Creative Labs 20 GB Zen Portable Media Center

Rating:
Summary: Almost but not quiet
Review: I have recently bought the Creative Zen media player and have found it good at times and bad at others. I am very familiar and use windows and windows media player 10. Transferring content is easy because the WMP10 converts any file that may need conversion. Of course, video files which are not WMV will take longer since video files are much larger than audio files. Drawbacks are that the screen lcd is not viewable from any angle, which means you either have to be in front of the device or otherwise you will just see a white screen. The Content transferred will not be in your indivual playlists like on wmp10. They will synch and will list depending on the Tag that the files have or go into unknown playlist. My Zen has a dead pixel on the lcd which is annoying at times while viewing some videos (a lot of people have this same dead pixel) "manufacturer defect perhaps?" The device will mute if you connect the a/v jacks and then disconnect them (from the zen) while playing a video or audio track on a tv or external audio source..only resetting it will return the volume. While playing an audio track, if you choose to play photos as background, there is actually no way of stopping them except to choose another track through the menu. The manual is about a 10 page "guide" which will not answer all of your questions. although there is a downloadable manual on the creative website it makes us wonder why that one is not sent in the box. I bought this one because of the interaction between the zen and windows but as others have expressed, it would be good to have some features that the archos(420;480) have..ability to record using a/v cables and microphone to record audio. I understand that the reason why these options are not available is because private content is then left accessible to anyone who wants to "copy" any movie/show/tv program without hassle.
I have also bought accesories (limited) for the device the fm corded remote and the ir cordless remote. Both remotes lack the ability to turn the device on or off.

Rating:
Summary: Got This For Christmas
Review: I just recieved this for Christmas, and I love it. It sounds wonderful, video is awesome, and pictures look beautiful. I wouldn't have any other player. A must-have in my opinion.

Rating:
Summary: Great - and reliable!
Review: I recently bought an Archos, but had to take it back because it failed within a week. The replacement went the same way, so being sold on the concept, I went for the Creative Zen as a replacement.

Although it lacks all the recording feature of the Archos, I think its a better machine. So far, its tough enough to stand the kids use in the car without any signs of fatigue.

For content, I find it better to skip Media Player 10 altogether, and I bought a program for $ 25 called the Pocket DVD Wizard, which lets me put my DVD's on the Zen, and the quality is good.

A good tip is not to use Media Player to load the file at all, just let the Wizard do its work, then plug in the Zen, go to Windows Explorer, and drag the movie or mp3 from wherever you saved it straight into the video folder on the zen.

Its much faster that using media player, and the results seem to be better (one less conversion!)

Overall, im very pleased with it.

Rating:
Summary: Great alternative to expensive car DVD system...
Review: I was thinking to install DVD system worth 2k for my BMW but after testing and playing with this device, I definately think this is a perfect alternative for a quarter for the cost.

Rating:
Summary: I thought it would be better
Review: Since i saw my cousins i was really jealous, but now i wish i hadnt been. it does everything it is supposed to really well, but theres just not that much to do with it. It Does Not fit in my pockets, unless i take my leg off, and it is Really expensive. But still its not an ipod, so i used if for a good cause.

Rating:
Summary: just average
Review: The appearance of this player is just average and the buttons setup isn't that cool or great.Plus it used microsofts software to play the files and its not supposed to feel like a pc where it takes a lot of time to make playlists.also the battery life isnt that good. i give it a 3 because its one of the only full out media players.But they only offer 20 gb models which is a bad thing.Archos has a 20 gig and 80 gig model but highly discounted on buy.com . Also the archos av420 can record your tv shows in composite or in s video hopefully component in the future.it can play mp3s for 12 hours before needing a recharge which is better then the creative zen as far as I know. it plays many video formats and offers 16:9 for videos.the screen is pretty darn big and the buttons are easy to get used to. and it uses its own os which is upgraded with fixes and features often. The archosav420 and 480 are highly recommended. I recommend putting the built in speakers volume all the way up and the bass in the middle.movies can be a lil hard to hear sometimes but u should use the headphones all the time. i give the archos a 5 cuz there is never any problems with it and the zen a 3.5.

Rating:
Summary: NOT THERE YET
Review: THE CONVERSION SOFTWARE TAKES FOR EVER. IF YOU HAVE A BUNCH OF MOVIES IT WOULD SURELY TAKE THE WHOLE DAY FOR IT TO CONVERT. ITS NOT DRAG AND DROP AND THEN PLAY AS YOU WOULD EXPECT. I THINK CREATIVE SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE LIVING IN THE AGE OF DRAG AND DROP OTHERWISE ITS NOT GOING TO SURVIVE. THEY ARE CHARGING ALMOST $500 AND IF THIS IS THE PRODUCT YOU GET I WOULD SUGGEST YOU NOT HAVE IT AND SAVE YOUR MONEY. I HAVE IT SINCE A WEEK AND I DONT FIND IT ANYTHING EXTRAORDINARY FOR THEM TO CHARGE SOO MUCH. I THINK ITS PROBABLY WORTH AROUND $200 FOR THE PRODUCT THEY HAVE RELEASED.

Rating:
Summary: Zen rocks, MP3 player- R.I.P.
Review: The Creative Zen Media Center represents a fundemental shift in the way I view video and music storage.

I've had it for two weeks, and LOVE it. Even my wife, who still actually has some casettes, thinks this is the way forward, period.

I have never ripped an MP3, recorded a show off tv onto my computer, transferred videos/movies/photos to a device such as this. The Zen was the catalyst for me to do all of the above, WMP 10 and the Zen interface, combined with a Plextor ConvertX box, made all of the above a snap. I didn't need any directions, this tech is so intuitive anyone can use it.

The synchronization of files between the Zen and my PC is almost TOO easy, I almost ended up with some files I did not need/want on the Zen. Anyone who can use Windows will be able to pick up the use of this device and preparing media for it instantly.

The construction is sturdy and well crafted, the picture on the 3.5" color screen is excellent. I have a Casio "Watchman" type tv as well, I was amazed to see how much higher quality the picture output is here. I'm planning to save a lot of kid's shows to my PC for my four year old to view on trips, and some movies for myself.

Whether you can fit your whole cd collection in the 9000 advertised song capacity or not, that is a LOT of songs.

I put my last batch of photos from my digital camera on it to show relatives last weekend, they all wanted one after using it. I took it into the firm I work for, coworkers were most impressed by it. This is the kind of "toy" you can definitely impress people with, it's a good conversation piece above and beyond its formidable entertainment capabilities.

It probably sounds like I haven't found much I don't like about the Zen, that would be true. If it had a case and a belt clip, it would be perfect in my opinion. One other quibble is the ear buds don't fit in my ears very well, but they are cheap. A lot of bang for buck here, it dragged me into this century.


Rating:
Summary: No source for video content. Not good for much!
Review: The problem for this kind of product is that there is virtually no content to use teh video function of the player. This unit is too large for real world use and is uncomfortable to carry. The worst part of this mess is the fact that it uses Windows media player as its base. WIndows is probably the worst way to use any media and it is what will probably doom this player to failure. A player such as iPod is so much better suited to let you enjoy your photos or music. Apple's iPod is intuitive which is why its such a better player than ones like this that use the horrible Windows media center software. If you have 500 bucks to waste on a player that isnt intuitive and that has the comfort factor of carrying a bread box in your pocket this is the player for you. If not, perhaps a far batter choice would be the Apple iPod 40 gb Photo model.

Rating:
Summary: Portable Media Center. Excellent all around solution.
Review: When this packed first arrived on my door. I had some pretty high expectations. I have always been big on the digital era and this just brought me one step closer to that.

Where to start? Well I'll start with movie playback. A Very important thing for people to understand is that the video playback screen is fairly small. You dont need large movies to get full Quality on this device. If you have a ripped DVD content in which you've created. The first suggestion is decrease pixel size a thats adequate to your screen size. This alone will make a substancial difference in your overall size. And since the screen isnt nearly as big as a monitor. You will notice no quality loss. You can bring 1 and half hour movies down to about 120-140 megs. With a 20 gig HD you can store a good 70-75 movies on this device alone.

A Small complaint would be that the device only supports .wmv format. To be honest however this complaint is extremely minor since you'll want to resize the movies anyway. The .wmv format does quite a good job at compressing them without quality/sound loss. I recommend a program called #1 Video Converter. Use the Pocket PC compression method. It will give the best quality/compression for this device.

Next onto Audio Playback. Mp3/WMA audio gives you generally what you'd expect. Hooking the headphones in you can listen to CD quality music. However with the storage capacity of the HD itself. You could literally have hundreds of thousands of music files to listen to at your disposal.

Picture Quality. Well this is a pretty generic feature. But still overall useful. I was able to take scanned pictures of this years thanks giving and was able to show them to the family. It makes a pretty decent photo album. However this would not be the only reason I'd buy the device for.

The actual hardware itself. The screen size may seem a little on the small size but it fits perfectly. It's about as big as gameboy advance and it the device is very compact. The sound quality hooked up to head phones is great. The actual quality will rival any compact disc player on the market currently. You can also hook the device into a stereo or dolby digital surround system or any device which except RCA audio adapters. I was able to hook the device into the dolby prologic recieve at our house. And it's pretty incredible. Beats any CD player when streaming the music.

The Device comes with a nice little travel case to avoid damage (But I wouldnt reccomend dropping it. Overall this is an excellent product and I reccomend it to anyone whos interested in digital content on the go.

ChrisRay