Discount MP3 players falling from the creative sky
Written: May 02 '01 (Updated Jun 17 '01)
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Pros: Cheap ($129), Expandable, Upgradable, voice recording, good sound quality
Cons: Only can buy from Creative web site, lack of extras
The Bottom Line: It looks like a good deal, but when you purchase all the needed accessories? Is it still worth it?
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| yusakugo's Full Review: Creative Labs Nomad II (64MB) MP3 Player |
In an effort to gather the low end market, Creative released the Nomad IIc player... a low cost $129 player available only at the Creative web store. You get 32 MB of onboard flash memory and the ability to add SmartMedia cards to expand it. That sounds like a great deal! It is though?
Maybe Yes... Maybe No...
The Nomad IIc is based off the early Nomad II series MP3 players. It features a more sport like design rather than the later and sleeker Nomad II MG. A large LCD occupies the top third of the front of the player displaying various information on the player and the songs. Icons and info are large and fairly bright (not easy to miss compared to the Nomad II MG). Buttons for play, stop, fast forward and rewind, as well as others... occupy the middle and lower front panel of the player. It makes for easy access to the controls. However, this overall look of the unit put me off. (I know this is strictly based on personal taste... but I like my Nomad II MG's style much better) The unit does function great with few hitches.
You get 32 MB of built in memory. Rather small by today's standards, but what do you expect for $129! At least the player is affordable. However, all is not lost. There is a SmartMedia slot for memory expansion. You can get a SmartMedia 64 MB card for as low as $49. This means you can potentially get a 96 MB MP3 player for under $200! Now that would be a great deal!
You also get voice recording features on the Nomad IIc. About the same quality as most low to medium end microcassette recorders. EAX technology can speed up or slow down the playback of the recorded voice files. Nifty feature for students!
You get a USB connector cable to upload and download files.
The unit uses 1 AA battery.
The sound of the unit is a bit better than the Nomad II MG and a little worse than the Rio 600 and Rio 800 units. Intel's Pocket Concert is still the ruler of the sound catagory for flash MP3 players though.
And well... that's about all. There are no other goodies that come with the Nomad IIc. A separate accessory kit is available for $29.99 and comes with a car adapter, okay backphones, a pouch, and an inline remote.
It cheap... who cares!
Well, the price is nice but realize that you have to buy headphones for your new Nomad IIc MP3 player. There's additional cash down the drain. You should buy a SmartMedia card. If you don't know where to buy them at a good price, the average price is around $75. Another problem is that the unit is available only from the Creative web store... that means really high S&H! Around $15-20 additional for S&H. It does put a bit of a damper on the initial $129 price tag of the Nomad IIc.
Conclusions
Overall, the unit with a 64MB SmartMedia card and the accessory kit (or a set of decent headphones) should run anywhere from $200-$220 if shopping carefully. It is still a good bargain overall but...
careful shoppers will be able to find deals on the Intel Pocket Concert for $230, the Nomad II MG for $190-200 range, the Rio 800 128MB for $230-235, and more. Even if you can't get these kind of deals... the Intel Pocket Concert shouldn't cost over $275-280 to purchase. Only a $50 dollar difference at best over the Nomad IIc with a 64MB SmartMedia card and decent headphones/accessory kit.
With that in mind, I couldn't recommend this unit for the price Creative is offering... well at least with what is provided in the package. There should be a few accessories included to make the Nomad IIc competitive with the other brand names and even Creative's own high end MP3 players.
If I spent $220 for a Nomad IIc with the accessory kit and a 64MB memory card... why not spend that $220 for the Nomad II MG and a little extra for the 64MB SmartMedia card. As I said, the Nomad II MG can be had for as little as $190... let's say $200, and the 64MB SmartMedia card for $50. That is only a $30 difference for a ton of extra features!
Other thoughts...
The Intel Pocket Concert costs $299 at MSRP. I have been able to find it for $230 at the lowest... and the average price is $270-280 on the web. This is a 128 MB player with the best and loudest sound of any flash MP3 player! It also has an FM tuner! Read my review by cutting and pasting the following link:
http://yusakugo.epinions.com/content_16884993668
The Rio 800 128MB costs $299 at MSRP... only $20 more than the Rio 800 64MB version. This unit has one of the best LCDs packing the most information I've seen to date. It doesn't have a FM tuner but it does voice record. The unit is expandable through the Rio Backpacks as well. Read my review on the Rio 800 64MB version (the only difference is the memory on the 128MB and 64MB versions) by cutting and pasting the following link:
http://yusakugo.epinions.com/content_11880205956
You might want to read the Rio 800 Extreme... this is the same Rio 800 unit but with 256 MB internal memory and a 128MB Rio Backpack added to the mix. This means 384MB of monster music in addition to all the great Rio 800 features all for $599. To read my review cut and paste the following link:
http://yusakugo.epinions.com/content_16723119748
Read my RioVolt review... this is a CD MP3 player which is the most cost effective MP3 available. You get up to 650 MB of storage (i.e. the CD-R or CD-RW) or even 700 MB on specialized CD-Rs. You get great battery life as well, great MP3/WMA skip protection, and the ability to play CD (but only decently due to poor skip protection for regular music CDs). Cut and paste the following review:
http://yusakugo.epinions.com/content_16976219780
Read the AVC Soul Player review... this is basically the same unit as the RioVolt but cheaper and with different accessories! Cut and paste the following link:
http://yusakugo.epinions.com/content_19010981508
Read my regular Nomad II MG review here... only less memory than the Special Edition unit. Cut and Paste the following link:
http://yusakugo.epinions.com/content_12093918852
Read my Nomad II MG Special Edition review. 256MB of flash memory and all the great features of the Nomad II MG for $499. Cut and paste the following link:
http://yusakugo.epinions.com/content_20338151044
I also suggest the hard drive jukebox players like the Creative Nomad Jukebox ($299 MSRP... I just purchased one for $239 brand new), the Creative Nomad Jukebox C, and the Archos Jukebox. There are other brands but they hover around 6GB in storage capacity... yes! 6GB of storage!
You may want to read my choosing and MP3 player review. Cut and paste the following link:
http://yusakugo.epinions.com/content_1025089668
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 129
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yusakugo
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Member: Rich Go
Location: Somewhere in the NorthEast
Reviews written: 399
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Losing Sleep and Lacking Time... sigh...
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