Wait For Better Technology!
Written: Mar 08 '01
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Pros: good sound, compact
Cons: 8 character filenames, no win2k support, additional software problems, no clip, battery life
The Bottom Line: I strongly urge you to wait until better technology comes out. Creative Labs did not do a good job with the software that comes with the Nomad 64.
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| gd134's Full Review: Creative Technology Nomad Jukebox (32 MB) MP3 Play... |
I bought the Nomad 64 because I wanted a compact player that had good sound. However, I did not anticipate that I would have software problems. Plain and simple, the software for the Nomad sucks! The following is a detailed description of a few good features that come along with this product, along with the many problem that I experienced:
Pros:
Good Sound -
The Nomad 64 has really great sound that is even with CD quality. However, the headphone that come with each player is awful. I strongly urge you to buy a good pair of SONY headphones if you intend on buying this product.
Compact -
A great feature about this player is its small size. The fact that it is compact and not heavy is a huge convenience.
Cons:
8 Character Filenames -
Most MP3 fans use long filenames for the their music that include the artist and the title. Unfortunately, the Nomad's software truncates these names into eight characters. I hate this because it makes it so difficult to find the music you want to play. Also, the software doesn't seem to reliably use the MP3 track information from my computer so I have spent a lot of time renaming songs.
Additional Software Problems -
The software that comes with this player has been nothing but trouble. First, it won't connect to a docking station/player unless you press a button on the player to turn it on. If you don't do something for about a minute - the player goes idle and you get connection errors, and you have to press a button again in order to reconnect. This is such a pain in the butt! Also, the software won't play a song you are browsing so you have to separately run your computer's mp3 program to check out the music you want to load.
No WIN2K Support -
I was really disappointed when I found out that Creative Labs is not going to release the nomad manager for Windows 2000. Now I have to look for another HDD, strap it on my PC, install and boot up using Windows 98 in order to load new music. I am really annoyed that creative is not ever going to release the necessary drivers.
No Clip -
Very often, I want to use my player for physical activities. Even though it is great that the player is lite and compact, the fact that there is no clip makes it very hard to use in the gym. Also, when I work out, the unit seems to be really sensitive. Sometimes if I touch it with something metallic it crashes. In the gym, touching a free weight to the pocket of my pants is all it takes.
Short battery life -
In addition, the battery life of this machine is about five hours. This is very short for a player that uses two triple-A batteries.
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Conclusion:
I cannot recommend this product because of its numerous software problems. The actual player, itself, is very durable and sounds great. Nevertheless, I think Creative Labs should have payed more attention to the Nomad's software before releasing this product.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 249
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Epinions.com ID:
gd134
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Location: Ithaca, NY
Reviews written: 17
Trusted by: 25 members
About Me:
I love electronics, so read my reviews. I also enjoy reading other people's reviews!
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