Buy Microsoft Office Home & Student
-
Average user rating:
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"excellent player fulfilled my expectations"
Pros: great sound, straightfoward and easy to use interface and touchpad
Cons: you can't look at pictures and listen to music at the same time
Summary: I really got this player for the space, not for the color screen, but i was pleasantly surprised to like it a lot better than the regular Zen Micro (which my sister has). The Photo has a much more sophisticated appearance (the regular one looks like the touchpad is plastic, here it looks like metal), and it is so cute and tiny.
The audio quality is really great-- even the included headphones are about 10 times better than my laptop speakers, although those stupid "earbud" things are annoying to wear for long periods of time (don't manufacturers understand that ears are not round??). The interface is straightfoward; even though Creative doesn't include a real instruction manual (just a little packet showing you how to turn it on and off, plug it into the computer, etc basics), it is really easy to figure out after playing around with it for a while (while you will be happy to do, I assure you).
The touchpad takes a little practice to get used to, but the up-and-down scrolling is great; so much better than the circular scrolling that the iPod offers (it may look cool, but it is extremely irritating after a while). It's nice because you can adjust the sensitivity on the touchpad, so if you have a heavy hand when you're scrolling you can put the sensitivity on low. The LED backlighting really helps you to see what you're doing (particularly in the dark), plus it is so bright that you can almost find your way around using it (if you hold it about a foot or two away from the floor).
For the regular Micro, some people reporting having problems with them freezing up. With the Photo, I thought it was freezing up at first, but I now realize that the player just has a rather slow startup (which can be annoying but it's worth the wait).
I haven't done much with the photo feature, but the pictures I have loaded on are displayed with excellent quality and you are able to customize the length of time you want between pictures when you are viewing them in a slideshow. It is annoying that you can't look at your pictures and listen to music at the same time (I bought the player not knowing this) but since I was buying it for the space and not for the pretty backrounds it doesn't really matter much to me.
Creative was kind of cheap with this player because in the box they only include a USB cable, a thin bag for the player, the player itself, and a pair of headphones-- with the regular Micro (at least the 5GB one) you get an AC adapter charger (which is really handy) and a little belt clip/stand thing. However, although I plan on buying the AC adapter, the belt clip isn't really necessary because with the "hold" feature you can put some music on, then slip the player into your pocket (which I think definitely looks a lot better than a dorky belt clip).
Overall, although it has its quirks, I highly recommend this player for the average user, because it is straightfoward, a good quality product (doesn't the sturdy structure make you trust it a whole lot more than the iPod nano, which looks like you could break it in half if you flicked it(as well as having an easily scratchable screen)?) and, although looks aren't everything, because it is such a nifty-looking little gadget!
%20user%20review%20and%20rating%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/creative-zen-micro-photo/4864-6490_7-31570017-1.html){kind=small}