Average User Rating: 60% (282 Reviews)
4 / 5	**** Use it sensibly for a satisfying experience. Here's how **** Brilliance - 29 June 2008 Right. Now for a more "user" perspective review. A review for people who will actually want to use this product the way it is meant to be. There are far too many negative reviews and some over-the-top positive reviews that really make buying this product more like buying a car on a wing and a prayer, hoping that it lasts out the depreciation. This turns out to be a lengthy review since I have spent some time using and abusing this player to establish the best way to use it resulting in a rewarding / satisfying experience. So dig in. ***** The Likes: 1. Small (not tiny) music player with photo and radio capability. No, seriously you don't want to watch feature length films on this, the odd YouTube flick maybe. The reason for this follows later. 2. Easy navigation buttons (rocker style) and are not flimsy as has been grandly claimed in other reviews here. Mostly if you stick to playing properly constructed playlists and the albums, you would not have to fiddle around with the buttons as much. 3. Crisp, clear sound but don't expect Dolby surround sound effects unless you have actually encoded the music using Dolby or THX or similar software. The EQ feature will help you tune the music to you taste. Good cans like the ones from Sennheiser or Grado will make a big difference to the listening experience. I am not trying to do a product promo here, but making the point that good headphones do make a significant difference to the listening experience. 4. SDHC support. Upto 16GB of external memory ought to be about the limit to which this player can take. Anymore and the firmware will start to strain. So with 16GB of additional storage over this player's inbuilt 8 GB and I have more than enough of all the music I need to hear on the go. Besides there is not need to carry each and every one of my MP3's just because I can. We don't carry all out CD's with our CD player when on a holiday so why carry the excess baggage? ***** The Dislikes: 1. Radio can be used only with bundled headphones which act as an antenna (at least on my piece, I couldn't get reception with my personal cans plugged in). This is a shame because the bundled phones are not great sounding. 2. Memory card data cannot be logically structured the way it is stored on the player. So it's rather less intuitive. 3. Finger smudge magnet. Well this is solved with a screen protector. I won't recommend the extra accessories like the leather case or the clear case as this will double the size of the player, quite the opposite of the reason why I bought the Zen in the first place (small size). Just hold it nicely and wipe it regularly using a lint free cloth. ***** Myths vs. Reality ***** 1. WSOD - Well documented problem of white screen of death. Fortunately I haven't faced it and most people won't either. The Zen's sold these days are preloaded with the latest firmware and together with the mass production of so many millions of players; Creative is also getting the hardware in top shape. In case you do face the problem, the solution is to reinstall the firmware and use the Zen recovery tool from Creative's website. (All this is explained nicely in the FAQ's on the website). This does work well as I have used it before on the Zen MUVO. So this problem is being magnified by the negative reviewers many times over. The solution is there and it is pretty straight forward. 2. The Big Freeze - Again well documented. The player freezes intermittently and has to be reset. Now here's to all the people out there. I am a software designer and created many a multi-tasking software so here's some advice. Don't overload the player. It's best to leave it at about 90-92% capacity at the most. Softwares are but arrangements of 1's and 0's so if you stuff the player, it's going to seize. Much like your operating system. After a point overloading it to the brim of bursting is seriously going to compromise performance. This relates back to the first point I made about the videos. You seriously don't won't to watch movies on this piece. If you really want all that jungle juice go for a more expensive PMP like the Cowon A3 or the Archos 605. Don't simply buy this player, stuff it and then moan that it does not perform. Obviously it won't. 3. Albums/tracks appear in random order - No they don't if you take the pains of tagging the MP3's properly. If your tags are sloppy, the player is just going to tell you that you are sloppy. 4. No mains charger - Don't need one. The mini USB does the trick. Again, remember this is a portable media player to listen to music when out and about and not your mega bucks hi-fi system. I hope after you are out and about you will return to civilization. Just plug it in to the USB on your PC/Mac and recharge. 5. Reset button is way too small - Of course it's got to be small or you'll accidentally keep pressing and resetting the player and then complaining that its way too large. 6. Bundled software is too slow - You don't have to use the bundled software. Connect the player using USB and it will appear as a media storage device on your PC/Mac. Just copy and paste the music. I don't recommend drag-n-drop as this leaves behind cached information on your machine which is not much fun to have (techies will relate to this). ------- So the bottom line is, use this player sensibly and in the manner in which it was meant to be used and you will be amply rewarded. Overloading will lead to trouble. Most problems can also be fixed with updating the firmware (latest is 1.21.01) and using the recovery tool. Create proper playlists and tag the music correctly for ease of playback. Hope this review clears some negative air over this otherwise genuinely good piece of kit. I am giving it 4.5 stars as it could be better and because no player out there is perfect enough to merit a 5 star. I was reviewing the 8 GB version and later used my friend's 16GB version in put it thru its paces and got similar results. So this applies to all versions and maybe to all similar MP3 players in the market. ... Read Full Review »
5 / 5	Fantastic D. Mackenzie (London United Kingdom) - 15 October 2007 I've been searching high and low for a replacement for my dying iPod mini. I looked at the new Nano - which looked great and also the Sony NWZA816 - which had great reports. I was never happy with the sound quality on the iPods, especially the distortion in the bass which a lot of people seem to notice, so after listening to the new Nano it was a no. I was just about to get the Sony whan I saw this new baby from Creative. I'm so glad I got it because it has everything I want (great sound and stunning looks). I thought the video would just be a gimmic but it is actually very good, bright and detailed. Add to all that the radio, the SD slot, the drag and drop, the custom EQ etc and you've got an amazing piece of kit for the price. The only problem i did have was the volume was capped and not quite loud enough for my Etymotic headphones. I solved this by downloading the US version of the firmware and reformating in recovery mode (you do this at your own risk obviously). To sum up, if you love the Apple style and aren't that fussed on sound quality then the Nano might be what your looking for. If you want great sound, usable video and also great style then give the Zen a listen.... Read Full Review »
5 / 5	Almost perfect Henry Pupkin "Henry" (Scotland) - 23 October 2007 I spent a lot of time looking at various MP3 players before deciding on the Creative Zen. So far it has exceeded my expectations. PROS ---- SIZE - It's very small but seems robust. SCREEN - Exceptionally clear. Videos are very smooth and watchable. The colours are vivid and bright and it has a wide viewing angle. SOUND - Excellent. I'm using some Sony headphones which sound pretty good. SOFTWARE - Simple but very intuitive. It took me less than 5 minutes to get the hang of things. The options are clear, it's easy to find things and fast. Other people have complained about slow start up times but I just upgraded the firmware to 1.10 and it now starts in less than 5 seconds. CONTROLS - Simple and very easy to use. I'm left handed, but having the controls on the right is not a problem. EXTRAS - The radio has very clear reception and the presets work well. The SD slot is a big bonus especially as SD cards get cheaper. VALUE - For £80 you get an attractive 4GB player which can play multiple audio and video formats. The sound is good and videos are very watchable. It has a radio and is easily expandable. 10/10 CONS ---- It's hard to think of any. The screen inevitably get smudgy finger prints on it but this is unavoidable. The supplied video conversion software is slow but I'm sure there are plenty of alternatives available. One extra I'd like is a clear hinged cover to protect the screen. Ideally this could be flipped back to use as a stand when watching vides. ... Read Full Review »
4 / 5	Pretty decent upgrade Lucy Weavind "LAW" (United Kingdom) - 21 May 2008 Like some of the other reviewers, I bought this item as a replacement for my Creative Zen Vision:m, purely because I had run out of space and the prospect of the expandable memory appealled to me (I didn't want an ipod as itunes really does my head in...). This is so much lighter and more compact than the previous models, the battery life is comparable and the interface is lovely, gentle improvements make for sleeker control. It does worry me a little that the player is mainly made of plastic. All the other Creative players I have had have been metal underneath so I am dreading dropping this (and it will happen) so I have bought an acrylic case to put myself at ease. Basically here are the good points: Very good battery life Simple and easy to use interface Can be used as a normal hard drive, or drop and drag for your music if you prefer Computer software is good SD memory card is a bonus (check out the creative website for compatable ones) Fantastic screen for videos, pictures and the sound quality is outstanding Down sides: Not in any way flimsy but it does worry me a little Doesn't come with a screen protector which is annoying since all the previous did No mains charger (but I have made my peace with that) The worlds shortest sync cable, a good idea, but a little too short methinks All in all, I would recommend this player. It really is a lovely piece of kit!... Read Full Review »
3 / 5	decent player, stingy accessories Dave (UK) - 29 October 2007 I purchased this player as a replacement for my Sony NW-A3000 (20GB HDD), a player with fantastic sound quality, but it was slow, large, heavy, and is totally reliant upon the incomprehensibly bad SonicStage software. I wanted something that was small, light, fast, with good storage capacity, decent software/transfer options and wasn't an iPod. The Creative Zen 16GB generally meets these requirements. The software could be improved upon, but is infinitely more reliable and less cumbersome than Sonicstage, and there are several transfer options including a windows-style media explorer (my preferred method) and it is compatible with Windows Media Player. It's not bad looking, it's certainly small and light, the screen is crisp and bright, but the build quality feels a little cheap. The battery life is good (around 20 hrs), and there is a built in FM radio that seems to work okay. An added bonus is the expandable storage capacity, although this is currently an expensive proposition. The sound quality is above average but not amazing, and nowhere near as good as my old Sony. I certainly expected better from Creative. Rather bizarrely screen quality/size, and the ability to display videos and photos seem to have take precedence over audio quality in the MP3 player market. The accessories are appallingly bad. There is no supplied mains charger (optional £15) - turning on a PC is an extremely inefficient and inconvenient way to charge a player. The supplied USB cable is only 10cm long, meaning my player is hanging from the front of my computer. The headphones are of poor quality. There is no supplied carry-case - a must have as the player's exterior is easily marked and scratched (conspiracy theorists would argue this may be deliberate). And there is no supplied Mp3 codec (only WMA) for ripping CDs, this must be purchased for $10 from the Creative website. Having just spent £180, I find this insulting and poor value for money. Furthermore, to add insult to injury, the player comes pre-installed with photos and videos of Creative products/accessories and the box is plastered with adverts. Overall, I am happy with this player as a replacement for my Sony, but I expected better. If Creative want to capture a bigger share of the portable audio market then they need to offer excellent features as well as good value for money. This player still falls short of that. If you don't want an iPod or have to use Sony's appalling software, then I would recommend this player. But it's definitely worth waiting until the prices drops (probably after xmas).... Read Full Review »