Creative Zen X-Fi 16 GB Video MP3 Player with Wireless LAN and Built-In Speaker (Black/Silver)
by Creative
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List Price: Category: Network Media Player See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Creative Zen X-Fi 16 GB Video MP3 Player with Wireless LAN and Built-In Speaker (Black/Silver)
Customer Review: love it
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had this player for several months now and I love it! It goes with me everywhere. I bought it to replace my old Zen Vision M and I'm not disappointed.
It a great size and weight and it's also pretty. Battery life is not bad. I've found the external speaker to be far more useful than I had ever imagined it would be. The overall device sound quality is Excellent. the head phones are nice even though I keep losing the little silicone tips/buds. the player should have come with a 100 pack of replacement buds for people like me. I don't use the crystalizer or the wifi...although I'm sure they have their uses, I find them both unnecessary and I'd be just as happy without either. The Card slot is a nice thought but I haven't found it to add as much joy and usefulness to the player as I had hoped. It's best to use this slot for picture transfers/storage. I love that it uses a regular usb cable to connect to the computer so I don't have to buy some "special" cable that will only work with this device. I am also delighted to be able to use it with my Audible books which is it's main occupation in my world (love my books).Video is terrific and it works great with Amazon video downloads. In a perfect world, I'm sure the buttons would be a bit larger but I'm not really annoyed with them the way they are. The software and user interface is very much like my Vision: M so I'm used to its quirks whatever they are, if they even exist. There is always room for improvement with every product, and everyone is an authority on how to design something to make it better. I suppose my main complaint would be the long time it takes to convert certain types of video and also that there is a little software quirk that makes the "what do you want to do?" window pop up on the computer while I'm charging. All in all...It does what I bought it to do and it does all those things quite well.
It's a great little player.
Customer Review: One year experience with my LAST Creative product
Summary: 1 Stars
Pros: above average headphones, FM radio, SD slot, good sound.
Cons: faulty design and horrible repair service.
Design. Within the very first week the player, after playing for about 10-20 minutes, sometimes even less, started either freezing or just simply shutting down and the only way to bring it back to life was to reset it. I used the tip of the headphone's plug to do that. I was hoping that at some point Creative would release firmware that would solve all of my and, judging by their own site, other customer's similar problems. While patiently waiting for firmware upgrade and trying not to be too PO, I tried all possible and some impossible ways to fix Zen. Unfortunately firmware that would fix freezing problem never came and all the tricks I used also failed to fix my Zen. Finally, a few months ago, before one year warranty expiration date, I decided to send my Zen to Creative to be fixed. When I got it back from Creative repair center and turned it on, hoping that my Zen headache and frustration are over, to my surprise, I found that my settings are still intact. I thought that in order to repair the player they would have to reset it to original default settings, run some tests, etc. I guess all they did in repair center was repackaged player and sent it back without even bothering to fix it, because it still freezes/shuts down and now it got even worth - it started sounding as if all my music was ripped from old scratched LPs.
While dealing with my Zen, I was wondering who runs this company that doesn't care weather their products are sold, because at least 5 of my non-iPod co-workers/friends at some point were considering buying Creative Zen, not any more. And now, after reading my review, how many of potential Creative customers will change their mind and buy Creative's competition mp3 players?
Customer Review: A Great Media Player
Summary: 5 Stars
I do like the Creative Zen X-Fi. It is well made, with great sound and video.
You can read about it's capabilities on other reviews and the Creative Zen website.
You'll need to go to various websites that review this one - to get adequate
instructions as to it's features. The paperwork that comes with it is useless.
Except for the design of some of the buttons having no function whatsoever.
This is a very good audio and video player for the size and the price.
UPDATE: 05/2010
After using this for many months now - I have to add that this player is very
good for all it does! I really like it. I have since bought the Creative
Labs Travelsound speaker system. Very Cool. - Not only does it work well,
I like it's portability. The Travelsound charges the Creative Zen when it
is docked and plays all of your media, including the radio perfectly
(without the need for a 'antenna') And like the Creative Zen itself - the
Travelsound sounds great for it's size.
The only downside to these great products has to be the lack of a much more
comprehensive user guide. The current, downloadable, user guide is very basic.
Too basic. And the Creative Centrale software that you use to import media to
the device is cumbersome and not as seamless as it claims to be. I found using
other third party media converters (like Media Monkey) to be much more efficient.
All in all - I would recommend these Creative Zen products. One additional plus -
unlike the i products, Creative Zen products are not part of a closed system.
You can import, convert and enjoy any and all of the formats available
to your media without constraint. A big big plus.
Customer Review: Excellent Player
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been a Creative fan for quite some time. I started with a Zen Micro, moved to a V Plus, then a Vision M, and now the X-Fi. While the interface is for the most part still the same it is still nice, easy to use and vivid. The menus can be a bit laggy here and there but nothing serious. I like the button layout, that player is pretty easy to operate with one hand. I do however with the headphone jack was on the top or opposite side making one handed controlling easier.
Sound quality is amazing. The EP-830 earphones that come with the 16 and 32gb version of the player are in a different league compared to other included earphones and buds. They are noise canceling, offer nice clean bass, and pretty stylish. I must say however that I had a hard time getting them to stay in my ears when walking and while the sound quality is nicer than other cheap phones these are pretty much ass base and lack dynamic range. Pair this player with a good pair of earphones (like the Klipsch S4 I now use) and its like having 5.1 surround sound in your head.
The Wifi feature while cool has some room for improvement but its nice to be able to stream music from your computer while your in bed or somewhere else in the house. Its also nice to steam (and more importantly download) other peoples music while on their network. All the review say downloading an mp3 with the X-Fi is extremely slow but i have found that it all depends on the signal strength. With 2 bars of strength it takes me about a minute and a half to download a single 320kbps mp3. With full bars it takes under a minute.
I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a GREAT player and doesnt want an iPod. I personally prefer the UI to the iPod.
Customer Review: Replacing a Vplus
Summary: 4 Stars
Bought this to replace my Zen Vplus that got drop in water, and haven't been disappointed. All though it's a lot bulkier then the Vplus, it makes up for it with nicer and newer features at a lower cost.
If you have owned a creative mp3 in the past it has all the features you expect. It comes with the standard search options, clock, mic, radio, organizer, etc... The best new features compared to my old Zen is the memory, the Wi-fi, built in speaker, and alarm features.
I think most people can get why a speaker and alarm are nice new features, but the memory, all tho not the coolest thing in the world is great. On the old players, you got what you got, and that's it. The memory on these new players is SD card based, with a slot on the side of the player, so you can up grade it anytime with whatever size you want. The Wi-Fi is another great feature. The Wi-Fi allows you to get some internet radio programs(99% suck), which is cool, but the best use of it is connecting to your home PC/laptop where you can access various media files(music, movies, TV,...) that you have stored.
The only two things that were a slight let down were the volume level, and the button controls. The old player was a louder then this one, which was nice when trying to drown out a lawn mower or wife(j/k). The old player had a nice thumb pad, kinda of like the mouse on a laptop which was nice, where this new player has a 9 small button control which is tough if you have big hands, and impossible if you have gloves on. Both disappointments can be written off to I'm just use to my old player.
Definitely worth buying, great price, great features.