Great for music, not for videos (Creative Zen 8 GB)

Member Name: noomad

Product:	Creative Zen 8 GB
Date:	03/01/09 (39 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Functionality, battery life, credit card sizes, replaceable battery

Disadvantages: Doesn't play universal video files

Creative Zen Review

This is a fantastic little product. The credit card size makes it perfect for fitting snugly in your shirt pocket. As with any MP3 player you will buy the earphones are rubbish. The battery life is excellent and Creative can sell you a replacement which is very useful if you are a heavy user who commutes daily like I do. I run batteries out annually and usually have to replace a machine because of a flat battery.

I have purchased Creative Products since the early Jukebox MP3 players, and I have always rated their machines highly in terms of functionality.

The clincher for me, when choosing this product was the expandable memory slot, which makes it much better value to buy and 8GB system plus an 8GB SD card.

The most recent MP3 player I owned was an Archos. When browsing through tracks it would take a long time to get to the track I wanted by scrolling through every track. In comparison the Zen has a brilliant way of searching for songs, tracks or artists and this is to scroll through the letters and select the letter of your desired artist track or song, then scroll through tracks. Playlist functions are also great you can create them and add to them as you are listening to your music.

With regards to the short USB cable that is mentioned on here and other sites, it is a very universal connection, so you can use leads from your old digital camera. I have purchased the armband which is great for taking running and to the gym.

The main disadvantage I believe is the Zen has is the inability to easily watch video files. Absolutely every type of video file must be converted before it will play on the Zen. The video converter function on the Zen software works but takes a very long time to transfer any files, making the process feel more laborious than is truly worth it. I found the Archos much more capable of playing different types of video files and podcasts.

Summary: A great little player for the runner or the office worker, not for the video viewer

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