEN) and its design is not eye-catching. The ZEN has all the features I need for the MP3 player: recording, photo, music, FM radio, calendar, alarm clock, contacts etc. I read one of the reviews in which some guy complained that ZEN is definitely designed for the right-handed people. Probably yes, but it's not a big deal.

Here are some of the disadvantages I've seen so far. First, the cable is too short indeed, Creative wants to make it apart from other manufacturer but it is really weird and inconvenient. Second, it takes too long to convert and input video files. Third, the keypads don't light up.

I just wonder whether Creative has any earphone which allows you to play or stop the music without taking out the ZEN.

Above all, it's an amazing product at reasonable price. I'm waiting for the X-Fi ZEN !!!

Wow! Gorgeous screen and plenty of features
I have been using the SanDisk Sansa e250 2 GB MP3 Player with microSD Expansion Slot (Black) for about a year. In fact, we own three of them in our household. I had been wanting a Creative Zen for a while, and was glad to see the price drop making it less than the Sansa.

I was most impressed with the big crystal clear screen. It's almost 50% larger than the Sansa at 2.5" vs. 1.8". One must have feature that I needed was radio, which this has.

I also was most excited about the organizer function and alarm clock. This was easy to sync with outlook so I can carry my contacts on the go as well as my calendar. My husband had been complaining he needed an easier solution than carrying a laptop to get client addresses and this solved the problem without the need for an additional organizer purchase.

The battery life is slightly better than the Sansa at 25 play hours. Since I rarely needed to charge my Sansa, this is more than sufficient for my use.

I also like the SD card slot, although I have not had a use for it yet. This sufficiently stores all 400 songs I have loaded, with room for plenty more. The drag and drop song loading made it easy to use from the start.

I highly recommend this player. It has plenty of features and is a quality product at a low price.

Great Value
The Creative Zen was my choice for an iPod replacement. I have had terrible luck with iPods, so i figured after the third on it was time for a new brand. I bought an set of Creative brand speakers years ago and loved the sound, and had a computer with a Creative sound card, and that was the beast part of the machine.

I looked at the Zen cautiously at first, it is a fairly new product, in its first generation. After reading other reviews, i decided to pick it up based mostly on previous experience with Creative products as well as the set of features that this player has.

This particular model is a 4GB, which means it has ample storage for your favorite tunes. And at only $90, it is a great price as well. It includes a voice recorder (something unheard of on iPod products), the ability to change your background screen (a little thing, but nice anyway),a radio tuner, and lastly the SD Card slot on the top of the product. This allows you to have virtually endless storage so long as you are OK with buying SD Cards. The voice recorder is nice, and so is the radio, they both perform exactly as expected.

The player itself has a simple enough face; a square button in the center for menu selection, housed by a larger square which is used for the up/down selection in menus and the previous/next track in the now playing screen. There is a rocker above this for going back through the menus on the left, and a context sensitive menu button on the right, allowing you to do a large number of screens depending on the screen you are on; anything from adding to a playlist or selecting the play mode. The rocker on the bottom of the face is a button that you can set the functionality of yourself (out of the box it is set for Album of the Day) and the other side is the play pause button.

The interface of the product is easily navigated, and the number of options is great. A number of EQ setting are good for novice audiophiles, but the custom 5 channel EQ is great for getting exactly the sound you want.

I only have a few gripes overall, but most are cosmetic anyway. First, the screen is easily scratched like most devices like this, so you need to be extra careful. The buttons feel kind of cheap, but I have had no problems with them. The bundled software is easy to use, however the fact the this player does not support podcasts with out conversion is a little tough for me to swallow as a newly converted iPod user. For some reason, the player has a tendency to put all of songs on an album in alphabetical order, as oppose to the track order on the album, but that is probably just a small button push or click away from being fixed.

My biggest issue is that thwe SD Card is not integrated into the rest of the functionality of the device. You need to go to the option for Memory Card in the menu to look at the music there, and listen to it from this screen. This would be fine, but the player does not allow you to navigate menus or anything while listening music from the SD. You cannot add the music to playlists, nor will the player shuffle through the music in the flash memory and the SD. This could be fixed with a firmware upgrade, and lets hope it is.

All in all, a wonderful product, a good price, and a great brand. High recomended.

Great little player
This is my first MP3 player & I did a lot of research. I agree with most of what I read (and you too since you're looking at these as well).

Pros: easy to use, relatively intuitive to set up, small, fun, good sound replication.

Cons: headphones aren't super comfortable (but they'll do), instructions for use don't exist (you can always just hit buttons!).

Despite reading reviews about problems with it freezing, knock on wood, that hasn't happened yet. And people whining about it not coming with a MP3 converter - there are free converters out on the internet. AND, WMA file (which is how it "rips" CDs) can be smaller & has better sound reproduction.