More beats per buck
Written: Jul 31 '01
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Pros: enormous capacity, good sound, quality brand, rechargeable batteries
Cons: short battery life, poor portability
The Bottom Line: I would highly recommend this player for someone who isn't going anywhere and wants to listen to tunes all day long.
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| 11thStreet's Full Review: Creative Technology Nomad Jukebox (6 GB) MP3 Playe... |
My workplace is quiet - a creepy kind of quiet, almost morgue-quiet. I've never been a "quiet" person. Spending most of my waking hours in a silent place is, for lack of a better word, unacceptable. I turned to Creative Labs – the company that practically invented the sound card for your computer – to help me out. Their Nomad Jukebox turned out to be a great – but not perfect - solution. (Mine is Blue. There is also a Silver version, and I’m 95% sure there’s no difference between them besides their color and about $15 discount for the Blue at some online retailers.)
First, the upbeats. The most important thing you need to know about the Nomad Jukebox is: 6 GIGS. The Jukebox is basically a battery-driven hard drive with earphones. Why cart 150 CD's around with you when you can simply rip your entire collection onto your Jukebox and never be without? I can listen through the entire work-day without hearing the same song twice if I want to. Mine also came pre-loaded with a large catalog of tunes, from classical and jazz to trance and techno and some new-agey stuff. You'll delete a lot of it, but at least give it a first listen. There are a couple of keepers.
The second plus is the solid sound. I don't claim to be a high-level audiophile, but I hear things in my favorite songs that I never heard before, even on the Alpine in my truck. Most of the music I've ripped is at 160 bits per second. Some folks claim this needlessly takes up space, but I seem to hear a difference between those songs and - ahem – other files I have which were recorded at lesser detail. You'll know that Jimi isn't going to "kiss this guy" when you hear it on your Jukebox.
The third plus is value - even though the Jukebox retails for about $300, that's only marginally more than players that hold a measly 128 MEGABYTES of sound - only about two hours. I'll leave the dollars-per-song mathematics as an exercise for the reader.
Fourth, the desktop software that comes with the Jukebox is a pretty complete package and mostly easy to use. You can rip CD's with it, transfer MP3's to your Jukebox via the USB interface, or listen to newly-ripped MP3's through your desktop system.
Other features include the ability to record directly into a WAV file on the Jukebox through a microphone, but I haven't found a need for this feature yet.
Downbeats? Sure, there are a few. First, battery life. The Jukebox comes with two sets of four rechargeable AA batteries. Before you use the player for the first time, you must charge them for twelve excruciating hours, and don’t you dare cheat. I did, trying to get by with only eleven hours, and reaped my reward of a twenty-minute play time before the batteries died. Fortunately, they recharged better that night, but even fully charged, you’ll only get about two to three hours out of those batteries. The AC adapter that comes with the unit is a far better option for constant use.
Second, portability. The Jukebox is one of the heaviest MP3 players around, at 14oz. It's about the size and weight of a personal CD player. Unfortunately, unlike a CD player, there's no way to carry this thing conveniently except in your briefcase. There are no belt clips or handles on the player itself, and the faux leather carrying case that comes with the unit lacks a shoulder strap or belt loop, and even worse, doesn't accommodate the side-mounted headphone jack.
Even if you could carry it somehow, you wouldn’t want to take the Jukebox on a brisk jog because the heads on that poor hard drive would bounce around like Gary Condit’s love life, with a similar disastrous effect on your music. Between the battery life and the low portability, it’s clear that the Jukebox is meant to sit on your desk all day at work – perfect for me – with perhaps a short musical commute if you keep it in your briefcase. What it won’t do is keep you pumped up at the gym.
Third, there are some software drawbacks. The unit’s controls are mildly confusing, and lack some functionality you’d expect. For example, I can’t find a way to delete a song from the player unless I’m hooked up to the desktop. And I’m still trying to figure out the difference between “shuffle” mode and “random” mode. (RTFM, right?) The controls are largely menu-driven, with only a few dedicated control buttons. There is a search function, but it’s primitive, and when you’ve got thousands of tracks to sift through, primitive isn’t good enough.
One last problem, probably software-related, is that the player chokes when you try to load too much data at one time. It seems to digest smaller chunks – about an album or two – much more happily. (There’s a handy pinhole RESET button on the bottom of the unit which comes in handy on these occasions.) Of course, this means you get to queue up one set of songs, wait for it to load, rinse, and repeat – 150 times! I would rather load the queue up with all my favorite tunes, go to bed, and wake up in the morning with a fully-stocked musical selection. Alas, the Jukebox only begs for mercy in the face of such a task. (I’m expecting a grievance from the Jukebox Union Local 1024 any day now.)
Overall, if you’re looking for an MP3 player to get you through a three-hour session at the gym, look elsewhere. If you’re looking for stimulation to keep your eyeballs from rolling out of your head as you slowly slip into a coma inside that broom-closet your boss calls "your office," the Nomad Jukebox is a great option.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 278.00
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Epinions.com ID:
11thStreet
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Location: Northern Virginia
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 48 members
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