Good things come in small packages (Creative Muvo Micro N200 512 MB)

Member Name: Ki_caelum

Product:	Creative Muvo Micro N200 512 MB
Date:	12/03/06 (483 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Small, light, multifunctional, simple interface

Disadvantages: Limited controls make customising timeconsuming

In the Muvo, Creative decided on three concepts: small, simple, and functional. Having owned one for over a year and used it almost daily, I feel I can testify to just how successful Creative have been. Below, the following sections are outlined:

Appearance
Functions
The Manual
Using the Muvo – Installing Software and Transferring Music
Using the Muvo – Playing Music / Using the Controls
Capacity and Quality of Sound
Wear and Tear
Warranty and Customer Support
Price and Value
Summary

I'm a student, so obviously my experience is tailored to how I live, but the Muvo has much more use than just as an MP3 player.


- Appearance -

The Muvo is – there's no other word for it – dinky. It's about a centimetre thick, and is dwarfed by the massive manual that comes with it. It is roughly three centimetres by six centimetres, and designed with a minimalist approach; a small screen, three buttons, a scrolling dial, a tiny microphone, the battery slot, a USB point, headphone point and line in point. At just 34g with a battery, it weighs less than a chocolate bar – but probably doesn't taste as good.

Currently it comes two colours (black or white) and 3 capacities – 256MB, 512MB and 1GB. Mine is a 512MB – more about that later. The buttons and dials are all silver or grey, giving it a funky, modern look.

It comes with a USB cable – used for uploading MP3s onto the Muvo – headphones, and a small belt clip. The Muvo uses one AAA battery, which (depending on the quality of the battery) lasts anywhere from 4 to 15 hours, making it very cheap to run.


- Functions -

Aside from being an MP3 player, the Muvo also acts as an FM radio and a recorder. I'm a student, so I mostly use the radio and MP3 player on my way down to lectures, but I have used the recorder on occasion. More on the quality of these later.

It also has one or two other tricks up its sleeve: you can 'lock' the Muvo so that only the scroll button works, which stops you pressing other buttons by mistake – if you have it in a bag or your pockets, for example.

You can also use it as a portable data device – not unlike a USB key – with the software that Creative provides. Handy if you have an essay you need to print off elsewhere. How to do this will be outlined in the Using the Muvo section.

The Muvo will only play MP3 and WMA files – therefore, if you put any other formats on (WAV files, for example) they won't be played – they'll just sit there taking up space on your player.


- The Manual -

Despite the ominous thickness of the user manual, there is in fact markedly little to read. This is because most of it consists of repeating the same instructions in a dozen other languages. Of the eleven pages of your chosen language, it covers 'Your Player at a Glance', 'Getting Started', 'Some basic Functions', 'FAQs' and 'Safety Information'. The instructions are easy to follow and very clear, so don't worry about having to wade through pages of dull jargon.


- Using the Muvo – Installing Software and Transferring Music -

The Muvo comes with a software disc from Creative. This will install the necessary software onto your computer; the Muvo N200 Media Explorer. When you connect the Muvo to your computer (you will need a USB port), via the USB cable, the computer will recognise its been plugged in, and show it as a 'Removable Disk'.

Putting music or data onto the Muvo is incredibly easy. You can either use Windows explorer – in which case, you just select the files you want, drag and drop them onto the Muvo – or Creative's own software, which installs several programs onto your computer: an organizer, a player, an audio converter and a user guide. All the minutiae of how to use these programs are contained in the user guide, but you can figure most of it out for yourself with experimentation and the help files.

Among its all-singing, all-dancing functions, Creative's organiser allows you to move files to and from the Muvo, organise playlists, format the Muvo, and also acts as an alternative to Winamp or Media Player. The separate Creative player also does this (and thus seems a bit redundant.)

The audio converter does exactly what it says on the tin – allows to change audio files from one format to another. It's easy to use, and fairly quick (though obviously this depends on the speed of your computer.)

All in all, the software provided with the Muvo is user friendly and uncomplicated. I found putting music and data onto the player very easy – literally something I can do in the fifteen minutes before I leave if I want to change my playlist.


- Using the Muvo – Playing Music / Using the Controls -

The Muvo keeps everything simple in terms of controls. And when all you're doing is playing music that's good. However, when you want to change one of the settings, it can take a little while.

The problem is the way the controls are organised. There are three buttons: the play / pause button. You use this to switch the Muvo on, and (surprise, surprise) pause and play the music.

The other two buttons are plus / minus controls, used for changing the volume, the balance, and other controls which are just a matter of choosing a number.

This leaves just about everything else to the scrolling dial. To access the main menu, you push this in. Up pops the main menu in a series of little pictures. As you select a picture (which you do by moving the scroller left or right), the submenu name flashes up underneath it.

The main menu has the options: Settings, Music, Recorded Tracks, Microphone, FM Radio, MP3 Encoding, Lock. Each of these then has another submenu below. I'll spare you details of these menus; suffice to say that through this, you can change the play mode, select a playlist, change the way you hear the music (there are settings such as Pop, Rock, Jazz, Classical), delete files, alter the language, how the screen looks...the list goes on.

In short, you can do an awful lot with that little scroll button. On the one hand, this is good – the Muvo is highly customisable. You can set it up exactly as you want. I can also see that it helps keeps the controls simple.

On the other hand, I wouldn't recommend you try this unless you've got a few minutes free, because it may take a while to get everything exactly as you want. One of the more irritating things about the way the player is set up is that fact that every time you've selected a sub-menu option, instead of going back to the main menu, the player returns to the music / radio it was playing, so you then start all over again changing the next setting.

As it happens, I don't need my player set up just so. The default settings are fine, so this really hasn't affected me. For those of you who are a little more selective, prepare to have a sore thumb by the end of your tweaking.

Once you have your player set up, it really is ridiculously easy to use. However, as there is no main menu of songs, if you want to hear a certain song, you either have to have a playlist set up, or face scrolling through all the rest of your music.

The radio is easy to use; you can scroll through to the frequency you want, or hold down the dial to let it automatically find channels.

Overall, I like the Muvo's simple interface and controls. It means I can leave it in my pocket or on my belt and flick through the music without needing to see what I'm doing. Its small size means it tales up hardly any space, and is light and mobile.


- Capacity and Quality -

As stated before, I have a 512MB player. This holds anywhere between 100 to 200 songs, depending on the size of the files. More than enough music to keep me entertained for a good few hours.

The quality of the music is great. It sounds fresh and clear, no matter how often its played. Part of this is, of course, due to the quality of my MP3 and my headphones, but I still would recommend an MP3 player over a CD player anytime.

Voice recordings are also of a high quality; no background static, and a clear sound.


- Wear and Tear -

I put my hands up. I am not the most careful owner in the world. The Muvo has been stuffed in a bag full of books, exposed to the UK's icy Northern winters, it has been dropped and banged with unfailing regularity, and yet it has survived intact. It may look small and delicate, but it is sturdy.

The Creative headphones are not quite so tough, but I must admit that my headphones are continuously snagged on doors, chairs and clothing, and when it's not being listened to, are wrapped around the player, so it's unsurprising that after six months of abuse, the wiring gave up the ghost.

I suspect a particularly hard fall down some stairs was responsible for the problems the player began to have; the sound began to fade and had a peculiar tinny edge (like hearing someone singing in an echoing bathroom). However, after reformatting, the player was fine again, and the problem was fixed within a day.


- Warranty and Customer Support -

The Muvo comes with a one-year warranty (found on the CD supplied with the player.) I won't give the full details here, though I feel obliged to warn you that Creative scream in capital letters they will not be responsible for any indirect injury caused by the player – so if your off-key warbling makes that poor builder fall off his ladder, don't try and sue them.

As far as customer support goes, there is a 60-day complimentary telephone support service; after this, telephone support is still available for the duration of the warranty, as is email support. There are also unlimited web-based customer support services on their website, details of which come with the product.


- Price and Value -

My player was bought at a shop at £85. I use it daily, and am more than satisfied with the quality of sound, the amount of storage and the controls. My housemate bought hers for £79; a quick glance on Ebay shows them now retailing for £53.

I feel I paid a good price for a player which has lasted over a year, survived the perils of my possession, and continues to play high quality music for the cost of an AAA battery.


- Summary -

The Muvo is small, light and highly mobile. It comes with easy-to-use software, making moving data and music quick and easy. The one problem I have had with it (caused by dropping it down the stairs) was solved by a quick reformatting, free of charge under the warranty. Although I have not extensively tested their customer service solutions, I'm satisfied with the warranty and the product.

It's set at a competitive price, and has a capacity that will hold from 100-200 songs (512MB).

Its one downfall is its simplicity, which makes the main button on the player do a lot of work. The Muvo is highly customisable – but it may take you a half hour or so to set it up just as you want. However, once this is done, the player is very versatile, and can also act as a data storage device, a recorder and a radio.

Overall, I recommend this for its compact, funky design, its myriad useful features, its simple software and interface, high quality sound and survivability.

Summary: A compact and well-designed player with many features, which suffers from oversimplified controls

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