-
"Greatly Disappointed" on by bazoo
Pros: Bright Vibrant Screen
Cons: Where's my Video Playback?
Summary: I have used CL mp3 players for serveral years now, always upgrading to bigger and better. The best for me was the 30gb Zen Vision because it played all major video formats: mpg, avi and wmv. The only drawback to it was the non-user replaceable battery (which btw, the new Zen also sports), which I burned up by trying to upgrade the firmware after having it for roughly a year.
So I was pleased when Creative announced a new smaller player that also had the same video playback features I loved in my old one.
When I finally bought it, my initial reaction was that the player felt cheap and toy-like. The screen is awesome although small and the colors are beyond belief. And I am nerdily pleased that it shows my mp3 album art.
Imagine my surprise though when the package SAYS it will play all the same video formats as my old Vision but all the reviews say it only plays wmv (the other formats are only after conversion? ***...)
OK, fine. Except that the converter that comes with the player won't convert my files AT ALL and even my own video converters don't seem to appease the Creative Labs gods as none of my videos will transfer.
I either get the error message that says the file "exceeds the playback capabilty" or flat out says the file was "rejected."
To top it all off, the player froze on me within the first hour of playing around with it.
I don't need this aggrevation. I'm returning the player tomorrow.
Sorry, Creative. You laid a stink bomb with this one. -
"It's A Bust" on by gjkorte
Pros: It worked great for 3.5 days. Easy to install software and create music files.
Cons: It died after 3.5 days. Hmm, longevity seems to be an issue here. It quit working as I was adding music to the device while it was attached to my PC.
Summary: I usually don't weigh in with opinions on products that I purchase, but this one was such a dud, I can't help but share my story. It didn't help that I returned a Creative Labs Micro Photo MP3 that "locked up" on my daughter earlier this year--it was replaced at no charge. Basically, I didn't get much of an opportunity to explore the capabilities of the Creative Zen 8GB. It died quietly, and suddenly, while songs were being added to it. This would have been MP3 #4 that I've loaded, so I'm not a novice. After working admirably for 3.5 days, it is no longer recognized by my PC. It will not take a charge via the USB. It will not take a charge, using the charger that was purchased with it. It will not turn on. It just doesn't work. From my experience, this thing just isn't ready for prime time.
-
"SD expansion flawed" on by Truck-A-Sauras
Pros: great audio with tons of features
Cons: SD expansion is not seamlessly integrated
Summary: Being highly interested in purchasing this player I did some more research. I find out that the SD expansion slot is designed poorly. Consumer beware! You think you are going to just pop in an SD card and jack up the memory of this unit.....sort of.
All data stored on the SD is kept separate from the main on-board memory. So all those extra songs you put on the SD will be hidden away in their own lists.
Pray for a firmware update to make the data on the SD expansion seamlessly integrated with all your other data. -
"Amazing, 100% Amazing, 10x better than Ipod nano!!" on by resvelvet
Pros: Excellent screen, video and mp3 playback, Lets you add extra SD mem, Sleek, great design, voice recorder, FM Radio, the list goes on!!
Cons: NONE, People are cry babies!! Oh boo hoo about little things! NO CONS AT ALL!!!
Summary: Okay, the main reason people have been complaining about the Zen, is that the SD card function is not integrated into your actually file library..That is NO LONGER TRUE...! I just updated my firmware and stuck a bunch of movies, songs and pictures on my extra 4GB SDHC mem card and then imported them all to my library..god forbid I have to take an extra 2 seconds out of my life to import them from the SD card to the Zen library...people are such cry babies.....for 150$ you get an amazing little gadget with no flaws....The apple ipod nano video is a freaking joke compared the Zen...Apple charges 200$+ for an 8gb with no FM radio, and the video quality is not great...The Zen is 150$ for 8GB with an SD slot to make it upgradeable for life..I now have 12Gigs of music and video and pictures..The FM radio is great, the calendar, time, jpeg wallpaper features are excellent....Everything about this Zen is amazing....it's a 10/10 on everything, sound quality, Creative is a very underrated company..Think about this, if you build a nice computer and you want excellent sound, where do you buy from??? CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER...not Apple.... The Zen lets you add any file, music mp3, wma or video, avi wmv etc...with easy conversion program...If you want a cheap mp3 player with tons of extras, great sound and video quality , I would recomend this to anyone...the firmware update fixed any and all bugs it used to have...I work at a dog hotel and I can listen to tons of music and watch tv all day with the Zen..and then listen to talk radio or view nice pictures I took the day before with a nice slide show or I can make them my wallpaper, which is very cool. The buttons do feel a little cheap, but I like how many options they give you...the screen is very nice, colorful and I love the widescreen and size of the Zen....the Apple nano sucks... seriously...the Iphone is amazing..have the 32gig version, but the ZEN 8GB kills the apple nano video on all accounts....100%....don't worry about all the bad reviews, I think they all work for Apple hahah!
-
"I would be censored if I wrote what I thought." on by boatrider
Pros: It looks good on the WEB Page
Cons: It doesn't work @#$%
Summary: I purchased this MP3 player to replace my old and still functional Rio Karma. I was initially disappointed when the provided USB cable was only 4 inches long. Once I charged the unit and loaded the S/W I was prompted to do a firmware update. Well I downloaded the firmware the application installed it on the player and it died. No amount of resetting would bring it back. I went to the Creative WEB site for customer support, which was not very helpful...then to add insult to injury once I found the Creative Customer Support Phone number, and was connected to a call center in some 3rd world country, the "technicians" scripted remedy was to make sure I havd the player connected to a USB connection on the "Back" of the computer....with the 4 inch provided USB cable....and to hit the reset button...once we decided it wouldn't come back from the electronic graveyard, she told me to take it back where I bought it....and that's a whole other story...Looks like an IPod for me....Better luck next time (un)Creative.
Write a Review
Online Stores
| Store | Promotions | In Stock | Price | Total Cost | Initial Sort Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | No | Yes | Tax: TBD Ship: TBD | $124.99 Shop Now | |
| See all prices | |||||
%20-%20MP3%20players%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/creative-zen-8gb/4852-6490_7-32589081.html&x_breadcrumb=8900:6450:6490&x_arw_bkts=MAD:high_wireless_switcher){kind=small}