The Creative NOMAD Jukebox Zen offers the same powerful features and flexibility found in a large capacity MP3 player, but now delivered in a smaller, sleeker package! Use the USB... more
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A review by mdstone on Creative Nomad Jukebox ZEN 20 GB October 15th, 2003
Author's product rating:
Sound Quality
Excellent
Ease of Use
Average
Look & Design
Excellent
Range of Features
Diverse
Value for Money
Good
Advantages:
Lots of storage space, good accessories, stylish player
Disadvantages:
Quite expensive
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Before going out and buying this product I decided to do a lot of research on similar ones on the market.
I wanted an MP3 player that could hold at least 20GB of data that was under £250, but there is a high price to pay for such facilities. There are 3 types of MP3 players on the market:
1) Ones that are similar to Personal CD players, although they could play MP3 data that was recorded to a CD-R. These players were the same size as a standard personal CD player. The only thing is, would you really want to write a CD every time you wanted to listen to your latest MP3s?
2) Ones that require flash memory that was merely 64MB,128MB, 256MB and 512MB. These players were very small indeed, which were designed more for putting in your pocket. However, we are talking Mega Bytes here and not Giga Bytes, this would hardly be enough for storing lots of MP3s.
3) Ones that have internal hard drives (Jukebox), just like a PC, that ranged from 10GB to 40GB or more. These players were bigger than that of the flash memory players, but slightly smaller than the personal CD players. Depending on the model you bought, some of these are quite small, but the bigger the hard drives, the bigger the player. This was the ideal MP3 player that I was looking for, as it had enough space for my MP3s and they weren't too big.
Having looked at a lot of these MP3 players it seemed that Creative were one of the market leaders, and by looking more closely at their products, you could see why.
I originally had my heart set on the Jukebox 2 or 3, as a mate of mine had one and they looked really good. However, the design of these Jukeboxes' were quite 'chunky' and looked like a thick CD player.
After looking at reviews on the Creative Zen and what they had to offer, I was amazed. They were £290 to buy, but they did included the following:
* English/United Kingdom Localisation
* Stereo Sound Output Mode
* EAX Sound Effects
* Digital Graphic - 4-band Equaliser
* Built-in LCD Display
* WAV, WMA, MP3 Supported Digital Audio Standards
* 20 GB Hard Disc Drive Digital Storage Media
* Binaural Stereo Headphones
* Hi-Speed USB PC Interface Supported
* 1 x Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery
* 2 Years Manufacturer Warranty
* Creative PlayCentre Software & Drivers
* USB cable
* Battery Charger/Mains Adaptor
* Leather Protective/Carry Case
Characteristics: ----------------
* Product Type - Digital player * Colour - Silver
Dimensions (WxDxH) - 7.6 cm x 2.5 cm x 11.3 cm
Weight - 268 g
Display Resolution - 132 x 64
So how many songs is 20GB's worth? Well, depending on the file format, you can store 8000 WMA files and 5000 MP3 files at 128kbps (128 is normally MP3 standard). This will probably be more than enough for most users and the need for an upgrade would be highly unlikely.
The Lithium Ion battery has the advantage of 14 hours continuous play and it can be charged in two ways. Either it can be plugged into the USB port of your computer, or it can be plugged into the mains, using the supplied adaptor.
Using the player ----------------
The firs thing I wanted to do when I got the player, was to upload some of my MP3s to it and test it out (we all like to rip open our new gadgets and give them a go don't we).
After installing the driver and the PlayCentre software, I was supprised at how easy it was to upload MP3s. You simply connect the USB cable to your PC, plug in the player and up pops the PlayCentre software instantly.
This software gives a menu system with your PC files situated on the left-hand side, and your MP3 player files on the menu on the right. It takes less than 2 minutes to upload an album of 17 tracks, which is reasonably fast.
There is a clear indication of the available space left on the player, listed in MB, and how much data has been used up. During uploads, there is also a status meter to show the upload progress.
The only tricky thing to understand about the player, is where the MP3s are situated once they are uploaded. This will be highly dependent on the way they are named with both the file name and the ID3 tag (this is the part of the file that contains additional information such as the album name, year, artist, track number etc.) It is important that you include an album name in the ID3 tag of each MP3, because this way, you can identify an MP3 by both the artist and album name.
There are 7 main menu listings once you turn on the MP3 player when it has been disconnected from your PC.
Music Library - browses to playlists, albums, artists, genres, all tracks and recordings.
Now playing - shows details of the current MP3 that is playing idependently or as part of a playlist.
Find Music - search facility to locate MP3s on the player by track, album, artist, genre and playlist.
EAX Audio - various sound option settings.
W.Remote Recording - records voice recordings once the player is connected to a PC (I've never tried this).
Jukebox Settings - contains a whole host of your players settings, from personalisation to power and language settings.
MP3 Player Buttons ------------------
The buttons on the MP3 are what makes it so simple to use. There is a volume up and down button, forward and backward track buttons, menu button to bring you back to the main menu, power button to turn the player on or off (believe it or not!), playlist button to jump to the current playlist and a scroll wheel to scroll up and down track listings and albums etc.
Clicking the scroll button executes other menus when clicked on MP3's, where there are options to play, add to playlsit, remove from playlist and edit info etc. By clicking the button twice on an MP3, it is instantly played.
The menu system of the player take a bit of getting used to, but once you've had a play with it and used it a lot, it becomes rather easy.
What a lot of people fail to realise is that you can also use the player as a form of removeable hard drive, because you can upload any file to its hard disk and transfer it to another PC or keep it for backup. This includes files such as .doc, .exe, .jpg etc, but naturally you wouldn't be able to play them (sounds dumb I know!)
Although this player is rather expensive, you will certainly not be disappointed with the product and its accessories.
However, at the time of this review there were newer models coming out for roughly the same price or less, so you should check them out first before you buy.
The Creative website is listed below, although you may want to try the other online retailers that I have listed for cheaper prices.
Advantages: Huge portable memory, excellent sound, looks great Disadvantages: bulky, no remote control
I got the Zen back in December for as a Christmas present as it had been what I requested and it was cheaper than the Ipod at only £299.99.
Having never owned a MP3 jukebox before I was not expecting anything spectacular, just something to store the huge amount of MP3's piling up on my PC.. Was a nice surprise once I had charged it up (3 hrs) that I had back-up half my MP3's in less than 30 mins and that was only using the USB 1.1. The Zen holds ... ...available for those with larget collections and files.
Sound quality comes courtesy of Creatives EAX system and I must say made me listen to my collection without worrying about Bass and Treble too much, Battery life is great at 14 hours playback (4 hours more than the Ipod) charging is about once a week for me.
It may not look as appealing as the Ipod but I felt it did the same job and am pleased aprt from there is no remote control attachment ...
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Advantages: Simple to use, Cheap, Large storage size Disadvantages: Not very stylish and bit too large
I bought my player a little over a year ago, opting for the 60GB Version as i am someone who likes his music. At the time that I was looking around, there were 3 main choices on offer, one of the IPods, an Archos or the Zen. I spent a great deal of time choosing which I would suit me best. I opted for the Zen for a few very simple reasons:
Firstly it was cheap and reliable, I have managed to knock mine around quite a bit in the year that I have ... ...no hiccups. It is hard not to compare this to the IPod which is possible the most similar of he MP3 players, friends who have chosen the IPod have frequently had to send them in for repairs and lost data, they are also substantially more expensive.
The Zen may not be as stylish or as light weight as some of the other options on the market, however the difference in size and weight is not a major issue as it is not heavy enough to stop you wanting ...
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Advantages: Good storage, great battery life, good navigation Disadvantages: Big and bulky
...is also fast using the creative jukebox, but unfortunately you are tied to a proprietry piece of software that is not the most efficient media player available. Fortunately, real player works with the device. As for installation, it is merely a question of plugigng in the device and installing the software with provided hard disk. Therefore, for me its pros such as cheap price, good capacity, great sound quality and great battery life overcome the ...
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helpful
13.05.2004
The best Review ofCreative Nomad Jukebox ZEN 20 GBby
Tizz
Advantages: ease of use Disadvantages: weight
After much research and mind boggling info, i decided to purchase the Nomad for my husband's b day pressie. And I am so glad I did. It is much more reasonably priced than the ipod, perhaps a few functions less, but who cares. The software is very easy to load and all the bumf sent with it is in plain English, the sound quality is second to none and the on screen info and use of catalogeing is simple to get to grips with. All songs catagorized by ... ...make sure you have agood look around the www for the best prices. I purchased from dabs.com and their advise was invaluable. And it arrived the very next day.
Further points :
20 GB hard disc storage which really means the capacity to hold 8000 songs. It has a built-in LCD Display which is very clear.
Battery Charger/Mains Adaptor. It comes with a pair of Stereo Headphones, 1 Rechargeable Battery, USB cable, 2 Years Manufacturer Warranty and also ...
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13.08.2004
Who needs an Ipod? Review ofCreative Nomad Jukebox ZEN 20 GBby
benjones70
Advantages: Good battery life, cheaper than Ipod Disadvantages: Not as small as Ipod
While it may be bigger than the Ipod it is much cheaper, both being due to it using a larger, cheaper hard drive. Comes in 30 or 60gb capacity, but to be honest 30 is big enough for most needs. Mine now contains over 3000 tracks, yet is only just over half full. The scroll wheel makes locating music easy and the software is user friendly and simple. Sound quality is perfect, although would recommend buying some better headphones than the ones provided. ...
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Playback Modes: Resume play, skip playback, repeat shuffle, repeat all, random play / shuffle, one track repeat
Supported Bit Rate: 8 - 320Kbps
Sample Rate: 11 kHz, 48 kHz
Response Bandwidth: 20 - 20000 Hz
Signal-To-Noise Ratio: 98 dB
Total Harmonic Distortion: 0.1%
Shockproof Memory: Yes
Shockproof Memory Capacity: 16 MB
External Hard Drive Function: Yes
Headphones
Headphones Type: Headphones - binaural
Connectivity Technology: Wired
Sound Output Mode: Stereo
Manufacturer's product description
The Creative NOMAD Jukebox Zen offers the same powerful features and flexibility found in a large capacity MP3 player, but now delivered in a smaller, sleeker package! Use the USB 2.0 connector for fast and versatile file transfer. Load your entire music collection and data files in a flash onto the stylish Zen, pop it into your pocket or bag, then share information easily between computers. Featuring the familiar powerful menu system available in all Creative Jukebox products, the NOMAD Jukebox Zen lets you easily move through your music collection, select songs and edit playlists absolutely anywhere. The Zen offers up to 14 hours of continuous playback using the quick-charge battery, and the sleek aluminum body makes carrying your music even more fun. Combine these features and the versatility, and you will discover there could be no easier decision. The NOMAD Jukebox Zen is the best choice for compact, large-capacity MP3 music listening and file transfer.
Connections
Connector Type:
1 x USB ( mini-USB Type B )
1 x headphones ( mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm )
1 x DC power input, 1 x USB
1 x headphones ( mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm )
1 x DC power input
1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire/i.LINK), 1 x USB ( mini-USB Type B )
INTRODUCTION
With so many MP3 players out there now, it becomes quite a task to sit down and study all the specs to come to a decision doesn't it? Don't worry, I know only too well. I spent a good 20 minutes agonising over which model to fork out £200 more
It seems that unfortunately Apple has managed to shake off one of its leading competitors in the race to produce the cheapest and most stylish mp3 player. A few years back, the '''Creative Zen:M''' was actually a better product than the '''5th Generation more
Recently it was my girlfriends birthday, and having heard her talking about wanting an mp3 player, I decided to get her one as a present. I looked at the obiocu Ipods etc but couldn't afford anything quite so luxurious, instead I took a look at the... more
CREATIVE - Where the ZEN came from - 02/11/2007
The Creative Worldwide network is called LABS > Creatives UK product branch is under the Europe labs which established itself in 1993.
Networks include - America labs- Asia labs- Europe... more
I recently bought a Zen v plus 4gb from Amazon. It was only about £91. My husband has the Zen 20gb and loves it.
The Zen v plus 4gb holds around 2,000 according to the box, I haven't filled it up yet, i've only put 140 tracks on.
The small big more
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