Creative Zen (16GB)

Pros: Excellent audio quality, nice screen, easy to use, great software

Cons: Worried about buttons, front cover could be better

Summary: First up some caveats: I LOVE Creative products. This is my fifth Creative Zen player. I bought a Zen Micro for my oldest daughter and loved it so much I bought one for myself. A year later I bought my youngest daugther a Zen MicroPhoto. Shortly after that I bought my son a Zen V Plus. All have worked flawlessly. I just replaced the battery on my Zen.

Second caveat: I HATE absolutely anything, and everything iPod. I hate Apple, Mac, all of it. While I think a lot of their MP3 players are the bomb looks-wise, their crappy sound and even worse, their proprietary everything just annoys the crap out of me. I loved the look of the new Nanos and if they worked with music subscription sites like Napster-to-go or Rhapsody I might have broken down and bought one. But no.

This was a three pronged approach to this purchase. I was finally jumping on the subscription music bandwagon and was looking for a new MP3 player. I always come here for unbiased professional and - even more important - your reviews. I eagerly awaited the new 16GB version and have had it a couple days now. I haven't done video with it - and I don't know if I ever will. I'm into the music so that's what I use it for. So let's go there.

First up, impressions out of the box. I like the look and the layout. I'm not crazy about the look and feel of the buttons though. They seem... cheap. One guy here had both of his fail a few days after getting it, the left dial one. For some reason, all the buttons when pressed to the left seem to feel like they are rubbing on something - it's not a smooth click. It actually FEELS like it's going to break sooner rather than later. Obviously only time will tell on that. I also don't really like the super-shiny cover that ecompasses the entire top. With the black color, fingerprints are the order of the day with this and I worry also about scratches in the future. But it cleans up real nice with some of those pre-moistened lens wipes. I do like the black look and really like the brushed aluminum back. I would prefer the whole thing be like that except for the screen. Maybe next time. But CNET is right - it does look classy.

The screen color and resolution is great. Pictures pop nicely and I really like the ability to change the backgrounds, although the selections are a little limited. Of course you can always set any picture as the backgroud wallpaper so that opens things up. The menus were pretty easy to learn to use but I went into the online documentation to read up on things and it was well written and imformative.

Software installation was easy as usual and pretty quick. I did go onto the Creative site and look for upgraded firmware (done automatically as part of installation) and sure enough there was already two 'critical' updates to install. But those went on quickly also and two reboots later I was up and running.

The first order of business for me was seeing how well this player functioned with my new Napster-to-go subscription. Napster and Creative normally work very well together and this unit was no different. Napster immediately recognised my player and within a few seconds I was downloading several hundred songs and playlists to the Zen. I'm also planning on doing a user review on the Napster-to-go so look for that if you're thinking of trying it out. I for one, LOVE it. 5 million songs to choose from and more every day.

I bought the 16GB version straight from Creative the day they got them. The earbuds suck but I'm used to that and had other plans anyway - the previously mentioned third prong of this music attack. I did buy along with the Zen the leather case they offered. It was only $25 and looked pretty good but I was dissapointed with it. Truth be told, I'll carry the Zen in my shirt pocket anyway, without the leather case. I might try some of those temporary protectors they sell if I start to notice the screen getting scratched up a little. I tend to take pretty good care of my stuff but this player does not seem or feel as stout as my Zen Micro.

So I downloaded a bunch of songs from Napster and then a bunch more already ripped from my private collection on my computer. I also loaded up a few family pictures. The Zen Media software works very well and is very easy to use. But it's just a simple to go into Explorer and drag and drop or copy and paste stuff in too. Pretty basic and simple stuff.

The player also came with a REALLY short USB cable for both charging and transferring data. I actually like the short cable but I'm sure there are going to be a few that do not. I also prefer a dedicated charger and for the price think they could have and should have included one. Fortunately for me, I got one way back with my Zen Micro and it has always worked with EVERY Zen I've owned - something I am very grateful for. Kudo's to Creative for keeping the same power/transfer connectors on all their models.

Now on to where the Zen really shines - the music. Creative always get's high marks for it's audio quality and this one does not disappoint. The sound quality is AMAZING. This is helped somewhat by my third prong attack - I bought some nice Bose full ear cup headphones. I've already reviewed those at the proper place on this site. The combination of those two are nothing short of astounding. I'll never wear earbuds again. You don't even need any EQ. It's quite amazing. I bought the Bose headphones at Best Buy for $139.00. Pricey but worth every penny and you can spend a whole lot more.

There's plenty of neat features on this player too. Most I won't ever use but it's nice that they are there. The SD expansion slot might come in handy some day if I every do decide to do video but with the Napster-to-go subscription I'm pretty sure my music will be rotating a lot. And with 16GB, I won't need to move too many. I understand that some people are upset that the SD slot memory is not added to the existing memory and I think that's probably a valid point. But it's not a big deal to me because quite frankly I don't plan to carry around more than 4000 songs at any one time.

Probably my biggest thing I like about this player is the Smart Volume feature. One of my pet peeves is the different levels of loudness between older CD's and new CD's. Constantly having to bump up the volume for one song and then have to bump it back down (especially after it hurts your ears) for the next is annoying on so many levels. The Smart Volume when turned on automatically levels the playing field increasing and decreasing volume where necessary to keep the level comfortably the same. This is a God-send to someone like me, an old guy who could be listening to some Jim Croce one moment and then have Nickelback blaring the next! I tend to play the songs on Shuffle a lot so this can happen frequently. My music tastes run the gammut so this feature is the bomb.

In summary, I love the player - so far. If the screen doesn't scratch easily, and the buttons don't fail, and all keeps working as it does now, I'll be very happy. I gave the player an 8. Had the buttons felt better I'd have given it a 9 and had the cover been all brushed aluminum, it would have gotten a full 10. Rest assured I'll keep you posted and you'll be the first to know if something does go wrong. Okay, you'll be the second as Creative will be the first. But for all intents and purposes as of this writing - Creative has another winner on their hands!

M.