Creative Zen 20GB

[Cran.]

Okay, so I've been thinking of getting a MP3 Player for a while, and i've finally got close to getting one. In a couple of weeks, i'll be getting a Creative Zen 20GB. So I wanted to ask a couple of questions.

 

1. How well does the scroll thing work? Is it touch sesitive? I know it's in an up down fasion.

2. Do you need software to get songs on it? Or is it just click and drag? Being click and drag would be really good.

3. How well are the headphones that come with it?

4. How good is it compared to the iRiver 20GB thing and the Big sized iPod?

[Luke15]

Its an alrounder.

 

It does everything well, the earphones are brilliant, and the sound quality is perfect.

 

Good Buy

[Bond996]

 

Its an alrounder.

 

It does everything well, the earphones are brilliant, and the sound quality is perfect.

 

Good Buy 

That doesn't really answer his questions.

 

1. My friend has a Zen Sleek, which sounds like what you're talking about, since there are tons of Creative Zen players. The scroller on it is pretty nice. It is touch sensitive, but can be overly sensitive, or underly, and clicking on things by tapping it didn't seem to work too well. It also struck me as hard to use compared to an iPod by far.

 

2. I am near positive it requires you to use their software to put on Music, which is either Creative Playcenter, or Windows Media Player. Unlike the iRiver ones, I do not think it is drag and drop.

 

3. Any headphones that come with a portable device are inherently crap, iPod not excluded. Don't be looking for sound quality from them. If you still use the same headphones that came with a CD player or an iPod, or like the way $10 sony earbuds or iPod earbuds sound, you'll have no problem with them, but if you're used to higher quality audio, you won't like using them. To most people they don't know how music sounds different with iPod earbuds or whatever their creative devices come with, and that's perfectly fine. Its only if youre a little bit of an Audiophile will it matter.

 

4. I like the iRiver players for their method of organization allowing you to organize tracks in folders yourself, and not require any software to do it. They may not have this on newer players though. Both the Creative and the iRiver ones are good players, but I honestly don't think they compare to the iPod for the price. It's 30gb, gets like 12-14 hours of battery life, plays music, video, and pictures, and just has the easiest to use jukebox/ripping software, and an unmatched user interface. I don't think Creative or anyone comes close to matching the ease of use of an iPod. Arguably, the Creative players are a lot more open, but most people don't know about that functionality. If you have a specific reason like price or compatibility, the iPod is probably the best option. Note: It requires 2000/XP, and this is entirely my opinion.

Edited February 16, 2006 by Bond996

[~andy]

I've had a 20gb Zen Touch for about 6 months now.

 

1. The scroller thing is pretty good, I found it overly sensitive when I first got it but I've got used to it, you can adjust it as much as you like. Sometimes if you tap to select something it'll jump down the playlist but its OK if you're careful. I use the OK button to select things most of the time anyway.

 

2. I installed the drivers from the creative site, it adds an icon to My Computer which will show you a list of all files on the device, you can drag 'n' drop things to it, but I usually right-click a folder full of music and go Send to > Creative Zen Touch. There's a plugin for Winamp here which allows you to transfer songs to and from Creative players, and starts a web server so you and other people can stream songs from it which I thought was pretty cool. Using the standard drivers you can only transfer songs to them. There's a firmware update which will make it Microsoft "Plays For Sure" compatible, I'm not sure what that means exactly though.

 

3. The earphones that came with it were pretty good, no distortion at high volumes, pretty comfortable. The right earphone did break after a few months because I was wearing them under my bike helmet, I think the cable was pulling and the connection broke inside the earphone. But if I didn't use it on my bike I expect they'd still be working now. I got some £10 Sony earphones to replace them rather than send them back to Creative or whatever.

 

4: I've never used an iRiver or an iPod so I can't compare them, sorry. It was a good £40 cheaper than the equivalent iPod when I bought it, plus I liked my mate's Zen Micro more than some other mates' iPods.

 

Edit: took out the random Â's that appeared in front of my £ signs

Edited February 16, 2006 by ~andy

[Luke15]

Its an alrounder.

 

It does everything well, the earphones are brilliant, and the sound quality is perfect.

 

Good Buy 

That doesn't really answer his questions.

 

 

Yes it does.

 

I dont think he wants a detailed repeat of the Ipod functions. he just wants reassurance that his purchase was a good one.

 

K tnx.

[Bond996]

Its an alrounder.

 

It does everything well, the earphones are brilliant, and the sound quality is perfect.

 

Good Buy 

That doesn't really answer his questions.

 

 

Yes it does.

 

I dont think he wants a detailed repeat of the Ipod functions. he just wants reassurance that his purchase was a good one.

 

K tnx.

You only answered the question about the headphones, and merely said it was an alrounder, which I assume was all-arounder. And he did ask for a comparison to the iPod, so I gave him my opinion. True, perhaps I overglorified the iPod, but that is my opinion, and I would probably buy the Creative if I had actually made the purchase, seeing as how I won one of mine in a bet, and bought the other one 'broken' for $30, only to get it replaced for free by apple.

[Luke15]

Who says i dont have one?

 

I would never recommend anything without testing it out myself.

[Cran.]

Thanks for the replies, and futhermore, Luke's comment helped Now I have to wait six weeks to get it *sigh* Anyway, sounds like a good player, and I shall enjoy it by the sounds of it

 

 

There's a firmware update which will make it Microsoft "Plays For Sure" compatible, I'm not sure what that means exactly though.

 

Mmmmm, maybe that means it'll just work with WMP without having to install anything?

 

Also, any firmware hacks that will just let you plug it in and just make it work? I know you can get those hacks for the iPod Shuffle, and my mate said that Creatives are easy to hack. Might do some research.

[Duders]

The included Creative Zen headphones are pretty good. They've got decent bass, and clarity. I did find the scroll a wee bit sensitive though (I borrowed my friend's for a day) and the interface is not as good as the iPod but it has more functions.

 

-duders