Creative Zen Micro 5 GB MP3 Player White

Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: Creative has hit a home run with this player! I received my Micro(White) yesterday and I couldn't be happier. This tiny little wonder is great. It is my first mp3 player and I had it up and running in minutes. The vertical scroll bar hasn't been a problem for me at all. Creating playlists is a snap and adds to the versatility of the player. I used Windows Media Player 10 to transfer my music. It worked without any glitches. I highly recommend the Creative Zen Micro to anyone who wants a fantastic player that works as good as it looks.
By the way, Amazon had this to me in three days with free shipping! They totally back up what they sell, so go ahead
and get off the fence and join the mp3 revolution.

Rating:
Summary: Hard Drive Crash ---like the reviews warn
Review: Despite all the warnings on Amazon and on the product support pages, I gave this charming puppy a home long enouth to load about 16 cd's.
Then like i'd been warned --the crash. Recovery? no problem. Just spend a couple of days in recovery mode till you give up all hope and join the others who bought and returned this first run at a great idea. Do-over permitted Creative, because of your design, feature advances, and demonstrated sonic abilities. But try to keep version 2.0 off the market until you include tested hard drives.

Charleston has hope

Rating:
Summary: iPod for Window Users
Review: First off if you are a Windows user and want an iPod like I did but were scared that it being Apple would be cause for concern, then by all means get the Zen Micro. I was worried that if I got an iPod somehow it wouldn't work right if I didn't have an Apple or iTunes. So with that in the back of my mind I went with the Creative Zen Micro. It does all that an iPod can do but it is just better equipped to handle Windows. I got the white one and it is very clean and sleek. The outer casing is white so everything is the same color. If you get a black or another color the casing will still be white. So I bet you are reading this to know what I don't like about so here it is:

-The instructions on how to actually use the Zen are lacking. It is basically figure it out on your own. Now the software is easy enough, but I had the hardest time trying to make playlists.

-The earphones are a little big. If you have small ears they definately will not fit. I always thought I had big ears until I put the earphones in. They barely stay in.

Those are the only complaints. The sound is great. The size is great. (about the size of a flip phone) And it comes with bonus stuff like extra battery, stand, charger, carrying case, belt clip. If you want an iPod but are worried about it being an Apple, get the Zen, no questions.

Rating:
Summary: Loves It!
Review: I just got my Zen Micro yesterday and I'm very impressed. Inserted the battery and plugged in the charger and I was listening to the FM tuner within minutes.

When I got home from work I went through the installation process which was trouble free. Installed the software and upgraded the firmware from the Creative site, which I have read is a must if you want to use Windows Media Player 10 to synch instead of using the Creative software.

This is my first MP3 player, so I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of uploading files. I uploaded almost 1,500 songs in a little over an hour which I thought was pretty fast. I have a fairly new computer (P4 2.3GHz with USB 2), so I'm guessing that's why it was faster than I expected.

The only hitch was that some of the songs didn't make it to the player and it did hang up 2x during the upload process. When that happened I had to disconnect the player, close WMP and start again. Still I was able to synch all but about 12 of the songs I have ripped to my computer.

I can understand how some Ipod enthusiasts wouldn't like the Zen Micro because it's UI is different. I have friends who own Ipods and the wheel is very cool on them. I think that unless you are really attached to that interface you will not have a problem with navigation on the Micro.

As for the vertical touch pad which I know some people have had complaints about, I have mine still set on the medium setting. I think it's a matter of preference and just takes a little getting used to.

Rating:
Summary: my locked up on me
Review: i just got one for christmas and i downloaded all the software. it was working fine for a couple hours and then all of a sudden it froze on me. i took the battery out to restart it and now the thing will not even turn on. has any one had this problem and if so could you help me.

Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: Im thinking of getting the Zen Micro.I have search for a while for the right mp3 and this seems to be the one! It looks very good and seems like it'll work very well. I personally think its better than the i pod. My favorite things are the vertical touch pad and the changable battery.!!
Thank you for making this MP3!!!!!
-Mevis

Rating:
Summary: Good Buy
Review: Not a review, I'll update when I get it, but these are the points that sold me:
- Calendar that can synch with MS Office (contrary to other posts, the micro does have this functionality and it is actually better than the mini's functionality so long as you have Outlook)
- Removable battery (iPod and Rio Carbon fall short)
- More Space than iPod Mini
- FM Radio Tuner
- Not stuck with iTunes (I buy all my CDs, I like to listen to a whole album)
- Looks Nice, seems to have a good interface
- Bundeled with good software
- Best audio quality on the market for comperable players
- Creative's history in audio
- My past experience with Creative
- Did I mention the removable battery? That's huge!
- Also much better battery life than the iPod Mini. On par with the Carbon
- Voice/Radio recording a +, but not a big one for me

Rating:
Summary: Zen Micro - New User: Pluses and Minuses
Review: Owned 2 about 2 weeks. Bought at Fry's 1st wanted IPod mini but FM tuner, better sound specs, extra storage, free user changeable battery and better projected battery life convinced me to buy Zen. Wanted them to take to gym FM tuner was big plus bk the gym has tv's with assigned fm frequencies, nice to listen to/watch tv while on treadmill. Turned out to be a dud. FM reception, at least within the gym for frequencies assigned to TVs is marginal to unlistenable. Better headphones help, but do not resolve this problem. Also, turns out deep in PDF manual (that you don't see till after you buy) says you shouldn't use these while jogging, it could damage the unit. When we went to Fry's a Creativerep was there,we told him why we wanted these instead of the IPods, to listen to the fm for TV's while jogging and also asked if armband carriers were available for them. He said the armbands were included in the box, and that the FM's were great and that was a good idea.
When we emailed Creative their response was: Maybe he misunderstood you, and yeah, "other headphonse might help the fm reception, no apology, no suggestion as to where to get the armbands, no suggestions as to which "other" headphones. Also, the touchscreens are kinda tricky and everytime you pick one up you change the station or restatrt the song. Pluses, so far no operations issues, at least for us, sound good and they do at least HAVE an FM tuner, software is good, and I"m getting better with the touchscreen. (also I found an armband carrier, got it at the Apple store, aftermarket model for IPod Mini)


Rating:
Summary: Excellent MP3 Player-- Be sure to UPGRADE FIRMWARE.
Review: Several reviewers have written comments about the sensitivity of the touchscreen on the Zen Micro, and I had the same feelings about it when I first used the player. Then I read on either Gizmodo or Engadget about a firmware upgrade that addresses this issue. It is available on the Creative website, under "Support". This firmware upgrade (version 1.01.03)also helps with battery life when you plug the charger into the wall before you connect it to the player. Of course it would be nice if the player came preloaded with the best firmware, but at least Creative was quick in getting this update out, and it was very easy to download and install.

If you still have trouble with the touchpad after upgrading the firmware, try changing the touchpad sensitivity setting to low instead of medium (or try high...some people have said that they've had luck changing it to high, oddly enough)

I bought the Zen Micro for my wife, but then ended up "borrowing" it so much she bought one for me! Both of our's came with two batteries, which was a nice bonus, but I'm not sure if all of the packages that Amazon sells will be the "limited edition" ones that come with an extra battery.

UPDATE: Creative just added yet another firmware upgrade. This one adds Microsoft "PlaysForSure" support, which will be useful for subscription services like Napster, where instead of buying individual songs or albums, you pay a monthly fee in exchange for access to 700,000 songs. These services have previously been limited to the computer, but now with Microsoft's DRM (digital rights management) software, you'll actually be able to sync those songs onto your player and tote them along with you, so long as you continue to subscribe to the service. (I'm still not won over by this idea, which feels like just another way to cut a hole in my pockets so I drip money month after month, but if you are REALLY into music, and if the price is right, then it could be a very cool feature.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this player.

Rating:
Summary: Completely unusable
Review: The touch pad control for the Zen Micro is completely unusable. I tried the various sensitivity settings and it didn't make any difference. Creative's support line people suggested firmware upgrades but that didn't make any difference. I'm sending it back! I've used touch pads before on laptop computers without any problem.