Rating: 
Summary: IT'S BRILLIANT!!!!
Review: I just got the Nomad 2 MG this morning and have listened to several mp3's. It works perfectly and the sound is even better than it looks. The size of the screen is just big enough to display all useful information. The 2 AAA batteries took 90 minutes to fully charge. With a memory slot, it can be upgraded with a 128 MB flash memory card, allowing it to have 192 MB. The docking bay is also great, allowing for an easy battery recharge and a simple connection to the PC. These are all the great aspects about the player. Don't get me wrong... there isn't anything wrong with the player. But the headphones that are included are horrible (NEVER EVER BUY FOLDING HEADPHONES!!). You would be better off buying another pair. The carrying case is also useless since you have no access to the buttons. There is a slightly higher learning curve with the software, and takes a bit of time fiddling with it, but that's no big deal. This player is otherwise perfect and worth every penny.
Rating: 
Summary: Get ready to spend A LOT on accessories!
Review: I replaced my Sensory Science MP2100 with this player. This is a very small and light MP3 player at its price. Sound quality was really bad with its bundled earphones but sounds excellent on a regular headphone. Yes, the case is useless unless you buy the wired remote control for 50 bucks from www.nomadworld.com (the only place that sells it at this time). I tried cutting the case so that the control buttons would be exposed but I totally messed it up :) I think Creative designed the case that way to maximize profits because users would HAVE TO buy the wired remote control to use the case.I also upgraded this player with a 128mb SmartMedia card. Now, it could fit about 40 songs, which is GREAT! Samsung's Techno Yepp can only be upgraded with a 64mb SmartMedia that's why I choosed Creative. I'm still considering whether to purchase the wired remote control. If I do I would have spent more than 150 bucks for accessories! Overall, I think this is the BEST MP3 player for its price range and would recommend anyone to buy it. Just be reminded that you WILL be spending a lot on accessories!
Rating:
Summary: This little thing works GREAT for me!!!
Review: I've been using the Nomad 2 MG for over a year, now. When I first tried to install the software, I had some problems with the docking cradle not seeing the player. I was suspicious that it had problems with my computer hardware (motherboard, etc.). When I tried the installation on another computer, everything worked great! Shortly afterwards, I replaced that original system with a faster one and the software works fine, now, as a matter of fact, the files just FLY to the player! I take that MP3 player with me on rough mountain bike rides, snowboarding, running, commutes to work, and (sometimes) while I'm at work. I've dropped it numerous times, but still I have had NOT ONE SINGLE PROBLEM with it, yet. My cradle has not broken- maybe I'm just lucky. For those who have none functioning cradles, there are updated drivers online for free- that could solve some of your problems. Admittedly, I have deleted a song or two, because of poor button placement, but if you're capable of learning, you're not going to do that more than a few times, at best. For the price and the performance, this unit ROCKS! With its capabilities to expand to the 128MB card, that's a lot of songs! Get this MP3 player! It's totally worth it!
Rating:
Summary: What can i say, But It
Review: So I broke down, and decided to spend some money on something i thought i would use. I never realized how much! Walking a mile to work each day used to take for what seemed forever, and now it's nothing. I always knew what music could do, but never realized how easy mp3 music could be. You really can't go wrong with this player. I was leary of users commenting on bad radio reception (i'm in the new york area too), but this wasn't the case. The head phones (with my long hair) are perfect, and make the player easy to throw in my pocket. With a 128 mb card in addition to the 64 mb internal, i can walk for miles or take a 4 hour plane ride before hearing the same song twice. The recording feature is handy, and is also fairly good quality. The technology is beautiful.
Good job creative labs, you guys rock.
Rating:
Summary: Can't find anything better...
Review: About a year ago I started to look for my first MP3 player. I'm a technical person, and I took my time to look at all the specs of the players. I limited my search to the Rio 800 and Nomad II MG. I wound up buying the Nomad II MG mostly because it was released before the Rio. A month ago I lost my Nomad, and am looking for a new one. I still can't find anything better and I'm going to buy it again! Here are my list of pros and cons. Pros:
- WMA support! Don't underestimate this format. It is about 1/3 the size of MP3 and sounds just as good. Record at 64k for smallest size, or 96k if you like a little better sound quality. With 196mb of memory I had 100 songs on the Nomad. With an avg 3min per song, that is 300 min, 5hrs of music, or ~10 full CDs. With only the internal memory you can still get about 33 songs or 3 full CDs.
- Compact Flash memory support. I bought a 128mb memory card about 6 months ago. At first, the player wouldn't recognize the card, but I upgraded to the newest flash memory and it worked immediately. It isn't very convenient to manage the songs on the flash ram card separately from the internal memory, but I don't think this is a negative because it is the same on any other player. I don't have anything negative to say about the Rio Backpack method vs. the flashcards, except that since I bought my 128mb card, the prices have dropped about 75%! Rio uses the proprietary modules and won't be able to compete on price with cheap OEM memory that the Nomad can use.
-Wired Remote. As others have noted, nobody at Creative consulted usability experts when designing the Nomad II MG. The button layout is terrible, and the included leather case doesn't expose the buttons so you need to remove it to change songs, turn it on, etc. The wired remote features the same bad button layout, but alleviates the need to take the player out of the case. Some of the "features" of the remote aren't documented very well, but if you play with the buttons you can find access to some more of the functions you get with the regular player. **TIP: To turn on the Nomad MG II from the remote when the player itself is locked, hold down the + (vol. up) while the player boots - this will override the lock. Not sure if it is a bug or feature, but it works! It is hard to find, but buy this from Creative directly at nomadworld.com. This also adds just a little too much cable length overall, but I wrap the extra cable around the player and just stick it in my pocket.
- Time. I fly a lot and never had my player run out of juice, even on cross country flights. Cons:
- Button locations. Don't need to say any more...
- Headphones. Included headphones are terrible. I bought the Sony NC-20 (noise cancelling) and they are INCREDIBLE! If you use the player in a noisy place (plane, public transportation, etc) then this will increase sound quality by 1000%.
- Playcenter software. It isn't terrible, but not very user friendly. The good thing is you can use Windows Media as the transport and it works great! Also wanted to note, Creative has XP specific drivers on their website (one reviewer said it wouldn't be available for a long time).
- Travel charger. Creative has a travel cable to transfer songs, but with 5+ hours of music I don't need it. I do need to recharge my batteries but I can't do that. My only options are buy AAA batteries (defeats the purpose of having rechargeables) or carry the docking station (which is heavy because of the AC adapter). The only player I still see as comparable is the Rio 800, but the reviews on that player speak for themself.
Rating: 
Summary: Still working after 2 years
Review: Felt I had to add this after reading all these reviews. I got my II MG over 2 years ago and it still works fine. Only problem is the display sometimes flickers on and off, but if you tap it it comes back. I use this for the gym, travel and in my car. I've dropped it numerous times and gotten it wet and it still works fine. I have deleted songs accidently as others seem prone to as well, and agree button placement was poor. Overall this player has been great, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Creative product.
Rating: 
Summary: The other reviewers aren't lying. It stinks.
Review: I owned this player for about 5 months before its cradle stopped functioning. There are two main faults with it that lead me to advise against this MP3 player. The first is its poor design. All of the function buttons are located along its sides. In order to hold the thing in any natural and comfortable way, your fingers have no other place to go except over the ultra-sensitive function buttons. The slightest change in pressure will activate any button you are touching. You'll find yourself accidently pausing, stopping or (worst of all) DELETING a song as it is playing very often unless you adopt the incredibly annoying practice of locking the buttons whenever you aren't using them. But unlike some other players, this also locks the volume button- which means you'll spend lots of time unlocking-changing volume-locking-unlocking-skipping a song-locking. Ugh. And why any designer would put a one-touch delete button right near your general function buttons is beyond me. Make sure you memorize the layout of the buttons, because it absolutely stinks to delete a song when you just wanted to pause it and there is no second chances once you hit the extremely innocuous and sensitive delete button. The second drawback of this player is how often it seems to break inexplicably. My player is fine, but if I want to use it anymore I'll have to get a new cradle. My cradle just decided to stop functioning one day. It wasn't jostled or banged around, it wasn't dusty or submerged in soda- nothing. I'd chock it up to bad luck if I hadn't gone on the web the next day and found dozens of unsolved breakages involving this player and its cradle. This unit is slick looking and tiny, but not worth the trouble. Look elsewhere for your MP3 player needs. You can do much better.
Rating:
Summary: Get To Know Nomad Warranty Service
Review: I formerly owned a Nomad II, which broke after about a year. I then purchased a Nomad II MG, which I had to return because the charging cradle didn't function. I purchased another one, and that one stopped working after about thirty days. I would steer clear of this frail product. (P.S. Why would anyone with an IQ higher than a chimp buy three of these things? I couldn't find another one with expandable memory and an FM tuner).
Rating:
Summary: Read the reviews: This thing [...stinks]
Review: Even if it didn't have chronic defects, the Nomad II MG is poorly designed. It comes with a protective leather carrying case that (1) can't be clipped or attached to anything and (2) doesn't provide an easy way to access any of the buttons on the unit. I ended up taking scissors to my leather case to make it slightly usable. The buttons are located on the sides of the unit, where most people usually grab the unit. This results in frequent accidental button presses. A couple of months after I got mine, I had the battery-clip problem that others have described. It was easily fixed with aluminum foil, but honestly, battery clips have been manucatured for decades without much problem; why is it such a recurring problem here? Finally, after a little over a year of use, my docking station isn't acknowledging that the unit is docked. Therefore I can neither recharge the unit nor change the songs. The player is now useless to me. From reading the other reviews, it's obvious the problems I've had with mine aren't an isolated case. So if you want a well-designed, well-manufactured, reliable mp3 player, DON'T buy the Creative Nomad II MG.
Rating:
Summary: Great Features, Poor Ergonomics
Review: Purchased the Nomad about a year ago and it's worked very well. Sounds good, no problems with software, small, lightweight, and compact. Radio is a nice feature. Memory expansion worked as it was supposed to (added 64MB). Only major beef I have is that the button layout is TERRIBLE. It's very easy to accidentally hit a button when you grab it, since the buttons are all on the sides. Also makes it impossible to operate with one hand. A remote is an absolute necessity with this player.
| 
