A great little 16Gb mp3 player with video and an FM radio (Creative Zen 16 GB)

Member Name: rxpell

Product:	Creative Zen 16 GB
Date:	05/06/09 (62 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Size, Looks, Cost, Sound Quality, Video Quality, Radio, Storage (16Gb)

Disadvantages: No charger supplied, No case supplied, Battery not replaceable

After many years of service from a previous Creative Zen Touch 20GB which was (is) still going strong, I decided to get something I could watch video on too. My selection criteria were 1. small, 2. support last.fm scrobbling (yes, I'm addicted to it), 3. support BBC iPlayer downloads, 4. a radio and 5. good battery life (use it on planes a lot). The Creative Zen 16Gb was about £80 and streets ahead of the competition on paper so I opted for it.

I sort of debated the Zen X-fi version with wi-fi but decided this is for use while I'm on the move so I dont need wi-fi. 16Gb is more than enough for me - I'm only carrying the tunes I want, I've got a 500Gb disk at home to keep everything else on.

I've had it for about 4 months now, so this review reflects this use including lots of commuting and some long haul flights.

On first opening the box I was delighted by how small and sleek it looked ! Got it charged up and got some tunes on it which was nice and easy, just connect to the PC and haul them over then started using it. Sound is excellent and the controls are easy to get used to. I was worried my fingers would be a bit big for them but in use have found no problems.

The headphones supplied are not great, but I've got another set anyway which I use with it. It is a bit cheap of Creative not providing a case for it as the screen must be prone to scratching, but I picked up a leather one for a few pence on ebay next day (something like £2.99 including postage from Hong Kong !). So I'm all kitted out and ready for action.

Listening on the bus to work or on a plane is good. I'm getting up to around 24hrs battery life if I lock the screen when playing. If you dont lock the screen its a lot less. Anyway, its enough to do a flight to Australia on one charge. The radio has an autoscan and picks up FM stations, this can be a bit hit or miss but the quality is fine. I've recently started watching lots of BBC iPlayer stuff on it and although the screen is small, the quality is superb and its OK for watching a 30min / 1 hr show on a bus / plane. I'd agree with the 5hr battery life when playing video.

It can store photos but I've not made use of this much, although the quality of display is great and very bright and sharp.

One -ve feature is that it doesnt come with a charger ... you need to charge from your PC via a USB cable (and the one supplied is very short). One charge does me for a week or more. It theoretically charges in a couple of hours, but I find I get best results if I leave it plugged in overnight. There is an optional charger available if you aren't near a PC. There isnt an option to run it from a mains adaptor either, so its always battery you need to use. It doesnt have a replaceable battery but by the time it cant hold a charge there will probably be some amszing new one that makes this look like a brick.

The software that comes with it is easy to use and intuitive.

I scrobble my music plays to last.fm with Zenses (thats not a Creative software, its a free 3rd party thing) and that works fine.

I use it in the car, playing through my car radio via a line-in ... it needs to be cranked right up (Zen and car stereo) in this situation but its perfectly acceptable.

It does have a memory card slot which I've not used yet. From other reviews the access to the tunes / vids on this seems to be a bit restricted, but as I've not tried this bit (16Gb is a lot) I cant make any useful comments on it. [If I get round to doing this I might update the review].

All in all, I love this thing and have had no problems with it and not a single regret about buying it. Its a real beauty and I'd recommend it to anyone. If you want a good value mp3 player that you can also watch BBC iplayer downloads on and dont want to spend a fortune to be one of the ipod flock, this could be the pup for you.

Summary: Well worth a look. A really nice player with good features at a great price.

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