My Little Portable Friend The Zen (Creative Zen V Plus 1 GB)

Member Name: jennyholdsworth

Product:	Creative Zen V Plus 1 GB
Date:	05/04/07 (212 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great cheap Player

Disadvantages: None

Please note I have this review on Ciao as well under the username jenny76.

Hiya and welcome to my second review and I would like to write about my MP3/MP4 player the Creative Zen V Plus 1 GB which I have now owned for about a year. It goes everywhere with me from travelling to the office to family holidays where I find it ideal for listening to my music which I have downloaded to my PC and then transferred over and even watching video clips and music videos that I have downloaded.

The only down side is the amount of video I can save is never quite enough and there is no way to increase the memory size. Music however I do not have any problems storing about 400 tracks on it to listen to wherever I go. It has a great large colour scratch resistant screen for viewing videos and selecting music track's as well as a very easy to use menu system which is operated by a simple but very smooth joystick. There are very few buttons available as it is all done with a movement and click of the joystick.


Another great feature is the games which are built in which can be played at the same time as listening to your music and there are a few other very useful tool's built in as well as an FM radio which comes in very handy when I fancy catching up on the news or the latest chart's on a Sunday afternoon on radio one. There are eight pre set music settings to change the mood of listening from rock to concert hall etc but I tend to stick to the normal setting as this tends to give the best sound quality. The headphones supplied are ok but I replaced these with much more powerful ones to make the most of my music whilst I am on the go.


The player itself is very smart in it's black shiny jacket and smooth controls and is small and it lives in my bag or my pocket, this is ideal to use in the gym or whilst carrying out exercise. I must say that the Creative Zen is very tough as I have dropped it quite a few times and this has resulted in no damage at all which is great and makes it very durable. The sound quality is very good and better than many MP3/MP4 players that I have trialled and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a reasonably priced MP3/MP4 player that is of good quality and look's good.


Transferring your music to the player is very easy using a USB cable and the software supplied to click and drag tracks and files to your player then a quick transfer later and it is all on the player ready to go. The size of the player is Height=6.6cm Depth=1.3cm Width=3.4cm which as I have said is quite small and does fit in a pocket easily. The battery is rechargeable and is charged through the USB cable and when fully charged last's up to 15 hours. As well as playing video and music you can also transfer your pictures from your PC to the player for viewing on the move ideal for carrying around you own personal photo album and being able to show everyone without lugging a PC or hard drive around with you everywhere.


As well as all of the above you can also record sound great for catching someone out when they confessing a crime to you (only kidding) but can be great fun especially if you want to record your other half snoring as proof as I have done in the past. These clips can be played back through the player and even transferred from the player to your PC. The player has a back lit LCD screen which also has a variety of display options so you can customize the player to your exact need's and especially colours. On the screen you also have a clock display so you can check the time on the move and a battery life indicator much the same as a mobile phone which let's you know when to add some more juice to the player.


You can use the player with a PC or Mac computer I am PC based user so can't comment on performance when using with a Mac but with the PC the instructions are very easy to follow and take you through how to use the player step by step. I don't like setting up such gadgets just using them but this one I managed to do all on my own with no help from my partner as is usually the case.

I must say I would recommend this player to anyone looking at it and I paid a very reasonable £65.00 but it is probably available for considerably less now as it is at least a year old now from when I bought it and even then I am not sure it was a new thing out. Well I think I have now covered everything you need to know about the Creative Zen V 1GB but if I can tell you anymore just ask me. I hope you have enjoyed my first review and enjoy anymore I write in the near future I will keep up with as many of your reviews as I can.

Summary: Well worth the money

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