Creative Labs Nomad II "C" 32 MB Digital Audio Player (Silver)

by Creative

Product Details

Product Manual [2.63mb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005ICD1
• Item model number: 7000000000004
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #205,400 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

The Creative Labs Nomad II C is one of those gadgets that are so much fun to play with, you find yourself forgetting they're useful, too. When portable MP3 players first hit the market, they were relatively simple devices good for one thing: playing MP3 files. Now, as companies have learned customers want more than just that, today's devices can no longer be described as just MP3 players.

The Nomad II C's most overlooked feature is that of a digital voice recorder. Since voice recordings aren't the memory hogs that music files are, the Nomad II C can record up to four hours' worth. This feature is perfect for dictating messages to yourself or for the fledging journalist recording interviews, and you can even upload voice files from the Nomad II C to your PC.

From an audio perspective, the Nomad II C couldn't have performed any better. The equalizer had good settings, and the ability to program user-defined settings was awesome. Furthermore, a wired remote control and bass-enhanced, behind-the-head headphones completed the package.

MP3 players are great for music lovers on the go. Because they have no moving parts, they're well known for skip-free music. To test the Nomad II C, we loaded it up with some hip-hop and headed down to the local BMX spot in San Francisco. With the player clipped to a belt, we put it through its paces over a multitude of jumps and with more than enough crashes. We did our best to make it skip, but it performed perfectly (though beware--the Nomad II C isn't scratchproof). Only after the battery started to get low (the Nomad II C offers eight to 10 hours of playback) did performance degrade. But this was easily remedied by dropping in a new AA battery.

This version of the Nomad II C has 32 MB of onboard memory, but it does include a slot for SmartMedia memory cards. As additional memory is still relatively expensive, and most of us don't have extra cards lying around the house, there will come a time when you'll tire of the songs on the device. And without the presence of your PC--and no additional SmartMedia cards--you're at a loss.

MP3 music, like everything else technology related, is in constant flux. Recognizing that, the Nomad II C ships with reprogrammable firmware that should enable it to support digital-audio formats and software extensions as they emerge. So, you should be able to enjoy your Nomad II C for years to come. --William O'Neal

Pros:

• Awesome sound
• Lightweight
• USB interface makes connecting to your computer simple and downloading fast
• Intuitive software
• Supports numerous digital-audio formats

Cons:

• Simple software could be more robust
• Navigating the LCD menu can be a pain

Amazon.com Product Description

The Creative Labs Nomad II C is a compact nonmechanical player designed for crystal-clear, skip-free digital audio, no matter where you take it. Built to be the next-generation portable digital audio platform, the Nomad II C is futureproof, offering reprogrammable firmware to support multiple digital audio formats and software extensions.

The Nomad II C includes 32 MB of built-in flash memory and is expandable using SmartMedia memory cards. It supports both MP3 and WMA file formats and is upgradable to future audio compression standards. Additionally, the Nomad II C includes a voice recorder, allowing you to store up to two hours of spoken-word recordings on the 32 MB memory.

You can manage, access, upload, and download content to your Nomad II C player in seconds using the included software: PlayCenter 2 for Windows and SoundJam MP for the Macintosh. Both enable you to encode, decode, and archive high-quality MP3 files and WMA files, as well as convert CD tracks and compile them by preference.

The Nomad II C offers USB interface for lightning-fast data transfer between your Nomad II C and your PC or Macintosh. It includes one AA alkaline battery and a USB connector cable. Note that the Nomad II C does not include a docking station, carrying pouch, wired remote control, or headphones.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent product and price, August 16, 2001

By 

Matthew Sampson (Bozeman, MT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creative Labs Nomad II "C" 32 MB Digital Audio Player (Silver) (Electronics)

I did a lot of research before buying my mp3 player and I know these reviews help, so I'll try to be as detailed as I can. At frist I was unsure about buying an mp3 player because they hold so few songs. I thought about buying a 64 or 128 megabite player but was turned off buy their very high prices. I began researching the nomad II and found that it had 32 megabites of built in memory, which means that there is no smartcard involved with the original 32 megs you get. Then I started looking at the prices for smart media cards. I was originally going to get a 128 bite card, but again the price was too much. I settled for the 64 megabite viking card. I went for the viking because it was cheaper and just as good as the competition. In fact the only differce is the name. With the built in memory and the 64 MB card i can fit about 30 mp3 files onto my mp3 player. This is the perfect amount for me. I get about 1 and 1/2 to two (2) hours of music(all files were mp3 files, not WAV). The other thing I wasn't sure about was how well the software would be. I have over 300 mp3 files on my hard-drive and I use MusicMatch as my default mp3 player. At first I thought I would have to transfer all of my musicmatch mp3's over to the Creative Labs software. To my surprise, the software for the nomad II accepted my MusicMatch files and I was able to transfer all of them to the mp3 player no problem. If you're wondering how long it takes to transfer mp3 files, it's pretty darn quick. It only took me about five minutes to add a fresh 30 or so songs to the nomad II. The battery life on the nomad II is great. On average you get about 10 hours of battery life, which is pretty good considering it's only one battery and my cd player only gets 12 hours of battery life with two batteries. Some other reviews said that the menu navigation was difficult, I found no problems and it only takes a little tinkering with to get all the controls down pat. The only problem with the nomad II is it comes with no ...instruction booklet. You have to get the instructions off of an adobe acrobat file. That's a big pain in the [behind]. The other software that comes with the player is ... obsolete. The only program I kept installed was the Creative sound lab so that I could transfer mp3's to the player. I will continue to use MusicMatch as my mp3 player and I'm sure your other programs like Real Jukebox will be more gutsy when It comes to listening to music on your computer. All in all the nomad II is the best for the price, and I would recomend buying additional cards to expand the memory.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Player: 5 Stars, Software: 3 Stars., June 12, 2001

By 

Jayson (Rancho Santa Margarita, ca, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creative Labs Nomad II "C" 32 MB Digital Audio Player (Silver) (Electronics)

Weighing in and sizing up as to be no larger than a regular deck of playing cards, the Nomad IIc is a great little MP3 player. It is packaged with a single software CD, USB cable, and 1 battery. Yup, no headphones.

Once you have the player setup, it's ease of use is straight forward. The screen is backlit and there are different setting options to help you maximize player feedback. Out of the package, this player supports both MP3 and WMA (however I am finding WMA's a bit more picky to set up). The onboard 32MB of memory will support roughly 40min of music if ripped at 160Kbps. You can rip in the range between 20 and 320kbps (CD quality is roughly 128). The higher your setting, the more memory is used, hence less music you can store. So I suggest buying a Smart Media chip to increase memory if you want to listen to anymore than 45 minutes worth at a time. The open end of the firmware will allow you to upgrade to future codecs (so Creative says).

The player also has a built in microphone for voice recordings in which you convert later to .wav, .wma, or mp3.

I found the onboard menu's pretty easy to navigate. If you can operate a modern microwave or alarm clock, you can operate this player.

The nice thing I think aboout when it comes to Smart Media cards, is that there are no moving parts. Unlike small hard drives or discs, there is no wear or tear on internal parts.

Now the software on the other hand is a bit of a disappointment. Upon opening the package there is no manual. You actually have to install the CD-ROM and Adobe Acrobat to get to the manual .pdf files. Also there are some programs on the disc that have no description on what they do, or why they were included so I am at a loss on whether I want to load them or not. Basically you only need to load the IIc driver and player software in order to use your Nomad, all others seem to be fluff. At the very least Creative could have supplied a one page document explaining what exactly the 6 programs on the disc do.

The Creative Play Center, while serves it purpose, could have been much more robust. If all you want to do is tranfer files from PC to Nomad, or rip CD's, its very painless and straightforward. Third party software like Real's Jukebox or WinAmp does a much better job in organizing your MP3 library and making changes. The changes you can make in the included software are basic at best and really limit full control over your music library. The manual is also buried on the disc and while explanations are adequate, it lacks depth. For a computer/MP3 newbie, this could prove a little challenging and overwhelming, you may want to look at other software music organizers. Overall the disc is not too user friendly.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Simple was all I wanted., May 17, 2001

By 

M. Schuck "runt" (Highlands Ranch, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Creative Labs Nomad II "C" 32 MB Digital Audio Player (Silver) (Electronics)

I was looking for a basic player to take to the rec center, and that's exactly what I got.

Right out of the box I was loading songs with no problem. The software was very intuitive - though I did have to refer to the online manual to figure out how to navigate the menus on the Nomad itself. Luckily the manual is crystal clear.

32MB seemed small, but that's fine for my purposes (besides it's expandable, though I don't think I'll find the need.) I loaded 15 songs with no problem using the WMA format at 64kbps. Now I know that's only 'near CD quality' but in the rec center with crappy little head phones, who can tell the difference?

This unit doesn't come with headphones. That was fine with me, if it had come with headphones I probably would have just replaced them.

There are two reasons I didn't give this 5 stars. One is it doesn't come with rechargeable batteries. There is no reason Creative Labs can't package this with rechargable batteries for the same price - and it's just silly using throw aways in it. Before it even arrived I bought myself a couple of rechargeable batteries and a charger.

The other is the belt clip. It is pretty loose. I'm using this in an active environment, and may end up having to buy a carrying case for it.

Bottom line - I'm quite pleased with my purchase.