Good music player for the ardent music listener (Creative Zen Touch 40 GB)

Member Name: Kenaomi

Product:	Creative Zen Touch 40 GB
Date:	18/08/07 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good sound, good functions, easy to use, large capacity

Disadvantages: Bulky, possibly a bit dodgy after a while, have to use Creative's software

I bought this second hand from a reputable dealer when they started being replaced in the shops by newer models.

The sound quality is brilliant, but could be better. It goes without saying that the capacity - 40GB - is great for a player of this price, or at least it was when I bought it. But after loading it with over 1280 tracks with little compression, some of which are half and hour long, and being left with 31GB still to be used, it begs the question is such a large capacity really necessary and is it worth the money? Surely even the most ardent of music listeners don't use half of that?

Capacity issues aside, the interface is self-explanatory and easy to use, and while the external design is large, heavy and bulky, it doesn't look bad - you need a rather large pocket to put it in!

However, after owning mine for over a year, I have noticed that its buttons have deteriorated somewhat, leading to them being less sensitive and sometimes perform the function of the adjacent button (e.g. pressing the 'next track' button will cause it to pause). Whether or not that is peculiar to mine, I don't know, but it can be a little frustrating at times. I know I have taken good care of the player and it worked almost perfectly when I purchased it.

The touch pad is useful, if a tad oversensitive. Although the iPod's circular pad may seem easier to use than the linear one of the Zen, the Zen's can be used by holding by sliding a finger up or down it and then holding it there while it scrolls until the finger is removed.

The Zen has a good range of features, including several play modes and EQ settings. Playlists can also be created on the player itself, although this can be awkward and time consuming. Alternatively, Creative's accompanying software can help you do this job.

The software is not the most efficient to use for tasks such as labelling a bunch of files in one go, but it's adequate. It's a shame the one on my computer has ceased to work for some unknown reason and even the free updates from Creative's website do nothing, meaning I can no longer add tracks to the player.

At the time the player might have been fairly good value for money, but the selling price at the time of writing this seems a bit high. If you have the money and room in your pockets for this, it is worth it.

Summary: Good, solid player, but bulky and a tad overpriced

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