Rating: 
Summary: I was really happy with this
Review: To be honest it was a little hard to plunk down the [money] I did for this, despite its high praise (then to find I could have picked it up for.. less..! but I'm so glad I did. The real selling point on this thing was its sheer music capacity... I was really looking for something capable of holding GBs worth of songs, and this ended up being a great deal as far as that is concerned. The negatives in other reviews about the short battery life are true... the player is probably just a little inefficient so far as power consumption goes, just like CD walkmans were just 10 years ago when the started getting popular (I used to have a portable CD player which took 6 AA batteries and only played music for about an hour! It ran out of juice before most CDs were even over!). But keep in mind that the 2 AA batteries are essentially powering a small computer hard drive, so the Nomad isn't doing too bad, certainly not as bad as it could be. I imagine in the years to come it will become even smaller and more efficient, with a capability for more activity during use (such as jogging), but for my purposes the Nomad works great.
Rating: 
Summary: Best of what's out there, BUT...
Review: We researched MP3 players extensively before purchasing the Jukebox. When it works, we love it! However, there have been some serious problems with it, and Creative's Customer Service has been distinctly lacking.Our first problem was with transferring to the player. We could only do this in small batches (less than a full CD) or they wouldn't make it to the player. And, we couldn't do anything else on our PC. We also tried this on different PCs and on Macs, but had the same problem. Our next problem was that the player locked up (stuck on preparing library screen). The only solution to this problem was to reformat the hard drive. This was a really bad situation, as I was traveling at the time, and therefore lost all the music I had brought with me. When we called Creative Labs about these problems, they were less than helpful. After much arguing and being put on hold (by calling the TOLL number!) they finally agreed to accept the unit back for "testing" as to why it had problems. They did send us a new player, but we haven't had it long enough to know if the problems will resurface. The bottom line is, while the concept is GREAT (when it's working, I love it!0 there are still quite a few bugs that need to be worked out. If you have patience, wait for the next generation of these players.
Rating: 
Summary: The BEST just keeps getting BETTER!
Review: I am not one to write reviews, but this definitely deserves my two cents worth. I have been involved in the computer industry off and on since 1982. I have seen numerous achievements, enhancements, and radical changes throughout the industry and one in particular is the addition of the MP3 format. I cannot express how incredible the sound quality is much less how small the file sizes are compared to a standard .WAV format. If you are not familiar with any of this jargon, don't worry, just understand that the MP3 format is in your favor.
Now, how does all this relate to the Nomad Jukebox? First and foremost, let me clear up some things about this product. Simply put, it is a micro computer with it's sole purpose in life being a mass storage device/player for your music. With a whopping 6GB of storage, you can store approximately 150+ audio CD's in MP3 format.
I travel a lot with the company I work for. The vehicles we drive are not equipped with CD players and I sometimes find myself in very remote areas where radio reception involves listening to stations that broadcast from Mexico. I don't enjoy lugging my entire CD collection around with me, so, I needed an alternative solution to my dilema. The Nomad Jukebox definitely meets and exceeds this. If you are in the market for an MP3 player and do not know which one to buy, let me help clear up some things that most people might not know about. 1. MP3 players which bost 32MB or 64MB of storage are for those people who enjoy the labor of copying and deleting their music all the time, (uploading MP3 files to the device)... you'd be better off with a portable CD player with at least a 40 second anti-skip instead. 2. Portable MP3/CD players that claim they can read CD-R's as well as standard audio CD's fall short because they tend to skip or the CD-Burning software fails to burn properly causing imperfections in the output quality of your music. The concept is great, but still needs to be improved upon. **I cannot speak for all MP3/CD players, but the one that I currently own has turned out to be a complete waste of time and money. 3. Creative Lab's Nomad Jukebox handles very large amounts of data and provides the best possible solution for your music needs. The bundled software makes it easy to rip CD's to MP3/WMA/WAV as well as manage and organize your music files both on your computer and on the Nomad Jukebox. There are 2 versions of the Nomad Jukebox... the 'Standard' and the 'C' series. The only difference between the two aside from the price is that the 'Standard' includes a carrying case, an extra set of 4 NiMH batteries, and a pair of Creative Backphones (headphones). The Creative Labs website also provides additional information regarding updates for new features, improvements, and so much more. They have taken every step to make updates as easy as possible and have managed to simplify the entire process. Try finding that anywhere else! Sure there are other companies out there that are trying to provide similar products, but they don't have the years of experience that Creative Labs much less a proven track record. Overall, I cannot express how incredible the Nomad Jukebox really is.
Rating:
Summary: THIS IS SO COOL
Review: I NORMALY DON'T DO THIS TYPE OF THING, BUT I JUST HAD TO SAY HOW MUCH I HAVE ENJOYED THIS PLAYER. I READ EVERYTHING I COULD BEFORE I PURCHASED THE JUKEBOX. SOME PEOPLE HAD PROBLEMS WITH THIS OR THAT BUT MOSTLY THEY ENJOYED IT.. MAN I LOVE THIS THING!! I SIMPLY DOWNLOADED TO MY COMPUTER THE MUSIC I WANTED TO LISTEN TO AND THEN DOWNLOADED TO THE JUKEBOX, WHAT COULD BE MORE SIMPLE.. THANKS FOR SUCH A SIMPLE EASY TO USE SYSTEM.. I LOOK FOWARD TO USING THIS THING. I HIGHLY RECCOMEND THIS THING TO ANYONE WHO SIMPLY WANTS TO HAVE ACCESS TO THEIR MUSIC IN A PORTABLE FORMAT.....
Rating:
Summary: Better than Archos
Review: After returning three similar units made by Archos, I've found the Nomad to be a far superior product. My Archos units always broke down after 4-6 weeks (no unusual wear, they would just stop powering up all together even with new batteries). Both units had their pros with regard to functionality. However, the Nomad is more reliable and I can always count on it to work and to work the same way every time without constant glitches like the Archos.
Rating:
Summary: Music for Hours!
Review: I love this product! When the Jukebox first hit the market I was interested in it because of the sheer volume of music that the it could hold. It was too pricey for me... and I balked at laying out that kind of money for this type of device. When the price dropped... I pounced on one. It is by far the most used used electronic gadget that I own. It is a perfect traveling companion for me since I don't like carrying all of my CD's on road trips and I can bring along half of my music collection without the headaches of storage space. I have found that WMA at 64kbs music sounds as good to me as 128kbp of MP3 formatted music. Since the Jukebox holds 1000 hours of MP3 formatted music I have realistically doubled my listening pleasure. The only drawbacks are load time tranferring music from my PC to the Jukebox via the USB transfer cable. I wish it came with a Firewire transfer capability. The other drawback is low battery life. I only get about 2 1/2 hours of use with the rechargeable batteries that it came with. Solution: By more rechargeable batteries and a charger. I travel by car for long periods of time and found that a cigarette lighter power adapter works great and saves my batties for later use. I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed this device!
Rating:
Summary: Three thumbs up
Review: The principal complaints I'm reading are low battery life, the related issue of portability and a slow OS. If the advertised four hours is "low battery life", then battery life is low; however, understanding the power requirements of the device, I am pleased with the battery life. Since batteries recharge in the device, even while it's playing (albeit more slowly), I don't often discharge the batteries, and I carry spares anyway. Creative ships two sets of rechargable batteries with the player. I've also used Eveready Ni-MH rechargables and recharged the Creative batteries in an Eveready charger without a hitch. Rechargables slowly discharge even if you don't use them, so you should recharge spares occassionally. Booting the device takes 10-15 seconds. It's a little irksome, at times, but it's quite tolerable. Clearly, faster response time is always better. Once the device is booted, it responds quickly in my experience. I'd like to see a more effective album/title search feature, like a bisection search. Ideally, I'd see the first and last titles in the first half of a list followed by the first and last titles in the last half of the list, then I'd pick the half of the list I want to search further, and so on. I've had few problems with portability. Using a carrying case designed for a portable CD player, I've walked the streets and bladed with the device. I wouldn't worry about biking with it either. If I were a runner, I'd use a solid state device and live with its limited capacity while running, but I'm very happy with the portability of the Jukebox. I had a minor fall while blading with the device, and it held up nicely, not even a skip. Understanding the potential for disk head crash, I don't recommend too much rough and tumble. On the other hand, I bought the extended warranty. I don't understand the volume gripes, but I haven't destroyed my hearing with heavy metal yet, either. Wynonna is more my speed. The volume meter varies from 1 through 20, and I like 12 in a quiet setting. The default is 16, and I find that setting a little loud. I don't understand the headphone gripes either, but I'm not a phonophile. The sound quality seems better than the headphones I had used with my portable Philips CD player. I'm aware of one competitive device, the Archos Jukebox 6000. It also features a 6 gb hard drive, usb connection, some EAX-like features and generally seems a lot like the Nomad, but it looks very different, rectangular like a portable cassette player. It has a smaller cache, only 2MB, not enough for an entire song, compared with 8MB on the Nomad... The only other portable mp3 player I'd consider at this point is one of the portable CDRW devices with mp3 playback. Some of those devices also play standard CDs. A 6 gig drive will probably hold all the music I'll ever want in one place at one time, so I like the hard drive approach, but I'd definitely hate to deal with a disk crash. I've seen a nice looking CDRW device with mp3 playback and an 8MB cache from Sony... I didn't notice if it played standard CDs, and I suspect it would burn an mp3 file on a CDW much more slowly than the Nomad writes its hard drive. Of course, the Nomad Jukebox has a secret it isn't telling. Someday, soon, it will morph into a handheld/wearable, general purpose computer, or a peripheral for a palmtop at least. The next Nomad will probably have a 20 gig drive, but something bigger and better is always six months away these days.
Rating:
Summary: Best in Everything! People, Dont complaint.
Review: Not only does the Nomad Jukebox support Mp3 Files, WMA (windows media), and WAVE, but Data files as well. Thats true, with the latest firmware update, you can store any kind of data into your nomad jukebox. The Latest Firmare upgrade takes care of the few problems it had when it was first released giving me a big impression from Creative Labs commitment to excellence. The ripping process and transfer rate increased dramatically. It takes a little getting used to at first in getting to know the Playcenter software that manages your transfer of files. The CDDBA support is fast and easy to set up. I recommend this product, it sure as hell beats the original tag. It is well worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Best MP3 player out there!
Review: This mp3 player is the only one out there for me. I bought it only looking at the space and making sure it could support my computer OS (macintosh). As time went on I realized just how great this thing was! Not something to be jogging with, but great for non-mobile use. It's hooked into my sony receiver right now pumping out surround sound through my speakers. All the extras will amaze you! It has a great EQ with +13 db bass, support for a microphone, and room effects (even though I don't use them) There are a few problems with it and a few things that people claim are problems THAT ARE NOT. Volume is not an issue. All you need to do is get full size headphones and the volume is more than enough. If you plug it into a reciever like me than it's way more than enough. The only problems are a slow OS. It takes a while for it to start up then will have problems with playing music doing other things on it like scrolling. Only for the first 15 seconds of a song though. The hard drive will spin down then back up again while playing every 20 minutes. Not a major issue. Otherwise this is the best mp3 player to buy, that is untill mp3 pro logic comes out (new generation of mp3) or untill another mp3 player comes out to match size.
Rating:
Summary: freeze-ups: a problem solved
Review: To Tyler Ude (an Amazon reviewer) and others who have bought this Nomad and experienced a freeze-up (lock-up): Before you return this product, try pushing the reset button at the bottom of the player. This should reboot the system without losing data and un-freeze the machine. Because Nomad runs on a large hard drive with a buggy operating system, freeze-ups will often happen (like a computer). Even if there's a new and improved operating sys. freeze-ups are inevitable. So, just get used to pressing that little reset button.
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