Creative Zen 16 GB Portable Media Player (Black)
by Creative
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List Price: Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Creative Zen 16 GB Portable Media Player (Black)
Customer Review: Powerfull MP3 player in a small package!
Summary: 4 Stars
First off let me say I bought this to replace a 30 gig Vision:M, I also bought a 80 gig Zune which I quickly returned and opted for a second 16gb Zen. As of right now I own three 16gb Zens.
The reason I gave it a 4 instead of a 5 is there have been only a 2 or 3 incidents where i have had to hard reset, then resync because it messed up my playlists, that is the only issue i have had with the players and my guess is it will be fixed with a firmware upgrade at some point.
Anyhow, I was pretty excited to get a flash based player that was big enough to hold my music and photos, it loads album art instantly, which is something you can't really say about any of the hard drive players. It's solid and well built, I opted for a screen protector and one of the rubber skins which i am very happy with. Sound quality is really where the creative products shine, although the included headphones are nothing to get excited about. Screen size and quality are very good, especially when you consider the player is the size of a credit card. Battery lilfe is good, it's great if you lock it and shut off the screen.
I purchase the zen products because they sync easily with Windows Media Player, I actually like WMP so I rarely use the creative sync software. It syncs quickly and uses a STANDARD USB cable, that's right no proprietary cable, which is again rare in any of the players on the market.
There's a lot of accessories available for the Zen's which I have found in the past to lacking for any non-ipod model, but I think we'll continue to more accessories for this little player. Creative made a great decision adopting the flash based players early on and they are one of the very few with 16 gig+ players.
Customer Review: 6th is a charm
Summary: 5 Stars
The Creative Zen is my 6th MP3 player. The first 4 died for various reasons. The last one, Creative Zen Vision:M, still works. I replaced it because, while I like it, I have some complaints (too heavy, confusing interface, short battery life, etc.). What I liked best about it was that it worked with Rhapsody, played videos, and it could take a beating and continue to work. The subscription service through Rhapsody is a thing of beauty, I don't know why anyone would use a Zune or an IPod and not have that feature. I bought the Zen 16GB flash player to address the few complaints I had with my Vision:M. My first player came DOA. Amazon overnighted a free replacement (I am an Amazon customer for life). Here are my Pros and Cons on the Creative Zen 16GB.
Pros
* Works well with playforsure subscription service
* Works with Amazon Unbox
* Great sound
* Videos look/sound good
* Very light and compact
* Improved interface from Vision:M
* Can delete items on the player
* Good trouble-shooting tools (for firmware, reboot issues)
* SD slot
* Plugs in directly to a USB 2.0 cable (no goofy adapter needed)
* Works with Vista
Cons
* buggy: The first thing a new buyer should do is load the new firmware. I didn't, so I was able to enjoy loading all my music and videos twice. Fortunately there are good trouble shooting tools
* Creative Tech support: Good luck finding a number to call
* Headphones are only OK
* Not Bluetooth enabled
* Doesn't come in Green (don't ask)
* Can't record direct to MP3
Overall a great little device that I'm using all the time
Customer Review: Warning - Does Not Work With Unbox!
Summary: 1 Stars
11/6 update to original review (see original review below) - Amazon tech support emailed a few days later to say that their first response (that the Creative Zen does not work with Unbox) was incorrect. They suggested a firmware update but my player came with the most recent firmware. I uninstalled and reinstalled the Unbox client and was then able to transfer videos to the Zen. It is not 100% reliable, though. At times it works without problem, at times the transfer hangs on the checking license step, and at times I get a strange message saying I must be online to transfer a file even though I am online and the portable file is on my PC. My biggest disappointment though is the lack of two way communication between the Zen and the client so that watching a video on the Zen changes that video's status to Watched the next time I connect to the Unbox client. Deleting the file from my PC does not automatically delete it from the player. I didn't really appreciate how well iTunes and my iPod work together until I had to use something else.
Original 11/1 review: I purchased the 16MB Zen specifically for watching Unbox videos. Amazon's product description clearly states that it is compatible with Unbox. The player arrived yesterday and I found I could not transfer Unbox files to the player. The firmware was up to date. Audio and video files from other sources worked fine so I knew the player was working. I emailed Amazon tech support and was told that the player does not work with Unbox despite the clear statement to the contrary in the product description on Amazon's website. Needless to say this falsely advertised product will be heading back to Amazon ASAP.
Customer Review: An Electronic Lemon
Summary: 1 Stars
Coming out of the box, Creative Zen 16GB MP3 Player puts on quite an impressive show. This model is complimented with a brilliant color screen, crystal clear sound, SD card slot, FM radio, voice recorder and user friendly EQ. Like most models in this line, it only comes in black.
This unit supports a vast array of WMA, WAV, ADPCM, Audible, MP3, AAC. In video mode battery life clocked in at about 5 hours. Audio lasted for about 20 hours. PIM function will allow for the syncing of calendar, appointments, etc; via Outlook. FM radio offers auto scan with 32 preset slots.
All in all this WAS the perfect and probably the most complete player on the market. If it had not been for other problems raising their ugly head I could have easily overlooked the sticky and very cheap control pad. In short, after a few months of perfect sound and video the system simply locked up. No video, no music, no nada.
Phone tech support with Creative Labs is not what it is cracked up to be. Sending in the unit for diagnostics and repair was a month long ordeal with limited results at best. Once returned, the player worked for a awhile until the same evil gremlin raised its ugly head.
After repeated attempts at resolving this problem with an almost non-existent customer support center, I was informed the item was no longer under warranty and that I would have to foot the bill for any future repairs. The Creative Zen 16GB Mp3 Player would have been an outstanding purchase if it had only operated for at least one year before biting the dust. Bottom line is, I am left with a very overpriced paper weight.
Customer Review: Slick Little Player
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very slick little player. It is very small and light, not much bigger than a credit card. It uses flash memory instead of a hard drive, which eliminates many problems I have had on previous players. I've only had to reset the player once. Battery life is very good. I have no idea whether it meets the battery life claims of the manufacturer, but it can be used extensively for at least two days without needing a charge. Transfer of files into the player is simple and can be accomplished using the mfr. software, Windows Media Player, or by dragging and dropping in Windows Explorer. I have tried all three and all work easily. Transfer is fast also. The quality and clarity of the screen is excellent. I have not put on any movies or other video because of a lack of interest in such usage, but photos look very good. The 16 gig capacity is good, and the SD card slot allows more storage. The only difficulty is that you must access SD card storage through the memory card menu instead of the music menu, which restricts your usage of those items somewhat. Navigation is also easy. I have read that some prefer the touch pad on the Zen Vision M, but I used it on my son's unit and hated it, even on low sensitivity. I prefer the one on this unit. I have had no problems at all with the player. My disabled son used it a great deal while his player was being repaired and he was unable to kill it. He has killed 8 iPods, 4 Dells and 1 Creative, so this is a very good durability sign. In fact,our experience with Creative is stellar. This is a very nice, high quality player at a very appealing price. I highly recommend this unit.