Great alternative to iPod and $100 cheaper! But it's PC vs. Mac revisited!
Written: Jun 11 '03
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Pros: Sound quality
PC3 rip is well designed
20Gb storage
PC3 software has good performance
Cons: Nomad Zen inefficient click and scrollthru interface
needs to be more Mac-like.
The Bottom Line: I highly recommend the Zen for anyone who needs a great alternative to CD, tape and car stereo audiophile equipment and for only $250 it won't break the bank.
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| ivansinger's Full Review: Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox Zen (20 GB) MP3 Player |
Have had the Zen for a week and here are my thoughts:
1) People have written that the Zen will change your life. It will. But not necessarily for the better. However, the plusses far outweigh the minusses. I find myself walking more with it and even driving with it (illegal in my state)around town. I just find that the isolation of headphone use is a strange and somewhat uncomfortable world. Still, if I can go from Soundgarden to Yes in just a few button clicks, that's my perogative and it beats having to hum my favorite songs out of tune.
2) Size, weight and durability (in its leather case) are excellent. Headphone jack and USB 2.0 layout is well thought out but button placement is sub-optimal and functions are fixed and too limited. Scroll-click wheel is a necessity, but the list type interface can require you to dial the wheel through large lists, which seems pointless. If the button functions could be programmable, it would improve things greatly.
3) Zen interface seems like it was designed for someone else's needs, as if the designers thought "How would someone else use this product?". The end result is that I feel that operating the Zen feels impersonal; the way that people used to describe the impersonal power and control of an IBM PC (read Zen) compared to the fuzzy logic and comfortable warmth of the Mac (iPod).
4) Playcenter 3 Software is easy to use and fast transfers are possible, just have not found it to be truly as flexible as windows explorer, nor as user friendly. Common messages that say (when the Zen is connected, and the Nomad detector applet knows it) that the "Zen Nomad is either busy or not attached. Wait a while until its ready" is neither informative nor comforting, esp. when what really needs to happen is that you need to reset the Nomad from boot menu.
5) Sound quality is unbelievable. S/N ratio of 96 d/b is a real treat for a portable and CD quality audio spectrum makes a big difference compared to the portable CD players and tape players of the last 15 years.
6) For just over $200, I can't imagine having 20 GB of storage in a portable just larger than a deck of cards, let alone sound and features that actually work!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 230
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Epinions.com ID:
ivansinger
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Reviews written: 10
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