Creative Zen Portable Media Center

Pros: Built in LCD has good resolution.

Cons: No supplied software for converting your own movie files. Doesn’t record live TV

Summary: Not a lot of functionality. Plays movies/songs, stores files but doesn’t record. I’ve tested 3 different units and placed this one in the middle.

A friend had a portable media player and I fell in love with it so I purchased 3 and used each one for 3 weeks before deciding which to keep. The ones I reviewed are the RCA Lyra A/V jukebox, Creative ZEN PMC and the Archos AV420.

I rate these as follows
RCA Lyra A/V jukebox 4
Creative ZEN PMC 6
Archos AV420 9

I will post a review for each of these but this review is on the Creative ZEN PMC.

This unit has the highest quality playback of all the units tested but it isn’t very versatile in that it can’t record. The price for this unit was the same as the Archos which I rate as the best of the bunch. Considering the price it should have came with more features such as supplied software, cradle and a remote control. This unit only accepts windows media video format and since they didn’t supply software you need to purchase it separate and the lowest cost I could find was $69.00. Easily connects to your TV but without a cradle you have to connect wires every time. I was also able to back up my purchased DVD collection onto it but it wasn’t as easy as with the Archos or the RCA and software didn’t come with it. This unit as did all performed perfectly in storing and playing music (MP3/WMA) as well as storing the family picture album. As all devices you can store files onto it as well. The built in LCD screen on this unit was the best of the bunch and provided great resolution. Manuals were not very useful as they really didn’t do a good job of explaining different formats required and where to find the codecs for these since they didn’t supply them. When playing the video it was jumpy at times. Not the greatest of quality.