Creative MuVo V200 1 GB

...I had never heard of Creative as a company, but I thought it would churlish to completely ignore his suggestion, so I gave the Creative MuVo a try.

The sound quality was good, and I was looking at the 1GB version so the capacity for holding music was good enough for my requirements (easily holding about 20 CD albums worth of music). What really impressed me about the Creative was that they had produced an MP3 player that had a sound ...
...be a great little MP3 player which is easy to use, gives good quality sound and adequate music storage for my needs. I would be happy to recommend the Creative MuVo V200 to anyone looking for a viable cheap alternative to the ubiquitous iPod.   ... more

Last year I was looking to make my first ever purchase of an mp3 player. Never one to jump headfirst into a purchase when new technology hits the high street, I had been waiting to see how MP3 players were accepted by the general public, and supported by the major manufacturers - I didn't want to be left with another Betamax or MiniDisc type failure festering on the shelf.

After a while it became obvious that MP3 was going to be a around for a while as a format, and that nearly everyone seemed to be producing their own players, so I decided now was a good time to dip a toe into the market and see what was available. I had already transferred a number of my CD albums to my laptop so I could listen to them whilst working (apparently I had already become too lazy to walk to the other side of the room to change discs when one ended...), but what I really wanted was an MP3 player that I would be able to take with me when I went on long runs, and one that would happily let me take enough music with me in the car to keep my entertained on regular round-Britain trips to visit friends and family.

From the research that I had done, one brand of MP3 player kept jumping in front of my ears - the Apple iPod. I could even see every other Tom, Dick and Harry sporting the ubiquitous white headphones on the high street. Such popularity was surely a good advertisement for a good product? Well, I thought it had to be worth a try, but before I went shopping, a friend of mind who has a history as a Sound Engineer also suggested that I tried an MP3 player from a company called Creative. To be honest, I had never heard of Creative as a company, but I thought it would churlish to completely ignore his suggestion, so I gave the Creative MuVo a try.

The sound quality was good, and I was looking at the 1GB version so the capacity for holding music was good enough for my requirements (easily holding about 20 CD albums worth of music). What really impressed me about the Creative was that they had produced an MP3 player that had a sound quality that was as good (if not better) than the equivalent iPod, was smaller than the iPod version of the time, and was also cheaper than the iPod by about £20 (quite a difference when I was looking to spend around £100 on this piece of technology).

Transferring music from your PC to the MuVo is simple. Instead of having to faff around with yet more cables, the MuVo splits into two pieces, one that contains the AAA battery that powers it, and one that has a USB connector which you can plug straight into the USB port of your PC.

The software that comes with the MuVo is easy to use, and once installed from the enclosed CD-ROM, there is no real need to read the instructions on how to use it. Just locate the music on your PC that you want to transfer to the MuVo, and click a button to start the transfer. The transfer itself is quite quick, and in comparison to other MP3 transfer software I have since seen (especially one that came packaged with a Sony MP3 player) it is much quicker.

The controls are also easy to master - there are only 4 buttons, 3 of which cover On/Off, 'Volume Up' and 'Volume Down', so it really is easy to use. The fourth button is where it all really happens, and it is a little dial on the side which you can use to skip through tracks, select which albums/tracks to listen in which order etc etc. All the tracks are stored in folders similar to the layout which you copy them in from the PC so it is easy to track down the songs you want.

Another feature of the MuVo V200 is the FM radio that comes with it, so when you get bored of listening to your own personal music collection, you can just easily tune into to any FM station. There are also a number of station presets so you can set up your favourite frequencies.

There is also an in-built microphone, so you can even use the MuVo as a mini dictaphone, or to record any sounds you hear out and about.

As I mentioned earlier, the MuVo is powered by a single AAA battery, and when in use it is not unusual to get 15 hours plus listening time before I need to think about changing it. My only complaint is that if the MuVo gets left on the shelf for a few weeks, then it is almost guaranteed that a new battery will be required when it is next used. It would probably help if I bothered to take the battery out if I know I'm not going to use it for a while...

Summary:
Back to the original reasons that I wanted an MP3 player.
Can I take the MuVo on long runs? Yes. It is small and lightweight, it can store more than enough music, plus gives the option of the FM radio whilst out on a run. There is also no skipping or distortion whilst running to interfere with my listening pleasure. The headphones that come with the MuVo weren't great for running, as they kept falling out of my ears, but that was easily sorted by buying some new headphones separately.
Does the MuVo keep me entertained on round-Britain trips in the car? Yes again. It plugs easily into a cassette adapter in the car. The only problem here is that there is no way to power it from the cigarette lighter, so I need to keep a handy supply of AAA batteries if I am going away for long periods.

Overall I find this to be a great little MP3 player which is easy to use, gives good quality sound and adequate music storage for my needs. I would be happy to recommend the Creative MuVo V200 to anyone looking for a viable cheap alternative to the ubiquitous iPod.  

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