Creative Zen Micro 5 GB MP3 Player Pink

by Creative Labs

Product Details

Product Manual [1.00mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 2 x 0.7 x 3.3 inches ; 3.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00067TTY0
• Item model number: 70PF108000138
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (523 customer reviews)

Product Description

Color: pink

Amazon.com Product Description

The Zen Micro digital music player from Creative Labs packs an incredible 5 GB of storage capacity into a shell small enough to sit comfortably in your jeans pocket. It also rides nicely in your hand, with a palm-fitting profile and thumb-friendly front-panel controls. It's a bit shorter than an Apple iPod Mini, yet its rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides 12 hours of continuous playback--50 percent more than iPod Mini's. The Zen Micro is compatible note merely with MP3s and WAV files, but with WMA as well. Toss in USB 2.0 connectivity and you're looking at one spiffy portable music player.

But playing isn't all the Zen Micro does. You can use it to receive FM radio (with 32 station presets to keep your favorites at the ready), and to record, either from the radio or from live sources such as dictation or lectures using the built-in condenser microphone.

Trimmed in a luminescent blue glow and with easily visible backlit buttons, this stylish pink player holds up to 1,250 songs (83 hours) at 128 kbps or 2,500 songs (166 hours) at lower-fidelity 64 kbps (MP3/WMA)--that's a solid week's worth of music listening, never playing the same song twice. Compatibility with Microsoft's WMA compressed-audio format grants access to over 2 million downloadable songs offered promotionally or for sale online.

Perhaps the Zen Micro's coolest attribute is its DJ feature, which will shuffle not only all the songs you've loaded or all the songs on a given album, but, at your discretion, only the tracks you listen to most or only the ones you rarely hear, taking the work out of selecting your favorites or hunting out all the music you're still getting to know.

Zen Micro's rechargeable battery is easy to replace.

For navigation, the device features a vertical, linear touchpad designed to make searching through songs or playlists easy, quick, and fun. The unit's blue, 160 x 104-pixel, electroluminescent LCD shows key functions and song details at a glance, and you can even customize the main menu to keep right at your fingertips the features that matter most to you.

Another of the Zen Micro's handy features is its personal organizer. You'll never forget an important anniversary with the onboard calendar, and it also includes a to-do list and a contacts list, all of which sync seamlessly with Microsoft Outlook (Outlook thus required for use of these features). In addition, the device offers a sleep timer and alarm so you can drift off to sleep to the strains of one playlist and wake to a completely different one.

The Zen Micro's removable battery is easy to swap with another fully charged battery (additional batteries sold separately), extending your listening by a half-day per swap.

What's in the Box
The Zen Micro player, stereo earbud headphones, a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, a USB 2.0 cable, an installation CD, a quick- start guide, and Creative MediaSource software.

Product Description

Non Stop Music - Non Stop Fun!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

555 of 570 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The MP3 Player for the Rest of Us, December 5, 2004

By 

R. L. Lewis (Tacoma, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creative Zen Micro 5 GB MP3 Player Silver (Electronics)

The Creative Zen Micro is no iPod killer. It is the iPod for the rest of us. Where Apple's product is stylish and fun to use, it has that unfortunate Apple characteristic of locking users into buying their music strictly from Apple. iTunes is a fine online music store, but there are many others and some (MSN and Musicmatch for example) are as deep in selection and easy to use. And the Creative Zen Micro gives us a player every bit as intuitive and stylish as the Apple product and the benefit of FM radio, Outlook synchronization and the use of every online music store other than iTunes.

Everyone knows that the Micro comes in an array of colors. Mine is silver. I like the blue glow and the shiny white case that compliment the silver face. Personally I think the black model looks best, but I didn't buy the unit for the color. I've seen a number of reviews of the Micro from people having trouble with the vertical touch pad. After two adjustments, I had no issues with that controller at all. It is more intuitive than running your finger in a circle. The touch pad and menus it opens are user adjustable. I was having trouble getting the Micro cursor to stop where I wanted when scrolling though the menu lists. I adjusted the touchpad sensitivity setting to low but that didn't help. I adjusted it to high and the problem was solved. It may seem counterintuitive to select high sensitivity to better control the touchpad. If you're having touchpad issues, try the high setting and see for yourself.

The Micro comes in with good quality ear buds, a hard shell case that accepts adapters to help it serve as a belt clip or a desk stand. There is also a carrying pouch, a USB 2.0 cord, universal AC adapter, and the removable, rechargeable battery. Other accessories are available from Creative. I am not a big fan of ear buds, but these are pretty good and the cord doubles as the FM radio antenna. I selected Auto Search and the Micro found strong signals for all of its 32 presets. I live in an area with lots of FM radio, so performance in other areas may vary.

Volume on the Micro is controlled by the touchpad, not a separate button. Some folks prefer a separate wheel for volume. It is more important to me that the volume reaches acceptable levels and is EQ adjustable. Both are true on the Micro. There are a number of EQ presets and a limited ability to customize adjustments.

You can create playlists on the fly which is a great feature of the Micro missing in many other MP3 players. It is also possible to create playlists on your computer using either the included Creative software or Windows Mediaplayer 10. I like the interface in WMP 10 better than the Creative software and the Micro syncs with WMP 10 flawlessly.

The Micro has a microphone for recording voice notes. Speak normally into this mic or you will get distorted sound. At normal speaking volumes, the quality was fine. You might be tempted to shout to such a tiny device, but don't.

Creative says the battery will play for 12 hours. Early buyers of the Micro are receiving an extra battery in the package, which is a great bonus. I charged the extra battery and keep it in the pouch to be handy when needed. I've not run a battery test where I drain the unit dry, but I probably won't get 12 hours anyway, because I set the backlight for bit longer than the default. I was pleased to learn that the Micro charges either from the AC adapter or via the USB cable when it is plugged in for syncing. That is a nice touch.

My unit is full with just over 1000 songs, far short of the 2500 claimed for the 5GB drive. This is my fault. The 2500 claim is based on using only WMA format songs recorded at 64kbps. I have a mix of WMA and MP3 files and I usually encode at a much higher rate. This is another reason the Zen Micro is the player for me. The original iPod and other devices are just too big. I don't have anywhere near 10,000 songs to carry around. I am pleased for those folks who do, but drives that big would be a waste of space for me. The 5GB units provide just enough room for me to carry around my digital collection. As the number of songs I own grows, I can always compress them to fit better on the Micro or become more selective about which tunes get synched.

Creative has a winner in the Zen Micro. I really believe this is the music player for the rest of us and, with some marketing behind it, it can do for the other online music stores what the iPod did for its brother iTunes. Thank goodness for choice.

814 of 874 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars REVISED: If you're not an iTunes kinda person..., October 13, 2004

By 

Christopher Wanko "-C" (Nutley, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creative Zen Micro 5 GB MP3 Player Black (Electronics)

... then this might intrigue you greatly. The hook with this MP3 player, distinguishing it from the others, is clearly going to be the OS applications it provides. Finally, someone has figured out that building some smarts into the player will help it compete with iPods.

The latest craze for MP3 manufacturers is the 5Gb microdrive, a 25% boost from the 4Gb ones supplied by Hitachi. At this point, the Rio Carbon is 5Gb (along with a host of South Korean manufacturers), and eventually the iPod will get a "free" upgrade to 5Gb as the 4Gb trickle down to nothing. Then what? What compels you to choose one over the other?

It has to be the UI and user experience. The Carbon is nice but offers no improvement to the near-perfect iPod experience. The scroll wheel is not an Apple innovation, but it took Apple to put it on their MP3 player for the obvious to become clear to the industry. So tack on a scroll wheel and... you still have to compete against the intuitive OS-based application that an iPod offers the user.

It's easy to find songs, organize songs, and also carry some essentials and diversions. The iPod gets it right, the Carbon doesn't. Today, the Creative Zen Micro proves it, too, gets it right.

Better for the Zen Micro is Outlook compatibility. This makes the Zen Micro the first choice for MP3 owners with a Windows-based system. I'm not professing to be a consumer-survey corporation, but I don't know *anyone* with an iTunes account. However, I do know about a dozen people with well over 4000 MP3s each. What device would I recommend?

Well, if size matters, and you like the idea of a lime-green or bright yellow device, then I'd have to go with a Creative Zen Micro. Creative has excellent music software, a very responsive tech support group (they are quick on firmware updates, and make them publicly available), and usually a good array of accessories. The Zen Micro is no exception: in addition to the case, it comes with a neck strap, and has all of the necessary cables for syncing and charging. The extra spare battery is just a neat bonus.

If I could, I'd trade-up on my Creative Muvo2 and snag a Zen Micro tomorrow.

****
I gave up a ton of positive reviews to add this addendum. I do not work for Creative; I had a chance to play with a review copy in-depth, as others have (See Engadget, Gizmodo, or c|net as examples). Just because Amazon doesn't have it to sell doesn't mean the product is unavailable for review. Please judge any review you read -- in any medium, be it here or newspapers or magazines -- by its own merits.
****

Fred

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive Review, October 30, 2005

By 

M. Le "College Purvue" (Berkeley, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Creative Zen Micro 5 GB MP3 Player Black (Electronics)

I'm going to begin with a basic review and then as an addenum address some of the complaints on the board.

Looking for an mp3 player I was looking for (in order of priority):

1) Audio Fidelity
2) Compatibility with music subscription services
3) Build Quality
4) Portability (including batterly life)
5) Interface
6)Maintenance Costs (i.e. easily replacable, cheap battery)

With this in mind, I was led to the Zen Micro. I know creative creates great sound cards (I've had 2 of them) and I had also read that creative had the among the best fidelity of all audio players. Testing with a friend's zen micro and another's ipod, I noticed a clear difference in quality between the two using the same songs encoded at the same bitrate. I am, however, an audiophile, so many people may not notice the difference. Ipods tend to have weaker bass and less clarity.

Zen micro also had the features I was looking for that the ipod didn't: (compatability with subscription serviecs, not having to use system--resource-hogging i-tunes, and being able to transfer files between computers). The FM tuner and voice recording didn't really play into my account, but they work fine: the FM tuner is a bit weak, and I get a little static listening to NPR, but its not gruesomely bad either (what do you expect out of such a tiny device without an antenna?). The recording is ok too but the fidelity is really meant for note taking not recording a concert or anything.

The build quality of this thing seems pretty good as well. The back is a clear, white plastic which I find to be very cool looking. Unlike the ipod, it will not scratch easily and has a nice glossy finish to it. The front seems to be a thin anodized aluminum faceplate (the screen is a whole in the faceplate, and on top of the plate is a thick layer wich borders the player and also forms the screen). The text quality is very good and is about 10 font for characters and 8 or 6 font for time remaining and track number. I've read reports about the zen taking hard knocks and still working and I believe them (at least everything other than the headphone jack seems solid).

This thing is extremely protable. It is about 3.8 ounces which is slightly heavier than the ipod mini and the nano, and it is thicker as well but I find that to be great because it cradles more easily into my hand (the back is curved). It is light enough so that I don't notice it while exercising using my arm-band at the gym (in terms of weight).

I've had no problems with the interface either. Its intuitive and yes, its pretty similar to the ipod's, but I've read that ipod jacked creative's interface in the first place anyways. Instead of a wheel you have an up-down touch sensitive scroll which is used for volume control and scrolling. Tapping it lightly selects things. It is very intuitive and I got use to the sensitivity (which you can adjust) in a few minutes. It has a very cool backlight as well making it easy to use at night. In addition, it can be used in your pocket without a problem. The controls are the only metallic part of the player exposed (the rest is covered in plastic) so its easy to find, and there are 2 small ridges (like the 1-side of a die) that stick up and help identify where the buttons are by touch.

The battery life is about 11 hours on mine without constant adjustment (I tested it) and about 8 hours with constant adjustment (which usually happens with me).

The battery is removable and can be purchased cheaply on ebay which is a plus.

Now to respond to the caveats:

Ok, there's a lot of variance in the reviews for the Zen Micro so here are a few quick things I would like to point out.

Anyone that insults the Zen Micro and then tells you to buy an ipod (especially a 20 gig one) seem to me to be an ipod fanboy trying to turn you away from a good product or is clueless about mp3 players. The zen micro is not competing really with ipods, its features put it in a different niche. The normal ipod was just too big for me and I didn't need to have 20 gigs with me at a time. Also the mediocre audio fidelity was a big turn-off to me.

Yes, there is a headphone problem, but noone is certain how really prevalent it is. Forums are a terrible way to tell because you're getting a self-selecting group of people. If yours breaks, of course you're gonna go whine about it online. If it doesn't, you just continue on doing what you've been doing and don't even know such boards exist so a board full of complaining people may not mean the player is bad.

That being said, the headphone problem does seem to be a systematic flaw (at least among those that expereince it) that occurs in because the headphone jack is apparently not soldered on very tight. Anecdotal evidence says that newer models are soldered on tighter, but noone knows for sure (not enough time to test). If you know how to solder components you can fix it but void your warranty. I don't think its that big of a problem, I talked to a local cambridge soundworks guy who said he never had any problems with the zen micro and that noone has returned it because of a headphone jack problem. If you're really worried, I suggest you get Amazon's replacement plan rather than Creative's extended warranty. Creative will send you a refurbished unit if yours gets broken, which begs the question, why is it refurbished in the first place? With Amazon they will send you a new one, which is a better deal. THey will also be likely faster than Creative which has like 1 month turnaround times (no, I don't work for amazon; this is what careful research has shown me).

To solve the headphone jack problem, do not leave your headphones plugged in while in not in use (this also saves battery life), and do not put it in your pocket or anywhere else where it can collide into things. This should not be hard as you should most likely have a belt clip or whatnot to protect your investment anyways. Get headphones with a 90 degree jack to limit torque as well.

Small things you might want to know:

The organizer does what it says, display downloaded outlook tasks. There is up to a three second lag between songs sometimes on shuffle. This is due to the harddrive in the device moving from one section of the disk to another. For songs immediately after another its not as noticable. There is usually about a 1 second average lag between songs when fowarding.

Thats about it, I just got my purchase and am glad I got it, its a cool little device that had all the features I wanted + some nice bonuses. I'm a little worried about the headphone problem but I know how to solder and I am extra careful with my player so I feel safe. I'm certainly glad I got it over an ipod, the sound quality is enough to push the micro far and beyond the ipod to me.

Hope I've been of help.



EDIT: I've owned this thing for 5 months now and still no headphone jack problem. I even stopped worrying about it after the first month and just left my headphones jacked in and still no headphone jack problem. Some dust got underneat the plastic at the edges but I used a business card and just scraped the dust out. I've even used it to record lectures (be sure to listen to the recording after a few seconds to make sure you're getting good sound).

Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase and would buy it again.

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