Creative Labs Nomad 64 MB MP3 Player

by Creative

Product Details

Product Manual [799kb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004NL3A
• Item model number: 5000001124
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #361,480 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

It's hard to believe that so many features could be packed into such a tiny package, but the Creative Labs Nomad MP3 player is one little dynamo. With 64 MB combined memory (32 MB onboard and an included 32 MB SmartMedia card), an FM tuner, voice recording capabilities, and a bevy of extras, the Nomad is a terrific deal in a digital music player.

We loved how ultratiny the Nomad is--it truly deserves to be called pocket-sized. The case is made of a solid silver-colored plastic, and the buttons run down the sides of the player instead of being on the player's face. We appreciated this design, since it's easy to accidentally bump buttons on the front of a player. The Nomad also has a hold button, which stops buttons from activating if you accidentally bump them.

Setup of the Nomad is relatively straightforward. We installed the software, connected the docking cradle to our PC's parallel port, and we were ready to go. Be sure to check your BIOS settings to make sure your parallel port is configured to ECP mode, or the player won't work at all. If you're unfamiliar with how to do this, check your computer's manual and the Nomad's documentation, as this process can be tricky.

The software that comes with the player is somewhat unintuitive. Most MP3 players let you drag tracks directly from your software MP3 player to the hardware, but the Nomad adds an extra step. It ships with MusicMatch, a terrific MP3 utility. You can use either it or another program that you favor as your default player. You can record all your MP3s to MusicMatch from CDs or the Internet, but you can't move them directly to the Nomad from this interface. You must use the Creative Nomad Manager software that comes with the player to transfer files. This makes the process somewhat longer and more tedious. We hope that Creative Labs remedies this problem in the next incarnation of the Nomad.

The earbuds that ship with the Nomad are not the best quality, but music still sounds decent through them. We do recommend that you get a more expensive pair, as it will greatly improve the sound quality.

Skipping from track to track on the Nomad is simple, and you can use the equalizer to select one of four presets--normal, classic, jazz, or rock. The player has repeat, all, and shuffle functions; however, the shuffle function doesn't remember which tracks it's already played, and at one point we got stuck listening to the same track three times in a six-track stretch.

The circular display, while clever, is somewhat difficult to read. There is no backlight, so you can't see the display in low-light situations. Another complaint is that the display scrolls through the track name and artist at the beginning of each song, but stops after the first scroll-through and shows only the elapsed time until the next track starts. The display does show helpful information on mode, battery life, whether or not the memory card is in, and which track number you're currently listening to.

The voice recorder is a great feature that lets you record up to four hours on the player. We also appreciated the addition of an FM tuner. While it's not perfect--it uses the headphone cord as an antenna, which can cause stations to fade in and out--it's a great bonus for those times when you're tired of your current selection. We quickly programmed in 10 presets that are easily selectable in the FM tuner mode.

Despite the shortcomings with the software and display, we were thoroughly impressed with the Nomad. Its tiny size, 64 MB of included memory, FM tuner, and voice recording capabilities make it representative of everything fun and exciting about MP3 players and digital music. Be warned, though: the Nomad is not upgradable to support any future compression formats, so it's possible that the player may become outdated. --Ara Jane Olufson

Pros:

• 64 MB combined memory
• Nice quality FM tuner
• Voice recording capabilities
• Durable

Cons:

• Unintuitive software
• Difficult-to-read display
• Not upgradable

Amazon.com Product Description

Creative Nomad allows you to customize your own content and take it along with you for travel or workout. Mix your favorite selections by recording from your personal CD collection or downloading MP3 files from the Internet--and transfer them directly to your player.

Creative Nomad is also a digital voice recorder. You can use it to take notes or to record a message to a friend or colleague and upload it directly to your PC. The Creative Nomad 64 MB version comes with a fully functional digital FM tuner for live music, news, or sports from your favorite radio channels.

With 64 MB RAM (32 MB onboard and 32 MB in a removable media upgrade card), Creative Nomad provides one hour of CD-quality audio (or more with adjustable bit-rate encoding) or four hours of voice recording. Removable flash card support enables you to upgrade your player in one step so you can take your favorite content with you without carrying around multiple CDs or minidiscs. Digital storage means your Nomad will function as a complete digital storage device; store data files to take to home, work, or school.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best on market, but not perfect, April 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Creative Labs Nomad 64 MB MP3 Player (Electronics)

I shopped long and hard. I believe this product to be the best pocket-sized player that is presently on the market, but it is not perfect. You may wish to note that many of my minor complaints, such as the lack of USB support, lack of future proofing, and playback of only MP3 files, will be addressed by the now overdue Nomad II.

Here is the good:

I am somewhat of an audiophile. Although the cost of my home stereo did not exceed the cost of my car, it came closer than I'll ever admit. The Nomad's sound for playing music is excellent, and the included ear buds are quite good. For several months Amazon has been incorrectly identifing the product as being encased in plastic. It is a rugged little magnesium case that fits in my shirt pocket, leaving hardly a crease. Needless to say, it is light as well. I was especially interested in the voice recording capability, which I find to be adequate. For me, this made the Nomad a better value than the Rio. (Others may appreciate the FM radio and reach the same conclusion for this reason, as well as for the smaller size). The manufacterer has already addressed one frequent complaint by including not only its own rather unwieldy software, but also software from MusicMatch that is familiar to many. This solves problems with convieniently categorizing, storing, and transferring MP3 files that some past reviewers complained of. With this software, I can view my entire music library or instead quickly find and transfer music files by whatever criteria suits my immediate need: artist, album, genre, mood, tempo, situation, ect... I also like the display and controls, the basics of which I was able to figure out without having to resort to the manual. It first displays the DOS name of the file, which allows for quick scrolling among files, then, once you have lingered on a selection long enough for the song to begin, scrolls the entire name of the artist and song in accordance with how you have "tagged" these matters with MusicMatch. It has long battery life because, unlike some players, it has space for two AAA sized batteries. Included are two rechargeables, which are not the built-in type that cannot be replaced when they wear out. Finally, although it plays only MP3 files, it can store any type of file, so if you find yourself without a Zip or CDR drive and you have a file larger than a 3.5" disc can hold, this little gem can be used to move files of up to 32 MB from one computer to another.

Here is the bad:

(1) A built in equalizer would be nice as the four preset options for playback may not suit whatever it is that you find weak or overemphasized in a recording. (2) I am annoyed that a recording cannot use the end of the 32 MB built in memory then continue seamlessly onto the 32 MB flash card. This wastes space at the end of the drive, causes me interuption in recording witnesses, and requires planning when loading songs onto the player. In fairness, I am not aware that any player offers either capacity.

(3) I am otherwise fully satisfied when listening to jazz or classical, but when I workout, I blast rock and roll at high volume. The amplification is just beefy enough to be adequate. (4) The player lacks support for certain platforms, such as Windows NT. (5) Without USB support, tranferring files is somewhat slow and, if you have only one parallel port that is located on the back of your computer, there may be inconvenience associated with this as well. (6) The display really should be back lit for use at night, or for when your wife drags you to a dimly lit symphony hall to hear modern classical music. (7) This player will only play MP3 files, not emerging formats such as Liquid Audio and Windows Media, and is not "future proofed" in that support for new formats cannot be programmed-in years down the road. (8) Finally, on two occaisons, the included 32 MB flashcard has gone berserk by indicating I have dozens of files of enermous size on it. Only reformatting the card has cured this problem, which causes concern that I might loose irreplacable voice recordings or find myself knee deep in an isolated trout stream without a good Miles Davis recording. END

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars hold your horses, February 25, 2000

By 

ODB (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creative Labs Nomad 64 MB MP3 Player (Electronics)

This mp3 player is "wireless streaming local content enabled"- it can convert "electromagnetic frequency modulation transmissions" in to high quality stereo audio. There is an abundance of wireless content in locales throughout the World, transmitting in the range of 87.5 to 108 Megahertz. To put this in to layman's terms, it has an FM radio built in. In this MP3 induced euphoria, one sometimes forgets about the value of FM, and how the 64 MB hand-picked selection of music sometimes just isn't what you want to hear. Thats a big fat plus for the Nomad, a quality few of its competitors possess. And I must say that the nomad FM reciever is high quality sound, and it holds ten presets, the perfect ammount.

The interface software is absolute crap compared to the RIO's (pmp300) simple easy use and mannage software. I'm serious, trust me, the software that comes with the nomad is crap and you are stuck with it. Hello creativelabs, just because your modem instalation software works, what are you thinking? mp3 download software is supposed to be quick easy painless, etc.. the opposite of your software (c'mon, when you drag a file into the nomad memory, only its msdos name shows up, like an ancient language). And it is so sloooow with its parallel port connection. I don't have time for this, you probably don't either. I want an Mp3 player whose smartmedia cards can be read on a flashpath disk or usb reader, and I am yet to find one. (Note: The rio and nomad both use propietary disk formats, forcing you to use their software, and not support external smartmedia readers.)

The voice recorder works well- no external mike input, but adequate to record someone or something funny and have it on digital one time.

The nomad had good volume, but doesn't pump quite loud enough when the rare occasion calls. my rough tests show that that the Rio pmp300 gives a slightly higher volume output.

Good set of headphones for mp3 players = sony mdr-v300 (sold here on amazonia).

The nomad looks really stylee, and the readout is clear (though not backlit). The base charger is a little excessive in size without reason, and doesn't have a printer pass-through for your parallel port (which the Rio pmp300 does).

I really like how small, cool looking and feature rich this thing is, but it's a pain using their software. It stacks up well regardless.

It seems that the nomad 2 is a big improvement.(not out yet, but you can check it at creativelabs.com).

Come on amazon, why don't you give your customers a discount on this product- how can you charge retail for this- you dont charge retail for anything else?

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absountly the Best MP3 Player Out on the Market, May 10, 2000

By 

Nomad Lover from Seattle (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creative Labs Nomad 64 MB MP3 Player (Electronics)

I just got my MP3 player today and let me tell you, this is the best MP3 player you can get for a great price. I've seen and heard the Rio 500 MP3 player before but comparing the two, the Nomad is way better. First of all, the Nomad is a lot cheaper. The Nomad is very compact, even smaller than the Rio 500, (to my memory) and has better abilities than Rio like a FM tuner and Voice Recording Mode. The MP3 player comes with rechargeble batteries and a charger thing that you put your MP3 player on to charge the batteries and import MP3's from your computer. The MP3 player also comes with a flashcard that holds 32 MB. The things that come with this MP3 player is 32 MB Flash Card, Docking Station, Cord to connect to Computer, Cord to plug in electrical outlet, headphones(not so good in my opinion), Content CD, Installation CD, Leather Carrying Case, and instructions. The only disadvantage this MP3 player has from a Rio 500 is the LCD display. Unlike other MP3 players, the Nomad doesn't have the backlight for the LCD display. This is the only disadvantage that I found. In this MP3 player, there are 3 modes. MP3 mode, FM tuner mode, and Voice Recording Mode. The FM tuner can hold 10 preset stations and is very good quality. Some of my friends said,"CD's are better, just get a decent burner." Now that I got the Nomad, I am glad that I didn't listen to him. My friend said CD's are better quality but in my opinion, I can't tell the difference between a CD and an MP3 file. I don't think my friend was lying and he was probably right but what's the point if you can't even tell the difference. The Software is very user friendly. I didn't even read the instructions once and had my MP3's onto my MP3 player in minutes. Great program for a great MP3 player. *Responding to other Reviews*

"tried it on my home PC and 4 different IBM Thinkpads. It worked in none of the above with different parallel port settings and infinite hours with Creative and IBM................. It ended up sitting on my drawer and now it would not even turn on. I trashed it. What a waste of a few hundred dollars"

Maybe your computer just didn't work, cuz it works on my Dell PC just fine.

"If you are rich as hell, go ahead and buy it. But for the price your paying for this, you could get a great Mini Disk player, and even plenty of discs for over 6,000 minutes of recording time with the same sound quality!"

Don't know what your talking about dude. This MP3 player is almost cheaper than all of the MD players available at Amazon. Plus MD players have the expenses of MD's and MD players are way bigger than the Nomad MP3 player.

Take my Word, if your buying a MP3 player, buy this one.