Customer Reviews

Creative Zen Nano Plus 1 GB MP3 Player (Green)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My son has a real Nano, the cool one made by Apple. Comparing the two is easy: the IPod is a feat in engineering and design -- very tight tolerances, sexy and sleek. The Zen Nano is plastic and there are places where the plastic doesn't meet up. The Zen Nano's buttons and dials do not look sturdy, but so far, so good. Sound quality is fine on the Zen Nano.

I bought mine after I discovered free eAudio books to download. iTunes, so far, can't be used for the audio books I have found. I'm sure there's a work around, but I didn't want to mess with it.

The software for the Zen Nano is pretty easy to use. It comes with a soft plastic case and an armband. The earphones hurt my ears after a couple of hours, but I was expecting that.

It's reasonably priced and holds quite a bit. I think I'll like it overall.

[Note: All colors are available at the regular retail price from the Creative Web site. You should not have to pay a premium to get a green one.]

I would have given Creative Zen Nano Plus (abbreviated "CZNP") 5 stars, except for two small deficiences: it does not have gapless playback (see #10 below), and the build quality and controls are kind of cheap (see #4 below). Assuming it lasts, it seems a very good unit for the money. Here's why I bought mine, and some questions to ask yourself when you're choosing. [Updated 8/28/2006]

0. Do I want to make a fashion statement with my MP3 player?

Some people will only buy a trendy iPod. Buying a lesser-known unit like CZNP makes a different statement, and you can choose from 10 colors. I prefer function over form, but CZNP offers some of each. I bought an orange one because it is easy to find in my black bag.

1. Do I want to play more than just sound?

The CZNP is a basic MP3 player, FM Radio, and recorder. It has a simple monochrome display and controls that make it a good choice for playing music, podcasts, and ebooks, and listening to local radio stations. It can record from the built-in mike or radio, or from a line input, which may be handy for some.

Some players can play videos, show pictures, etc, and cost a lot more because of the required color screen and larger memory. I don't need these things and prefer not to spend the money needed to get them.

Of course this player can STORE any kind of content, just like a thumb drive, but it only plays audio.

2. Will I be listening to mostly music or mostly spoken content?

When you switch off a unit while it is playing, or pause it and it turns off automatically after awhile, some units will resume at the beginning of the current track, and others (e.g. CZNP) resume exactly where you left off. If you are playing music, you usually prefer to start the song over again. For ebooks or long podcasts, I need to resume where it was turned off (like CZNP does), because it is hard to fast-advance back to where you were.

3. What kind of accessories can I get?

Creative has a set of speakers tailored to the CZNP, and there are many generic accessories that will work with it. By comparison, there are entire catalogs of accessories tailored for optimal use with an iPod (and may not work with others). I have what I need, but pine for some things available for iPod only.

The best accessory of all is a cable that has a 1/8" stereo plug (like the headphone plug) on one end, and two RCA plugs on the other. Plug one of these into the auxiliary or CD input of all the stereos you use, and you can quicly plug this in and play on the speakers. Such cables are available at Radio Shack and most places selling electronics products.

4. How convenient is it to use?

MP3 players vary considerably on how easy they are to use. The iPod is famous for ease of use, though it does not do everything I want to do. The CZNP has relatively cheap controls that work well enough, and does what I want. You don't have to be a computer whiz to use it or its software.

I have been using it while driving with reasonably good results. It is easy to pause and start it, turn it off, adjust volume, skip or repeat tracks, back up or move forward in the current track, and small enough to hold in your hand and still be able to hold onto the steering wheel.

But if you want to skip to a different album, you have to skip, wait, listen, and skip until you find the first track of the desired album. Of course there is a menu way of getting there more easily, but you can't use menus while driving.

It is small and light. About like a Bic cigarette lighter except twice as wide. So far I have found the size very convenient; I don't think I would want it any smaller. But being small, it might be easier to lose - which is why I bought an orange one.

5. How long will it last?

On Amazon, click the link "See all ... customer reviews", then look for the dropdown "Show:" and choose "Lowest review first" and click the Go button. There are a number of reports from people who had problems with their CZNP, some bad enough to throw it away. Some are real problems, others might be a lack of understanding how to use the player.

Despite these complaints, the average review is high. You'll find about the same mix of reviews for most players.

I decided to take a chance. My unit will be well-cared for. If I have a problem, I'll update this review.

6. Can the battery be replaced?

CZNP uses an AAA battery which is said to last for 15 hours and can be changed easily.

The iPod Nano has a rechargeable battery that is not designed to be replaced, which means the iPod Nano becomes landfill when the battery no longer takes a charge in a couple of years. There will be millions of iPods being thrown away simply because the owner cannot make them continue to work, which has an impact on the environment. There are now battery replacement kits for iPod, with tools and instructions, so this concern is lessened for DIY people, but most won't bother.

7. How does it sound?

The CZNP sounds very good to when when I use good earphones like Koss "The Plug", or when plugged into a stereo.

The free headphones you get with it won't give you the best sound, and you should not judge any player on how it sounds with the included headphones. Go buy quality earphones for any new player, as this will make a huge improvement in your enjoyment at relatively low cost.

8. Does the player use flash memory or hard-disk for storage?

CZNP uses flash memory. Flash memory is more expensive per MB/GB than hard disk memory, and flash memory players are smaller than hard disk players. I would not want a hard disk, which I think is too heavy and too fragile for a portable player. Get a hard disk player if you want to carry a lot of content, but make sure you have a backup. Get a flash memory player if you want to hold the content you will listen to today or this week.

9. Does the player have enough memory?

I use Highest Quality VBR, which gives me MP3s usually 200-250 KBPS, and I get about 10 hours of MP3 music. For podcasts or other material recorded at lower quality, you'll get a lot more. With that much space I can have some new or favorite albums left on the player, and have plenty of room for content that changes (like podcasts). If you don't use a computer regularly, you might want more memory, maybe even a hard disk, but 1GB is very convenient for my purposes.

10. Does the player support gapless playback between tracks?

Some albums have music that flows continously from one track to the next. Examples: Radiohead "OK Computer", Dandy Warhols, Moody Blues. The listening experience is disrupted if the tracks have a gap as the player switches from one track to another.

I don't know of any portable MP3 player that offers gapless playback (without Rockbox), though it's bound to come. The CZNP has a brief gap with no clicks, but it is still somewhat disruptive. One solution is to rip the album as one continuous track. The Rockbox open-source technology essentially replaces the firmware on your player, and it features gapless playback. It is supported on a few players, including some iPods, but not CZNP.

11. Does the player require proprietary software or hardware?

CZNP includes software, but since it also works like a USB drive, you can manage content with Explorer / Finder if you want to. All connectors are industry-standard and you can find matching cables in electronics and computer stores.

iPod can only load music using iTunes, and other players require software supplied with the unit, or with Windows. The iPod and others also use proprietary connectors, so replacing a lost cable is more expensive. I would not be happy with such restrictions. Open standards promote flexibility and interoperability. On the other hand the iPod is widely supported and it's easy to find compatible accessories.

For me, at a minimum, the player needs to look like a USB drive when I connect it to the computer, so that I can load it by dragging files to the player's file system, and the CZNP does that. I want to have a program automatically create a custom listening program of various short podcasts that play in a particular order to support Radio on Demand, and I want that to happen by simply connecting the device to the computer, with no keyboard or mouse interaction involved. I have not found such a program, and may have to write it, but I can do that if I want to. With an iPod I have no choice but to use iTunes (or replace the firmware with Rockbox). iTunes will not do what I want it to do, and there is no option to use my own or third-party software.

12. Is the player file-based or tag-based?

The CZNP is file-based: it will play songs in alphabetical order for a given folder. Naming songs with a two-digit sequence number at the beginning of the filename ensures they play in the correct order. It also has shuffle play, etc.

I had tried the SanDisk Sansa, but returned it because all content is organized and played on the basis of tags, exclusively. While my music has tags correctly set to play the way I wanted, podcasts don't use tags consistently enough to play them in a particular order that I chose. With the CZNP you can at least control the order by putting a sequence number at the beginning of each filename.

Tag-based may have some advantages over file-based (though not for my uses), but only if all of the content you want to play is properly tagged.all of the content you want to play is properly tagged.

I like my new Creative Zen Nano Plus 1 GB MP3 player a lot! I took it out of the package, plugged it into my Windows XP machine, and started dragging and dropping files to it from Windows Explorer. Within 2 minutes, I was listening to music. Very easy.

The battery cover does seem a bit finicky; I'll be very careful with it. But the overall build quality seems fine. For $70, it's a great deal.

So I had started out buying an IPod, then when I got it home realized I couldn't interface it with my computer because I was running Windows 98 and probably had a USB1 Port rather than USB2. Options ended up being - buy all new computer and $400 walkman (aka IPod) or figure out another solution. The Zen Nano Plust is that very thing. Despite many others' whining on this site about problems with the programming, the whole thing installed easily on my laptop and in minutes I was ripping stuff to the player. Easy set up, easy to go. Only problems with the item is they give you these earbuds which are gigantic, will fit in only the largest of ears. Still, for $65 - what I paid - it's an easy fix. Maybe this item is better suited for computers without the latest OS on them? All I know is mine loaded beautiful without a hitch.

This is a great SIMPLE mp3 player that holds a full Gigabyte of music. What I really like is I can record my DJ sets at the club. Then, on the drive home, plug it up to the car audio and listen to it.

Its small size is unbelievable - great for the gym or running w/ the dogs. Oh, the FM reception is pretty good as well.

I had done alot of research on mp3 players and I realy wanted to go with a flah player for duribility.I must say that I am very happy with my choice.Everything creative labs said this mp3 player would do,it does.I have not had any problems so far and my girlfriend also bought one along with mine.A+++

Save yourself some headaches and DO NOT PURCHASE the Creative Zen Nano Plus. It was trouble right out of the box.

I consider myself to be pretty tech savy (I work in IT). And I've owned 4 other mp3 players. I also made the mistake of disregarding the other negative reviews of this product.

This device would randomly turn itself off and lock up. I tried everything available on the Creative support site. Nothing fixed the problem.

Do yourself a favor and save another 50 bucks and buy yourself an iPod Nano.

Cute tiny design. Good storage capacity. Loaded with features. Excellent sound quality. Not the most comfortable earphones, but thats pretty much the only reason I couldn't rate it a perfect 5.

The Zen is a great player for the price. Its easy to use and simple interface allows for quick transfer of music using either drag and drop OR the creative software. No Itunes required!
Display and scroll function work well and easy.
Sound quality is excellent, voice recorder works well as well.
Battery life leaves something to be desired, use rechargeables.
Ear buds are uncomfortable is worn incorrectly. Try wrapping the wire around the top of the ear and having the stiff arm part of the bud pointing upwards, not down like you would think.
Fm tuner great as well.

The little thing works well with a lot of options to play with and upgrades to personalize it to your taste. Software is very user friendly even for beginers. A very large storage capacity for it's size. It comes with every hardware/software to get you started. The earphones are not that good but gets the job done and the armband felt like it won't hold the unit securely when you run wearing it.

Price is competetive but if you look at how cheap the plastic they used on the thing, you'll know why... The tab on the battery cover on mine broke the first time I changed the battery. A problem that shouldn't have existed if they had a rechargeable one built in on it that you only have to change once in a blue moon and can be charged thru the USB port.

It could have been built better to compete with Apple. I'm a little disappointed with this product since it's was made by a very well-known company.