Customer Reviews

Creative Labs 70PF165000000 Zen MicroPhoto 8 GB MP3 Player (Titanium Gray)

5 star:		(87)
4 star:		(65)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(37)

 

 

I chose the Creative Zen Micro Photo over the IPod Nano for several reasons:

1. Storage space - Micro Photo has 8 GB, Nano has 4 (and costs more)
2. Rechargeable AND Replaceable battery - Unit charges through the USB cord whenever connected to your computer (this is a PLUS, because you spend a lot of time connected to your computer managing your music library). Micro Photo holds the charge for at least 12 hours, maybe more. And unlike the Nano, the battery is replaceable, so you can purchase extra batteries if this one dies, or swap batteries to keep music playing on long trips.
3. Compatibility with online music stores - This feature was #1 for me. I'm a big fan of Comcast Rhapsody, and this player (NOT any IPod) is compatible with their Rhapsody to Go service, which lets you have UNLIMITED downloads from their catalog of over 1 million songs for $14.99/month (as long as you have the subscription, your songs will play in your MicroPhoto). ITunes can't beat that. I no longer buy CDs. The day they come out, they are on my MicroPhoto.
4. Price - do your research, for an 8 GB compact-size mp3 player with a color display, this price is a steal.

I haven't even used the Photo features, but I'll love having an album of pictures on my mp3 player to show my friends and family at anytime.

The unit is very small; about the size of my flip-style cell phone. That's bigger than a Nano, but very lightweight and a comfortable fit in the palm of my hand. I didn't necessarily need a credit-card size player. I wanted the storage space and the Rhapsody-to-go compatibility.

Negatives (and there are only two minor ones):
1. The world is made for IPods, so there are not as many accesories available for Creative players as there are for IPods. However,[...] has a nice selection.
2. The touch controls are very sensitive and take some getting used to (I figured it out within 2 days).

My husband has an old Creative Zen Nomad (30 GB and the size of a small brick) and although it's no longer "in style" it works well. I know my Micro Photo will hold up well over time.

Friends, family, and coworkers were critical of my decision to purchase a Micro Photo instead of an IPod. Now, many of them want to trade their IPods for one. Do your research - the Rhapsody-to-Go compatibility and 8 GB hard drive were enough to sell me on the Micro Photo.

For anyone that has at least half a brain and realizes that, not only are they not all called iPods, there are other brands out there that produce incredible portable mp3 players, this unit is for you.

First, what most people disregard as minor, this is one of the only mp3 players that charges with the same cord it uses to transfer files. To top that off, it's a standard USB cord! That means Universal Serial Bus, silly... it's the cord that comes with every computer, digital camera, blackberry, etc. That means you probably already have several of them! So what, you ask? Now you can charge your player and transfer files from any computer! This is no minor feature!!!!

Besides this feature that I love (that is so hard to find in other players), the Creative Zen Micro Photo also features a replaceable battery. To all of you iPod owners that have to charge your iPod every 4 hours I don't need to emphasize this. Top it off with great battery life!

What else? The quality of the picture on the screen is tops; the sound quality is great (the earphones are good too); the size is perfect; and the backlight is too cool. It looks great and is the best mp3 player on the market, bar none.

Disclaimer: I had an iPod before switching to the Zen Micro.

Features I love
===============
1. Looks.
There are those who buy things because others got it. But there're things in life cooler than military-issued white. In fact, I got my Sony MDR-EX71 ear-buds in black because white ear-buds are so passe now.

2. Uses standard USB cable.
This might seem like a small thing, but really appreciate the fact I just need one cable when travelling to sync and charge my MP3 player, cellphone, and digital camera. No more tangling mess of cables and charges, and I can always buy a USB line almost anywhere for less than $5 if I forgot to bring one.

3. No drivers required. Works like thumb drive.
The most significant consequence is that I can plug the Zen to the USB port of any PC, and be able to use the Zen like a USB thumb drive. My previous iPod needed to install drivers, which is a luxury I don't have with other people's PCs, or office PCs where they restrict your admin rights.

4. Music Subscription.
This is the best invention since iPod itself. I have been die-hard fans of only 2-3 artists, die-hard meaning I buy every single album and singles they produce. For everyone else, there are plenty of songs I 'kinda like' but I didn't feel they were worth the money to buy.

With this subscription thingy, I get to download entire albums simply to try out entirely new songs and artists to see if I like 'em. I doesn't bother me I lose them if I stop my subscription - they are songs I probably won't pay in full in the first place. But sometimes, not buying a song doesn't mean not worthing listening to it once in a while.

5. Solid construction.
The Zen has a solid metal casing that not only feels sturdy and resistant to scratches, it can actually survive a four-feet drop without injury. (I've actually tried this, though not intentionally.) Couldn't say the same about my iPod. (My experience positively confirms that an iPod cannot survive a swinging knock against the subway door while inside a shoulder bag.)

6. Ease-of-use.
The menu system is customizable and intuitive just like in iPod. (In fact, I heard the patent for the iPod menus are held by Creative Labs.) Synching songs is also piece of cake. Just plug-in and either WMP or Napster can sync up my library. This is probably standard feature now after iTunes set the standard.
At the end of the day, I can always resort to drag-n-drop straight from my windows explorer, for not only my music files but also data files. (See point #2 above.)

8. Battery Life
I do 10-hour shuttles from the West Coast to the Other Side of the Pond at least once a month, and the iPod used to just flat out with less than 10 hours of playing. The Zen can not only sustain the entire trip, but also the train rides to/from the airports ony each side. And I bought an extra battery in case I miss a chance to charge up in between. The "stamina" of most batteries decreases with such consecutive high mileage use, and with the iPod I wasn't able to do anything about it other than to buy a new one or send it back to the factory. With the Zen I have an immediate solution for $30 in the local Circuit City.


Features I don't like
=====================

1. No dedicated volume button. Need to go back to "Now Playing" screen to adjust the volume. Can't do it while I'm tweaking other things in different menus.

2. No podcast aggregation in Windows Media Player. Ok. This is more a WMP shortcoming than the Zen's. iTunes has the best podcast browser (though not the largest selection), so I continue to use iTunes to subscribe to podcasts, and let WMP automatically detect the new files and add to my player. It can be done, but I wish it can be done in one-step, one software.

These two dislikes mean it's not perfect for me, so, four stars.

This is a great player for people who want more space than what's offered on flash players like the iPod Nano, but don't need 30 gig of music in their pocket (what the iPod has to offer). It's a mini harddrive player with some neat bells & whistles, and solid, meaty basics. Here are a few of the pros and cons.

PROS
1. Physical size: small enough to fit in your pocket, not so small you could lose it.
2. Storage: the complete works of Bruce Springsteen (including Tracks, and including certain songs being listed more than once), in 128 bit MP3 format, takes up less than 1.5 GB. 8 GB is more than enough for the average person who might just use an MP3 player for commuting or going to the gym.
3. Sound: AWESOME. Even with the standard issue headphones, it's still got great quality. I use this on a city bus that often has very loud, rambunctious high school students (they're great kids, just loud), and I don't even need to hit the halfway point on the volume setting to drown them out. As an added benefit, if you have no interest in getting separate headphones, you can crank the sound up pretty high and the sound will not be audible to those around you (I went to 3/4 full volume on a not-so-crowded bus and lightly covered the earbuds with my fingers), so you'll likely never be the idiot broadcasting his/her playlist to everyone around you unless you like deafening yourself.
4. Screen: good-sized, clear.
5. Rechargeable AND removable battery: no more contacting the manufacturer when the battery wears out. Just go to your local electronics store and pick one up.
6. FM Radio: a lot of people will wonder why you need this on an MP3 player, but it's great if you're a commuter who takes the train to where you parked your car. While you're on the train, you can listen for traffic reports - no more getting on the road only to find too late that your regular route is backed up and jammed. Just listen to the radio on the train and plan an alternate route. You can also record from the radio, if you hear a hard-to-find song being played (common for folks who listen to classic rock).
7. Charges while hooked up to your computer: this is handy for when you're loading songs and messing around with playlists. Takes a few hours to get a full charge, but you can just leave it there overnight and it'll go to idle automatically when it's done. I think you can also get a wall-charger for traveling with this, but I've never needed one, so I couldn't say for sure.
8. User interface: very easy to navigate the tracks (it'll break it down by album, artist, genre, or you can just view all tracks at once), very easy to mess about with the settings, and the background image can be customized.
9. Compatible with music subscription services: this is one of the reasons I didn't consider the iPod at all. They're not compatible with things like Rhapsody-To-Go or the Napster subscription service. With the Creative Zen Micro Photo, I can either buy a single song, or use the subscription services (which I love).
10. Easy to add music: it's basically just drag-and-drop, once you have the basics installed.
11. Use it as both an MP3 player and a removable drive: you can partition the unit to have a bit of space for other files to transport between computers.
12. Add songs to a playlist while listening to other songs: say you're listening to a song/album. You decide you want to listen to more songs when you're done with the current song/album. On a lot of other players, you'd have to stop/pause the song you're listening to, or wait until it was done, before adding other stuff to your playlist. On the Micro Photo, you don't have to stop the music - just go to the track/album listing, and choose to add to the current playlist. Cooler in action than in writing, trust me.

CONS
1. It's fugly. Seriously, if the iPod is Keanu Reeves, the Micro Photo is Ron Jeremy. But this only matters if you care more about looks than about having a functional, solid MP3 player. Much like Ron Jeremy, you don't have to look at this thing to know that it's doing a bang-up job.
2. Not too many accessories. This is an iPod's world, sadly, so it's hard to find cases and other doohickies for this, but they're out there if you look.
3. Shortish battery life: I got about 15 hours out of it. That's still a long time, but there are other players with a longer battery life out there (Samsung makes a Nano-killer with about 30 hours, for instance). This is one of the places where the swappable battery comes in handy - if you're on a long road trip, 15 hours can go by quickly, so have an extra battery on hand just in case.
4. There's no social status help. This is important only to parents getting an MP3 player for their young teen or tween who may be more interested in popularity than in shopping around for the best possible player. iPods are more popular than any other player, though there are many technically superior players. Having a non-iPod might actually hurt your child's popularity, especially if they're halfway on the rise but not one of the popular kids just yet. Be aware of why your kid is asking for an MP3 player - if it is, in part, to be more popular, just go with the iPod, unless you're trying to make them see that what's popular might not be what's best (though why you'd use an MP3 player to teach that, I don't know). This point is not important if you're just getting it for someone who cares more about technical superiority than social status, but bear it in mind if you're buying it for someone obsessed with popularity.
5. Slow startup screen. Still, it's only a few seconds longer than other players.

COULD GO EITHER WAY:
-Touchscreen instead of clicky-buttons. I got used to the touchscreen very quickly, but I'm used to touchpads on notebook computers. Your mileage may vary. For what it's worth, the touchpad sensitivity is adjustable.
-Voice recorder: I don't actually use this function but, like the FM radio, someone might find it useful.
-Volume control is part of the on-screen menu: where most players have an actual button, rocker switch, or scroll physically on the player's body, this one has a dropdown menu that includes the volume control. It's easy to access, but I can see where some might want the volume control to be an actual physical switch.

Hope this helps in your search for the right MP3 player. By the way, I'm not an audiophile - I'm really just an average person who likes having a good player. I gave it 5 stars because none of the cons actually matter to me; I'm not a popularity-obsessed teen, I don't care that it's ugly, I don't use it more than five or six hours out of the day, and I'm not so impatient that I can't wait six or seven seconds before I can start listening to my music.

I've had my Zen Micro for a little over a month with no catastrophic problems, which is a relief to me after reading some of the reviews concerning the unit itself being defective, not being compatible with PC software, etc.

Keeping in mind that my opinion could change at any time and that anything with technology is prone to dissapoint, here are my observations thus far concerning this Mp3 player...

*~THE PROS~*

* A whole rainbow of colors to choose from depending on your personality. (While I know that technically it's color does not determine whether or not it is a good product, I'm a girl and therefore love the choice of color!)

* Uses a standard USB cable to connect to you PC.

* It seems to have a solid construction. It's heavier than you would expect from the picture and the metal casing gives a sense of comfort for a clumsy person like me. I haven't dropped it yet but I've read other reviewers that have and it came out unscathed. Some people have said that you cannot workout with this player, but I take mine to the gym all the time. Just switch the power switch to the locked setting so you don't bump the touchpad.

* HUGE 8GB of storage space! I moved my whole music library (a measly 2GB), created several playlists, and stored lots of photos and I haven't even used half of the storage space yet.

* It plays all WAVE, Mp3, and WMA format files.

* Bass boost and smart volume especially are great features.

* It's smaller than it looks in the photo, about the size of a credit card but thicker.

* The battery is rechargeable and replaceable, which is great if you take long trips and don't want to worry about finding somewhere to recharge your player. Just pop in another battery and go!

* The menu screen is customizable. You can put your personal photos as wallpaper and choose from 8 different color schemes.

* I LOVE MAKING PLAYLISTS! That has to be one of the best features. If you have albums that you absolutely have to have at the push of a button make it into a playlist. I have all of Dave Matthews Band's albums arranged separately. Also if you workout a lot you can put songs that motivate you into a playlist, switch the power switch over to the locked setting so that you don't accidentally bump any buttons, and you're all set!

* FM Radio with programmable presets. I've read some reviews regarding the inconsistancy with the FM signal on their players and admit I've experienced it myself but there is a scan button that searches for the strongest signals. You can also save your favorites. I wish that there was an AM frequency too so I could listen to Coast to Coast at night but then maybe I am being picky.

*~THE CONS~*

* THE TOUCHPAD IS EXTREMELY TOUCHY! After quite a bit of practice, and also turning down the sensitivity, you can learn to master it but it is very frustrating, especially when you first get the device. It took me a half an hour just to get to the menu to turn down the sensitivity, hit the wrong button, and had to start all over. This is definately going to be a huge problem for people that are very push button, but you do get the hang of it after awhile.

* You cannot look at pictures while listening to music. This isn't a big deal for me since I hardly use the photo feature, but for some this could be dissapointing.

* If you take this player out in bright areas, especially outside in sunlight, the screen is very hard to see. I found that if I put a dark wallpaper on the screen it's easier to see, but not much.

* This player and it's software are Windows XP compatible only!

* While the length of the cord on the headphones is really nice for putting the player in your pocket, etc. the ear buds themselves are HUGE and hurt my ears after only having them in about 10 minutes. I threw them away and am back to my trusty Sony earphones...ahhhhh much better!

* The "protective pouch" is a JOKE! Seriously it's a drawstring bag that probably cost the company about a penny for 10 of them. Don't even waste your time trying to use it except maybe for long storage periods. I'm currently storing jewelery in mine!

* With as much as this player costs, Creative could have included a AC adapter. While being able to charge the player through the USB cable is nice when you're at home, if you travel it becomes a nuisance to find a computer to charge your player with.

* I've experienced the player trying to "idle shutdown" on me, usually when I'm listening to the FM Radio. This is mildly annoying and will stop if you just touch a button on the touchpad. I've read other reviewers having a similar problem so I think it's probably a bug in the product.

* Also sometimes when I've gone to connect my player to the USB to charge, it either doesn't recognize the player or something but it will not charge or let me organize files until I restart my computer. Again, mildly annoying and probably a bug in the product.

Overall I'm happy with my Zen Micro. The missing star is for the things that Creative overlooked or could have done better. Hope this review helped you.

This MP3 player puts all others to shame...especially Apple's line of iPod products. Why bow down to a company that gives their hapless customers zero flexibility when you can buy a wonderfully crafted, superior (in every way) product such as this? Just do the research. This little baby gets you everything you want for less money and more value.

The earphones are very nice. Don't use this machine's bass boost with them, though. They're fine without it, and suffer with it turned on.

Don't bother using the pouch that comes with it. The MicroPhoto will simply slide out of it; the pouch's strings to not stay tightened with travel.

The controls are a little difficult to manage at first, but within ten minutes of playing with it, I was able to use it like a pro. Between my husband's large hands and my own small hands, neither of us have any problems with our two MicroPhotos.

The display and the interface itself are both absolutely amazing. My one qualm with this little gadget is that its battery indicator will lead you to believe that one third of the juice has been sucked out of it within an hour or so of use. Apparently the indicator only goes by thirds, so even if you have 95% of the bugger still ready to go, it looks as if you should already begin to worry over the battery being drained. Hopefully this nuisance will be solved...other than that, I'm one satisfied customer!

Creative's products have always been dependable, of course.

Disclaimer: I had an iPod before switching to the Zen Micro.

Features I love
===============
1. Looks.
There are those who buy things because others got it. But there're things in life cooler than military-issued white. In fact, I got my Sony MDR-EX71 ear-buds in black because white ear-buds are so passe now.

2. Uses standard USB cable.
This might seem like a small thing, but really appreciate the fact I just need one cable when travelling to sync and charge my MP3 player, cellphone, and digital camera. No more tangling mess of cables and charges, and I can always buy a USB line almost anywhere for less than $5 if I forgot to bring one.

3. No drivers required. Works like thumb drive.
The most significant consequence is that I can plug the Zen to the USB port of any PC, and be able to use the Zen like a USB thumb drive. My previous iPod needed to install drivers, which is a luxury I don't have with other people's PCs, or office PCs where they restrict your admin rights.

4. Music Subscription.
This is the best invention since iPod itself. I have been die-hard fans of only 2-3 artists, die-hard meaning I buy every single album and singles they produce. For everyone else, there are plenty of songs I 'kinda like' but I didn't feel they were worth the money to buy.

With this subscription thingy, I get to download entire albums simply to try out entirely new songs and artists to see if I like 'em. I doesn't bother me I lose them if I stop my subscription - they are songs I probably won't pay in full in the first place. But sometimes, not buying a song doesn't mean not worthing listening to it once in a while.

5. Solid construction.
The Zen has a solid metal casing that not only feels sturdy and resistant to scratches, it can actually survive a four-feet drop without injury. (I've actually tried this, though not intentionally.) Couldn't say the same about my iPod. (My experience positively confirms that an iPod cannot survive a swinging knock against the subway door while inside a shoulder bag.)

6. Ease-of-use.
The menu system is customizable and intuitive just like in iPod. (In fact, I heard the patent for the iPod menus are held by Creative Labs.) Synching songs is also piece of cake. Just plug-in and either WMP or Napster can sync up my library. This is probably standard feature now after iTunes set the standard.
At the end of the day, I can always resort to drag-n-drop straight from my windows explorer, for not only my music files but also data files. (See point #2 above.)

8. Battery Life
I do 10-hour shuttles from the West Coast to the Other Side of the Pond at least once a month, and the iPod used to just flat out with less than 10 hours of playing. The Zen can not only sustain the entire trip, but also the train rides to/from the airports ony each side. And I bought an extra battery in case I miss a chance to charge up in between. The "stamina" of most batteries decreases with such consecutive high mileage use, and with the iPod I wasn't able to do anything about it other than to buy a new one or send it back to the factory. With the Zen I have an immediate solution for $30 in the local Circuit City.


Features I don't like
=====================

1. No dedicated volume button. Need to go back to "Now Playing" screen to adjust the volume. Can't do it while I'm tweaking other things in different menus.

2. No podcast aggregation in Windows Media Player. Ok. This is more a WMP shortcoming than the Zen's. iTunes has the best podcast browser (though not the largest selection), so I continue to use iTunes to subscribe to podcasts, and let WMP automatically detect the new files and add to my player. It can be done, but I wish it can be done in one-step, one software.

These two dislikes mean it's not perfect for me, so, four stars.

This review is coming from someone who had an iPod Nano.

This is the best mp3 player for the price. I had a nano, but it crashed after about a month and a half.

Pros:
Design: very bright blue glow, looks even better in the dark
Capacity: it is hard to find an 8 GB Mp3 player that is trustworthy for this price
REMOVABLE rechargeable battery: sometimes an Mp3 player will stop working because the battery is screwed up. On the very unlikely chance that it happens to this Mp3 player, just buy a new battery, no more sending it back to the factory and waiting 3 weeks for your music
Color screen: graphics aren't quite as good as the nano, but still above average
Durable: this Mp3 player is known for taking a punch. I have rarely heard cases of it crashing. Another thing is that the screen is much better than the iPod. After carrying an iPod in my shirt pocket for just an hour, there were scratches all over, and before that I put it in the case it came with and it got scratched just from pulling it in and out. I've been carrying the MicroPhoto in my jean pocket for a few weeks and there isn't one scratch.
FM Radio: some radio stations get average reception, some get amazing reception, but making presets is easy
Voice recording: the best voice recording quality I have ever heard in an Mp3 player
Controls: Everyone said it is difficult, but I just used it for 5, maybe 10 minutes, and I thought it was better than the iPod. Also, the on switch is in a good place. It is almost impossible to accidently turn it on in your pocket
Sound quality: The headphones are great and the sound quality is better than the iPod
Not very common: Everybody has an iPod. If someone sees you with an iPod, they don't care, they have seen it before. The MicroPhoto is eyecatching.
Battery life: even better than the iPod

Cons:
Music software: It is not bad at all, but just not quite as good as iTunes
Accesories: hard to find in stores, but you won't need a case because this player is very durable
No album art: just a minor flaw
No multi-tasking: the music goes off if you click on photos, but again, a minor flaw
Battery charging: takes longer than the iPod


Things the iPod Nano has over the MicroPhoto:
1.Slightly better screen
2.Smaller and lighter
3.Games
4.Music Software
5.Comes with $30 iTunes Music Card
6.Album art and multi-tasking
7.Accesories
8.Slightly faster battery charging

Things the MicroPhoto has over the iPod Nano:
1.Bigger screen
2.Better looking (In my opinion)
3.Durability
4.Price: For $250, you can get either a 4GB Nano or the MicroPhoto with 2X more space
5.FM Radio
6.Voice Recording
7.Sound Quality
8.Removeable rechargeable battery
9.Better battery life
10.Dedicated volume: there is no switch, but if you're buried in the menus, you can press the side menu and change it there
11.FM tuner
12.Avalaible in many colors (Black, gary, white, pink, purple, green, orange, light blue, dark blue, and red)
13.Track info
14.8 different wallpaper themes

Well, the MicroPhoto just seems better to me.If you want the best Mp3 player for the cost, get this. If you want what all your friends have and just want to fit in, get the Nano, and if you want the best Mp3 player period, and you don't care about money, check out the ZEN Vision.

Where to start? I've bought a lot of different Mp3 players. In fact, you might say I'm obsessed with them. I also have friends who have Ipods. (bah!) The only good thing about Ipods is the wide variety of accessories you can get for them. This little Zen beats them all, hands down! I'll start with the list of cons since there are so few.

CONS:

Touchy buttons. (even with senitivity turned on low, but easy to get used to, and there is a hold button)
Can't view photos and listen to music at the same time. (?)
Has ability to record, but has no line in.

PROS: (and this will be quite a list!)

Plays WAVE,Mp3,and WMA as well. (I have everything in WMA)
Bass booster option.
Smart volume option.
Sound quality is great. I've read complaints about the bass boost being distorted. Turn on the smart volume and the disortion goes away. Crisp clean treble as well.
Smart volume also adjust for different record levels. (quite nice)
5 band graphic eq, as well as plenty of presets.
8 gigs holds tons of music and photos.
Very small. (fits in pocket comfortably)
Works as an external hard dirve, and lets you decide how much space to use for this. (128mb upto 4gigs)
Uses a standard 2.0 USB cord. (big advantage)
Charge battery while you put music or photos on it.
Not only is the battery rechargeable, but also replaceable. (you can buy extras for long trips)
Screen looks bright and clear from any angle.
Main menu is very customizable. (options, wallpaper,and colors)
Easy to navigate.
Almost no gap between songs. (good for Pink Floyd albums)
Built in microphone. Seems to record pretty well.
Has a calender where you can store reminders and events.
Not so important, but it really looks COOL!
Not a bad price for all it does.

LAST WORDS: At first I didn't like the fact that you have to use software to transfer files, but now I see why. I have other Mp3 players that are plug and play. It takes them a minute or so to boot up. Not this baby. Turn it on and it's ready to go in less than 3 seconds. The software updates the player when you close the program so that it doesn't have to boot up.
I'm not the kind of person who likes to read manuals, and with this player, I didn't have to. It's almost too easy to use, and yet full of features.
I've also read complaints about the software. If you know how to navigate windows, then software will be easy to use, and it works well.
I've only had it for 3 days, so I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting or haven't found yet. But it just keeps getting better. Has more features than I dreamed it could.

BOTTOM LINE: Buy what you want, but the Zen Micro is BETTER!

I must say, after owning an iPod mini which I loved despite it's quirks (ie. clickwheel simply didn't respond in some areas due to being packed in a pocket with all my other junk for some time) then buying the Nano because everyone else seemed to love them. Promptly I broke the screen (ok, I'm hard on stuff), sending it back, getting it back(two weeks later), then after two more weeks the battery wouldn't hold a charge (hmm, overcharging over USB?, well maybe) then doing the return/recieve thing again, then putting it in a "protective case" only to find when I pulled it out the whole thing was covered in scratches, FROM THE CASE!! (screen really was fixed though, no more cracks, just scratches).

At that point I figured, oh well, I've spent more on less before and started to shop around. I found the microphoto fell in love with it (I actually prefer the fact that it is larger, way easier to hold). Me, being the compulsive consumer I am forked out the cash right there and then. Brought it home and wow, it can tune into FM stations, that was an annoying little bauble I had to plug in to my docking port before, thus making the nano bigger and adding leverage to a wee little connector. Then boom, you mean I can record those lectures that I usually tune out of because the girl that sits next to me is hot!?!

Then BOOM, when I plug it into my PC, Windows recognizes it as a removable harddrive right from the start, my backup program asks me if I'd like to create a new profile for it and Outlook says "would you like to sync your calendar to portable device?". Now I'm thinking, why did I ever like apple products?

Then it hits me, I can't use iTunes, my trusty friend. It was so easy to sync my music and I worry, will this be a problem? Then I open Windows Media Player (which, if you have a sound system like mine, you will know actually produces better output than iTunes, thus making it my default music player even during my iPod days, plus it plays DVDs) Low and behold, there is my zen again, just waiting for some audio goodness to be transferred (unbelivably fast I must say, less than one second per song).

Then comes the moment of truth, what does it sound like with my 500 watt THX certified logitech sound system plugged into the headphone jack. It sounds good, way better than the Nano or the Mini (which both sounded identical I might add, same audio processor in both, anyone who says different is a victim of their own mind) The navigation is different, going up and down rather than round-and-round, but not all that bad, especially when you find that little touchpad sensitivity setting. After precisely one month of use I am now a Creative touchpad pro, nothing can stop me!

Not only does the battery keep it's charge, (by the way, new firmware seems to fix the short battery life thing, had the same issue and now she gives'r for a good 12hrs) but hey, I can buy a new one for 20 bucks and replace it myself! I never bought any music on iTunes, but I can't imagine it being any easier than MSN music, seems to work good, and I can play my girlfriend's songs from Rhapsody, not limited to Apple (or Microsoft for that matter) music files.

Ya, It isn't as "chic" as the nano, or as popular as the mini was, but it is a heck of a lot better. I loved my iPods, but I see now my eyes were closed to the truth, there is life beyond a clickwheel, and it is much better.I get a whole boat of features you have to pay extra for in an iPod, which consequently makes the devices rather irritating to operate. (and why oh why did Apple put that little headphone jack on the bottom of the player? everything else seemed to fit just fine)

Best of all, when I whip out my Zen, people at my University actually look and say "whoa, that looks cool" rather than "dude, you got one too, sweet". And though I will never ever use 8gb of music, I do have some rather sensitive databases backed up on the player as a tertiary backup (three harddrives, two mirrored, one important files only, one removable disc and now the zen) that works with existing backup utilities, on any computer (windows based i would assume).

Now, you make YOU'RE decision.