Customer Reviews

Creative Zen 20 GB Portable Media Center

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I've had a few days to play with a Zen Portable Media Center because a friend of mine, who's the owner, had trouble getting content loaded. The Creative support folks were friendly, but clueless on this very newly released product. Since I'm his technology guru, he asked me to show him how to get it working.

The Zen is about the size of a paperback novel. It's small but is too large to carry in your pocket. It comes in a nice case the folds nicely into a simple stand. This let's you set the Zen on a table or airline tray-table while using it.

My first impression when I turn it on is that UI is a clone from XP Media Center Edition (which is Microsoft's Media Center PC OS). I own a couple of XP Media Center PC's so found the UI very familiar and intuitive. However, my first reaction was the navigation and play back controls were reversed. I've had a couple of other folks who played with the Zen make the same comment. Perhaps the UI control layout was designed by a lefty (I'm right handed) or perhaps they were XBox users (many XBox games use the left thumb for naviagation). It's a minor nit in any case.

To load content on the Zen you must load Windows Media Player 10 which was just released from Microsoft. Clearly Microsoft wants to get into the content management market and is trying to "one up" the iPod and iTunes by supporting not only audio but video.

However Windows Media Player 10 was where my friend had difficulty. He was not able to figure out the new quirks of the substantially changed Windows Media Player UI. To load new content you must have the Zen plugged in, be in the Sync tab, and then create "play lists" of video, audio and picture contents that you want synced. Once the "play list" is created then the content can be synced to the Zen. It's not hard, but it's a bit of a stretch to call that a play list.

Once you've start the sync process you can prepare to wait... and wait... and wait some more. TV shows saved in XP MCE can be added to the "play list" and synced, however they must be converted to a WMA file that is compatible with the Zen. This takes about the same amount of time as the play time of the show. A half hour show takes about a half hour to convert and download, an hour show takes an hour and so on. Also, TV shows that I downloaded from my XP MCE machine had the colors goofed up. It was sort of like watching the film negative of the TV show. I suspect that's something that will get fixed in a software update (and is not a significant issue for my friend since he doesn't care about TV content).

My friend really wants to load DVD movies for long plane trips (he owns them and doesn't want to pay for them again to download them to his Zen). So this is where I went to work.

My first attempt to load a movie was using a product called "DVD To Pocket PC" by Makayama. It is suppose to convert DVD's directly to wma files for Pocket PC's and is suppose to work for the Zen. I tried the trial version and was initially unsuccessful (presumably because XP SR2 was installed). I ended up trying it on a non XP SR2 machine and it worked well. Since the application is fairly turnkey, it's probably a good choice for moving content from DVD's you own to your Zen.

Next I tried Dr. Divx. This application can convert unencrypted DVD's to Divx avi files. This worked for me (though it took a few tries to get the hang of it), however it's not nearly as turnkey as "DVD To Pocket PC". Also, Divx conversion takes awhile (somewhere between 2-4 hours for a full length movie). Be sure to use one of the portable formats because the Zen has a limited bit rate it can support. I had a little trouble getting the aspect ratio right, but a few tries resolved this too. Once the movie is converted then you must go to Windows Media Player 10, put it in a "play list" and sync it with the Zen. This takes awhile, but is worth the wait. The movies look and play great.

Having used it for a day or so I have a wish list of features that the Zen doesn't have (nothing here is a killer problem, but would make a good product even better).
* It needs parental control - I'd like to protect some content from my kids. Currently there is no way to do this.
* I'd like visualization plug-ins when listening to music.
* Since it's used during travel, a travel alarm clock feature would be very nice.

Pros:
* The player sounds good, the UI is great, and the size is very convenient, and the features are fantastic.

Cons:
* It's a bit pricey
* Moving TV content was only partially successful from my XP MCE machine (though I suspect this will get fixed), moving content is very time consuming and is probably something you want to do over night.
* It's not really a direct replacement for an iPod (it's too darn big). Though that's not really a fair criticism of the Zen because it's not intended to directly replace the iPod

All in all, this is an impressive product, even considering this is V1.0 of the software management (WMP 10), and the hardware, and the firmware.
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I recently bought an Archos, but had to take it back because it failed within a week. The replacement went the same way, so being sold on the concept, I went for the Creative Zen as a replacement.

Although it lacks all the recording feature of the Archos, I think its a better machine. So far, its tough enough to stand the kids use in the car without any signs of fatigue.

For content, I find it better to skip Media Player 10 altogether, and I bought a program for $ 25 called the Pocket DVD Wizard, which lets me put my DVD's on the Zen, and the quality is good.

A good tip is not to use Media Player to load the file at all, just let the Wizard do its work, then plug in the Zen, go to Windows Explorer, and drag the movie or mp3 from wherever you saved it straight into the video folder on the zen.

Its much faster that using media player, and the results seem to be better (one less conversion!)

Overall, im very pleased with it.

I had been waiting patiently for PVP (Personal Video Players) to arrive. Saw Archos, wasn't impressed. Creative Zen looked really good at the store, so I bought it. Have been playing with it. The video and audio play features are pretty reasonable. The speakers could be made a bit louder. The major flaw with this device is the limited ways in which u can load up the video files into it. You will need a Windows Media Center PC OR a PC with a TV tuner/capture device to get video in acceptable formats accepted by Zen. Annoyingly it does not have video/audio inputs for capture. It has video/audio outputs to connect it to a TV. The Windows Media Player 10, converts all files to wmv (very slowly) before syncing it with Zen. The Zen, irritatingly needs to be connected to the PC while the Windows Media Player converts the mpeg files to wmv. I am sure that there are lots of third party tools that can handle the capture/conversion rapidly, but I don't feel like investing more into this solution after spending 500 dollars on it. On the plus side, it is a very well made and polished piece of hardware. The video screen is very sharp and clear. I will probably return this and wait for the next release of Zen, or maybe wait for Apple to redo the magic they did with Ipod and hopefully they release a video version of Ipod. If you already have lots of video content already available in easily convertable format and/or own a media center pc, go ahead and buy this device. I guess I will wait around for version 2.0 of this device. Takes too much time and hassle to load up media onto this device. Creative should go with Linux and/or their own proprietary media management software. I own the Creative Zen MP3 player and the software is okay , if not excellent. Microsoft Media Player 10 was a bad choice.

An update to the review. I have recently bought iRiver PMP-120 that is NOT based on Microsoft Media Center. There is another iRiver product model, PMC-120 that is based on Microsoft media center. Dont buy PMC-120, as U will run into same problems as the Creative product. With the iRiver PMP-120 + Pinnacle Dazzle USB Capture Card + Pinnacle Studio software + iRiver supplied DIVX codecs, I have been able to successfully capture a/v signals from my dish tv box, and then import them onto iRiver PMP-120. End Result : A portable DVR that can play captured video whenever I want. I was even able to capture HD channel outputs from my dish tv box using the A/V cables. You will need to experiment with AVI formats and media conversion, before you get it right. The Pinnacle Dazzle capture device + software is about 60 bucks. iRiver provides all the media converter software and DIVX codecs that make it easy to import videos. Use the Portable Media Center profile, when using the iRiver DIVX codec.

I think that this is a great foundation for up and coming video playback machines. I currently own one and have had it since christmas day. I love it. It is soo easy to use. Even my little 7 year old brother uses it with ease. All the options on the machine make it impossible to get lost, and if you do, there is a back button. I tested out all the video players out during christmas time and found this one the best. I have had 3 iRiver Mp3 players and was anxious to get there video player. After trying to use it i often found myself lost and confused on the machine, so i kept having to power back on and off. I also tried the archos, which was even more confusing. Overall this is a great hassle free machine here are some pros and cons. If your wondering why I didn't rate it a 5 because no machine is perfect.

Cons
-Big and bulky (Who cares it just means it has a big screen)
-Can't record to device directly from TV
-Scratches easily (I recommend using the case at all times)
-Can't tinker with audio (Can't adjust bass, treble, balance, etc.)
-Takes awhile to put video files on device

Pros
-Unbeilavbly easy to use
-Awesome video playback
-Sound is great (even has own speaker)
-Ultra fast putting music files on device
-Easy to watch during day or night
-Nice size memory for plenty of songs or video or pictures
-Incredible battery life 1 day of music or half a day of video

If you want all the little geeky features this is not the machine for you. If you want a easy to use audio-video player, this is the machine for you.

Okay, I've had the Creative Zen PMC for a few months now and I think I have had enough experiences at this point to share my opinion. I absolutely think that this device is awesome!! There are a few things that could be improved with the next model but overall the unit is great. First off, I am 25, and active duty in the military. I also take full time classes in college to finish my Masters degree. I needed something that I could store files on while moving between computers, I wanted to take Mp3s with me everywhere I go, and finally, being able to watch some movies on a plane or even during a TDY and be able to look at pictures of my family and my girlfriend, which was a must. This device delivers on all of my expectations. It is very easy to use, very simple to figure out how to interact with the device and more or less, the unit stand up very well. The screen is rather prone to fingerprints but the screen is VERY crisp and clear. The battery life is about 7.5 hours watching movies so you can easily get through a plane ride. The battery comes out easy enough to change and a spare battery is priced well (Around $35). I wish that you could charge a spare battery in one of the charging cradles rather then having to put it in the unit in order to charge. But not a big deal. The external speaker is not very loud but the headphone jack offers superior sound!! Scrolling through the menus was easy enough for my 5 year old nephew who reads pretty well. Putting movies on this unit is easy but a little involving. Later in this review I will tell you EXACLTY how to put the movies on from DVD to Mpeg-1. But first, the optional devices. I HIGHLY recommend a charging cradle which allows you to just drop your PMC into the cradle and transfer files from your computer. The USB port also charges the unit as well which is very convenient. Oh yeah, you can charge this unit from any USB port which makes it yet again, very versatile. I would suggest you get a couple cradles like I did. They are very cheap and you can keep one connected to your computer and the other connected to your stereo like I did. With a cradle connected to your stereo, you might want to get the optional wireless remote. The remote is easy to use and only has a few buttons which made me happy. Efficiency is achieved through simplicity. Windows Media Player 10 is definitely not my favorite program in the world but it does effectively transfer files to their right location well and in a decent amount of time. This allows you to truly "Drag and Drop" just like advertised. The program will then convert any files over to an applicable format. Please don't complain about conversion times and processes. This thing is designed to use specific formats to maintain simplicity.

NOW HOW TO GET DVDs ONTO YOUR PMC!!!!

Now, the first thing you need to do is relax and don't be an impatient wuss. When I was only 140 lbs 7 years ago and started working out in the gym, I knew that it was going to take patience and dedication to get to the lean 215 lbs I am "7 YEARS LATER!".

Anywayz, you will need the following "FREE" software: Smartripper, TWO versions of DVD2AVI (Versions 1.82 & 1.77.4), and finally TMPGEnc.

Two different versions of DVD2AVI are needed because interaction problems regarding SP2. If you do not have SP2, then I would guess you might not experience the problems I had. It took me a day or two to search for, pinpoint, and bypass what was going wrong regarding interaction and I finally realized that it was the simplest to use two versions. Anywayz, when you download version 1.82, rename that as "DVD2AVI SOUND", as this version will correctly process your sound. When you download version 1.77.4, rename that as "DVD2AVI VIDEO", as this one will correctly process your video.

First use Smartripper to rip your .vob files into a folder. Open DVD2AVI programs and properly process your D2v files (You will know what this is once you start using the program) and the 2channel sound file). When you are finished processing those files, then you will want to open TMPGEnc and put it all together. TMPGEnc will ask you for a video stream and an audio stream. It will then allow you to create a destination location. Just put it on your desktop for now and then move it later. (...)

Now the final thing to remember is the same as the first: BE PATIENT!!! Your computer is not lightening fast no matter how expensive and brand new it is. It takes time to convert files. There are some programs advertised out there that claim to do all of this in no time at all and for a nice hefty price. My suggestion to you is to learn about your computer and your device by trying it yourself. These files are free and I promise you, THEY WORK!! I was blown away at how nice of a job it came out. God luck to all of you and I suggest you seriously give this product a chance!! Once you learn how to interact with it, you will be amazed at how easy it is to use.

I don't know what all these guys are smoking, but this thing is great. I am a gadget geek, but this is very easy for a pc user to use. All you need is media player 10 and an XP pro machine or MCE. Convertion does takes some time, but it converts the video to utilize space , and all video convertion takes time.
I have an ipod as well but this is with me at all times, with my TV shows with me on the road that i capture hi def...looks sweet.
Get this if you want a great multimedia portable with great battery life.

And common 425.00 is not alot for this device.

The bottom line: If you have $3-400 to spend on a portable player, the Personal Media Center is the gold standard and the Zen is a great choice. A great but pricey companion for audio and video, durable enough for kids with room for everyone's favorite content.

The details: I've been using the Zen Portable Media Center ("PMC") for a few months now and have found this product to be a solid performer. The Zen is roughly the size of a VHS tape or a large PDA (remember the Newton?). It fit nicely into one of the slots of my laptop bag (which I suspect was designed for a large laptop battery) and the folding leather case flips up into a stand when seated on a table or lap.

The first thing you notice is - if you own a Windows XP Media Center Edition ("MCE") PC - the UI on the PMC is the same which I svery straight forward with simple scrolling selections for video, photos and music. The toggle controls on the left were responsive and quickly let me thumb up and down the selections. The audio volume controls on the right are a little small but easy to access and because they require solid contact are not accidentally bumped. And the audio/video playback controls on the right side are easy to understand and use, as we quickly were able to navigate through video clips: a quick press of the button skips ahead several seconds, while holding the controls down quickly fast forwards or rewinds through content.

Content is loaded on to the PMC via Windows Media Player 10 (WMP). Unlike other reports, I've had no problem getting content loaded. The software via WMP 10 is user friendly and fast - I found that conversions of files on my Media Center PC were happening at about 1/4 to 1/3 faster than real time (where a 1-hr show - edited to 42-44 minutes - was encoded in about 30 minutes). Once you assemble play lists of audio and video, you press the "sync" button and walk away... I set up a bunch of files to be loaded the night before a plane trip and found that all of the files successfully converted and loaded to the PMC.

Keep in mind the conversion time: files recorded on a MCE PC must be down converted to the screen size and resolution of the PMC - this takes time. But the resulting quality is very good: I converted several shows, cartoons and movies without any noticeable video artifacts and excellent audio. Some people have noted that conversion can take about the same amount of time as the play time of the show - this seems to be impacted by your PC's processor speed, so I found that although it was no speed demon, it worked fine.

On the operations side, the ultimate test is how quickly my young kids get up to speed: within a few minutes they were happily watching (and rewinding and watching again their favorite parts) from their favorite cartoons. My kids had no trouble holding it and watching it between the two of them, using a headphone splitter to accommodate both of them. An added bonus is the AV out on the PMC which connects to a supplied mini-plug cable that splits to separate AV RCA plugs: at the hotel, the kids (and parents!) were thankful that they could watch their favorite shows on the hotel room TV which (thankfully) had RCA inputs. Quality issues were noted on live action movies (as the resolution is lower than on MCE content) but very good for cartoons.

As for loading DVD movies, this is covered in other posts. For the purposes of playing back movies I recorded on my MCE, the movies looked and played fine. And `though some complain about smudges on the screen, I found it was fine and cleaned up easily with a damp cloth.

Operational controls are strong, with good fast-forward and rewind functions: if you pause a movie and return to it later, you can pick up where you left off (a nice feature). Battery life was great: I was able to run for six hours with no noticeable issues. (Note that on the first charge, you have to charge the battery overnight, and set a little switch inside the battery compartment - instructions are clear on this. Overall the Zen PMC is high quality with great design and very good manufacturing, resulting in a strong product that should last a while. The slightly padded case enabled it to survive several floor drops (and Creative offers an after-sale extended warranty that covers bumps and bangs).

Pros: Great quality TFT screen, video playback, battery life, super UI, good bundled software and strong manufacturing and design

Cons: Screen smudges and no support for SD cards as on newer units.

I have only had this PMC for one week (bought it in S'pore at their launch in COMEX Exhibition); and it's just really grown on me - amazing that it has now stored practically all my video files (on my PC nearly 70 GB!) and on the Zen taken only 5 GB hard disc space and I am in the process of loading my pics collection of nearly 2000. The quality is superb on the TFT screen despite the compression but when you project the video files via the AV connection to the TV be prepared for the loss of resolution (I expected it but it is still watchable). The sound quality is second to none (5 stars to Creative Technology). I travel a fair bit and keeping occupied with music, movies, (and books!) will be no doubt provided by the PMC (the battery pack lasts 8 hours!). I have successfully recorded one TV documentary programme which awaits me in my next flight abroad! We just had our holiday in the Far East and the photos loaded had been shared with friends at work.
However I am a bit puzzled why the Windows Media Player 10 does not store on the PMC itself as it would add functionality & versatility to this mobile player and a cradle with the USB lead (like those that comes with PDA) would also help when one is synchronising with the PC. I am trying to find out whether it would store and project my powerpoint presentations. Otherwise so far I am happy with it and would recommend it if you are into multimedia whizzardary!!

When this packed first arrived on my door. I had some pretty high expectations. I have always been big on the digital era and this just brought me one step closer to that.

Where to start? Well I'll start with movie playback. A Very important thing for people to understand is that the video playback screen is fairly small. You dont need large movies to get full Quality on this device. If you have a ripped DVD content in which you've created. The first suggestion is decrease pixel size a thats adequate to your screen size. This alone will make a substancial difference in your overall size. And since the screen isnt nearly as big as a monitor. You will notice no quality loss. You can bring 1 and half hour movies down to about 120-140 megs. With a 20 gig HD you can store a good 70-75 movies on this device alone.

A Small complaint would be that the device only supports .wmv format. To be honest however this complaint is extremely minor since you'll want to resize the movies anyway. The .wmv format does quite a good job at compressing them without quality/sound loss. I recommend a program called #1 Video Converter. Use the Pocket PC compression method. It will give the best quality/compression for this device.

Next onto Audio Playback. Mp3/WMA audio gives you generally what you'd expect. Hooking the headphones in you can listen to CD quality music. However with the storage capacity of the HD itself. You could literally have hundreds of thousands of music files to listen to at your disposal.

Picture Quality. Well this is a pretty generic feature. But still overall useful. I was able to take scanned pictures of this years thanks giving and was able to show them to the family. It makes a pretty decent photo album. However this would not be the only reason I'd buy the device for.

The actual hardware itself. The screen size may seem a little on the small size but it fits perfectly. It's about as big as gameboy advance and it the device is very compact. The sound quality hooked up to head phones is great. The actual quality will rival any compact disc player on the market currently. You can also hook the device into a stereo or dolby digital surround system or any device which except RCA audio adapters. I was able to hook the device into the dolby prologic recieve at our house. And it's pretty incredible. Beats any CD player when streaming the music.

The Device comes with a nice little travel case to avoid damage (But I wouldnt reccomend dropping it. Overall this is an excellent product and I reccomend it to anyone whos interested in digital content on the go.

ChrisRay

I don't actually care about watching video on a portable device; I bought the PMC because: 1) It's the only device that can play WMA Lossless, in which format I have all my music stored; 2) The Microsoft interface is aesthetically attractive and has some nice usability touches; and 3) I don't want to have to install a driver, so something that works through the USB Mass Storage interface is great. (That it also works with WMP 10 without any drivers is also a nice touch, but kinda cheating, since WMP 10 specifically supports PMCs.)

After using it for several days, I'm of mixed opinions. The software is pretty good, but still has some 1.0-style rough edges to it; it's probably on par with the iPod (though obviously very different), and way above Archos or iRiver, though. If you appreciate visual elegance, there's nothing in the PMC's league; if it's usability lagniappes that flip your switch, the PMC has some really nice bits (overlaying large letters when you fast-scroll through a list, for instance) and some really clumsy ones (its handling of artist/album artist/composer tags for classical music).

The actual hardware is less awkward than you'd think, thanks to the nice leather-ish included case, which has a magnetically clasping cover that, when opened, acts as a stand to prop it up. Still, it's fairly big, and the controls are placed to preclude one-handed operation, so you have to pay attention to it when you want to change things.

As a pure music player, it's ultimately compromised: A nice, but not ideal UI mixed with too-bulky hardware for a price that really is more than a bit much. Still, it's really not bad, and if I were at all interested in video, it'd probably be that much more compelling.

(As for the putative one-hour battery life of the previous review, um, no. I haven't timed it but it's much, much longer than that for sure. Perhaps he's leaving the screen on full-time?)