Creative Zen

The Zen is Creative's answer to the iPod Nano featuring a bigger display and larger maximum storage capacity. As of April, 2008, new versions were introduced ranging in capacity from 2GB to 32GB. One of the Zen's strongest features is its strong format support, providing compatibility with most popular audio and video formats removing the need for long conversion processes. The storage of all models can be further increased through the integrated expansion slot that supports the SDHC cards that can add up to 32GB more space.

Creative Zen
MSRP $199.00
Release date September, 2007
Brand Creative
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Pros & Cons

ProSCORE
19 reviews
69
negative
mixed
positive
13 positive
6 mixed
0 negative

[i] How is the ProSCORE calculated?

show me!

Pros:
Do you agree?
•
Large and clear screen
+14agreedisagree

•
Thin and light
+13agreedisagree

•
Great audio quality
+13agreedisagree

•
Expandable SD slot is very useful
+11agreedisagree

•
Supports SDHC rather than just SD cards
+8agreedisagree

•
Good value
+8agreedisagree

•
Actually has buttons instead of a scroll wheel.
+7agreedisagree

•
Fantastic format support, especially for video
+5agreedisagree

•
Good battery life
+5agreedisagree

•
First flash player available in 32GB
+4agreedisagree

Cons:
Do you agree?
•
Plastic screen scratches very easily
+6agreedisagree

•
Only Plays video encoded at 320x240 resolution.
+4agreedisagree

•
No TV Out.
+4agreedisagree

•
Not able to read text files. No Lyrics support for Songs like iPod.
+4agreedisagree

•
SD slot doesn't integrate well with player
+3agreedisagree

•
Weak amplifier output (40mW)
+3agreedisagree

•
Screen stays on forever unless the player is locked
+2agreedisagree

•
White Screen Of Death (WSOD) on smaller capacity players (4GB & 8GB)
+2agreedisagree

•
Incompatible with OSX
0agreedisagree

•
Interface isn't as nice as the Nano's
-3agreedisagree

•
Slow interface
-3agreedisagree


19 people added to this review by submitting or voting on pros and cons. Add your say!
See individual votes »

Details

Versions (Updated April, 2008)

  • 2GB - $79
  • 4GB - $99
  • 8GB - $129
  • 16GB - $199
  • 32GB - $299

Features

  • 2.5" display with 16.7 million colors and 320x240 resolution
  • SD card slot with support for SDHC
  • FM tuner
  • Integrated voice recorder
  • Audio formats: MP3, WMA (and WMA-DRM), AAC (unprotected iTunes Plus tracks) and Audible
  • Video formats: WMV, Divx, Xvid, MJPEG, and TIVO to Go
  • Battery Life: 25 hours of Audio, 5 hours for Video
  • Dimensions: 55 x 83 x 11.3mm (65g)

The Zen's screen is the same size and resolution as the iPod Classic's housed in a body that is similarly sized to the Nano, or a credit card as its marketed. Compared to Creative's previous offerings, the biggest change is the increase to 16.7 million colors which is substantially better than earlier screens.

Similar to other non-iPod players the Zen syncs with all the popular media software, and can be used as a mass storage device. The Zen also syncs with Microsoft Outlook and displays meetings and appointments on its included calendar application.

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This report was started September 26, 2007 at 1:33 pm by Omar
with the last edit occurring Friday, 3:14 PM by Adam Phillip Hirst
This page has been viewed 5544 times, with 271 edits by 31 contributors.
See the full report history »

Competitors

Creative Zen is ranked 2nd among it's competitors.  See the top picks in MP3 Players »
Apple iPod Video 30GB 5th Gen

Apple iPod Video 30GB 5th Gen

MSRP  $299.00    Released  September, 2005
Pros
  • Enormous pool of accessories available
  • Sharp high-resolution screen clear enough to read subtitles
  • Seamless integration with iTunes
Cons
  • Body scuffs easily
  • No custom EQ
  • Not a lot of space for videos, especially compared to newer 80GB and 120GB models.
ProSCORE
11 reviews
62
Vote! (2 votes)
vote Creative Zen 50% vs. vote Apple iPod Video 30GB 5th Gen 50%
Apple iPod Nano 3rd Gen

Apple iPod Nano 3rd Gen

MSRP  $199.00    Released  September, 2007
Pros
  • Ridiculously thin
  • Now plays video with a high quality screen
  • Feels just right in your hand.
Cons
  • Battery still not user replaceable.
  • The backside is very easily scratched.
  • More expensive than competitors with similar features
ProSCORE
40 reviews
60
Vote! (15 votes)
vote Creative Zen 53% vs. vote Apple iPod Nano 3rd Gen 47%
Apple iPod Touch 1st Gen

Apple iPod Touch 1st Gen

MSRP  $499.00    Released  September, 2007
Pros
  • WiFi access with Web browsing using Safari
  • Amazing multi-Touch interface
  • Accelerometer detects horizontal or vertical position and adjusts display accordingly
Cons
  • Limited codec support
  • No USB mass storage mode (disk mode) so it can't be used to move data around.
  • Small capacities - 8GB or 16GB
ProSCORE
68 reviews
48
Vote! (20 votes)
vote Creative Zen 55% vs. vote Apple iPod Touch 1st Gen 45%
SanDisk Sansa Fuze

SanDisk Sansa Fuze

MSRP  $129.99    Released  April, 2008
Pros
  • Excellent sound quality
  • Nice design
  • Built in voice recorder
Cons
  • Video playback is weak
  • Slow responsiveness when skipping tracks
  • Limited accessories
ProSCORE
9 reviews
72
Vote! (5 votes)
vote Creative Zen 60% vs. vote SanDisk Sansa Fuze 40%
SanDisk Sansa View

SanDisk Sansa View

MSRP  $149.00    Released  October, 2007
Pros
  • Great GB/$ ratio
  • MicroSD/SDHC expansion slot
  • Large screen size without being bulky
Cons
  • No DivX support
  • No way to cycle quickly through long song lists.
  • Unable to create/edit playlists away from PC
ProSCORE
37 reviews
69
Vote! (12 votes)
vote Creative Zen 67% vs. vote SanDisk Sansa View 33%
Haier Rhapsody Ibiza

Haier Rhapsody Ibiza

MSRP  $299.00    Released  December, 2007
Pros
  • Lots of features
  • Stereo bluetooth streaming works well
Cons
  • Small screen size
  • Audio quality could be better
  • No EQ enhancement options
ProSCORE
2 reviews
33
Vote! (7 votes)
vote Creative Zen 71% vs. vote Haier Rhapsody Ibiza 29%
Cowon iAudio D2

Cowon iAudio D2

MSRP  $140.00    Released  --
Pros
  • FLAC Support
  • SD/SDHC support with full integration
  • Battery Life
Cons
  • Very sensitive about mp3-tags
  • Fiddly to operate
  • No true line out
ProSCORE
8 reviews
79
Vote! (5 votes)
vote Creative Zen 80% vs. vote Cowon iAudio D2 20%
Microsoft Zune 8

Microsoft Zune 8

MSRP  $199.00    Released  November, 2007

Newly introduced with the 2007 lineup of Zunes are the Zune 8 and Zune 4, flash based players that house all the same features as the Zune 80 in a smaller size. The smaller players support all the same media formats, and contain the same WiFi sharing capabilities and syncing. The screen itself has...

ProSCORE
0 reviews
N/A
Vote! (11 votes)
vote Creative Zen 82% vs. vote Microsoft Zune 8 18%
Sony NWZ-A820

Sony NWZ-A820

MSRP  $319.99    Released  April, 2008
Pros
  • Earbuds are excellent quality
  • Long battery life
  • Bluetooth connectivity
Cons
  • No web browser
  • Small screen
  • Not a touch screen
ProSCORE
5 reviews
45
Vote! (6 votes)
vote Creative Zen 83% vs. vote Sony NWZ-A820 17%
Haier America Rhapsody Ibiza Mini

Haier America Rhapsody Ibiza Mini

MSRP  --    Released  January, 2009
Pros
  • good capacities - starting from 8GB
  • WiFi enabled
  • good video format support
Cons
  • no touchscreen
  • no OGG/FLAC format support
  • limited battery life
ProSCORE
1 review
50
Vote! (1 vote)
vote Creative Zen 100% vs. vote Haier America Rhapsody Ibiza Mini 0%

Suggest a new competitor to add to the list of competing products.
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Comments

11 taps
1.  avatar Amanie said:

The 2 & 4GB versions are an amazing price for the feature set, especially considering you can use an SD card to get the capacity up.

Apr 29, 2008 5:32pm
2.  avatar btmash said:

First, the not so good:

However, you are out of luck if you're using a non-windows machine (OS X support is kinda there though not really) - An apple product is your best bet for multi-OS usage.

The button format for navigating through the structure is also a bit cumbersome (especially when you want to go to certain parts of a video file) - the buttons seem fairly loud. Making the button clicks a little quieter would go a long way.

With that out of the way, it is quite amazing..
1) The FM radio is quite good - it has improved by a lot since first trying it on the zen micro
2) The microphone has also improved - the recording is crystal clear and you no longer need to have the person with the mic right underneath their mouth to get a decent recording.
3) Sound quality is still fantastic.
4) The design is sleek and the screen is fairly decent size - watching tv shows while on the go doesn't feel like a chore.
5) Battery life is excellent and startup time is also very good (a fully turned off ipod took a fairly long time to start back up - this one takes about 5 seconds in total).

The positives far outweigh the negatives (because I have a windows machine) and I'm very happy with it.
May 20, 2008 3:50pm
3.  avatar Timmmm said:

You can use it with linux. E.g. Amarok supports MTP devices.

Other points not really mentioned here:

* The files on your memory card do not become part of your library. The only way to play them is to browse the disk structure. Also while playing the files from the SD card you can't do anything else (you can with files in internal memory).
* You can only import everything or nothing from the memory card to internal memory. Not critical but an annoying limitation.
* The screen stays on (i.e. you can't get it to automatically turn off after a certain amount of time) unless you lock the player. This is pretty annoying, for example if you have the player on your desk where there is no chance of accidentally pressing keys you have to lock it otherwise the backlight quickly (well quicker...ly anyway) uses up your battery life.
Aug 12, 2008 1:26pm
4.  avatar Timmmm said:

Having said that, the screen is big and clear. The interface is not amazing but not bad either. The sound quality is very good (iPod touch gave me headaches for some reason) and it is cheap! And an SDHC card slot is definitely no bad thing. If only it acted like an add-on to internal memory.
Aug 12, 2008 1:27pm
5.  avatar Timmmm said:

Just to reiterate two of the main flaws:

* The screen really does scratch very easily! It is as soft or probably softer than CD jewel cases. Far from the iPod Touch's glass screen.

* The SD card integration is very disappointing. You can only browse by directory structure, not artist/album. When playing music if you leave the 'Now Playing' screen the music will stop.
Aug 19, 2008 5:21am
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Reviews

Sort by: Most helpful  •  Newest  •  Most positive

Blade

avatar
March 1, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
73
negative
mixed
positive
8 pros
3 cons
trustedtrusted
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Large and clear screen
  • Thin and light
  • Great audio quality
  • Expandable SD slot is very useful
  • Supports SDHC rather than just SD cards
  • Good value
  • Actually has buttons instead of a scroll wheel.
  • First flash player available in 32GB

Cons

  • Weak amplifier output (40mW)
  • Screen stays on forever unless the player is locked
  • White Screen Of Death (WSOD) on smaller capacity players (4GB & 8GB)

Did you find this review helpful? Yes  /  No

Punter

avatar
March 22, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
50
negative
mixed
positive
4 pros
4 cons
trustedtrusted
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Thin and light
  • Supports SDHC rather than just SD cards
  • Good value
  • Actually has buttons instead of a scroll wheel.

Cons

  • Only Plays video encoded at 320x240 resolution.
  • No TV Out.
  • Not able to read text files. No Lyrics support for Songs like iPod.
  • SD slot doesn't integrate well with player

Did you find this review helpful? Yes  /  No

Timmmm

avatar
August 12, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
64
negative
mixed
positive
7 pros
4 cons
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Large and clear screen
  • Thin and light
  • Great audio quality
  • Expandable SD slot is very useful
  • Supports SDHC rather than just SD cards
  • Good value
  • Good battery life

Cons

  • Plastic screen scratches very easily
  • SD slot doesn't integrate well with player
  • Screen stays on forever unless the player is locked
  • Interface isn't as nice as the Nano's

Comments

"You can use it with linux. E.g. Amarok supports MTP devices.

Other points not really mentioned here:

* The files on your memory card do not become part of your library. The only way to play them is to browse the disk structure. Also while playing the files from the SD card you can't do anything else (you can with files in internal memory).
* You can only import everything or nothing from the memory card to internal memory. Not critical but an annoying limitation.
* The screen stays on (i.e. you can't get it to automatically turn off after a certain amount of time) unless you lock the player. This is pretty annoying, for example if you have the player on your desk where there is no chance of accidentally pressing keys you have to lock it otherwise the backlight quickly (well quicker...ly anyway) uses up your battery life."
"Having said that, the screen is big and clear. The interface is not amazing but not bad either. The sound quality is very good (iPod touch gave me headaches for some reason) and it is cheap! And an SDHC card slot is definitely no bad thing. If only it acted like an add-on to internal memory."
"Just to reiterate two of the main flaws:

* The screen really does scratch very easily! It is as soft or probably softer than CD jewel cases. Far from the iPod Touch's glass screen.

* The SD card integration is very disappointing. You can only browse by directory structure, not artist/album. When playing music if you leave the 'Now Playing' screen the music will stop."

Competitors

Did you find this review helpful? Yes  /  No

btmash

avatar
November 27, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
71
negative
mixed
positive
5 pros
2 cons
love itlove it
have ithave it
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Large and clear screen
  • Thin and light
  • Great audio quality
  • Expandable SD slot is very useful
  • Fantastic format support, especially for video

Cons

  • Incompatible with OSX
  • Slow interface

Comments

"First, the not so good:

However, you are out of luck if you're using a non-windows machine (OS X support is kinda there though not really) - An apple product is your best bet for multi-OS usage.

The button format for navigating through the structure is also a bit cumbersome (especially when you want to go to certain parts of a video file) - the buttons seem fairly loud. Making the button clicks a little quieter would go a long way.

With that out of the way, it is quite amazing..
1) The FM radio is quite good - it has improved by a lot since first trying it on the zen micro
2) The microphone has also improved - the recording is crystal clear and you no longer need to have the person with the mic right underneath their mouth to get a decent recording.
3) Sound quality is still fantastic.
4) The design is sleek and the screen is fairly decent size - watching tv shows while on the go doesn't feel like a chore.
5) Battery life is excellent and startup time is also very good (a fully turned off ipod took a fairly long time to start back up - this one takes about 5 seconds in total).

The positives far outweigh the negatives (because I have a windows machine) and I'm very happy with it."
Did you find this review helpful? Yes  /  No

Omar

avatar
December 2, 2007
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
67
negative
mixed
positive
4 pros
2 cons
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Large and clear screen
  • Thin and light
  • Expandable SD slot is very useful
  • Fantastic format support, especially for video

Cons

  • Interface isn't as nice as the Nano's
  • Slow interface

Competitors

Omar prefers Apple iPod Touch 1st Gen, SanDisk Sansa View over Creative Zen
Did you find this review helpful? Yes  /  No

Adam Phillip Hirst

avatar
Friday, 3:14 PM
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
56
negative
mixed
positive
10 pros
8 cons

Pros

  • Large and clear screen
  • Thin and light
  • Great audio quality
  • Expandable SD slot is very useful
  • Supports SDHC rather than just SD cards
  • Good value
  • Actually has buttons instead of a scroll wheel.
  • Fantastic format support, especially for video
  • Good battery life
  • First flash player available in 32GB

Cons

  • Plastic screen scratches very easily
  • Only Plays video encoded at 320x240 resolution.
  • No TV Out.
  • Not able to read text files. No Lyrics support for Songs like iPod.
  • SD slot doesn't integrate well with player
  • Weak amplifier output (40mW)
  • Screen stays on forever unless the player is locked
  • White Screen Of Death (WSOD) on smaller capacity players (4GB & 8GB)

Did you find this review helpful? Yes  /  No

justafire

avatar
May 20, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
50
negative
mixed
positive
9 pros
9 cons

Pros

  • Large and clear screen
  • Thin and light
  • Great audio quality
  • Expandable SD slot is very useful
  • Supports SDHC rather than just SD cards
  • Actually has buttons instead of a scroll wheel.
  • Fantastic format support, especially for video
  • Good battery life
  • First flash player available in 32GB

Cons

  • Plastic screen scratches very easily
  • Only Plays video encoded at 320x240 resolution.
  • No TV Out.
  • Not able to read text files. No Lyrics support for Songs like iPod.
  • SD slot doesn't integrate well with player
  • Weak amplifier output (40mW)
  • White Screen Of Death (WSOD) on smaller capacity players (4GB & 8GB)
  • Interface isn't as nice as the Nano's
  • Slow interface

Did you find this review helpful? Yes  /  No

Micha Fugitt

avatar
May 22, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
54
negative
mixed
positive
7 pros
6 cons
have ithave it

Pros

  • Large and clear screen
  • Thin and light
  • Great audio quality
  • Good value
  • Actually has buttons instead of a scroll wheel.
  • Fantastic format support, especially for video
  • Good battery life

Cons

  • Plastic screen scratches very easily
  • Only Plays video encoded at 320x240 resolution.
  • No TV Out.
  • Not able to read text files. No Lyrics support for Songs like iPod.
  • Weak amplifier output (40mW)
  • Screen stays on forever unless the player is locked

Competitors

Did you find this review helpful? Yes  /  No

Marcello T. Magdaleno

avatar
May 5, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
10 pros
0 cons
love itlove it
have ithave it

Pros

  • Large and clear screen
  • Thin and light
  • Great audio quality
  • Expandable SD slot is very useful
  • Supports SDHC rather than just SD cards
  • Good value
  • Actually has buttons instead of a scroll wheel.
  • Fantastic format support, especially for video
  • Good battery life
  • First flash player available in 32GB

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Did you find this review helpful? Yes  /  No

domonchoo

avatar
May 24, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
8 pros
0 cons
have ithave it
love itlove it

Pros

  • Large and clear screen
  • Thin and light
  • Great audio quality
  • Expandable SD slot is very useful
  • Supports SDHC rather than just SD cards
  • Good value
  • Actually has buttons instead of a scroll wheel.
  • Good battery life

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Did you find this review helpful? Yes  /  No
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