Considering an mp3 player, maybe Creative Zen?

r3claim3r

Callling all mp3 player owners: what's your take?

I'm considering an mp3 player, but I don't want to barf up the money for an I-pod. I was looking around today at Best Buy and noticed Creative Labs had some mp3 players (the Zen). One was 6 GB and the other had 8 GB for music and photos.

I'm looking for something at least 4 GB or so. Is the I-pod the biggest dog in the yard? Are the less expensive alternatives (Creative Labs and others) worth it or are they all junk?

nm+ · 11-14-2005, 02:03 | posts: 10,289 | Location: Not Minneapolis

iriver or archos is the way to go
both are better than the ipod (and creative) imho

¬69er · 11-14-2005, 11:30 | posts: 203

5MB RIO CARBON (if you can find) it would be a good choice. Otherwise I would opt for one of the Creative Zens. There is plenty of them 4-8GB range is called zen micro, while the bigger one 20 or 30 GB is zen sleek, really nice one. Both come with colour or mono display versions. Loads of handy features (custom EQ, FM tuner etc) and really good sound.

Xxtreme · 11-15-2005, 09:09 | posts: 27 | Location: To boldly go where no man has gone

I would go with Micro Photo or the standard Zen Micro. The Micro Photo will give you more space at 8Gb and the allow you pic viewing capability. Sound is definitely good and better than the pods.

If you are looking at the bigger space capacity ones, Zen Sleek Photo is nice!

Scief · 11-20-2005, 12:37 | posts: 1,603 | Location: Finland

I don't understand what you do with photos in mp3 player, but I recommned Creative. I have Zen Xtra 30gb and my friend has Micro 5gb. I've had it over a year and it's awesome. New Sonys are great also, but I don't know what they cost there.

orenda635 · 11-21-2005, 01:49 | posts: 6,867 | Location: GTA, Ontario, Canada

I would not buy Sony. Not with all the DRM malware crap they did.

iRiver are probably the best out there. Creative are also excellent. The iPod mini is good if you can still find one but the Nano is crap.

r3claim3r · 11-22-2005, 13:23 | posts: 3,919 | Location: Dallas, GA

I bought the Creative Zen. It was on sale, and I got a big discount. I got the 20 Gig model. It's pretty cool. I just need a protective case and a transmitter.

Thank you everyone for your replies.

hartofalyon · 12-01-2005, 16:51 | posts: 1,716 | Location: NYC

oh u got the creative already. i was going to put in my vote for the iriver h10. oh wells.

GuitarScott · 12-21-2005, 00:37 | posts: 1,001 | Location: Baltimore, MD

i dont really like creative's warranty with their zen's.. they should stick to sound cards. id recommend a nano or an iriver.. nanos are not crap.

r0k0 · 12-25-2005, 05:06 | posts: 2,728 | Location: Gatineau, Canada

get the Micro Zen 5Gb i have way much space, i have 1200+ songs and i dont have a 1/4 of the space used

i also do back ups with my Micro Zen lol

The Kyle · 12-25-2005, 07:18 | posts: 4,113

I just went with ipod because the ipod hookup kit came with my head unit. I just throw it in the glovebox and scan with my head unit remote.

schnad · 12-30-2005, 21:55 | posts: 3 | Location: Swansea/ Wales

I have got the Sony NW-HD5 and it's superb. It's got 20 GB. I know not everybody likes ATRAC3+ , but you can slam on mp3 instead too. Best feature is: You can change the battery yourself, when it's dead. Ipods and Creative you have to send in...

Scief · 12-31-2005, 08:53 | posts: 1,603 | Location: Finland

Mm, wrong, some old creatives, like mine (Zen Xtra 30gb) have changeable battery. And so does the new Zen Micro, I guess the Zen Micro Vision has too.

Anyway, that Sony must be superb. It's so small and the batterylife is amazing. Wanna trade?

There was a review about mp3 players on some HW site, I think it started with the word "Den" but now I can't find it with google. Anyway, Sony got 3/5 of audioquality when Creative and Ipod got 4/5. There was also the new model, A3000, which they said was almost the same player in different package. It got the same points, but the batterylife wasn't as long as NW-HD5's.

schnad · 01-01-2006, 22:34 | posts: 3 | Location: Swansea/ Wales

Hi Scat,
sorry no trade! ;-)
I had an Creative Zen Touch, which I sold immediately after I heard the Sony !! Battery life is 40 hrs, but depends on kB. 256 kB in Mp3 give you 25 hrs. Long enough, recharge is 3 hrs to have it full. Unfortunately it's a sold out and is replaced by the 3000. Crap !
Vive le Sony !!

aircool · 01-07-2006, 22:10 | posts: 13,428 | Location: Devon, In A Little Town.

zen micro is the best!!!!!

Kain · 01-08-2006, 04:38 | posts: 3,857

between the i pod nano and the creative Zen micro.

Which one is better?
Im not talking about one having color or not but i want to know about sound quality.

So, whos the best? Creative which already makes the best Soundcards in the Market or ipods which are from Mac.

BuildeR2 · 01-08-2006, 04:42 | posts: 1,644 | Location: Austin TX

My brother got a PNY 2GB MP3 player and it has some many extra features you just have to look at it. He recorded 4 hours of movie dialogue to it using a microphone port on our DVD player.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16855179004

Scief · 01-08-2006, 09:16 | posts: 1,603 | Location: Finland

Quote:

Originally Posted by BuildeR2

My brother got a PNY 2GB MP3 player and it has some many extra features you just have to look at it. He recorded 4 hours of movie dialogue to it using a microphone port on our DVD player.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16855179004

That's cool, too bad it's just flash-player.

About the Micro/Nano, The soundquality is so much the same that you have to have some cyber-ears to hear the difference. All the test they've got the same points.

I don't know the Nano's features, but my friend has Micro and he's very happy with it. I've also heard a lot of bad about Nano, in Guru3D too. And in US they've sued Apple because of the screen, which they say get scratches easier than other Ipods. So if you get Nano, you'll want some cover also.
One guy in my school has Ipod Video, or whatever it is, which can play videos. It gets scratches VERY easily. He's kept it in a little bag that's made for it and it has many scartches. He now has some stupid home-made plastic cover on it, looks very stupid.
Although Nano is much smaller than Micro. I'd still say that get the Micro. You can change the battery also. And nothing wrong with the screen.

And one warning, Creative's earplugs are very poor. You can't use them. So if you go for Creative, you need new headphones. Or at least the ones I got with my Zen Xtra very sh*tty.

r3g · 01-08-2006, 23:52 | posts: 1,169 | Location: Bay Area, California

Zen Micro Photo 8 gig is great id suggest getting that

cornbreadbreath · 01-09-2006, 02:33 | posts: 430 | Location: Bellevue, WA

Gotta agree. The Micro Photo rocks. I didn't get it for the photo part at all. It's just a step up in capacity and image quality from the previous Micro's. It's cool to be able to use your own pics for backgrounds, too.

cepher2101 · *Last edited by cepher2101; 01-10-2006 at 03:28.*

Im going to sound like a fanboy because im an apple loyalist. I have every Ipod dating back to the first generation. 3 Macs. Airtunes.

I bought the ipod for its elegance and it's ease of use. That's how they got to be 85% market share. But what I truly love is the iTunes integration. Great music libray software (I can play music on my computer thru my sterio via wifi...too cool for words!) and great podcast software. Easy integration. Hate creative mediasource with a flaming passion. I do have a creative sound card though, but the drivers are a pisha.

Anyhow. I always recommend iPod over the others if you are a true audiophile and love to listen to music on the go.

Plus, I have 15 Gigs of music, and iTunes is the best way to "sort" it.

Edit: The nano is one of the most beautifully and thoughtfully engineered devices I have seen. I have had mine run over by a SUV and it works...as a matter of fact, im listening to it right now.

Scief · *Last edited by Scief; 01-10-2006 at 14:33.*

Whoa, you really are a fanboy

. BTW wouldn't it be better to use the new Ipod photo instead of Nano, Nano isn't much smaller... And do you get lots of scratches?

85% of the market? Wow, cool, I knew they were popular in US but I didn't know they were so popular. iPods came to Finland just last year, and Creatives have been here for ages. I guess Ipod has like 7% of the market.

How do you excatly "sort" the music?

And I've heard that all say that iPod's selection wheel or whatever it's called is better than Creative's (which adobted it later, right?). I don't really know for myself, my Zen Xtra has a strange roll or something like that on the side. It has worked fine so far. I've tried my friend's Zen Micro but I've never even touched an iPod.

By a SUV? Pics, I want to see how it looks! How did it even happen in the first place?

r3g · 01-10-2006, 16:40 | posts: 1,169 | Location: Bay Area, California

in every single mp3 review i read on the Zen Micrco they all agree that it is better then the ipod mini and nano 9/10. they only advantage the mini has over micro is it doesnt need drivers and nano well... thats more of a fashion statment then a music lovers choice

Matariel · 01-10-2006, 17:04 | posts: 642

I'd go for the iRiver H10 5/6gb, if i were looking for something in that range.
Much better flexibility than iPod or Zen, inbuilt radio, direct recording, no need for crappy software like iTunes, works as a USB drive on pretty much *every* system (windows, mac, linux) taking seconds to load up, as opposed to the iPods *minutes*, and even interfaces seamlessly with xbox360, if you're into that kind of thing.

You might wanna hold out for the newer u10 variants tho, with bigger capacities. The 2gb version is already available in some places, but there's going to be a 4gb and 8/10gb version soon. The u10 can play video and ogg vorbis files, much more flexible than iPod.

r3g · 01-10-2006, 20:50 | posts: 1,169 | Location: Bay Area, California

zens have built in radio and direct recording too =P