Rating: 
Summary: Nomad, as good as a PC one can get right now
Review: I got mine about a week ago. Size wise, it's pretty good, battery life is good also at between 9 and 12 hours.The GUI on the player is a little clunky. You need to realize that the find screens let you play now etc but you can't step from song to song using the track buttons. You move to the playlist screen where this is possible. Overall though, it's usuable and you just need to get used to it. I bought this over an iPod because of it's support for WMA. The PC based software with it is slow. It imports songs from disk (i.e. simply catalogs them) at a rate of around 1 per second which is pathetic. But, you only do this once. Erasing a catalog likewise take forever also. But, you only use it for importing and downloading so I don't feel it detracts from the player it-self at all. Downloads are quick with firewire, I downloaded my 9gb of stuff in around an hour. The 20GB disk is great, big enough for most libraries I'd imagine. Sound quality is very use Sennheiser 580s with mine and volume is ok, not as loud as the supplied phones but the impedance of the 580s is probably higher. You can charge it off mains in around 4 hours or over USB from your PC, laptop also albeit more slowly. Overall, a great buy especially for 300 bucks but the 50 dollar rebate ends Dec 31 so hurry If only it was a PocketPC or Palm also...
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing MP3 player...Great Price...Great Value
Review: Just got mine a few days ago...and I am nothing but satisfied. I won't waste time with technical specs and all that. You can look them up yourself. The low-down: This "toy" is amazing.
1. battery life: very good, made it through many hours of shoveling.
2. ease of use: to be honest....it could be better. BUT it is fine once you get the hang of it.
3. software: takes getting use to, but again doable.
4. space: 19GB after formatting, but still more than enough
5. size: a bit larger than the IPOD, but still fit nicely in my pocket.
6. Sound: i have a pair of mediocre SONY headphones and still has great sound. I also used an adapter and played it through my stereo. Again, amazing sound quality. Also, I would like to say that I could hear the music over the snow thrower and the volume wasn't even half way up.
7. BEST PART: firwire and USB compatable. I think that about sums it up. One last thing. I have a fried that has the IPOD, and I will be honest I almost bought one of them instead and if I had a MAC i probably would have. BUT, I am a PC fan myself and worried about the IPOD and Windows working well together (even though there is now a Win IPOD)
Bottome line: Creative Labs put out a worthy competitor to the IPOD.
Rating:
Summary: Everything you need in a mini-size jukebox: -Perfect size
Review: First off, this mp3 player has been known to compete with the iPod. I would like to say that depending upon what you are looking for, this is a great buy from its price and its quality. As with any device, it has its ups and downs. This mp3 player has the great size and its smooth style. With the great size of 20GB, it can hold anything you want, even if you are a techno person and carry 1+ hour songs. This player can last you quite awhile as long as you take care of it. HARDRIVE SIZE:
20GB This mp3 player can hold as many songs as you need, unless you plan on fitting millions of hours on it. Even if you carry a large library, it will not slow it down or eat up the battery faster. Also, the Hardrive does not require deframenting or anything of that sort. The hardrive allows your to customize your own library. BATTERY:
Built-in Lithium Battery
This battery runs fairly long, but if you change tracks and switch it on and off, then the battery will lose power quickly. The battery will also lose power as you transfer songs, so keep the power supply plugged in as you transfer songs. Also, as with any product, you should take your time while listening to the directions. You can be excited, but you must charge it fully your first time. SOUND QUALITY:
EAX Enhanced (Environmental, Time-Scaling(speed), Custom Equalizer, Spatialization)
Over-all, the headphones provide adequete sound for your ears. If you are not satisfied with the quality, then you can modify it when detailed options. The base and treble are not changed directily, but they can be by different options through the equalizer. There are also environmental effects which can change the sound quality to make you feel like you are in that environment. The smart-volume features changes the volume every .3 of a second so that it doesn't get too loud at certain parts of a song. You do not have to change the volume every new song. The disadvantage with "Smart-volume" is that it doesn't provice a "loud" quality sound. The volume of the player ranges from 0/25 to 25/25. At 25, it is very loud at 98 db (decibles). SIZE:
2.99" x 4.43" x 0.95" (75.9 x 112.6 x 24.5 mm
To make it simple, lets just say that this jukebox can fit in your pocket easily at a very light weight. It is smaller than it really seems. The size doesn't rob you of any featuers, but all your fravorite buttons and gadgets are included. UNIQUE FEATURES:
- Customize the jukebox with your own name
- Configure your own ending graphics (once you shut it off, a picture of your choice will display)
- Customize language and input options
- Idle shut off options
- Bookmark set, jump, and remove options included I hope this review has helped with your decision whether or not to buy this.
Rating: 
Summary: Attention Mac Users !!
Review: This unit will NOT connect to a Mac. Creative's support states that future support for the Mac is unlikely. Therefore if you are a Mac user looking for an alternative to the iPod, look elsewhere. A pity, because the Zen is such a nice unit...
Rating:
Summary: A great little device with high quality sound
Review: This review is being revised on 1/17/03 because I have more experience with the Zen than I had five weeks ago. I purchased the Jukebox Zen after considering the 10 gb iPOD, the Sony MZ-707, the new Nike MP3 players (by Philips), and a 5 gb PC card for my iPAQ pocket PC. I am glad I chose the Zen. Although it is not perfect, it is a great little device. The Zen arrived in a box with a protective carrying case that has a neat little metal ring to which I have attach a carabiner so I may anchor the Zen to exercise machines in the gym. There is also a velcro belt loop on the carrying case. The vinyl about the metal ring is beginning to break down, so I started to attach the carabiner to the Velcro belt loop. Creative will not replace the case and I could not locate a better quality custom case on the internet. The Zen may be charged while it is in the carrying case, but if you are using USB or Firewire attachments to transfer music, you must lift the top latch of the case. In its protective case, The Zen is about the same size as an iPAQ with PC card holder, and neither has a consumer-replacable battery(nor does the iPOD). The Zen has blue back-lighting that is handy during the evenings (the Sony MZ-707 and the iPOD do not). The headphones are mediocre and are not adjustable in size, so I use my water resistant Aiwa cross trainer HP-AS288 headphones when I am in the gym and a pair of Bose noise-cancelling headphones at home for sound quality that surpasses both the iPOD, and the iPAQ. The unit was easy to charge, and was easy to use. There are instructions and music tracks installed on the device so I was able to commence listening right away. The software was quite difficult to install (see alternatives below). There were several files on the cd rom and I finally selected the correct ones after six attempts and one hour of fiddling. I have upgraded the software and the firmware and I have had to "soft reset the device once." I like being able to play MP3 and WMA files on the same device and the Fire Wire link substantially accelerates music transfer relative to the USB 1.0 input method. Creating playlists away from the desktop may be accomplished with all the devices I considered except the iPOD. The incredible volume of music (and PC files) that the Zen accommodates is phenomenal for a device of its size and price. The rebate adds appeal to the device that ultimately costs about . Although hard drive players seem to have a shorter life than PC card players and minidiscs, I plan to take good care of my device, so my music collection will be with me for years to come. Upgradable firmware will make this a player for the long haul. I can't wait for the FM radio device with input jack to become available, because there is no input jack and only one (headphone) output jack. At times, the on/off button seems to be a bit less sensitive than I would prefer, and a few of my friends did not like the small font size as they found it difficult to read; I had no such problem. My Zen is averaging 10 hours battery life, and the USB cable serves as a battery charger when the unit is turned off. This is not the case with the fire wire cable. I am left-handed and I have become accustomed to operating the Zen with either hand. It is much easier to use than my iPAQ controls. The on button is indented and there is a lock function that prevents accidental pressing of buttons. While the Sony net MD is smaller, has a removable battery, and has other desirable features, I prefer carrying all my music in one place. The Sony permits up to five hours of music to be recorded onto one inexpensive mini disc, but the proprietary interface limits how many copies the user may make of each cd. I am pleased with my choice. It is a cost-effective, compact method for carrying one's music and data collections. Several people have commented on the quality of the software that comes with the Zen. Although I have had no software complaints since I installed it, there is third party software available for this and other Creative devices, that reviews suggest bring the Zen to another level. Notmad Explorer and JBHTTP are available on the web.
Rating:
Summary: Great Value
Review: I bought the Nomad Zen yesterday and I love it! There's no comparison to IPOD in terms of value.... The jukebox software is pretty easy and intuitive to use after about 10 minutes of fiddling with it. The jukebox itself is not as small as an IPOD, but still pretty compact. With a 98dB signal to noise ratio, it sounds great! There's also alot of settings you can fool with to adjust the sound to your liking. It took me about 20 minutes of fooling with the buttons and the settings to get the hang of it, but after that it's very intuitive to use. The only drawback I can think of is that it's a bit heavy - but if you don't plan to jog with it you should be fine. Construction is VERY solid.
Rating:
Summary: AMAZING PRODUCT
Review: Incredible. Just got, charged for 2 hours and transfered all my music to it in just a few minutes using firewire. Sound quality is amazing. Very user friendly I really like the interface compared to other mp3 players. This is the best mp3 player on the market right now, much better deal than ipod. ...
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Buy a Nomad Zen! It is not being supported...
Review: Just bought a Nomad Zen and need to reload the operating system (firmware). The firmware is no where to be found, Installation CD, Internet or Creative. Creative Tech Support does not possess this firmware and will only handle this via a RMA (factory return). My guess is they forward the Zen to whatever company in China that manufactured it. They actually want me to crack the case to look next to the battery for the serial number in order to authorize a return. And to think I sunk another $350 bucks into a Creative product after my other Nomad Jukebox's hard drive crashed. Another ..., P.T. Barnum would have been proud!
Rating:
Summary: So Much Sound From So Small a Product
Review: I've been thoroughly enjoying the Zen for almost a week now. As this is my first portable MP3 unit, I won't spend time trying to compare this product to others. ... Comparison isn't a good way to evaluate anyway. After installing the software on my desktop machine, I powered the unit via the included AC adapter. While I was expecting to take a while to get a full charge on the internal Lithium-Ion battery, four hours was enough. This is probably due to the fact that these units are fully charged at the factory and just started shipping on October 14th! I also hooked up the USB connection (I don't have FireWire yet). While the desktop's USB hub sometimes drops the connection and forces me to reboot, I had no problems using USB on my notebook, so the problem was my hub, not the Zen nor its drivers. Since I already use MusicMatch 7.2 to rip my CDs and organize my collection, I didn't use PlayCenter, Creative's encoding and device management software, for ripping. It was nice that, once you connect the Zen, the computer automatically starts PlayCenter. I could navigate to the MusicMatch directory and all my files and then drag and drop them to the Zen. One small nag was that, when more than one level of directories exists(i.e. Artist->Album->Song files), you can't transfer all the albums for an artist at once. This is true even if you use PlayCenter to navigate and click the transfer button. In fact, PlayCenter highlights the transfer button, indicating that a transfer is possible. But, when you press Transfer, nothing happens, not even a warning message appears. This does make the initial load process a little tedious, especially if you have lots of files in your collection. Good thing you can easily queue up more files to be transferred while the Zen is loading. Since I recently upgraded to MusicMatch 7.2, I started recording files in MP3Pro format, which essentially cuts the file size in half and is supposed to be backward compatible with regular MP3 players. While I don't think the Zen currently supports MP3Pro, it had no problem playing the MP3Pro files at a lower quality level (less highs). Hopefully, the Creative folks will provide a firmware upgrade to take care of this as well, thus doubling the unit's capacity. ...I'm sticking with the MP3/MP3Pro formats. The Zen provides excellent playback quality. Its sound is bigger than its size. The included headphones are "behind the head" style and provide good sound, albeit a little muffled. I prefer Philips' new Nike brand headphones for comfort and sound quality. Hook it up to your home stereo system and let this unit show what it's made of! The user interface provides a lot of information in a small screen. While I would have liked a bigger screen, selecting albums, artists, playlists, and genres is easy to do. A clickable scroll wheel provides quick access. And, creating playlists on the unit is both doable and easy. Just pick the songs or albums you want as a playlist. As you play each one (even for a few seconds), they're added to the "Now Playing" list. Once you're done picking, switch to the "Now Playing" view and select "Save as Playlist". Name it and that's it. Just make sure you clear the "Now Playing" list first! Otherwise, you'll get all the other files you've played recently! As for durability, an aluminum case surrounds the unit. While I don't know how much of a jolt the hard drive can take (and don't care to find out myself!), place the Zen in the included carrying case and you probably won't have a problem. The case also provides a handy belt hoop that ISN'T made of plastic and should stand up to many days of use. Onboard sound processing is also included. While you can add reverb (Environment), change playback speed while maintaining pitch (Time-Scale), tweak the EQ (Advanced EQ), spread the stage (Spatialization), and apply compression and limiting (Smart Volume), you can't do two at the same time. So, I can't boost the bass a little AND apply limiting to the loud passages. I can pick one but not both. While I know that it's great that I can do any of the above in real time, I would really like to apply volume control and EQ together. Maybe the Zen 2 will give us that... 20GB (really 19GB after formatting). Enough said about capacity! While Creative boasts 12 hours continuous playback from a single charge, I have only experienced 9 hours and 15 minutes. This is after fully charging the unit the first night and cycling it from full charge to the "low battery" warning a few times this week. While this is long enough for a full workday, some folks may wonder why they can't find the access door to switch batteries. There isn't one (oops). Again, maybe the Zen 2 will address the replaceable battery issue. I'm sure I'll get out my jeweler's screwdriver next year when it's time to replace the battery! ...Creative has a real winner in the Zen.
Rating:
Summary: Nomad Zen vs Ipod
Review: I purchased both a Zen and a 10 GB iPOD a few days ago. Bottom line is that the Zen is being sent back and I am keeping the iPOD. I bought the Zen because it was significantly lower priced for the 20 GB size. I had previously owned a Creative Nomad II and liked it. The zen only measures slightly larger than iPOD, but it is a significant difference. On the Zen, the control buttons are along both sides. It was too large hold the Zen and control it all with one hand. I like to sit at my desk and listen to music. The Zen was too large and heavy to put in my shirt pocket. I like to keep the player in my shirt pocket because it is easy to get to, and I don't accidentally pull it off my desk. In addition, the screen is smaller on the Zen, and it chopped off a lot of the file names. Finally, the Zen's menu system is quite a bit harder to use. The iPOD is easy to use with one hand, the menu system is easy to use, and it sounds great. Several reviews had mentionned that the PC SW Music Match was very difficult to use and has some problems. I didn't have any of these major issues. I had a slight issue with the song tags, but it was pretty easy to fix. I currently have about 3 GB of music, so it fits nicely on the 10 GB iPOD with room to grow. I wish the iPOD played WMA files, but I will recode my music due to the iPOD's ease of use.
| 
