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Creative Zen Micro Photo (5GB, silver) (01/13/2005)

Creative Zen Micro Photo (5GB, silver)

Entered CNET Catalog: 01/13/2005

SKU: CREATIVEZENMICROPHOTO(5GB,SILVER)

Manufacturer: Creative Labs

Manufacturer description

Featuring a stunning, high-intensity OLED screen, the Creative Zen Micro Photo can hold thousands of images or songs. Users can watch slide shows of their favorite digital images while they listen to MP3 or WMA music. The Zen Micro Photo also includes all the features of the award-winning Zen Micro MP3 player. The micro-sized ultra-cool looking Creative Zen Micro Photo with its choice of electrifying colors took the market by storm.

Editors' review

  • Editors' Choice: No
  • Reviewed on: 01/15/2005
Editors' note: In the time since Creative originally announced the Zen Micro Photo, the company has decided not to produce a silver version, nor will the player be available in 5GB or 6GB capacities. Instead, Creative will offer a lineup of 10 colors with 8GB of memory, and gray will replace silver.

CES 2005 brought many new color-screen microdrive players onto the scene, and we got to see all of them--save one--in person. The player in question is Creative's Zen Micro Photo, and it turns out that even the PR manager was surprised when CEO Sim Wong Hoo pulled a prototype out of his pocket at the show. As such, we never got to lay eyes on the device, but we can still tell you that the photo-friendly version of the Zen Micro, available in both 5GB ($299) and 6GB ($349) capacities, shows definite promise.

Upside: The Creative Zen Micro Photo is the Zen Micro with a 262,000-color OLED screen and photo-display capabilities. You'll still get to choose from 10 body colors. Plus, the Photo, like its recently released, updated brother, ups the ante by offering an option of either 5GB or 6GB of storage. The latter allows up to 7,500 JPEG images or 3,000 songs. It boasts an FM tuner, as well as FM and voice recording. Like the monochrome Zen Micro, the Photo features an innovative touch pad that allows for vertical scrolling. Equally cool is a luminescent blue backlight that shines behind the buttons and around the edges of the device. The user-replaceable battery is definitely a plus, too. Finally, at 2 by 3.3 by 0.7 inches and 3.8 ounces, the player is a hair smaller and a touch heavier than the iPod Mini (by 0.1 inch and 0.1 ounce, respectively), and it's plenty small enough to slip into most pockets.

Downside: At $299 for the 5GB version, the Zen Micro Photo is $20 to $100 more expensive than its direct competitors--strange, considering the company's products have traditionally been on the lower end of the price scale (then again, full-color OLED screens are magnificent). As with its black-and-white-screen brother, the lack of tactile feedback from the controls will turn some users off. Finally, it won't be available until June--how are we supposed to wait that long!?

Outlook: When we spoke with Creative's reps at CES, they confided that they were having trouble keeping up with demand for the Zen Micro, so things are looking good for the Photo. Fans of the Micro and prospective buyers might find the color OLED screen hard to resist, but the question remains if they'll be willing to shell out the extra dough.

User opinions

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User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Great product!

Pros: James Kim got it wrong--it is VERY easy to control the volume without going into a menu. Just brush the center bar in an up direction to increase volume, or in a down direction to decrease volume.

Cons: The human factors instructions in the set up could be dramatically improved, but you can get through it fairly easily.

Review: The device is marvelous! What engineering!

The human factors instructions in the set up could be dramatically improved, but you can still get through it fairly easily. The storage engine is also a little busy (too many window panes) and could use alternating colored lines to make it easier to see.
User Rating:
2.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

not satisfactory performer

Pros: good sound

Cons: several problems usage restrictions not made known till after purchase

Review: Next time I'll buy IPod - ok the unit sounds fine, when it works, BUT - the radio reception sucks, and after a few weeks my unit had a software failure that required shipping it back to the factory and cost me about $35 bucks in shipping fees, within the warranty period. Biggest issue though is that I bought the unit to use while jogging and working out. When I contacted customer service about the problems I was having they told me that these units ARE NOT to be used for jogging or working out WHAT???????? Where is that on the packaging ???? or advertising??? or website??? NOWHERE. Since these things are portable and that is a common usage for mp3 players I feel that this amounts to deception on the part of the company. Given that, twitchy controls, and the fact that IPod kicks butt when it comes to periperal units from arm band holders (for use when uh working out) to portable speakers to car stereo connectors, I'll buy one of those and live with the fact that you cant replace the batteries like you can in the Zen. I guess if you wanna listen to it only when walking slowly around the mall its fine but I have to say I totally put off by the fact that they would sell a unit like this with such a major usage restriction and not announce it.
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

The best micro hard drive player so far

Pros: colour screen, a removable rechargeable battery, an fm tuner , and a voice recorder

Cons: looks bad thats all

Review: i am not sure about the touch pad on the zen micro it was very sensitive but besides that and the looks it is the perfect micro hard drive player.
Updated
it is finally out in the US so i cant wait till it is out in CANADA
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Cnet needs to update

Pros: 8gig! (read full comment for details)

Cons: not out juuuust yet

Review: Creative has unveiled the micro photo, their site indicates that it comes in an 8 gig version, the battery is slightly better at 15 hours, most likely because of the beautiful OLED screen
more info: http://creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=14107

I want one, the iPod is out of the question fom me because of my napster to go music, and this is still a wonderful device
User Rating:
3.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

WHy all the reviews?

Pros: Its not out

Cons: Its not out

Review: Seriously, this isn't a forum people, this is for reviews. It isn't even out, so their should be NO reviews.
User Rating:
3.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

small, high quality sound & still photo player and fm receiver

Pros: size, battery life, fm

Cons: small HD capacity, no card reader, no line in encoder

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

I just gave this thing a 9 to be fair... but in all seriousness... It's butt ugly

Pros: small size, popularity of creative zen micro

Cons: small screen, ugly form factor (matter of opinion), touch screen issues

Review: I was in the market for an mp3 player recently and took a trip to best buy to make a selection. I wanted the mp3 player to work with napster to go... and this limited my options to a few players, two of which were the creative zen micro and the iriver h10. The iriver h10, while not perfect, in my opinion, is a hell of a lot better looking than the zen micro. The micro is smaller and it was also cheaper... but I just couldn't bring myself to buy such an unattractive mp3 player... call me shallow, but the thing just didn't have the wow factor that the h10 did... maybe the color screen will change things slightly, but I doubt it... the thing still has the ugly form factor against it... even though all in all, it might be a more complete player with PIM and so forth... but that what I have a phone and PDA for!!!! seriously, Im not impressed.
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

havent actualy gotten my hands on one yet, but its looks awsome! It will totaly kill the IPod

Pros: color sreen, radio, voice and radio recording...

Cons: These features compact into something like the PSP would equal the perfect portable device.

Review:
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Looks Good But Lets Face the Facts - Copy Cat!

Pros: all the great featues of the original micro with a color screen

Cons: the same cons as the original micro

Review: it looks great but face it...it is such a copy of the ipod photo.
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

This looks like it will be a great product

Pros: Picture viewing will be a great plus coupled with the MP3 player. This is one slick little package.

Cons: No cons about this item

Review: Condsidering a rating of 10 is very rare, I will have to rate this a 9.9, it just looks like the perfect addition to our mobil world. Creative Labs did the right thing this time.
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

nice and solid build mp3 player, can vs with ipod photo!!!

Pros: colour screen, touch pad, etc...

Cons: long waiting list

Review: actually this is a good mp3 player but u gonna wait very very long for its launch
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

it,s ( zen micro photo)awesome mp3 player but please stop hating ipod mini.......

Pros: zen micro photo has so many features which are not available on most of mini hard drive mp3 players includin ipod mini.... also color screen is plus...anyway it,s realy cool mp3 player.....

Cons: touch pad on zen micro which i personaly used is not that easy especialy when you are travelin on the buses or even durin walking

Review: it,s realy cool mp3 player... eye catchin color screen for photo viewin plus fm radio, removeable battery, awesome sound quality, voice recorder... all over it,s great mp3 player .... the new ipod mini avalaible too now in (6GB n 4GB)models... n now it has 18 hours battery life n new shiny colors plus easy to use click wheel is awesome....so campare n choose... it,s all up to u... choose what u need for....easy to use techno chick ipod mini or.... with lot of extra features n photo viewing color display zen micro photo... i would say both are great mp3 players for different users... some likes style n easy to use n some likes lots of features n compact too...... so stop hatin ipod mini in your review please....... it,s showin you still feel ipod mini is on the top n u wanna bring him down
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

awesome, could beat out mini

Pros: small, external battery, color screen

Cons: price is the only obstacle

Review: 299 is a lot to pay for this product, but it still get a 9 for being such a great player. But honestly, why would you want to buy this player when you can get a 30 gig ipod photo for an extra 50 dollars. not only is it a 6-fold increase in storage, but its gotta longer battery life. The only trade off with the ipod is the size, but i dont' think a lot of people would mind that. But if creative can figure out a way to make the battery life comparable to the new mini's and price it at about 250-275, along with good marketing, i think creative has a shot at beating apple out for the posistion of king of the microdrive players.
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

So close of being perfect

Pros: OLED screen, FM radio, removable battery, sound quality, and very small

Cons: Still 12 hours of battery life

Review: The only thing from keeping it being perfect is that the 12 hours of battery life is not gonna be enough for some, but is good enough for me. Also, it'll be a turn off if it's going to require software to tranfer your music. Oh well, I can live with 12 hours of battery life and taking 5 minutes of my life installing a software. The ZMP is gonna be a HIT! Can't wait!!
User Rating:
2.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

your average, adequate music player

Pros: works with Napster2Go; small

Cons: tiny screen + huge buttons = 1980's; no AAC or losslessly compressed support; out-of-stock

Review: I don't see much point to the Zen _or_ the iPod Photo products. Looking at photos on a 1.5" screen doesn't seem like anything I'd ever enjoy doing. For an example of a color screen done properly, look at the Sony PSP. The screen occupies over 75% of its front surface for a pleasant viewing experience.

Also, unlike the PSP and the iPod, it simply doesn't look very nice. Creative has a history of making cheap, plasticky looking products, and it continues the tradition with the Zen Micro.

Lastly, and I'm sure this will be remedied with time: it's almost impossible to get the Micro right now due to limited supply. I was able to try one out at a local Cambridge Soundworks store, but the vast majority of people in here posting glowing reviews have never touched one.
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Buy something else if you want but don't say I didn't warn you.

Pros: Best sound quality of any player on the market (98dB), can play all the music files formats you'll ever need (mp3 and WMA - ipod can't do this one), great build quality in a small package with good software and features and gorgeous look in a choice of fi

Cons: If I have to be picky..... Why won't it store my whole music collection - it'll only stores 3+ days playing time worth of files.

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Could you want anything more?

Pros: With a long list of pros, I would actually end up a columnist rather than a blog. If you want tons of features and the best sound quailty on the market, you want this product. Not to be confused with the iPod, this product compares only to the iPod mini i

Cons: Only featurte I can say is not appealing to me is the either or on the transmitter. You cannot charge the unit and use the car transmitter at the same time, but I am sure there is a quick fix in the making.

Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

this product rocks

Pros: cheaper than an ipod photo caching the ican brought the ipod photo just because it was an it was the first to desplay color pics

Cons: nothing much exept that the zen micro just looks a little destorded

Review:
User Rating:
2.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

A great hit by Creative's standards

Pros: Nice colors, nice price. Windows fans and Creative fans now have something to feebly compare to the success of the iPod.

Cons: Whether you're or not, one can't deny the massive market share the iPod line has. As a comparison between two mp3 players, despite the companies they're made by, the iPod wins hands down on account of its interface, design, and innovation.

Review:
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Looks like Creative is the innovator again!

Pros: What the poster named "Digital" fails to realize is, Creative created the mp3 player market by being the first people to even make one!! So if anyone is a follower, it's the "fruity" people.

Cons: Price might be a bit high.

Review:
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Dumb people

Pros: you apple people are so dumb, buying up expensive ipods which are all white, accept the poorly colored Mini, then if you want photos you have to go and take yourself in your own a$$ because it costs 500 not 213 dumb people

Cons: not good for playing basketball with

Review:
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Ipod? IPOD? No.. Creative Zen Micro!!

Pros: Yes! If you want to say it's an iPod rip off go right ahead! Apple may have pioneered the genre but Creative perfected it. Saying that the Zen Micro Photo is a ditto of iPod is like saying taht all mp3 players out there are a rip off of the Eiger Labs F10

Cons: It gets put down because it shares some features with another product, song upload speed could be better but thats probably cause im an anxious guy. Wish there were dedicated sound buttons but for the record the ipod mini doesn thave that either so dont h

Review:
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

iPod Flag Wavers are Awful

Pros: All the features of an ipod and more while it has smaller physical size.

Cons: Controls are weak.The negative reviews by apple lovers show why you should avoid the iPod hype and check it yourself before you buy.

Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Stop making those annoying iPod commercials!

Pros: Great colors to choose from, easy access to menu options. I got this for use out and about and not just in y car as I also have a Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra. This tiny device is great all around.

Cons: I agree with Alfonse here, especially noting the first review listed. This amazing product is going to make iPod lovers weep with bitterness. Why can't everyone stop comparing every MP3 player that is introduced to iPods?

Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

So many haters!!! Get your lips off of Apple's behind already!

Pros: Great sound quality, has FM radio, recorder. Small and compact. Better than iPod. Don't listen to the naysayers!! The person who said "a poor iPod fake/ripoff" is obviously so full of $hit and never even used the Zen Micro. Cnet should screen these review

Cons: The navigation is a little tricky and takes time getting used to. But that's about it really. Just gotta hold your finger down. Also recorder only records in WAV format but who really cares. The iPod doesn't even have a recorder. For the same price or eve

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

WAY better than the i-pod mini

Pros: Features PHOTOS!!!! The i-pod mini doesn't.... The micro also features RANDOM songs!! no need to keep switching. Definately buy this one cus its cheaper, better looking, and its not something that everyone has. GET HIS ONE!!

Cons: i-pod fans are booing...cus they got some heavy sompetition. no cons

Review:
User Rating:
3.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Don't Compare Apple's and Oranges

Pros: Size, USER FRIENDLY BATTERY, interface, weight, price. Not better or worse than ipod, different. More Cost benefit in my opinion. With a replacable battery compared to the greedy apple guys askin for 100 dollars for a new battery that will lose it's ch

Cons: little expesive for small drice. They'll probably come out with a 20 gig soon after release though.

Review:
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

iPods are for fools...

Pros: Better build quality than iPod, more value for the money, longer battery life. Who cares if its a rip-off of the iPod, its simply better!

Cons: none

Review:
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Steve jobs is hiding listening to one right now..

Pros: good batterylife and so much capicity1

Cons: Dont favor the touch pad too much, not my favorite

Review:
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Amen to that brother

Pros: Creative is anything more than a "follower" Lets not forget Creative has been in the mp3player market for over a decade, apple are still new, and know nothing.

Cons: Ok ill be honist, it is infact a bit of a copy, but its actually better!! Better sound, cheaper, AND a good radio, +sound recording! lets see apple do that!

Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

IPOD lovers cool it!

Pros: I am sick of the people on this site that just rip any MP3 player other than the beloved IPOD. If you are going to rate a MP3 player please have some real comments not just trash talking on something you dont know anything about!

Cons: Looks better than the IPOD mini to me!

Review:
User Rating:
3.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Of course it's not an iPOD

Pros: It's not an iPOD. To educate some you non-audiophiles. The reason that it doesn't work with iTunes is that everything that you download from is iTunes is in AAC which was developed by apple. The same that WMA is for windows. So from a business perspective

Cons:

Review:
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Good Luck Apple, You'll Need It.

Pros: in comparison to the Ipod series : Smaller, better sound quality, better durability, REMOVABLE BATTERY. I do not have the photo but i am the proud owner of a silver Zen Micro and all i can say is it is, by far, the greatest MP3 player i have ever owned.

Cons: For all of you people who wont trust any MP3 player that isn't an Ipod, good luck finding a better MP3 player. Getting a little off topic, I myself have been asking every person i see at my school with an Ipod, what made them choose to buy the Ipod over

Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

apple, this creatives gonna eat you up!

Pros: everything colour screen brilliant topuchpad great memory for music

Cons: its too good it will make you cry

Review:
User Rating:
2.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

it's color: bad interface

Pros: color screen, ok size.

Cons: bad interface, very confusing... and not so easy to use... creative try so hard to copy iPod, but i think the original is da bomb! by the way, what's up with 5GB? if i have 2000 photos @ 1mb res. where can i put my music, stupid idea to release photo zen

Review:
User Rating:
2.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Not what you want

Pros: Its better than an ipod mini

Cons: ipod minis are rubbish - get a 20GB ipod - its much more cost effective

Review:
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Spanks the iPod Mini

Pros: CHOICE of music download sites...Not cheap feeling, works beautifully, bright COLOR screen, sounds awesome, records Audio, FM Radio....

Cons: While I love the color, all these "photo" MP3 players are rather silly and impractical to view photos on a tiny screen, much less get them off your camera and onto one of them.

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

iPod Murderer!

Pros: Great Sleek design with thin body and neon lighted frame. As well as these really hot lights on the buttons. 1.5 inch OLED screen. Dont waste money on an iPod! Im definately not wasting money on some expensive fad iPod, that isnt worth its money.

Cons: Nothing! This is definately gonna be popular later and is very inexpensive compared to Apple's Photo iPod ($500). Don't listen to the iPod fans, they'll hate it because it makes the iPod a toy.

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

kicking mac fans butt

Pros: lot of features: FM radio. kicking ipod butt and making mac fans scream like a girl.

Cons: longer battery. docking station.

Review:
User Rating:
2.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

5 gigs for your entire music and photo collection

Pros: FM tuner and very very nice screen. Decent battery life although they don't tell you what you get when playing music vs photos

Cons: Why is everyone touting about the single to noise ratio? This is a headphone jack we are talking about. Signal to noise ratio doesn't matter unless this was a line out. (Which this player doesn't have). By the way can I walk into almost any retailer Best

Review:
User Rating:
3.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Two Major Flaws

Pros: The Zen comes with some interesting features. It boast decent battery life but then they don't say what the rate of life is viewing photos. It also has a great size to it. The iPod is the defacto in mp3 players so everyone wants to compare it to the iPod.

Cons: Two MAJOR flaws that make me give it a thumbs down. First why would you put photo capability on a small sized unit???? They should have given it the better screen and cut out the photo viewer in to help the price. I have not been able to find anything tha

Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Saw it at CES, misinformed Apple fanbois

Pros: This is a stunning piece of machinery, and the use of the OLED display is a great choice for Creative, if you ask anyone in the industry they will tell you the same thing. To those who would call Creative "a follower, not an innovator" and champion Apple

Cons: Though some might think it will be extremely expensive, I have confirmation from an inside source at Creative that it will be priced "competitively." Meaning it will, like all other Creative players, be considerably less expensive than a comparative Appl

Review:
User Rating:
2.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Not really a review...

Pros: More a request to CNET...start reading these things! Half of them are people that haven't even ever used one but just like IPods and want to say everything else sucks. It makes your ratings almost useless.

Cons:

Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Nothing short of the iPod

Pros: Great sound to noise ratio, the best on the market. Good battery life, better than iPod minis 8 hours. Comes with a FM tuner, a great add on to mp3 players. Small and compact. Battery may be replaceable like the Creative mini and the older Nomad models, s

Cons: Design is a little bulky compared to that of the iPod, something that plagues all the Creative models. Screen's a little small to view pictures though it isn't a bad idea, but it's really just an add-on to attract more customers. Verticle touch pad isn't

Review:
User Rating:
2.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

hardware is fine, software is not

Pros: small, cheap, radio tuner.

Cons: You have to use Creative's crappy software to put music on it. No integrated online-music purchasing solution. Everyone who thinks this is the nail in Apple's coffin must have not noticed how Creative has had cheaper mp3 players on the market for about 3

Review:
User Rating:
2.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Still no iPod

Pros: User-replaceable battery. Other features such as voice recording (although, I'd probably never really use this)

Cons: It's still no iPod. It just doesn't look like what it costs. When people see the iPod, they know what it is. In a way, this just looks like a cheaper immitation of the iPod. Plus, the cool factor just isn't here... the Creative Zen Micro is trying har

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

a lot better than a ripoff ipod

Pros: better sound quality,you can change battery,fm tuner and voice recording. ipod is a total rip-off and dont believe those ipods fanatic,you need to listen both and know the specs. difference

Cons: need more storage

Review:
User Rating:
2.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

a pretty mediocre attempt...

Pros: It has a colour screen and fm recording, pretty much its only redeeming features apart from size, but for 5 gigs it has to be small..

Cons: ugly. and what use is photo and music storage with only 5 gigs? for this price you could get a 20 gig non colour ipod. bleh, apple wins again.

Review:
User Rating:
1.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Not in same class as iPod Photo

Pros: The price is good, style is overall not too shabby.

Cons: You clearly get what you pay for. Limited Mac support, guess Creative thinks every Mac user is rich and has iPod Photos already. The iPod Photo is expensive due to it's larger capacity and the expense of such a form factor hard drive. Not to mention yo

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

better than ipod hands down!

Pros: fm radio, oled screen, removable battery (best feature, adds at least $50 to the value), great interface, AWESOME sound quality! not ipod! has any of the morons who insulted the interface of it actually used a zen micro? im listening to mine right now,

Cons: not available in alot of stores...

Review:
User Rating:
1.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

6 GB?

Pros: It's cheap, and i guess that's the experience you get with it. The design is ok, a bit cheap feeling.

Cons: Only 6 GB? That is a joke. Give at least 20 GB. People complain about the Photo iPod and Archos AV340 Video Recorder because they cant afford it, too bad. This is just another gimmick product trying to ride the wave of a popular fad. Their company name is

Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Creative is a product leader...

Pros: It's funny to read reviews from people with a lack of knowledge about Creative's product leadership. Creative came out with a hard drive based MP3 player 2 YEARS before Apple.

Cons:

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Creative is great

Pros: Stop bugging us with the talk about how superior Apples UI is, try a Creative such as the Micro and you'll see it's great!!!

Cons: As pointed out, 6GB is too small to have photos on, go for the Original Zen Micro wich probably will be cheaper.

Review:
User Rating:
3.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

OLED Screen!

Pros: Very nice player, I have the non-color version, and all my iPod friends are just amazed by its good looks. (and jealous, too) now with OLED screen! for the person that said this: "an obvious ripoff of the iPod" The iPod Photo has a LCD, Zen Micro Photo

Cons: The screen is too small. More Storage!

Review:
User Rating:
1.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

An objective view point

Pros: Creative being the sound card maker of choice for every one out there has to try and capitalise on it and make a product that everyone likes. in this respect they have obviously suceeded... it is a good product and i am pleased with the design...

Cons: However one must remember that the iPod has a brilliantly conceived UI and has been able to outsell every other mp3 player out there... we mustn't bad mouth Apple simply because its up there...

Review:
User Rating:
2.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

just another option

Pros: many features, average price for the options given, fm radio, and voice recording~addition of color screen, radio, voice recording, and extra storage make this products price acceptable versus ipod mini

Cons: average battery life (12hr). $300 is still expensive for a music player! and to the guy who said "Creative is nothing more than a follower like Dell, and not an innovator." : just because iPod photo was the first, doesn't mean they innovated ****. iPod p

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

MP3 Player rather than Fashion Item

Pros: Excellent features, looks great, range of colours. If you want to be a sheep get an iPod.

Cons: Seen by others as a cheap iPod copy.

Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Ipod is history

Pros: Replaceable battery, 10 colors, color LCD, scroll pad, fm recorder, fm radio, voice recorder.

Cons: As of right now, this product hasn't come out, so why is everyone rating it? I can see if you owned the other version like me, but if you don't, why are you rating it?

Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Small, excellent sound, and the DJ feature is awsome.

Pros: This is a great product. The sound quality is great, showing the mini pics is a cool bonus, and now with the wireless headphone what else could you ask.

Cons: They need metalic colors. Like shiny siler or something like that. Mac users will diss this product cause it's not Mac and they never even tried it out.

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Ipod no way!

Pros: Value,value for the money. Very high quality feel and performance!

Cons: screen could be a little bigger

Review:
User Rating:
2.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Creative Tries

Pros: From what I see, the color screen, and photo viewing capabilites are a plus. Probably has good sound quality as most Creative products do.

Cons: Its Creative. Honesty I can't stand imitations. To me, this MP3 player is just an imitation of the iPod Photo but in a smaller size. 5GB just isn't enough. And to all you iPod haters, check the statistics, Apple is selling millions and millions of iPods,

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Kills the iPod, Long Live the Zen Micro

Pros: FM radio, Voice recorder, Easy link up to PC for storage, no Mac-fussiness and most of all OLED screen (uber clear)

Cons: Xpensive and not out yet!!!

Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Innovation, Quality, Performance

Pros: Great Engineering. Great Design. Superb Sound, Excellent Headphones, FM Radio, Voice Recorder, 5Gig Hard Drive, Removable Battery, Extra Battery, Belt Clip Case. Works as an External Drive!! Unbeatable

Cons: You should have come out with this product years ago!!!

Review:
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

More bang for your buck.

Pros: Great sound from Creative (as usual) Easy to use interface, battery you replace yourself, FM radio built it organiser blah blah blah

Cons: Earphone will be replaced instantly. Whats all this talk of ripping off iPod, if you weren't such populist chasers yourselves you would know iRiver had a photo viewing hard drive player out almost two years ago and that wasn't even an original idea (remeb

Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Just shows why apple fanatics are stupid

Pros: The product isn't even released yet and already we have the brain-dead apple fantatics saying how this-and-that product is crap when they don't even have one. It's a shame that such a great brand as Apple (their Mac OSX trashes windows anydays) has fans w

Cons: I'll leave that to the reviewer

Review:
User Rating:
1.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Own one before you rate it!

Pros: Packs a lot of features into one machine. Obviously, incorporates a lot of the iPod's features, which is a good thing. I enjoy the people who submit reviews without ever having handled or owned any MP3 player. What credibility.

Cons: It is not an iPod. Not as user friendly. If you want an FM tuner and photos as well as your music (not sure about the size), then buy this. But if you want the hands-down best MP3 player, then an iPod is really the only choice.

Review:
User Rating:
2.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

But does it take photographes?

Pros: Has a radio

Cons: It must just be me, but I would expect a device with the word 'photo' in it's name to be able to actually take pictures!

Review:
User Rating:
1.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Nice try, but.... no.

Pros: Nice screen.

Cons: The thing is hideous. It is made of ugly, shoddy plastic. That touchpad control is not innovative... they just tried to mimic the iPod clickwheel without getting sued. Oh yeah and biggest con: WMA and no AAC. Completely pointless.

Review:
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Worthy of the Assassin Title

Pros: Compact Size (Smaller than the Mini Ipod), Sound quality, Storage Space, Battery life, and Price (more for less when compared to Mini Ipod).

Cons: I admit that a clickwheel would be a bit more efficient, but the vertical touch pad works just fine. Basically, the Creative Zen Micro trumps over the Ipod Mini. The only thing I thought Apple did better was the clickwheel, but really, aren't we in this

Review:
User Rating:
1.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Photo with only 5 GB?!?

Pros: Perhaps this is a decent MP3 player.

Cons: I'm in the market for a photo storage device, but I can't imagine using this one. With only 5 or 6 GB, this is less than twice the size of the compact flash card in my camera. The postage-sized screen only allows a glimpse of what the picture actually loo

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

color screen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1

Pros: color screen on a mini mp3 player!!!apple has nothing on creative now. both iriver and creative are on the right track to destroy the ipod. once all the ipods' batteries go dead, ipod fans will be wondering why they listened to their friends and got a c

Cons: comparable to what iriver will have in a couple months

Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Here's an accurate review.

Pros: Oled screens are good and have low power consumption. Its from creative, who is a very good company, especially when it comes to audio. Very good sound quality (98dB signal to noise ratio!),

Cons: Oled screens are great but, unlike lcds, oled's colors fade after a couple years. The shape of the unit is like that of a sardine can. Screen is only 1.5" and who cares about photo viewing. Since it can't transfer photos directly from a camera, you're goi

Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Ipod killer.

Pros: Great sound, interface and build quality. Better in every way than Ipod mini, especially with the battery and screen (and extra gig).

Cons: Makes inbred Ipod users get their panties in a knot.

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Looks promising

Pros: OLED color screen, 5GB player, FM tuner

Cons: design still isn't as nice as ipod mini, but still looks good

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Good product from the innovator

Pros: OK to all those saying Apple innovate, what are you smoking? Creative were the first to introduce MP3 hard-drive players, NOT Apple. Apple weren't the first to have photos either. So onto the facts, this looks like a nice continuation of the Zen Micros f

Cons: I would like to see Janus support and if all my dreams came true, digital radio too. Absolutely nothing about this player is bad IMHO, it's just that I would have liked to see an extra thing or two included in the new zen micros from the old ones.

Review:
User Rating:
1.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

5gb for music AND photos?

Pros: Well, it play's music. And it shows photos

Cons: Golly, they just don't get it do they? Five gigs for photos and music? COME ON! Tortured interface, uncomfortable design. Boo.

Review:
User Rating:
3.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

(Most of)You people are idiots

Pros: Replacable battery, OLED screen, good price (considering the Ipod Mini is $249, great sound quality, voice recording, color cases.

Cons: FM tuner is useless IMO casue FM radio sucks. You people are like Nintendo/Sega fanboys from the 90's, "Ipod sucks, Creative rulz!!" I own an Ipod Photo and it's the best. People who say otherwise either have a chip on their shoulder with Apple or are

Review:
User Rating:
3.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

If only they made them with more storage

Pros: This thing is to do die for....unless....

Cons: ...you want to store all of your CDs using lossless codecs on the thing. Will Creative ever match the capacity of iPods (e.g. 40GB or 60GB)?

Review:
User Rating:
1.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

And it's aiming at WHAT market?

Pros: Replaceable battery, color screen

Cons: I don't understand some of you people (such as Andrew who previously bashed digital): I don't see any market for a device which costs around 300 dollars and only has 6 GB at most. As for those who say that the iPod is a toy and this is far superior, they

Review:
User Rating:
2.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Nice Price, interface sucks!

Pros: Cool Price, nice size and replacable battery.

Cons: I had a 2nd gen ipod and this interface drives me crazy. I spent to much time at CES trying to appease my ADHD fingers and it drove me crazy. NO ITUNES Support what up with that. I wish I could like it,

Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Ipod....U got to be kiddin me!!!

Pros: Anyone who says that Ipod is the S***, just trying to make themselves feel better because they spend s***load of money on them and it don't got no Oled display. Creative killed Apple. Apple will get replace the Ipods with Oled screens but it will be way t

Cons: None

Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Puts the last nail in Apple's coffin

Pros: Great build quality, better sound and features than any other MP3 on the market, good price point, replaceable long-lived battery.

Cons: The best out there, I saw it at a trade show and it is clearly going to be the breakaway product of 2005. The only con is disgruntled Apple fans badmouthing it because it completely spanks their useless toy.

Review:
User Rating:
2.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Photos on 5 gig! Dude, wheres my music?

Pros: Replaceable battery (a big plus), choice of colors, small, local retailers always seem to have plenty in stock (unlike iPod Mini).

Cons: As a digital photographer, I don't know what the point is of storing photos on a device with such a small screen. Hard drive is too small to store lots of photos and music, so doing a photo 20 gig would be a better idea. User interface takes some time t

Review:
User Rating:
3.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

better then ipod

Pros: Great price, feature set; not an over-priced, under featured, put an apple logo on it and idiots will give all their $ to S. Jobs for it, proprietary piece of junk.

Cons: none yet, stay tunned.

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

digital u moron

Pros: digital your a moron in life saying that creative is a rip off of the ipod because you a wrong.... first thing is consumers dont want to spend 400 bucks on a 4 gb mp3 play. They want to spend cheaper for something better...... digital grow up, read

Cons:

Review:
User Rating:
4.0 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Works hard for the money!

Pros: Very amazing product, i'd have to say i'm very proud with what i've bought. Don't take ratings from morons like Digital seriously who obviously show a bias, and haven't even purchased the product.

Cons: Wacky earphones, but not bad.

Review:
User Rating:
4.5 stars

out of 87 user reviews

Awesome - I would recomend it over the iPod

Pros: A nice brilliant OLED screen, and despite what many people say, I like the vertical scroll better than the wheel. The software interface is extremely nice (better than the iPod's IMO) and contrary to what people think, you do not need to lift your thumb t

Cons: don't scratch the front, hard to do, but possible, and the scratch will glow, at least it does on my Zen Micro

Review:

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Creative Zen Micro Photo (5GB, silver) specifications

  • General
  • Device Type Digital AV player
  • Key Features Voice recorder , Digital photo viewer , FM tuner , Digital audio player
  • Width 2.0 in
  • Depth 0.7 in
  • Height 3.3 in
  • Weight 0.2 lbs
  • Color Silver
  • PC Interfaces Hi-Speed USB
  • Features FM recording
  • Display
  • Display Type OLED 1.5 in - Color
  • Display Form Factor Built-in
  • Memory / Storage
  • HDD Capacity 5.0 GB
  • HDD Form Factor Built-in
  • Digital Audio
  • Supported audio formats MP3 , WMA
  • Microphone Built-in microphone
  • Digital audio features Equalizer , ID3 tags support , VBR
  • Still Images
  • Supported Still Images Formats JPEG
  • Connectivity
  • Connections Headphones - USB Type A , Hi-Speed USB
  • Battery
  • Required Qty 1.0
  • Rechargeable Battery Rechargeable
  • Battery Enclosure Type Internal
  • Technology Lithium ion
  • Battery Life Details MP3 playback - up to 12.0 hour(s)
  • Miscellaneous
  • Included Accessories USB cable , Stereo headphones
  • Manufacturer Warranty
  • Service & Support 1 year warranty
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