Creative by name, Creative by nature (Creative Zen Sleek 20 GB)

Member Name: bustmeapound

Product:	Creative Zen Sleek 20 GB
Date:	23/08/06 (93 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Not an iPod, Colour Screen, Original Design, Works with Napster

Disadvantages: Bulky recharge system.

When I was looking for a new MP3 player I was quite specific. After hearing so much bad press about iPods I definately didn't want one of them. 30gb was too much and 5gb not enough! I wanted a colour screen but not a built in video player.

The Creative Zen Sleek Photo has everything that I wanted and more. The product specifications tell you everything you need to know but here it is in a nutshell:

20GB of Memory
Colour Screen
Photo albums
FM Radio
Voice Recorder with built-in microphone
USB Connection

Appearence:
Mine is silver and looks quite nice, but I didn't want it to get scratched so I invested in a nice cover for it. Even so, it's quite a headturner with the central touchpad for navigation.

Performance:
It comes with all the software you could need for it to work with your computer and the software for creating playlists is easy to use.
Battery wise it is amazing. I would estimate it is in the region of 13-15 hours playback which is what I have experienced, not the manufacturers guide.
The touchpad, whilst it takes some getting used to is much easier to use that the wheel on an iPod.
The sound quality is also pretty good, but this is more dependent on your headphones.

Additional Information:
It has a colour screen and you can store 1000s of photos on there, but I rarely use this function.
You can recharge it via your PC/Laptop.
One thing that few people realise is that it is compatiable with Napster, whcih does not allow iPods. But it also accepts all the files I have in my iTunes.
You can set your own photos to be the wallpaper!

BUT:
There are as ever some negatives and here are my views:
You cannot create playlists on the player, you have to do it via your PC.
You can't queue up tracks you want to hear next, but few offer this.
The Radio range is a little strange.
Also, when I was researching it, it appears that UK models may not come with a mains charger, so look into this with whoever you buy it from.

Overall, I am more than happy with my purchase. It does everything I ask it to and more and most importantly, isn't an iPod. I know I have mentioned this a few times but it is true - the guys at Creative know their stuff and if you ever have a problem, aren't a big corporation like Apple so can help you out.

But this if you want something a little different and want to be original!

Summary: An fantastic bit of original kit from those who know!

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