Mr. Burns Voice: "Excellent..."
Written: Dec 29 '03 (Updated Jul 12 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Ease of use, aesthetically pleasing, intuitive, great sound, FUN!
Cons: Documentation may frustrate the non-tech user, could always use more storage space!
The Bottom Line: If you're foregoing the "library" paradigm of mp3 players, the Muvo NX is the absolute best when it comes to small, easy, enjoyable portable audio.
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| derek_ween's Full Review: Creative Labs Nomad MuVo NX 256MB MP3 Player |
My amazing girlfriend surprised me this Christmas. Even though I had narrow-mindedly proclaimed that the only mp3 player I was interested in was the iPod, she went out and bought two mp3 players of the "keyring" genre: an mpio, and the creative muvo nx 256Mb. On Christmas morning, i opened the package and she said: 'take your pick.' I couldn't be happier with my choice.
In conrast to "library"-oriented mp3 players (sometimes called mp3 jukeboxes), the Muvo is designed for quick, simple use. Its ingenious design consists of 2 parts: the interchangable battery cases (which come in several fashionable colors on creative.com), and the mp3 unit itself, which is about half the size (cut long-ways) of a pink pet eraser. at the bottom edge of the unit is a male USB plug, allowing direct connection of the unit to your pc (or Mac), hence there are no cords to bother with!
When you plug in your Muvo, it will automatically show up as a "removable drive" under "my computer." Then you simply drag and drop the songs you want, whether organized in to folders or not. You can also drag and drop text-files, pictures, or any other data that fits the 256MB storage space, since the Muvo conveniently doubles as a USB drive. Navigation of the folders and songs while playing the Muvo is a achieved through an aesthetically pleasing scroll-and-press wheel on the side of the unit. Tracks are played alphabetically by filename, so you can simply prefix your filenames with track numbers if you are playing an album. The Muvo's numerous play modes allow for various types of shuffle and repeat play.
I have found the sound of the Muvo to be extremely satisfactory. Audiophiles will already understand the constraints of the mp3 format, but accepting this, the Muvo is a great-sounding little machine. The 5 band graphic EQ was a surprising feature, allowing more sonic manipulation than i had expected. The included creative music software allows for further sound enhancement, although i choose to let the music exist as the artists recorded it.
My only problem with the Muvo has been the documentation. The only hard-copy documentation in the package is the quick start guide, which is satisfactory, but doesn't explain the diverse menu options. The enclosed cd contains an electronic manual, but thankfully i haven't had to delve in to it too much, due to the Muvo's intuitive interface. If i were less well-versed in portable electronics, i may have had a hard time getting the Muvo up and running. This probably won't be a problem with this product's average customer.
Overall, the MuVo NX exists in a completely different realm than the iconic Apple iPod. The Muvo is MUCH smaller, and MUCH simpler, providing a completely different portable audio experience. While my iPod-toting friends have spent hours organizing and tagging their entire mp3 collections perfectly to create a easily-navigable library on their iPod, I'm able to simply drag and drop songs right on to my Muvo without worrying about the woes of massive folder navigation, and to enjoy great sound with little-to-no additional clerical effort.
UPDATES: i'm not changing my rating, but after further usage i have some other things to report.
-the audio effects provided in the organizer software don't work for me. maybe because i haven't registered yet. the EAX effects option shows up on the drop down menu, but it isn't selectable.
-for long songs (seems like they have to be over 7 minutes or so), the counter on the player doesn't work correctly. It seems to tick one second for about every 10 seconds of music. Not a major problem, but befuddling. I'm thinking it may be due to the high bitrate i use (192 at least) slowing down the less-essential functions like the counter.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
derek_ween
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Location: Westlake, OH USA
Reviews written: 48
Trusted by: 4 members
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