Great Value, Great Product
Written: Jun 02 '00 (Updated Jun 05 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Features, features, features at Low Low Price
Cons: No USB, No CODEC updating
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| lenerator's Full Review: Creative Technology Nomad Jukebox (32 MB) MP3 Play... |
I have been in the hunt for an mp3 player ever since I caught wind of Diamond Multimedia's battle with the RIAA to release the original Rio (PMP300) player a couple years ago. As all the new players have come out, and the economies of scale have kicked, in I caved in and decided to get a player with the condition that it have a voice recorder because I am returning to school later this year and want to be able to record lectures and archive them at home (you have to love digital!).
So I hit various shopping comparison sites as well as epinions and online publications and arrived at a choice between the Samsung Yepp (64MB) and the Nomad 64MB. Both are currently under $200 for 64MB which to me seems like a good deal since a 32MB smart card goes for ~$75 right now. I chose the NOMAD because of the features it packed into such a reasonable low price.
Some highlights of why I chose the NOMAD (over the Samsung and others):
-64MB capacity
-Magnesium Case (Perceived to be more durable, don't know yet if it's true)
-FM Tuner: Good to have another option than the same mp3's on a trip. Also good for news, sports, etc.
-Rechargeable Batteries Included: 2xAAA NiMH batteries which should have no "memory" problems like NiCads have (ie, you don't have to fully discharge and recharge every time, just recharge in whatever state the batteries are in)
-Voice Recording: Very handy, especially those of you in school or to record meetings (or conversations--so small, you can hide it!)
-Docking Station: Though I already have a docking station for my PalmPilot, this is convenient for attaching to the computer and recharging. The only caveat is that the manual says to never insert unit into the docking station with non-rechargeable batteries, so it makes you wonder why there is no provision to ensure this does not happen.
That said, I have been using the NOMAD for a week, and here is my experience:
Out-Of-Box Experience: I received the NOMAD overnighted and took it home on my lunch hour to try it out. The box came neatly organized with everything inside including the player, docking station, 2xNiMH AAA rechargeable batteries, 32MB Smart Media flash memory card, earbud headphones, AC wall wart adapter, docking station, parallel cable, a quick start guide, manual, warranty (1-year), installation CD, and Content CD. It took me 2 minutes to install everything and start the player charging, though the batteries were about fully charged already. The software installed on my Win98 machine with no glitches. My specific setup uses the pass through parallel port on an external ZIP drive so as long as I am not accessing my ZIP, there is no problem whatsoever. My first reaction was that the NOMAD simply looks cool as the industrial design begs you to start using it and handling it. It is tiny, as small a player I have seen and smaller than either Rio. The magnesium case provides a solid feel, and the texture makes it a pleasure to hold. I wish it had a clip attachment or at least a leash for holding it somehow since most of my shirts don't have a pocket. I guess I can pick up a case for it somewhere. It comes with a leatherette drawstring pouch, but this is not made for using the player inside, more for toting around in your bag.
Downloading to Player: There are several ways to do this, each of which is relatively painless. The NOMAD manager is a slick looking program which shows you the contents of the player and has a file transfer tool to swap files from computer to player or vice versa. You can also filter to see voice files or mp3 files and on the internal or removeable flash memory. Personally, I keep the Windows explorer open in another window and select the files I want to transfer and simply drag them into the manager window and voila, I'm downloading to the NOMAD. Downloading seems to average ~8 seconds per MB so to fully load up it will take you several minutes, but that doesn't bother me because I can do other things on the computer in the meantime. The player MUST BE ON, however, for this to work, unlike the PalmPilot which senses a HotSync and turns itself on. There are also programs for viewing both the internal and removeable memory cards as folders or in your windows explorer. For straight up mp3 file transfer, this is simple and straightforward and displays the remaining file space on the memory card.
Player performance: The player comes with one demo soundtrack installed showing off the audio capabilities which was pretty impressive. After easily erasing that file, I went on to listen to my newly loaded songs. Though as you scroll from song to song, it shows only a truncated version of the filename in DOS format (eg, PearlJ~1, FooFig~1), once the song starts playing, the mp3 tag info scrolls across (song name-artist-song length)one time before reverting to time elapsed in the song. Also displayed are the battery level (3-level bar meter), and repeat mode-if any, removeable memory inserted indicator. EQ (choice of Rock-Classic-Jazz-Normal) is available only on mp3's (not radio), and offers slight changes in bass/treble levels. The player can also scan thru a song or skip, depending on whether or not you hold down the ff/rw button or tap it. The headphones are not worth using, so I use either higher quality Sony earbuds, or a nicer set of monitoring headphones, both of which reveal that this little guy can play! The sound quality is great as long as you record in higher bit rates. But songs I had in 64kbs were still sounding fine. The FM tuner picked up most of the stations in my area, and while not as sensitive as my car stereo, it is a feature I use a lot, and one you may wish you had if you decide to go with mp3 only player. The voice recorder is easy to use and the built in mic does a respectable job of recording voices. It won't capture every nuance, but its ability to capture spoken words keeps my hopes up of putting it to use in my grad school lectures. I will update once I actually try this in a couple months. I also appreciate a HOLD button on the side of the unit which lets you set it on play and hold it in your hand while jogging and not worry about turning it off. Rechargeable batteries last about 5 hours, and the manual claims you get twice that with alkalines (non-rech).
Gripes:
-My docking station is supposed to flash red while charging and hold a steady red light on when done, but it never flashes, so the indication of charging does not work. It does charge however, so it's not a big deal. I have not yet pursued to see whether this is a documentation error, or hardware defect.
-Not CODEC upgradeable. This is a feature that brand new players have now that lets you upgrade to add other format compatibility such as Real Audio, Windows Media, or others. But, since all my files are in mp3, and it sounds fine to me, I don't mind this.
-A couple times, the NOMAD has frozen up on me, but anyone using a computer is used to this, and the reboot takes all of 5 seconds. Except once, I had to remove the battery to turn it off, as it was really hung up. But one must realize, this is a computer product, and it is bound to happen. Has not crashed in a while now.
-The headphone level is low when using larger headphones, but this is probably a tradeoff to keep battery life of AAA's long. Using earbuds, there is plenty of juice to go deaf without hearing distortion.
-No USB: Parallel port transfer is slower, but 5 minutes is not too much to ask of me. Besides, my parallel ZIP makes this look like a screamer.
Conclusion: For the value ($150), this value is unbeatable. MP3 playing, 64MB, FM radio, Voice Recorder, Rechargeable batteries, and docking station--for this price, nothing comes close to matching features/price. The player is tiny and performs well, and its versatility make it well worth the money. I highly recommend anyone to consider the NOMAD when shopping for a player. Others may have USB or other features, but probably require you to shell out another $100.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
lenerator
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Location: Palo Alto, CA
Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 1 member
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