Customer Reviews
TINY mp3 player, great compatibility with Rhapsody 
2007-06-20
So I bought the Zen after my ipod mini battery degraded so much it couldn't even keep a charge for one entire workout (which ipods are known to do). I decided to go with the Zen because apple no longer makes the mini so I couldn't replace it (and I was kinda nervous about trying to buy one off of ebay), my boyfriend recently bought the Creative Zen Vision:M and really liked it, and it was a good price ($130) for twice the memory I had with my ipod. This all created a perfect storm for me to purchase this little toy.
You cannot underestimate how TINY this player is. I really liked the size of my mini and thought the nano was inconveniently small, so I had no desire to get that. When I saw the Zen V online it looked relatively big (and my BF's Vision:M is pretty hefty), so I was very surprised at the size of it when I opened the package. Its not as thin as the nano, but its like 1/2 the length. Think of a pack of playing cards....then cut it in half lengthwise. Thats about what you are working with with the zen v plus. The screen is about half of that, and is--i find--a perfect size for my needs. I will say that if I am playing around a lot changing the setup options or moving a lot between songs manually I do kinda get a cramp in my thumb. So, if dexterity is an issue for you, you may want to avoid this little baby. However, with my average usage (i.e. picking a certain album or playlist, changing play style from normal to random, etc.) it's not a problem.
Sound quality is good, screen is nicely sized with good brightness despite its very small size (I even have a few pics on here of loved ones--not GREAT quality...but still, they are definitely recognizable). I really like the dedicated volume buttons on the side
How it's better than my old mini:
*more memory
*lighter/ better portability in the gym
*vibrant screen
*no click-wheel (While the click wheel led to a few less hand cramps, it was also impossible to use when my hands were in gloves, or damp if I was in the gym; Navigation also seems a bit easier the way its set up on the zen...you can even personalize the main screen so that you can get directly to the options you most frequently use, and hide those that you don't to minimize scrolling/ searching around)
*****ability to use my Rhapsody account to create an endless library of songs at no extra cost!! (This alone makes the Zen a better choice for those of you who have an account with Rhapsody....if you DONT have one, and regularly purchase songs, this is something you should definitely look in to)
All in all, I'm happy with my zen. I do wish it was a little bit bigger, but I can live with its size (and the other options out there wouldn't have given me the size I am looking for, with the exception of a reconditioned mini). I also wish there was a way to keep the screen on all the time when it is playing. It cuts off after a few seconds to conserve battery power...a nice option which prolongs battery life quite a bit, but I wish I could set it to stay on, because I used to use the track counter on the mini as a timer when I worked out...oh well. Other than that its a great little mp3 player for a great price, and if you have Rhapsody to Go you can add songs from just about any album ever made to your zen for free and take it with you, giving you endless playlist possibilities. That alone should make it stand out above the ipod for any Rhapsody users out there!!
Creative Zen V Plus 8 GB Portable Media Player 
2007-06-15
Although the Zen V is a cool little player...the buttons are tiny and hard to use. The display is also small as well as low res. which makes it hard to see.
But the software it comes with was excellent and so was the sound. I sent mine back because it was too small to use. I then bought a iriver CLIX gen 2 which has a better interface and great screen.
ALL small amps = muffled sound 2007-06-15
7-9-07 update:
In the last 3 weeks I have scoured the web a ton and learned a lot about lesser-known digital audio players (DAPs). Take heart! There IS a brand out there that still markets to mobile audiophiles: Cowon. Check out their site at http://www.cowonamerica.com. The web vibe on Cowon in general, and their new flash memory based (and therefore MUCH more durable) iAudio 7, sounds extremely encouraging. You can go right to this product's write up at http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/7/index.html. I'm torn between buying the 8GB model at ~$220, or waiting for the 16GB model their site claims is coming "soon." Cowon also have a DAP that doubles as a personal video player (PVP) called the Cowon D2 (see it at http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/cowon/d2/) with lots of very solid press.
Original review, 6-14-07:
I am a BIG fan of excellent sound. I use music mostly to exercise, and find the difference in my workouts is HUGE when comparing a so-so music playback device to a top-notch one. I've _thoroughly_ tried the iPod nano (8GB) recently, and loved the design, and crisp screen, but hated the muffled sound (returned it). I have been listening to Creative Lab's Zen X-tra (has a 60GB harddrive) for the last couple years on Etymotics ER4's (about as good an earphone as you can get). I have been occasionally frustrated by the harddrive resetting during exercise. You can't even think about jogging with this. But ellipticals, treadmills (power walking), stationary biking, and lifting are all mostly do-able. The sound from that combination is so good, that anything else feels like listening to your music through the neighbor's wall.
But I was very hopeful that Creative Lab's new Zen V flash memory based player (the one I'm reviewing here) would be as good as their Zen X-tra, but without the motion sensitivity.
The good news is: it's tiny, has respectable battery life, the color screen isn't bad (if not as crisp as the iPod nano's), and the physical inteface is pretty much as functional as the iPod's. Also, counter to the claims of the faithful who have not done a thorough and unbiased comparison, the software is no better or worse on the whole than iTunes.
But here's the sad / bad news: the sound is every bit as dull and flat as the iPod nano. :(
Apparently, you just can't get good sound when you compromise so heavily on the size of the mini-amplifier and the power suppliy (i.e., the battery). Remember when music was all about audio fidelity, and not pocket portability? Everyone understood then that amplifiers were not all alike. Today, slick marketing and the hype of the compressed music formats (like MP3) give the impression that all music sounds great from this new platform. But that is so terribly wrong.
We currently have the industry being driven by the large "soft target" money to be made off kids understandably excited about plugging in to their favorite tunes anywhere. But they just don't know what they are missing. For anyone interested in fully ENJOYING their music, not just hearing some facsimile of it, I strongly recommend getting a larger older player like Creative Lab's Zen X-tra, before they are completely gone.
And if you take my advice (get the best ear canal phones too), and so find yourself forever stealing time with your tunes in preference over your old drug of choice (lattes, Red Bull, etc) because the sound now just transports you like nothing before, ... well, then please tell your freinds, so we can form a market they'll notice and start to serve. I for one am getting sick of seeing soft-target marketing drive product development away from better quality offerings.
Great product 
2007-06-06
Physical features
great basic product, sleek design and compact size....slips into any pocket
Playing and Sound
great quality sound and easy plackback features
Recording
easy recording initiation
built in mic is very sensitive, make sure to keep away from audio source for clear recording
line in recording is very clear, lossless recording. requires an adapter to step down from regular 3.5mm.
compatability
works plug and play with vista and XP. not sure abt a mac. no software required.
battery life
recording for about 8 hours
playing about 20 hrs
Creative, not so 
2007-05-14
In all fairness this player was defective. I did like the features and the size of this player, when it did work. However, the support is not good at all. There is no 800 number to call and all questions are answered by email. The process takes 24 hrs. If you don't receive a positive answer, you need to wait for another response, another 24 hrs. This is irritating. This player has a long way to go, but when the bugs are satifactorily corrected it will probably be very popular.
CREATIVE produces a very good sound blaster.
AMAZON,s return policy is terrific.
AWESOME PLAYER WITH ONLY ONE DRAWBACK....... 2007-08-06
I love this player!! I would choose this player over an iPod Nano. It has album art, video playback, pictures (you can download your own pictures to it too), and several other neat features. The only real drawback to this player is the fact that it does not support Mac OS X which, as you can guess, your player will not hook up to a Mac computer. I just got a brand new Mac right after I got my MP3 player and found out that I cannot hook it up to my new computer. Besides that, I love it!. Would recommend it to anyone.
Love It! 2007-07-14
I love this little gem. I wanted an MP3 player that I could listen to books on tape with. I have had this for a few months now. It has excellant sound quality and enough room to hold several books and music too. The menus are fairly easy to navigate and you can bookmark your place fairly easily. It's tiny so it fits in the pouches of workout shorts easily. Earphones are junk just like all earphones that come with MP3 players. I purchased these and am very happy JBuds Hi-Fi Noise Reducing Ear Buds for iPod (Black) I also purchased the portable speaker made specifically for the zen Creative Travelsound Zen V see reviews. I am happy with my purchase and would buy a zen again.
space for music and space in your pocket 2007-07-04
I am upgrading to the 8GB model from the 4GB, which I have filled up. I download at a 320bps sample rate (Itunes is at about 190bps), which probably isn't necessary, but I still got over 400 songs on the 4GB player even at that.
The sound quality is quite good, and there is plenty of volume available. I upgraded to the Shure headphones which wrap around your ears and thus won't fall out when running, etc.
I am a bit concerned that the lower menu button on my 4GB player seems intermittent. I may be doing something wrong, but often when I push it, it just pauses or restarts the present song like the top button is supposed to do instead of returning me to the previous menu. If it gets to where it does this all the time, I won't be able to use the player. I have not read of others complaining of this problem, so perhaps it is a fluke.
The small size of this player is great for me. I would love to have a 60GB player and put virtually all of my music on it. But if it won't fit in my pocket and not be noticeable, what is the advantage of that? I don't care about photos or videos, but I do find that I enjoy having the album art pop up with the song. It's a connection to the music.
I think the ipod nanos are cute and slim, but who needs Itunes????
I received my new 8gb player. Creative has now changed the 8gb to red trim instead of blue like the 4gb. I was pleased to get going with it, these are great little players....
....when they work. This one didn't. It froze up on me, something that has happened just a couple of times with the 4gb, so I knew how to use a guitar string to reset it. Then it froze again on "rebuilding library". Uh oh...well, then I had to go to the recovery menu and use the "scan disk" to find corrupted files. It froze at 100% of the scan. Next I reformatted, wiping out all loaded songs to start over. This seemed to work, and I had reloaded about 1/3 of my songs when it froze again during song transfer. Same thing, reset and then it stalled on "rebuilding library". This time in desperation I downloaded new firmware from the creative site to see if this would give it a new start. But when I tried to load the new firmware, the player was not recognized by the software. Dead in the water, I called Creative tech support for help. He immediately pronounced it dead. Send it back.
Now it will be weeks before I can give it another try. What a negative experience. Like I said, I love these players and they sound great and are so portable and not tied to stupid I-tunes. But they appear to be a little flimsy. Creative knows about the "rebuilding library" problem, because it is on their website. Unfortunately their solution of reboot, clean up, reformat, reinstall does not solve the problem.
The recipient of this gift was v. pleased 2007-06-28
I purchased this for my Mom's 60th birthday. She had it on her wish list & said she'd prefer it over my IPod Nano. She loves it & says it's v. user friendly. The best part is, our local library offers an online free download for audio books for card holders. It's not available in Ipod formats, so she is also able to DL freebies currently unavailable to my Ipod!
Almost perfect 2007-06-27
I have an ipod and now also this one. I love them both but they are not perfect yet.
Pros:
- Operating system far better than ipod one specially because of features such us: seeing details of songs like year, bitrate, etc; adding songs to playlist on the go; delete option; etc
- Adding photos is easy and direct. You do not need to stick to itunes dictatorship.
-Audio quality is very good. Sound level as well.
- Radio option is convenient.
- Photo browsing is easy.
- Browsing is fine through keys. Sometimes you hate ipod is so touch sensitive specially if you forget to press hold key.
Cons:
- Slow transfer speed. Compared to ipod it takes ages to transfer songs. I read it can be because of less quality of flash memory which slows all process. Nothing to do with usb2 because ipod is fast in the same computer.
- Slow on speed. It takes time to wake it up.
I recommend it. I put 4 stars so people at Creative improve speed in future gens.
