enjoi4490's Full Review: Creative Technology ZEN SLEEK (20 GB) MP3 Player
Software:
I have not been able to use the software bundled with the player because I have Windows ME. The Creative website says that the software works with Windows ME but it sadly does not. This caused me extreme troubles. If you have Windows XP you might want to skip this section as I am going to explain how I got my sleek to work. First I called Creative and they told me I had nothing but an 'expensive paperweight'. I was not ready to give up and I emailed Creative asking what I could do to get it to work. They emailed back very fast saying that if I called them to get the 'easy start CD' it would work. I called and they sent the wrong CD. I ordered another and it was the right CD but it did not work. After many hours here is how I got it to work: click start/setting/control panel/system/device manager/view devices by connection/advanced configuration/PCI bus/universal host controller/USB root hub/Creative Zen Sleek/Properties/Driver/update driver and have it look on the CD. After you install the drivers you can use windows media player 9 to transfer music to your sleek.
One con that I noticed is that if you have songs with the same name (say track 1 on album A and track 1 on album B) it will overwrite the first track 1 and replace it with the second track 1. You could always just rename the track by adding a period or something though.
Size:
The size of the player is perfect in my opinion. It is thick enough to feel solid in your hand but it is not too thick. It can easily fit into your hand or pocket. Also the same goes for the weight of the Sleek, just right.
Screen:
The screen is a simple 2-inch monochrome screen with a blue backlight. The screen is very easy to read. Because it is monochrome there is no photo of video support. This was not a big deal to me because I wanted an mp3 player and only that; I do not need photo support. However if you do then there is a new sleek out with a color screen.
Design:
This is not a huge deal at all but I absolutely love the simple design. Design is of course a matter of opinion so judge by yourself.
Buttons:
The buttons are all on the front of the player save the power button and hold switch that are on the top. The buttons on the front light up so you can see them in the dark, very cool looking. There are back one menu, play/pause, menu, and track forward/backward buttons. Pressing the menu button will bring up options like volume or view details. There is also a touch strip in the middle of the player. Despite what others have said about it being hard to use I found it easy and adapted to it very fast. To make selection you just tap the pad, there is no 'ok' button like on the Zen touch.
Sound quality:
The quality of the sound from this player is amazing. All the highs are high and the lows are low. The facts will show that this has much better sound quality than many other mp3 players. The volume goes higher than I would ever listen my music for fear of blowing out my ears/headphones. I tried the bass boost but did not like it. Also I tried the resets but did not like them much either.
Extras:
-Microphone: I have tested the microphone briefly and found that it works well, but not great. I imagine it would be good for recording memos and conversations.
-Organizer: I have not tested the organizer yet but it allows you to put phone numbers and such on it.
-Removable disk: You can set a portion of the hard drive (up to 16GB) to be UMS compatible so you can store things on it easily. However what is stored here is not available on the player so you can not transfer music that w
-FM Radio: I found that the radio gets very good reception. You can set up to 32 presets, which is more than I will ever need.
-FM recording: You can record from the radio, which I think is a nice feature to have. I tested it and found that what you hear on the radio is what is being recorded so if there is static you will get static on your recording.
-DJ features: There are certain features listed under DJ such as shuffle all music, album of the day, most popular and rarely heard songs.
Battery:
I have not tested the battery life but it is rated at up to 18 hours. I imagine you get less with different headphones and higher bit rate files, but a little less than 18 hours is still very good. Another con is the way you charge the player. You need the USB cable and the power cable in order to charge it from the wall. This is not a huge deal but I could see how it could become troublesome.
Price:
This is well worth the MSRP price but I got an awesome deal on it. (Actually it was a gift but my mom got a great deal. :-) It was on sale for only $187.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): On sale $187 Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
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