Customer Reviews

Creative Labs Skin with Wire Management for Zen and Zen MX MP3 Players- Black

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

The Creative ZEN Skin case protects your media player while providing a "wire Management" area on the back of the skin to hold your headphone wires while not in use.

This is a great overall case to protect your player, but the wire management feature adds some thickness to it. Therefore, if you need wire management, get this skin. If you can do without wire management, stand alone silicon cases are available.
ZEN 3-In-1 Skin Pack (Red/Blue/Black)

This skin fits your Zen nicely and allows you to access the controls through a thinner area. The thick banding around the edges will give you a little more confidence if you accidentally drop your player. Another advantage of the silicon cases is that they have a little more "grip" to them. They tend to be easier to hold in your hand than the clear plastic case.

You may also want to explore the leather and clear plastic cases available from Creative. Each of those cases has integrated stands for easier video viewing.
ZEN Leather Case (Black)
ZEN Clear Case

Please note you will still have to buy a screen protector for your player. The screen is left open so that you can slide your player into it.

Enjoy!!

The Zen needs a cover, because its shiny black surface is easily scratched. I selected this one, because my headphones tend to get wrapped around themselves in endless knots, and I hoped it would help prevent that.

Basically, the wire management aspect of the product is a series of little plastic disks and an additional skin for the back of the Zen. You can wrap the cord of your headphones around the disk, then unwrap when you're ready to listen again.

It's a bit awkward, as the only way I can get it to work is to wrap it underneath the extra back panel, which has a curve to match the back of the Zen. It's an awkward thing. I also have a terrible memory for details, so I can't always remember which way to unwrap, but if you're better at this than me, it might serve you better.

It's enough of an inconvenience that I haven't really used it much since the first few tries, so if you're not sure you will, you might want to consider some of the other skin options available for the Zen.

The skin protects the zen, but the wire management is not user friendly at all. The plastic piece that holds it all together is not a tight fit, so it comes apart very easily. I would not recommend this product.

There really isn't much difference between this and a normal silicone cover other than an extra flap of silicone that is attached by a plastic disk to the back of the regular cover. Your headphones wrap around the plastic disk and stay hidden (and in place) under the extra silicone flap.

Performance-wise, I don't really have many quibbles. My headphone wires stay in place and haven't become untangled when I stuff my Zen in my bag. The thing does attract dust and lint like a magnet, but it's only a minor annoyance. The cover, flap, and wound-up headphone wires make the Zen a little thicker and heavier, but I don't find it excessively so.

The design could be a little better, but overall, I think it works pretty well.

I purchased the ZEN Skin with Wire Management (Black) in May 2008. I loved it, and liked the wire management feature to store the headphone wires. But after only 2 weeks use, the back portion of the case where the wire management is located started to tear. Each time I place the headphone wires in the wire management area, the case tears more. Unless I received a defected product, I would not recommend this product.

I was always putting my Zen in my pocket and the head phone cords would be all tangled and twisted. Now with this product that doesn't happen. Here is how it works. The Zen slips inside the Skin and on the back you can wrap your head phone wires around a center post. I think it works great. The pictures I have seen of the product do not give you any idea how it manages the head phone wires, but once you get I think it is self explanatory.

The skin does what it says. It protects your Zen from bumps and bangs and has a place to store the headset cables. The ear buds kinda hang out there in never never land but for me that's no biggie.

The big thing is the Zen doesn't get all scratched up with lifes bangs and bumps. Its a snug fit.

Oh and watch putting it in your pocket. Unfortunately the skin is LINT magnet. It will look terrible. But keep rubbing it with your fingers. It will eventually come off.

This player holds your earbuds alright, but it literally doubles the width of the Zen. I bought it because i wanted to be able to easily slide my Zen into my pocket without always tangling my earbuds, but the back cover is so floppy and obtrusive that it won't slide into my Levis. I popped off the rear cover and just use it as a black case now. I find it better to wind your headphones around the player than to use the wire management case.

All this is, is a flap of rubber on the back of the skin and you wrap the ear bud wire around the center post. Very disappointing. There isn't even a screen cover. My other daughter wants a Zen too. But you can bet I won't buy this skin again.

I expected this skin to increase the width of the player, of course, but I didn't expect the "wire management" part to be so floppy. It was difficult to wrap the earphone wires around the back, too. I ended up returning it. I took a small rectangular piece of sturdy cardboard and made notches on the opposing ends and wrapped my earphones around it instead. It's kind of ghetto, but it works.