Before you buy read this!!
Written: Apr 10 '03
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Pros: 20GB, EAX, Easy Search, Great Sound, Replaceable Battery...
Cons: Uncomfortable Headphones
The Bottom Line: The bottom line is you can't go wrong with this player. It's cheap (for 20GB) and it's solid all the way around.
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| openeyes's Full Review: Creative Technology Nomad Jukebox (20 GB) MP3 Play... |
Before I bought this mp3 player I did extensive research. This is not a small purchase if you work as hard as I do...and I assume you do.
First, let's discuss features. The Nomad Jukebox 3 has all the listening features I could ever ask for. You can search for music by artist, album, playlist, genre, or track. I mean come on if you can't find it you don't have it. Once you find the music you add it to your current playlist and you can choose which mode you want to play it in (shuffle, repeat, etc.). There is an equalizer with built-in presets (rock, rap, acoustic, etc.) but you can also customize it. There are only 4 selections to customize but you can make a lot of different sounds by tweaking these. You can usually find a preset that makes the music you're listening to sound great. Now I don't want to make it sound like finding and playing the music you want to is a piece of cake because it isn't at first. You have to learn how the player works and it may frustrate you at first, but if you're looking at this review you probably grew up around computers. The younger generation (me included) will have no problem getting the hang of menu navigation with this player. If you're older it may take a little longer but be patient. Once you get the hang of it you can listen to whatever you want in no time!
In order to listen to your music of course you have to get it in the player. This is accomplished by creative software that I am pretty impressed with. I read several reviews that said the software was horrible because it didn't act like another drive when you plugged it into the computer via USB. That statement is true. It isn't recognized as another drive when it's connected. You have to use the creative software, but once again it's easy to use after you get used to it. I have Windows XP and the only problem I've had so far is that I have to install the driver every time I unplug the player and plug it back in. On the toolbar at the bottom of the screen it says new hardware recognized and if you don't install the driver the software will not recognize the player. I'm trying to find a solution to this problem, but it just takes 30 seconds to install the driver anyway and you don't need the creative CD so that's good. So anyway, once you open the software you can easily rip songs, transfer songs, make playlists, change the file info of songs already in the player, etc. Do not shy away from this player because of the software!! It is not as bad as some whiners have advertised.
Now let's go into the value aspect. I got mine online for $254 from newegg.com. Compare prices of competitors and it'll soon become apparent that this is the best player for your money. The apple ipod and nomad zen are lighter and smaller, but not better!! DO NOT BUY EITHER OF THESE!!! YOU CANNOT CHANGE THE BATTERY!! That's right, in a couple of years when the lithium ion battery loses it's charge your player will become a $400 paperweight. The battery in the Nomad Jukebox 3 however is replaceable. Something I also think is great is the option to add another battery for longer play time. Each battery is estimated to last 11 hours, so you could have a total playtime of 22 hours if you bought another battery. I'm told these batteries are $30-50, but once again at least the player doesn't become a paperweight when the batteries don't charge anymore. I don't know if the batteries actually last 11 hours because I haven't had the player long enough to judge. I would recommend this though...when you're transferring songs plug the player in the wall. An enormous amount of power will be used when the hard drive is spinning. Playing music using minimal power compared.
The player has recording options that I haven't used yet so I can't comment on them. If they work well then that makes the player even more appealing, but I didn't buy it for these options.
NEGATIVES: Even though I love the player there are always negatives.
The headphones are not comfortable at all. Now of course this is a personal preference, but to me they aren't comfortable. They do sound good though. If they aren't comfortable to you either I would recommend Koss Porta-pro or Sennheiser PX-100 headphones for about $35-45. Both are portable/foldable headphones and they sound great!
There are some menu options I wish they had...for instance I wish you could change the order of the songs when you search for an album. You can change the order after you add them to your playlist, but if you could change them in the search menu and they would stay in that order you wouldn't have to change the order every time. You can create a playlist and save it, but I don't want to have a thousand playlists saved on the player.
The player is a little heavy and bulky, but for me this isn't a big problem. Would you jog with a $250 music player? If you would then congratulations money is no object to you. Go buy the apple ipod and replace it when the batteries are dead. The player is a little smaller than the traditional portable cd players. Since I grew up on them I'm used to it.
Well that's it. I didn't cover everything the player offers, but I'm sure I covered enough to make your mouth water. This is the best purchase I've made in a long time. I don't think you'll find a better player in terms of value and sound quality.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 254
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Epinions.com ID:
openeyes
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Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 0 members
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