Creative Zen players

H

Hansov

Guest
Anybody have good/bad experiences with these MP3 players? Thanks
 
I have a Creative Jukebox (the old clamshell/CD player style unit) and a colleague has a Zen. The only problem I've had with mine is when downloading lots of tracks in one go the USB unit can overheat causing the unit to shut down as a precaution. I haven't tried the FireWire connectivity yet. My colleague raves about his Zen and has had no problems other than difficulties with ID2/3 tagging classical music where storing simply by title (rather than by title and performer for example) for ease of access. Sound quality on Creative devices is excellent and arguably the best of all MP3 players. Warranty on units is only something like three months though.
 
i got a creative touch 20gb 2 months ago......and i love it. loadsa room and easy to use its fool proof. the software after 10minutes is a doddle. extra wise its basic ...it files and plays music thats basically it which in my case is what i wanted i just wanted plenty of music no gadgets. at €210 shipped (komplett.ie) great value. the touch pad i'd been warned was a pain but can't say i've had any problem find it better than the ipod 'wheel' thats for sure. It looks cool very sleek although no extra yet.. it is what it is. but its greatest highlight has to be the battery....it never ends they say 24hr but it can definitely do 20hr its fantastic. my bro got 20gb i-river at same time (he likes gadget!) an hes still only got 300 songs cause its a pain to work with i'm at 10gb an still rippin.....clap on the no frills back for creative
 
I have the Creative Zen Micro and I love it. To be honest my needs are pretty simple and I don't have an extensive music collection so I don't worry too much about tagging etc. The Micro has a radio which I find great, it's nice to have the option. it does crash occassionaly, esp after charging it up over night - but turning it off and on again ususally sorts that out. I'm surprised about the warrenty - mine died after having it for about 8 months - I didn't check the warranty but I called up customer service and the changed it for me straight away.
I think the customer service issue is a big one. Everyone that I know who has an ipod has had some issue with it (crashing, batteries dying etc) and they've found it hard to get to talk to someone about fixing it. I think creative have a call centre in Blanch so its really easy to get in touch and get the device sent back etc.
Let us know what you decide to go with,

Gnash
 
My goodness - somebody is really trawling the historical posts! My original dates from 2004.
 
Sure did. Great little machine - the Zen Micro that is. I have had no problems so far. The radio tuner is great but sometimes a little hissy especially when I commute by bus. But overall I'm happy. Anybody have a problem with the radio?
 
"The radio tuner is great but sometimes a little hissy especially when I commute by bus"

Hi Hansov,

I hadn't seen this thread when I went ahead and bought the Zen with radio yesterday. The main reason I bought it was because I'm sick and tired of trying out different radios to try and find one that does not get interference on the Luas. Every time the tram pulls into a designated stop the hissing/interference is dreadful. Will test it out on Monday but by the sound of things this is not going to be any better. Not too bothered now tho because just want the radio for the news and can switch to music afterwards - hopefully no intereference on that? :confused:

P.S. For anyone looking for a cheaper version see are selling a 512MB MP3 player with FM headphones for €59.99 from Thursday next.
 
My sister bought a Creative Zen player last year and is very happy with it. As for interference on the LUAS, this is inevitable and will be a problem with all brands due to the electromagnetic interference caused by the electric motors that drive the LUAS I presume.
 
I have a Zen micro and apart from a little issue where I 'broke' it when applying the 500m of updates after installing the software on my PC it has been pretty trouble free.

The one thing I find is that the controls are a bit sensitive. I have it turned down to least sensitive and still I find that my finger movements make the menu skip all over the place. I don't use it much other than to select an album and then play the whole thing so this isn't too bad.

Anyone else find that it looks ugly ? I bought it without much thought regarding the aesthetics and when I got it out of the box at home I was struck by how yuck it looked.

z
 
My nephew has gone through two 60GB Zen Xtras and is on his third (see here). He wants to buy an iPod now. I haven't had any problems with my ancient (in MP3 player terms) [broken link removed] and others I know have had no problems with 20GB Zens.
 
Hi Carpenter,

"due to the electromagnetic interference caused by the electric motors that drive the LUAS I presume"

Yeah, thought as much. Bloody nuisance really but suppose it is to be expected so hopefully the music side of things will be ok.

Hi Zag,

I thought it was just me when it came to the controls being very sensitive and I too thought to myself that the white finish (only colour available in Argos on this particular model) looks cheap and will probably tarnish/fade big time. Black would be a lot better.
 
i have a 20gb zen sleek, how does every1 else find the battery life, i find it poor, after a serious charge the power goes down v quickly.
 
My 1 Gb has worked out very well so far. Quite surprised that the radio has not suffered the interference like previous ones.

The battery (AAA) is still goin' strong.
 
I got a Creative 20GB for €200 on the [broken link removed] website last year and its been a great buy. But i also bought the accessory speakers which are a disaster. If the volume is played too high (just about audible)they trip out. Would seriously not recommend them.
Has anyone checked out the website www.allofmp3.com its a Russian site that does some great cheap downloads (about $1.50 per album). Have been with them since last year and had no problems. Has anyone else used this site?
 
Update on my Zen Micro!:( On holidays a couple of weeks ago and I started getting a message "Overheating....shutting down" and shut down it did! Now Lanzarote wasn't that hot so off to a local internet access machine and sure enough it is a problem with the Micro - something inside overheats and you spend 2 weeks or the bones thereof without music. Creative have take it back and a replacement is on its way. But the suntan is fading....fast :)
 
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