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"Poor Quality, Huge Disappointment" on by bearcat1994
Pros: Awesome features, good sound quality!
Cons: Poorly constructed, don't expect this player to live much more than a couple days past it's warranty.
Summary: I had this player for 12 months and exactly 2 days. Picked it up one morning and removed it from the charger and headed off to work, only to find that the player was completely dead. This was my second player, the first luckily had it's failure within the warranty period, It's screen simply failed after a couple months of use. If you want to purchase a new MP3 player every year or so then this one is perfect for you!
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"Sweet little player; fully loaded" on by forkboy
Pros: Sturdy & compact; fantastic display quality; excellent sound
Cons: Maybe too compact? Doesn't share same power-in as my Vision:M
Summary: This review may be a bit premature as I've only been using my V Plus for a few weeks, but I purchased it, in no small part, because of the positive reviews here at CNET (editors and users) and because of my admiration for my Vision:M. That said....
This purchase was to replace my dead 1G iPod Shuffle which died after just 15-months of ownership. It was never dropped or abused in any fashion. Heck, it was only used about twice a week for a few hours each time. As such, between this less than stellar performance and my satisfaction with my Vision: M purchase I opted to go with Creative again for a flash-based player.
Excellent OLCD screen with plenty of information displayed while playing songs. Very good sound quality even with provided earphones. None of that annoying system noise I found on the Sandisk Sansa e250 I originally purchased and returned. (love Sandisk media cards, but the mp3 line needs work) Plenty of features for adjusting sound including bass enhancement, EQ settings and volume leveling.
Feels solid and sturdy in hand and is overall a nice size. I do find the joystick both a bit small and it's range-of-motion to be less than I personally would prefer, but I'm also 6'4"/250# so my hands/fingers are bigger anyway. Clearly this is my problem, but I still would say that it's buttons/controls are easier to use than were the ones on the Sansa product.
I have not used this for viewing either photos or video and have no intention of doing such. This is for listening to music while I'm working out, walking, etc. I have tried to use the radio, but it, like so many other MP3 players with the radio option, has only so-so reception. Then again, I want a MP3 player so I don't HAVE to listen to the local radio stations. In this matter I'm beginning to wonder if Apple isn't smarter in their not including radios with their players.
Regarding the software: like the Vision M it was REQUIRED (per the directions) to load the software before attaching the player to my computer. I thought the software took way to long to install and would have preferred that more detailed information had been provided before the installation process regarding what the various pieces of software were and for what purpose they were created. Short of any plugins for the actual player, I really don't need all their stuff to load music onto the player, but can simply use WMP. But I was a good boy and loaded their stuff anyway.
I am disappointed that Creative (like all the others for the most part) doesn't bother to include the highly desirable AC power charger with this unit (or the Vision M for that matter). I understand these are high-profit items for them, but I think they would better serve their customers (and potentially draw attention away from Apple products) by including the AC power chargers. It's very inconvenient to run a 350W power supplied computer just to charge a little device. It's also annoying that the Creative doesn't use the same connection type for their various players so that the AC adapter I purchased for my Vision M would also work with the V Plus.
Finally, regarding the editor's review of battery life, I think it would be very helpful if the editor's told us what codec and bit rate they were using when they come to their various conculsions about batter life. I know that my Vision M doesn't get the same battery life that I have read in CNET reviews, but I'm using Windows Variable Bit Rate (VBR) at a very high setting. As such I expect the player to consume more battery power while converting my files. I would like to see CNET publish this information or set a standard codec and bit rate so that all players are judged fairly against each other in this regard.
Overall this has been (thus far) a very good product with which I am completely satisfied, especially when compared to the other players I looked over and, in this instance, the Sansa product I first purchased. But beware; I think those Sandisk folks could be strong contenders if they could do just a bit better. -
"Battery Life / Customer Service Bait N Switch" on by Escorial-Green
Pros: Great little player for all around use
Cons: Under 4 hour battery live/ Horrible Customer Service
Summary: I really liked the player buy was really chumped my Creative when I sent my player in for repair because of low battery life.
What they returned was not my player but one that was well used and abused, w/scratched and rubs all over it.
These players all have serial numbers on them and the one I received was not mine.
Now getting the old song and dance from Creative. Dont care how good there products were after this no more!
PO'd and Upset, treated like a idiot by Creative RMA folks. Also I was told that at one time Creative offerd a check box for ask for your original player back. Now so in my case and I have the original RMA letter to prove it.
FWIW I called Creative RMA dept asking for my player back, got no where asked to speak with a supervisor was told one would get back within 24 hours NEVER HAPPENED. Also told I was receive a email with a shipping label in the same timeframe NOTHING HAPPENED.
I suspect that there tech support is offshore so it is impossible to get a straight answer. One tech told me "OH I will make a note that to make sure that a mint player is returned to up" I explained mint schmint I want MY player back that I sent it and gave the guy the serial number. That got nowhere!
I have this thought in the back of my mind that perhaps Creative actually keeps the players that are in exceptional LN condition and either resells them as new or through there refurb dept.
So at this point bottom line is I feel that my originl player is long gone and I have been ripped off.
Would like to hear from others if they were treated like this.
My original review of this player was very good but after this nonsence its schrott! -
"4 mos. then failed and no support from Creative" on by mtzlblk
Pros: if it worked it would be great
Cons: 3 mos. warranty then $$ to fix, mine was defec tive after 4 mos.
Summary: This product, like all Creative products, is of extremely low quality
and their warranty policy really reflects that. I won?t be buying
anything from them, I have learned my lesson.
-I bought two Zen Vs in October to replace two aging (4+ years old) MP3
players; my wife?s original hard-disk Zen (died the week before) and my
iriver H10 (still going strong)
-I used my Zen V sparingly, mostly connecting it to the aux on my car
stereo (I typically use my phone as my MP3 player)
-After 4 mos. the screen on my Zen goes black for no reason. The rest
of the unit works fine, just no screen, so now it is essentially
useless.
-I contact Creative assuming it would still be under warranty for
defects. NOT!
-Creative only has a 90-day labor warranty, after that you?re sunk.
-Their response: pay a non-refundable $25.00 fee just to ?look? at
fixing it. If repairs cost more than that you are charged for it.
Apparently if repairs cost less creative pockets the difference. Not
much incentive to make lasting products, quite the opposite.
-My response: pay almost 50% of the purchase price to fix a defective
product? No thanks Creative. Unfortunately it is too small to be a
paperweight.
I should have learned my lesson before, as the first Zen I bought
several years ago I had to return for a replacement also (this is the
one that died prompting the purchase in the first place), but Creative?s
warranty period was better back then. No surprise it is shorter now.
Do yourself a favor and find a company that stands behind their
products for more than 90 days. The iriver H10 I purchased 4 years ago
is still working fine and they have a 1 year warranty.
Better yet, invest in an iPhone or a Windows Mobile phone. I have a
Cingular 2125 Windows mobile device that I used more than the Zen V
anyway. It syncs just as easily to my PC, has 4GB of storage rather than
2, has a better and larger screen, plays higher quality video and works
flawlessly as a music player?.not to mention it syncs to my work and
home email, calendar, tasks, etc. And you can play games. And make phone
calls. Why did I even purchase the Zen in the first place? -
"Good while it lasted" on by daysonline
Pros: Creative gets my money and I have a dead player
Cons: It will die
Summary: I experienced the same thing as other users. I enjoyed the player while it worked. It only took 3 months and it completely died on me. It is not functional anymore.
I am extremely upset that Creative took my $90 and I have an unusable product after 3 months. So, even though it worked fine, the fact that it has a chronic problem of going completely dead is completely inexcuseable. Who tested this at Creative??!
Even though it has a warranty, who wants to go through the trouble of buying the player, waiting for it to die, sending it back, receiving another one that will work for another 3 months, die again .... (repeat). Total waste.
Creative Zen V Plus user reviews (4GB, black)
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