Customer Reviews

Creative Labs NOMAD II 64 MB MP3 Player Pearl

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

So you get to buy the best MP3 player around but with a funky pearl color! Real Nice.

The Nomad II by Creative Labs is the best MP3 player around, period. There are others that do almost the same job, but none of them provide the great package you get with the Nomad. You see, you get the best transfer option available, the USB cable which can transfer a song in 10 seconds. I don't think the USB is a problem, almost every new computer comes with at least one port, and in case you don't have one you can buy one at a fairly low price and start using it.

With the Nomad II you also get 64 MB of storage capacity. It's almost one CD's worth of music at 128kbit. And as the manufacturers say, it's near CD quality. I have yet to find the "flaw" with MP3 recording. You could also record in WMA format which would make your NOMAD II hold around 2 hours of music.

For those of you who are unsure about an MP3 player, and prefer MiniDisc; the only positive thing I see from MD is the capacity of having multiple discs, but if you have some money, you can do the same with Nomad, just get some extra memory cards, and you're set.

The option of expanding the Nomad is also a nice feature. In the future you can buy a bigger memory card, and get more music into your player, but isn't 1 hour a decent amount?

The nifty, extra features you get with the Nomad is what sets it apart from most players of it's kind. You get an FM tuner (which you can program to remember 32 stations!) a voice recording (for those of you who don't want to forget appointments) and the earphones with remote control! You might say that the earphones are awful, but they have a great sound quality. You can always buy or use your smaller earbuds if it's a problem...

If you find no use for some of these features, and you only want it "rough" (you only want a player for listening to MP3s) then get a Rio 500, it's not as expensive as others, and you get your 64 MB of internal (!) memory and an extra space for another memory card. You can also get it with special colored casings (purple and teal). But I'm not here to review the Rio, I'm here to talk about the Nomad II.

The size and weight of this player are impressive! Just pick up your computer mouse, imagine it has no cord, and that's about it. (I'm talking about a standard mouse, not one of those huge ones!)

And the look and feel are just, awesome. You can hide it in a pocket, just like a small celullar phone and remember, it'll never skip!

The only thing that has yet to convince me of the Nomad, is it's price, not that its expensive (because most similar player cost around the same), but I think is a considerable amount of money... But I'd say it's worth it!

If the Nomad could make dinner, I'd probably marry it!

Great product! I tried the Rio 500 first but the volume was week and did not give me enough control. Then I got the Nomad II. Its got great volume (7 watts I think) and when you throw in the equalizer controls (bass and treble) and the output selection (headphones or speakers) you get plenty of sound. Depending on the size of the files I can fit about 30 songs, two - three hours of music. I generally use 65kb songs.

Interface is pretty OK. THe firmware on the Nomad is good, easy to use and upgradeble. The Creative music and Nomad software is not so hot, but I don't use it anyway. Because its upgradable, I got the WMA format so I can access the Nomad through the Windows Media Player.

THe sound recording is great. I recorded a late night speech and slept through the whole thing - about 4 hours the I reviewed it all the next morning. And I can't imagine not having a radio on something I paid 250+ for.

This is the one

I own a Sony MZ-R70 but I knew it was time to go totally digital for the ease of use and non-skip attribute (for the gym and running). I researched and researched and decided on the Nomad II. What a pleasant surprise! My expectactions were exceeded and that NEVER happens. Although pricey, for me, it is well worth the investment. The software installs easily but admittedly takes a few minutes to figure out how to set up a playlist and download to the Nomad II. But once you get the hang of it, this unit is amazing! The sound quality is incredible. And the volume. Well, it can play louder then even I need. The battery life is excellent. The USB download speeds are a blessing. It's light and cute. I would recommend it to anyone willing to spend the money.

PROS: 1)First of all, the Nomad is small and lightweight, about the size of a deck of cards. 2)Next is the 64 MB of memory, which is expandable with Smartmedia Cards. 3)The FM tuner is always handy whenever my MP3s get boring. 4)It only needs one AA battery. 5)My friends and I found the voice recorder hilarious.
CONS: 1)Download speed from the computer to the player is somewhat slow. 2) The LCD tends to get a little bit of debris caught underneath it; not enough to totally block the view of the screen, but it is annoying. 3) Not enough volume to hear while mowing the lawn or something like that.
OVERALL: Definitely worth it. I've had the Nomad II for six months, and it's never lost its touch. The CONS I listed are nothing totally disrupting. If you're considering an MP3 player, this is an awesome one to go with.

The Nomad II is my absolute must in my life, as it should be for everyone else. Yes, I'm a student at college, but i take it everywhere, and if I leave home without it, like I did today, I go back to get it. Anyways, onto the good parts... the sound quality is absolutely superb, as good as any non-portable cd player, as it had bass and treble controls along with preset sound qualities. Also, I can fit a lot of songs onto the tiny memory cards. I personally have two memory cards, though I havent really had any real use for the second as I'm changing music so much that it is not needed. I usually have 20 songs on my Nomad at a time. The Nomad Manager that is a program that allows you to download and upload songs to-and-from your Nomad, is extremely easy to use, fast (each song only takes about 3 seconds depending on the size), and not too complicated to understand (considering I am horrible at computers). I also love the radio. I go on trips often to California (across the country for me) and the long plane ride can get tidious if you listen to the same songs over and over, therefore, the handy-dandy radio! Note, the channel scanning wasn't very good when I first bought it, but Creative has downloads that update your Nomad, such as WMA compatability, better low battery detection, and an updated radio scanner. A common AA batery lasts 4 hours, just as they say in the product review. My advice, buy a Nomad II...I suggest buying one...and having to wait...to get my hands on one of these! It never skips, with no moving parts, and everything about it makes it one of the best products I have ever owned. I hope everyone else enjoys it just as much as I do.

This item was dead out of the box for me. Look elsewhere. Normally, Creative Labs has great quality. Not this time.

This MP3 player did not live up to my expectations. It constantly jammed; meaning that I had to take the battery out to change a radio station or even move on to the next song. Also, setting radio pre-sets was complicated. Mine actually died only 9 months after purchase. Not exactly the longest living MP3 player.

I started running (again) this summer and since I was already an mp3 junkie decided to buy an mp3 player to keep me company. After days of research on the net I finally decided to buy the Creative Nomad II. It hasn't let me down. I had read reviews about weak sound and problems with battery terminals but I think the sound is excellent and definitely loud enough for working out. There was a day when the sound cut out so I switched batteries only to find out later that the charge was fine. I have not had this problem again.

My Nomad II came with a small pouch and remote control, which I love. I also bought the docking station and it's awesome. I never have to hook up the USB connection, just load it into the docking station. The battery charges while you download songs. The software was easy to use but I will probably download the upgrade for the WMA format and try and use that as well. I also bought a case logic belt (that's really for a cassette player) that goes around my waist and holds the player at the small of my back. Excellent for running.

Built in memory may have been nice but the upgradable smart media cards are nice too. Right now, an hours worth of music is plenty for me. I highly recommend the Nomad II!

I bought this less than 2 years ago off of Amazon. Everything worked well for the first few months but then in january (4 months after i bought it....one month after warranty)...the sound started to break up and I could only hear out of one ear of the headphone. I decided to call to find out what to do. First off, there is NO toll free number to call so you have to pay for the call which I had to wait 45 mins to finally get someone:-/ Next, I found out that since it was after the warranty I had to pay for both ways of shipping as well as an excess fee for them to "fix it". Deciding I needed it fixed, I sent it back...and was told that I "may" have to pay an extra 77 dollars to replace the unit. At this point, I was pretty angry. So finally I get it back...4 weeks after the whole process began. They never did fix the problem...and now it's always crackly when listening to music. I would not recommend this to anyone...terrible product, terrible customer support! I will not go Creative Labs next time!

I boughtr mine last year. The first thing to go was the headphones the wire inside breaks easilyso be careful. the headphones will stop working from normal use then there is the whole thing of memory. 64 mb might sound like quite a bit but its never enough.you might get and hour of cd quality music. thats less than a cd. If your gonna spend this kind of money maybe you should look at the nomad jukebox. It has more memory than I would ever use but for 100 dollars more its worth it. not that the nomad II is bad I really like the radio feature except it having a weak antenna. The microphone on the recorder is really bad too but if these features are important go with it. For the money I wish I had gotten the Jukebox but I was in a hurry. choose wisely. Its overall a pretty good player for the money with a few flaws. hope this helps.