Creative MuVo Micro N200 256 MB > Reviews (6)

This is my fourth Creative MP3 player. I have the 1Gb version, in Black. White is so last year!

Black cost a few pounds more at the time, but I decided I did not want to look like another iPod clone!

I decided I wanted something smaller and lighter than my Muvo2 4Gb player, which I had bought to give me something smaller and lighter than my Zen 20Gb jukebox.

The size of this player is just incredible. Literally smaller than a cigarette lighter and just as light.

The player uses a standard AAA battery. I have managed 15 hours playtime off a good Duracell battery. The secret to good battery life is to turn off the backlight and graphic equalizer and to not skip around through the menu and tracks that often.

I use my Muvo Micro a lot for Audio book content from Audible. My previous players were unsupported, so this was another good reason to buy the Muvo Micro N200 - I can now work my way through a few hundred hours of audio book content I have purchased!

With Audible content, I could probably fit around 140 hours of audio book onto this 1Gb player.

With MP3 at 320Kb (which is what I prefer to rip my CDs at) you would probably manage around 400 minutes or 6.5 hours - approximately 120 tracks.

Reducing the bitrate to 128 or 192Kb, which is quite adequate for most folk, you should manage to fit around 250-300 tracks onto the 1Gb model.

Packaging of the player was typical retail blister pack - a challenge to get into without a knife or strong scissors! Give me a box anyday - easier to get into, and more environmentally friendly! (I recycle cardboard).

The player shipped with an Energizer battery, (managed 12 hours off that one), a rubbery case with clip, and an armband for use on the go. You could easily use the clip on a belt or pocket. There is also a small loop eye in the top of the player for a neck lanyard, but no lanyard supplied.

A USB cable is included, and is required for attaching the player, from your PC to a mini USB socket on the base of the player, protected by a rubber cover.

A pair of Creative headphones were included, but I prefer my Sony in-ear phones. The Creative ones are perfectly good, but my Sony phones block out all ambient noise and give a slightly better bass response.

The AAA battery lives behind a sliding panel in the rear of the player.

The packaged software included Creative Mediasource - an excellent package for ripping CDs and managing your audio collection. Installation was easy and quick of the player and Mediasource.

The Muvo Micro has a clear and easy to read display, with an electric blue backlight. The backlight does create a slight whistle/whine through the audio out when on - an unfortunate side-effect of these sorts of blue backlights in small devices. It does not bug me as I either have the backlight turned off or on 3 second delay, after which it turns itself off.

As far as I am concerned, a display is vital for anything that can hold more than a dozen tracks, as I like to know what I am playing and to be able to flip through things.

It is pretty vital for audio book content too so as to see how many hours into a book you are. For music, whether you have grouped tracks into folders or not, a display makes it easier to find the tracks you want to listen to.

Controls are a power and pause button on the front. Turning on/off requires a 6 second hold of the power button for on, and 4 seconds for off, which helps prevent accidental turn-ons/offs. Two buttons on the side give volume up and down, and a rocker button gives scroll (next/previous track/menu item), and depressing the rocker brings up the menu.

The built in FM radio can store 20 preset frequencies. The headphone cable acts as an antenna. The player can actually record from FM radio, as well as from any other external source like a CD player. To record from external sources, a line in audio cable with mini headphone jack to a sub-mini jack is included.

Creative's website is excellent for support, and firmware updates are easy to download and apply to the player.

The player is also pretty useful as a USB storage device, as it appears as a Removable Disk in Windows, and will accept any content. It does not draw battery power when attached to the USB, so can be left attached all day.

The serious benefit of a AAA battery powered player over a rechargeable player are that I can carry a few spare AAA batteries easily, and can get them from a corner store anywhere in the world, no need to lug a charging power brick and cable or find a USB port to charge off.

I can definitely recommend this player over an iPod shuffle.

I paid £120 including VAT and delivery for the 1Gb Muvo Micro N200 black.