Rating: 
Summary: good value
Review: Just bought one & I've enjoyed it to date. Nice palm sized unit, somewhat bigger then the IPOD but not an issue if you're not going to try & jog with it or something. All reviews I've seen seem to indicate that the creative MP3 jukeboxes have the best sound quality of these 2nd generation jukeboxed (IPOD,Archos,Dell,Samsung). The EAX settings are somewhat superfluous but not really a negative. I've tried the BELKIN FM transmitter unit with it & it worked well when I set it on top of a portable radio, but was awful trying to use in the car which is somewhat of a disappointment.DISLIKES
- the controls are much inferior to the simple IPOD ones. The black flywheel feels pretty cheap & is uncomfortable to use. The locations of various buttons on one side or the other is somewhat illogical
- included CREATIVE software is pretty poor. Red Chair's NOTMAD EXPLORER is great & recommended by about every reviewer to repleace the Creative Jukebox software. NOTE: this will add about $30 to the price to purchase, but worth it LIKES
-great value 40gb vs 10 gb IPOD for the price
-best in class sound
-large easy readable screen
Rating: 
Summary: Buyer Beware...
Review: Mind you I did not buy my Zen from Amazon, however I bought myne back in May - 40gb.
Within 3 months, just after the warrenty expired, the headphone jacks died. I have a friend who has been trying to work on the jacks now for several months, and still no luck. Apperently they are attached ON the board instead of through the board. They have apperently been made horribly. For the price you pay for these things, they should work.
At this time, I'm very skeptical about buying another Zen due to this problem. I have read some reviews which states new ones have been made in July with a case with a window. Unfortunatly, it is very hard to figure out if you bought a new one or old one when your buying them.
I'm not sure how trusting it is to buy another one of these machines as they seem to be crafted for 10 cents and sold for 300$
I'm thinking spending the extra 100$ for the Ipod might be a smart idea at this time. You get a 1 year warrenty and you will not have to worry about this jack problem, at least nothing ive heard of anyway.
Buyer Beware... Think and read this before you buy the Zen.
Rating: 
Summary: After 7 Months, Here's What I Think
Review: Pros:
Durability
Screen
Capacity
Sound Quality
Software
Battery Life
Price Cons:
Size
Side scroll button I've owned my Creative Nomad Zen Xtra for 7 months now. In all honesty, I use it everyday. I plug it into my speakers at home; use it with a FM adapter at work, at the gym, and walking to classes. The $300 I spent on this product has been well worth it. After 7 months and frequent use, the battery still makes it through 8 hours at work and 1 at the gym, with 1 of 3 bars remaining. Battery life: Great Things happen, the player gets dropped. I almost always have it in the case, which seems to have provided enough protection against the numerous (but infrequent) slips and falls. There is even a battle wound / dent on the back from one of its falls. Still works without a problem. Now as far as the firmware and software goes, I admit that it was frustrating at first. Sometimes the device wouldn't be recognized, sometimes the library wouldn't load correctly, and sometimes files wouldn't transfer. Creative has done a great job of addressing these problems. With the most recent firmware and software updates, I can tell you that 1) the device NEVER freezes anymore and 2) the software does everything I want it to do. The only thing that seems to be an issue is that some song files do not play properly on the computer. I believe it only occurs with files that were loaded either from another source (i.e. external HD) or ripped with earlier versions of the software. The problem is fixed simply by removing and then re-adding the files to the media library. I don't usually play music through creative media source so it's not an issue for me. I'm not sure if I'll ever use all 40GB of the HD. I have over 2,300 songs loaded and it's just over 1/4th full. We're talking 200 CDs here and many of which I don't remember listening to more than 3 years ago. However, I don't use the device for anything other than music. Capacity: More than enough for music needs. Other highlights include the stylish blue screen and excellent sound quality that you can expect from a leading sound card manufacturer. Another feature I find myself using quite often is the EAX audio. I use the Custom EQ when I want everything to sound its best. As many listeners may have realized, not all recordings are mastered at the same volume level. You can be sitting at work quietly listening to Led Zeppelin, recorded decades ago, then an associate comes in the room for a quick word just as a Dream Theater track comes on, twice as loud as you expected. This can be a nuisance, but when the auto volume/smart volume feature is turned on, all songs are played at an equal level. This feature comes in handy when your play list has music that ranges in production quality. Some sound quality is sacrificed since no other EQ can be used, but then again, if your main concern is volume, you probably aren't going to be listening close enough to notice quality. The design of the menu is very intuitive. After some playing around with the buttons, anyone can catch on and work it like a pro. There are so many features that I am still finding out new ways to tweak the player to my needs. Some people like these things, and other just want to 'plug and play'. For the latter, again, the device is easy to figure out, making the time from plug to play minimal. I have only two minor issues with the player that concerns the physical design. It's a little big. It fits in my pocket, but takes up the whole pocket. The other is the scroll button doesn't allow for as much navigation control as I'd like. I don't see any other player on the market today that I'd rather have. The Creative Nomad Zen Xtra does it all, does it well, and that does it for me.
Rating:
Summary: Wandering the world with my Nomad Zen
Review: Purchased: December 2003 I have not had any major problems with this device at all. It's amazing that people whine about the poor design of this device. I have never had the front cover "pop" off acidentally. Neither have I had software or hardware issues of any kind. People, if you drop an electronic device it will break! Wow that is common sense right? The software is really easy to figure out and I had no problem loading my very very large music collection onto the Nomad. I also have taken this to Europe and Thailand and have had no issues with charging using the AC adapter. The earplugs are mediocre and were replaced by headphones but that is only because I am an audiophile. One of these reviews actually said that the button that you use to scroll hurts their finger... ummm yeah never had that issue... time for a little workout or something....
The size could be smaller I suppose but I don't think that its a major issue. The player fits into my front pocket without problem.
I had my first dj experience using two Nomads hooked to a fader to cue music for a prom and i had no problems at all the entire night long. The quality of the sound was excellent and the ability to see the next song in the player was excellent.
In reference to another post, to stop the song simply press the pause button and then the FF button (skip forward) That will bring the song to a stop and you are free to navigate as you wish.
The price of the player also impressed me and the fact that I wouldn't have to worry about any troublesome battery issues. I highly recommend this mp3/wma player to others.
See ipod's www.ipodsdirtysecret.com to see why I really don't like the ipod.
Thanks and enjoi the music.
Rating:
Summary: New to Creative Labs
Review: So far, so good. No problems at all with the product. Ripped about 70 CDs on to hard drive. Software very easy and intuitive. Takes < 1 minute a song to rip to unit. Had concern about the reviews related to unit being fragile, but have not experienced any problems so far. Controls very easy to learn. EAX - overrated. Sounds fine without it. Battery - nowhere near the claimed 14 hours, but I used the .wma format rather the mp3 to store music. Overall, what I expected for the money
Rating:
Summary: The best
Review: So, this is my first MP3 player, but that does not stop me from thinking it is the best available. I have had the unit for just over a month, and I have loaded around 100 of my 400 CD collection with the software that was provided - no upgrades necessary. To rip and fit a CD takes around 3-5 minutes max. I know the rest of my collection will fit. Since I travel long distances for work, and have eclectic taste in music, I can sort and play by genre, artist, album, or song. Admittedly, the scroll joy stick is a little hard to use, and I sometimes select the wrong item in the list, but I can live with that since it is easy to return to the last selection list. It is simple to operate, and the sound from this little thing is great. Headsets, or powered speakers provide greate stereo separation. I use it as my main music source when I am away from the stereo system. Transferring from my PC to my Nomad could not be simpler. It connects through the USB 2.0, so transfer time is minimal. The screen is easy to read - even for someone those eyesight fails at 50+, and the adjustment buttons and bars are easy to access. I am not sure about the battery life. It seems to run shorter than the manufacurers claims, however that is during writing MP3s to the Nomad, which I assume would consume more power than playing. Guess I will find out on my next 12 hour flight in June, but having an airplane power adapter should solve that problem. The A/C cord is small enough to fit in my other pocket! I am considering buying another unit for the spouse. After looking at reviews of the other units within this price range, I am finding no comparison. Also looking at the 60 Gb version, which should store all of my future CDs! The only problem I have experienced to date is that it occasionally locks up when being written to for 100-120 MP3s. The reset button is easy if you have a paper clip or mechanical pencil point, and it boots up fast, so little time is lost in transferring activities. Just a little frustrating, so I just reset it each 8-10 CDs or so. This may be my operating system - using XP Professional. When you select by album, it plays back in the original recording sequence. When you select by artist, you can sort by album or alphabetically by track, so it is easy to find what you are looking for. Selection by Genre works the same way. For play mode, you can select any option from shuffle with and without replay, normal, repeat forever, etc. Only problem with this is that setting the normal after you have selected the album/artist/genre will cancel the selection (or I just have not figured out how to do this yet). So, I go back and re-select and there it is! Selecting a new album switches from the I am listening to within 4 seconds. Not bad. This may slow down some once I load my entire CD set, but I think I can live with this! Ok - so, no, I was not paid by Creative Labs to write this. Yes, I am planning to purchase another for the spouse.
Rating:
Summary: Great product , greater with addons
Review: This is important. Make sure you are running the most recent firmware and drivers from Creative. Recent updates have done loads for stability. Also, I use Notmad from RedChair software for manipulating the data on the Zen Xtra (40Gb). This software takes managing the device to EXACTLY where it needs to be. It also has a web based streamer with it to play songs via WinAMP streaming from other machines. The cons to the unit is that it has a history of headphone and USB jack problems, plus the faceplate is a little to quick to pop off when the case is not on it. The case annoyingly, covers up the face and power jacks. The power jack isn't a big deal, but the face is. Cutting a hole (as someone recommended) is ok, but no longer provides protection like a vinyl window would. I would recommend reviewing the Zen NX cases from Vaja(vajacases.com). They are the same layout as the XTRA. Despite the small issues, the unit has performed very well with the recent firmware updates and RedChair software. Also, there is a Gnomad package for Linux.
Rating: 
Summary: Important Zen Information
Review: This player is an overall disappointment with a couple of big flaws that potential buyers should be wary of; and all readers need to know about a third party software company that resolves virtually all of the Creative MediaSource file transfer issues. Zen Good points: 1. I achieved my basic objective; my entire CD collection is on a portable device with lots of room to store more. 2. Most MP3 players have a gap between the end of one track and the start of the next; it's annoying in music that is intended to be continuous. The Zen has minimal stoppage between tracks; when listening to music that continues from one track to the next the gap is just a hesitation - a slightly audible click; if I am not listening for the progress from one track to the next I don't even notice the click. Flaws: 1. Creative MediaSource software is OK to rip, catalog & burn music if you are starting from scratch; but I used MusicMatch to rip my CDs before I bought the Zen (278 CDs; 3,400 tracks; 12.5Gb of music all ripped at 128bps) and guess what? MediaSource did not recognize my tags! My choices at that moment were to manually re-tag my music or re-rip using MediaSource. I don't think so. BTW, if you *are* ripping your CDs, MediaSource accesses the CDDB music catalog over the Internet and the few CDs I experimented with all provided good quality [correct & uncluttered] tag information. 2. Despite most reviewers giving kudos to the Zen for music quality, I experienced a flaw using EAX. After about 45 mins of listening there was audible static in the player. When I turned EAX off the static disappeared. When I turned EAX back on the static was also not present. Creative are *the* sound people for computers, I can't understand why EAX would introduce static. Is EAX faulty? Is my unit defective? Was I just unlucky at that moment? Was it a full moon that night? I haven't figured it out yet. 3. MediaSource is an application with serious user interface flaws. Do not underestimate this in your purchase decision. Many reviewers refer to it as "clunky" or "difficult" - heed their warnings. Some Amazon reviewers say it corrrupted their music files; I didn't use it long enough to know, but clearly you need to use it with caution. 4. The Zen *stores* data files, but does not allow a folder structure nor does it allow documents to be opened or programs to be launched from its disk (they must be copied to another hard drive to be launched). In other words, the Zen is not a convenient data storage device; only buy the capacity you need for your music collection (see point 1. for some sizing information). My goal of using it as a music player *and* data storage device has not been met; don't make the same mistake. 5. The Zen does not have a Stop button! You can stop playback by pressing 2 buttons, first the Pause button, then the "Next Track" or "Previous Track" button. But this is *not documented* in the Zen manual - neither the hard copy nor the CD version. To discover this I had to read about 10 online reviews (with many complaints about the lack of Stop button) before I found one reviewer who was smart enough to both figure it out & document it. 6. The Zen NX battery requires the AC adapter to recharge; it does not charge by USB cable; this is not tragic, but USB recharging would be a convenient (additional) choice. If you are buying a Zen Xtra check whether the battery recharges via USB; it does not on the Zen NX. 7. MediaSource did not install on my personal notebook. It referred to a "Microsoft Jet Database Engine" error and the install program suggested I download a service pack from the MS website to fix the problem; I did that and re-installed the software but had the same error. Creative provided e-mail support; I followed their advice but that failed, too. I experimented with installing MediaSource on 2 other computers at home and it worked fine. So it is probably "just bad luck" on my part that the personal notebook I own had this install error. However, it did motivate me to find a work-around solution. Third Party Software To The Rescue After much frustration (above) I found the Notmad Explorer; cute product name for software that resolves virtually all of the Creative MediaSource FILE TRANSFER & ORGANIZATION problems. I am not associated with the company, I am not providing a URL, but search for NotMad and you should find it pretty easily. This provides drag & drop transfers of music between the computer & Zen; each time it transfers music to the Zen it asks if you want to generate a playlist; it allows playlists developed in other software to be transferred to the Zen (.m3u files are used by most mp3 players like MusicMatch and Winamp, but not Creative - without Notmad you need to manually recreate your playlists); it doesn't care what software you use to rip or catalog your music - Creative or any other company - all my 12.5Gb of music were transferred to the Zen with correct tags - hooray! Notmad has other features too, but this is not an advertisement so please see the company's web site for more information ... Conclusion: If I knew then what I know now I would have paid the extra to get an iPod & avoided the Zen. Given that I already have the Zen the only reason I am happy with it is because of the Notmad software. And I am hoping the static I heard when using EAX was a blip ... To summarize, I am using the Creative Zen as a mobile device; I am using MusicMatch to rip & catalog (and if I choose, download) music; I am using Notmad Explorer to move music & playlists between the Zen & my computer. The only Creative software I am using is the device driver(s).
Rating:
Summary: NOMAD
Review: What i had:
20gb ipod with 10 gb full
ipod was ok but the sound clarity was just rotten. many flaws in my songs that shouldn't be present when you are paying 300+ dollars for a mp3 player. i HAD all of my cd's on my hard drive in WMA format and the ipod wouldn't take them. a month later all of my music was converted into the format that the ipod would accept. transferred everything over and what a surprise, nothing worked. ordered a new one and that one accepted the music. listened to it and was disgusted. the bass was overpowering and there was almost no mid or high range on the sound. say goodbyte to the ipod. went back to the store. What i have now:
10gb less useless apple music and no more hassels
bought the nomad because it was so cheap and got pretty good reviews. recopied all of my cds over to creative mediasource (took 4 hours, which is how long it takes to charge the nomad the first time). made playlist as i went, using the info feature to get all song details (always a plus). Transferred the 1000+ songs to the player in a short time (15ish minutes) and al of the playlists went with it. mediasource software is ok but not as good of a program as winamp or something else of that simplicity, but still WAY better than the ipod's itunes. only problem with the whole package is the "now playing" thing. when you play a song, it goes to the now playing/selected music section. this is annoying because when you play a playlist, it adds it to this section and all of the other songs that you were listening to stay there (bad when your playlists have over 100 songs sometimes because you have to individually remove the songs form the list). a minor gripe but could have been deleted but probably wont. also, the player arranges songs in the folders alphabetically, which means that the songs arent in the right order. i can live with it in a 200 dollar player. overall:
not the ipod KILLER but it is a very well priced alternative if you already have cds on your hard drive in a windows program. if you have a mac or have no music on your hd yet, go ahead for the ipod (its the cool thing to do. EVERYBODY has one and youll fit right in with the followers of the all expensive overpriced world). either way id still go with the nomad only because of price alone. a little bigger & heavier than the ipod but still fits in most pockets and doesnt weigh you down much. make your own choice but beware of the people that havent even tried the ipods and write reviews for it because they are strange
Rating: 
Summary: THE ZEN, iPod's shadow
Review: When I looked at all the reviews, and saw the price, i said wow.
I got a 40GB Creative Zen Xtra, and it was LESS then the 4gb mini ipod.
but, after a few days, it slipped out of my hand, onto the lanolium floor in my school office.
Unfortunatly, since the product was created very poorly in MALAYSIA, it was destroyed, and i coulnd't do anything.
Ipod vs. Zen
they both have their own strengths. The iPod, has a more easy and secure system that wont crash as often (my zen crashed 4 times in 1 day, 2 days after i got it).
but, the zen has longer battery life and a less sensitive wheel that is easier to navigate around in.
(this is the big one)
the iPod has a ONE YEAR warranty, as the zen has only 90 DAYS. and, since it was "my fault their player can't withstand one 2 foot fall", i either can go back to the place i got it (best buy) or give it to them and pay them to fix it.
i have heard from numerous people that the iPod can withstand quite a few falls, but the creative i now know, can only withstand one fall.
from my jeans pocket to the floor ( i am 5'11). now it is dead.
spend the extra money, get the smaller and better iPod.
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