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Creative Zen

83

Very Good

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7 User Reviews | add yours »

Pros
Feature-heavy
SD card slot for instant memory upgrades
Cons
One-handed operation a little tricky
Skimps on bundled accessories

$165.99 - $319.20
From 16 Merchants

Pricing: Very Expensive: $250 (9/9/2008)
Performance: Very Good: 85
Features: Good: 78
Design: Superior: 90

Find out how these four scores, and their relative weights, combine to produce the PC World Rating.

Pricing

Very Expensive: $250

Performance

Very Good: 85

PC World Tests
Maximum Usable Output Level, Average (dBV)	-5.3
Total Harmonic Distortion and Noise, Average (%)	0.01
Signal-to-Noise Ratio, Average (dB)	77
Crosstalk, Average (dB)	-59
Frequency Response Deviation, Average (dB)	4

Features

Good: 78

Capacity
Built-in Capacity	32GB
SD card	Yes
mini SD	Yes
micro SD	Yes
Memory Stick Micro	No
Compact Flash	No
Smart Media	No
xD Picture Card	No
Memory Stick	No

Battery
Replaceable Battery	No
Hours of Play (Per vendor)	30

Screen
Screen Size (inches)	2.5
Screen Resolution	320 by 240
ScreenType	Color

Size
Dimensions (inches)	3.26 by 2.16 by 0.44
Weight (oz.)	2.1

Connections
Line Out	No
Firewire	No
Headphone output	Yes
Microphone input	No
USB	Yes
Video Output	No
USB Host Adapter	No

Playback
Signal to Noise Ratio (dB)	95

Audio Formats
AAC	Yes
AIFF	No
Apple Lossless	No
ASF	No
Audible	Yes
FLAC	No
MP3	Yes
MPEG4	Yes
OGG	No
WAV	Yes
WMA	Yes
WMA Lossless	No
Equalizer Settings	8
Voice Recording	Voice Recorder:Yes

Radio
FM tuner	Yes
FM Recording	No
Presets	32

Online Music Compatibility
Itunes	Yes
Rhapsody	Yes
Napster	Yes
Sony	No
Yahoo	Yes
Other	Amazon or Walmart

Online Subscription Compatibility
Plays For Sure	Yes

Video Formats
Video Support	Video:Yes
H 264	No
MPEG4	Yes
MPEG2	No
MPEG1	No
DivX4	Yes
DivX5	Yes
WMV	Yes
Motion JPEG	Yes
XviD	Yes

Photo Formats
Photo Support	Photo:Yes
JPG	Yes
BMP	No
PNG	No
GIF	No

Hardware List
USB cable	Yes
Firewire cable	No
Dock	No
AC Adapter	No
Case	No
Remote Control	No
Other Hardware	Earphones

Other
Included Software	ZEN Media Explorer

Warranty & Support
Labor Warranty (years)	90-day
Parts Warranty (years)	One
Weekday Support (hours)	9
Saturday Support (hours)	0
Sunday Support (hours)	0
Other Service	Free e-mail support for the duration of the warranty
Toll-Free Support	No

Reliability & Service
Summary of results for all of brand's products in this category	A veteran of the MP3 wars, Creative received average grades everywhere except on ease of use, where readers rated it below average. Note, though, that seven other MP3 vendors also received subpar scores on ease of use.

Reliability of brand's products in this category
Reports of product arriving with problems	Average
Reports of products with any significant problems	Average
Reports of problems that render a product unusable	Average
Buyers' rating of product's	Worse than Average
Overall satisfaction with reliability of brand's products in category	Average

Design

Superior: 90

Creative Zen Flash-Based MP3 Player Review

by Darren Gladstone

- Creative's superslim Zen has a gorgeous 320-by-240-pixel color display, an FM tuner, a built-in microphone, robust video- and photo-viewing capabilities, and the ability to import contact management information--and oh, yeah, it plays music.

Read Complete Review »

User Reviews for Creative Zen

Reviewed by: brw117

Duration of ownership: 2 Days

Strengths: Interface, setup, SD capability

Weaknesses: BIGGEST - Radio Reception!!!!- THIS was SO BAD I actually just took it back to the store. The headphones are the antenna and reception is great when it's only the MAJOR MAJOR local radio stations. Which is about 5% of radio stations. Otherwise it's FULL of static SD ability does not properly integrate with the search or play-list capability.

Overall Evaluation: I really liked it but I wanted the Radio capability to work better. I think on the next version they'll hopefully improve that and we can get a FULL SUPERIOR creative piece of equipment!!!
Reviewed by: mambo66

Duration of ownership: 6 Months

Strengths: great large display. I know it only does 320x240 but let's face it, you are probably not going to watch it right in front of your eyes 3 inches away. compare to a nano video, it's much easier on the eye and consider that you have to hold it up when you are watching it, it's much easier to hold than other players. Over all, easy on the eye and slim to place in your pockets.

Weaknesses: Unlike most other reviewers, I own this unit now for 6 months. At the 4 months mark the player battery stops charging. I also use this player mostly for video and on several occasions the video managed to crash the software forcing me to reboot by pressing the reset button at the bottom of the player. I purchase the unit right after Christmas so I don't know if it's because it's so new they haven't optimize the hardware yet, since I did do a firmware update right after my first crash. I sent it back to creative to get it fixed but had to pay for shipping and the replaced unit seem to actually respond much faster. I haven't crash the unit since then. I also wish that I didn't have to convert so many clips though, it took a lot of time to but since every other player does anyway, there's no complaining here.

Overall Evaluation: Great valude, good performance, just not the most stable unit however. Creative, work out the bugs please and put a back stand on this unit so I don't have to hold it up trying to watch a movie.