So Much Sound From So Small a Product
Written: Oct 27 '02
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Pros: Great Sound, MP3, WAV, and WMA, Create Playlists Easily, 20GB!
Cons: Can't Apply Smart Volume & EQ Both, 9 Hr Playback Per Charge, No Battery Door
The Bottom Line: An excellent 20GB MP3/WAV/WMA jukebox. Great playback, playlist creation, easy to carry and use. Excellent value ($299 after rebate).
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| dbirk's Full Review: Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox Zen (20 GB) MP3 Player |
I've been thoroughly enjoying the Zen for almost a week now. As this is my first portable MP3 unit, I won't spend time trying to compare this product to others, like Creative's other offerings or the Apple iPod. Comparison isn't a good way to evaluate anyway.
After installing the software on my desktop machine, I powered the unit via the included AC adapter. While I was expecting to take a while to get a full charge on the internal Lithium-Ion battery, four hours was enough. This is probably due to the fact that these units are fully charged at the factory and just started shipping on October 14th! I also hooked up the USB connection (I don't have FireWire yet). While the desktop's USB hub sometimes drops the connection and forces me to reboot, I had no problems using USB on my notebook, so the problem was my hub, not the Zen nor its drivers. Since I already use MusicMatch 7.2 to rip my CDs and organize my collection, I didn't use PlayCenter, Creative's encoding and device management software, for ripping. It was nice that, once you connect the Zen, the computer automatically starts PlayCenter. I could navigate to the MusicMatch directory and all my files and then drag and drop them to the Zen. One small nag was that, when more than one level of directories exists(i.e. Artist->Album->Song files), you can't transfer all the albums for an artist at once. This is true even if you use PlayCenter to navigate and click the transfer button. In fact, PlayCenter highlights the transfer button, indicating that a transfer is possible. But, when you press Transfer, nothing happens, not even a warning message appears. This does make the initial load process a little tedious, especially if you have lots of files in your collection. Good thing you can easily queue up more files to be transferred while the Zen is loading.
Since I recently upgraded to MusicMatch 7.2, I started recording files in MP3Pro format, which essentially cuts the file size in half and is supposed to be backward compatible with regular MP3 players. While I don't think the Zen currently supports MP3Pro, it had no problem playing the MP3Pro files at a lower quality level (less highs). Hopefully, the Creative folks will provide a firmware upgrade to take care of this as well, thus doubling the unit's capacity. Yes, you can use Windows Media format, but it sounds grittier at lower bitrates than MP3 (maybe it's just me..). I'm sticking with the MP3/MP3Pro formats.
The Zen provides excellent playback quality. Its sound is bigger than its size. The included headphones are "behind the head" style and provide good sound, albeit a little muffled. I prefer Philips' new Nike brand headphones for comfort and sound quality. Hook it up to your home stereo system and let this unit show what it's made of!
The user interface provides a lot of information in a small screen. While I would have liked a bigger screen, selecting albums, artists, playlists, and genres is easy to do. A clickable scroll wheel provides quick access. And, creating playlists on the unit is both doable and easy. Just pick the songs or albums you want as a playlist. As you play each one (even for a few seconds), they're added to the "Now Playing" list. Once you're done picking, switch to the "Now Playing" view and select "Save as Playlist". Name it and that's it. Just make sure you clear the "Now Playing" list first! Otherwise, you'll get all the other files you've played recently!
As for durability, an aluminum case surrounds the unit. While I don't know how much of a jolt the hard drive can take (and don't care to find out myself!), place the Zen in the included carrying case and you probably won't have a problem. The case also provides a handy belt hoop that ISN'T made of plastic and should stand up to many days of use.
Onboard sound processing is also included. While you can add reverb (Environment), change playback speed while maintaining pitch (Time-Scale), tweak the EQ (Advanced EQ), spread the stage (Spatialization), and apply compression and limiting (Smart Volume), you can't do two at the same time. So, I can't boost the bass a little AND apply limiting to the loud passages. I can pick one but not both. While I know that it's great that I can do any of the above in real time, I would really like to apply volume control and EQ together. Maybe the Zen 2 will give us that...
20GB (really 19GB after formatting). Enough said about capacity!
While Creative boasts 12 hours continuous playback from a single charge, I have only experienced 9 hours and 15 minutes. This is after fully charging the unit the first night and cycling it from full charge to the "low battery" warning a few times this week. While this is long enough for a full workday, some folks may wonder why they can't find the access door to switch batteries. There isn't one (oops). Again, maybe the Zen 2 will address the replaceable battery issue. I'm sure I'll get out my jeweler's screwdriver next year when it's time to replace the battery!
All in all, at its current price of $349.99 ($299.99 after rebate), you'll be hard pressed to find another unit in the same price range that provides the Zen's features and capabilities. While there is a little room for improvement, Creative has a real winner in the Zen.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 349.99
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Epinions.com ID:
dbirk
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Reviews written: 1
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