Customer Reviews

Creative Zen Touch 40 GB Audio Player

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I brought this player in early January after a LOT of research. I was really looking for something in the 20gb - 40gb category that could handle all of my mp3s, as well as backing up some of my data files. And when I research, I REALLY research.

I was first interested in the Sony NW-HD1 for it's sleek, small design. Then I leaned towards an iPod for both it's popularity and it's design. At the end of the day, I went with the Zen Touch, because it claimed lengthy battery time, large disk space and exceptional sound.

So far, it has exceeded my expectations. I listen to my music as I work in 4-6 hour strecthes, and I'm still listening to that music on my first charge. Sound is fantastic. The earphones provided aren't brilliant quality, so do yourself a favor and fork our for the Sennheiser PX 100 or PX 200.

Be aware that the player recognizes audio files by their id3 tags, and not by file name. It takes a little time filling out missing ID3 tags in the supplied program, but it is well worth in the end -- because it gives you the ability to choose by song, artist, album and genre.

I have found the touch pad a breeze to work with. Maybe it's because I was forewarned about its sensitivty, but it's pretty easy to get a handle on.

Unit response time is lightning fast. I only experienced a slight lag between songs when I skipped through dozens at a time.

Now for the bad part:

The supplied software is okay for managing music, but is near impossible to manage data files. And even as a music manager, it is needlessly complicated. I uploaded all my data files, only to have them stuck there and unable to be deleted or added to. This was a problem I worked at for days, with no solution. Turned out that the 'Nomad Explorer' softwareis just generally terrible.

An ESSENTIAL program to go with your Zen Touch is Red Chair Software's NOTMAD Explorer -- it handles both music and data files easily, with a simple drag-n-drop interface. Since using Notmad Explorer, I've had no problems with the unit or its functionality.

Unlike iPod, the Zen Touch feels expensive. It's tough, well-designed and durable. I've used an iPod before and it felt like a kid's toy. The Zen Touch is something you'll feel compelled to be careful with. Although, I take mine to the gym for my weight training and cardio workouts. I wouldn't suggest sprinting with it or throwing it around, but it is very well-built.

The only reason this product gets 4 stars, instead of 5, is the terrible software included. But if you pay the extra to get the independently produced Notmad Explorer, then the software bugs are a non-issue.

Highly recommended.

Some brief notes on the 40GB Zen Touch from Creative. I have used it now for about two weeks and am very pleased with it after I got around some quirks.

The player seems to be built very nicely. It has a very solid and quality feel and has this substantial touch to it. Another way would be to say it's heavier than expected and certainly heavier than a comparable iPod (the size difference is quite neglectable).

The sound is very good and the equalizer works well too. It's usually not necessary, but it can help to customize the sound. I do not think, like some reviews of the 20GB version suggest, that the sound isn't loud enough. I don't have to crank it up to 25 even in my MCC Smart @85 mph (a rather noisy car, trust me).

The operation of the player is on the fast side. Skipping tracks is instantaneous and selection of tracks happens without noticeable delay (my player is loaded to about 80% with 5000+ songs @192kbs).

There are a few things I didn't like about the Zen Touch though. First, the touch pad is rather sensitive and while this is great to scan through thousands of songs, it's bothersome when selecting a single entry.

The second weak point is the file organization on the player. All mp3 files are stored in one directory, which inevitably leads to some clashes for songs with the same name. I had to convert the ripped files with a little script to include the artist and album information in order to create unambiguous file names.

Battery capacity seems very good when the player is used as a player. Downloading songs or managing play lists on the other hand is using up a lot of battery power.

All things considered, I am very happy with the player so far.

Many of the negative comments about the Zen Touch involve the difficulty of using the software that comes with it. After loading the latest firmware updates, I downloaded the Creative Software Suite dated 10/31/05. The new software is much easier to use.

A major use of the Zen for me is listening to audiobooks. I was having trouble creating playlists that put the many .mp3 files in the correct order. The new software solves all that.

I've had my 40gb zen-touch for a week and couldn't be much happier.

In response to the review about the root structure....I think this is only an issue for the most intense 1% of users. You can locate files by artist, album or genre, so unless you REALLY need to have sub-genre folders to separate cool-jazz from be-bop in your jazz folder, it won't be an issue.

I've got 6,200 tracks loaded (that's 490 albums) and still have over 9gb of space remaining. I've been running for 20 hours on my most recent charge, and there's still a bit of juice left. The style is slick, and the convenient lock switch on the top of the player will easily eliminate any un-intentional scrolling when in transit. The touch-pad IS a bit sensitive, but that's about the only complaint I might have (and a minor inconvenience at that).

With double the memory and double the battery life of a similarly priced i-pod, the zen-touch is a great product.

Treat it with respect (i.e. avoid drops from height on hard surfaces) and you'll be pleased with your purchase.

I bought my touch at best buy for 220 bucks (they were having a 25 percent off all creative mp3 players sale) three weeks ago, and I am very pleased with this player.

First off, I want to say that the sound quality is the best you can get out of any mp3 player on the market right now. Like everyone else says, the earbuds are crap. I never use them, I use Grado Labs sr-80's, and this player has amazing sound.

I didn't have trouble with the software like other people did... I used the included creative media source software, dragged my songs on to the player, and voila! I did have a funny problem where I had to plug in the player, unplug it, and repeat about 3 or 4 times until my computer would recognize it. Not a big deal, and it doesn't happen anymore.

The battery life plummets when putting songs on to the player, but when you're playing songs it lasts forever! I use my player the most while I'm at work, and it has gone 28-30 hours at a stretch before running out.

Some people had problems with duplicated song names, but I've always been careful about my ID3 tags when ripping my music, so it wasn't an issue... even though I have about 4 versions of the song "Little Wing" on my zen.

The case is annoying since you can't use the buttons when it's on... I just never use it. The zen feels like it's built to last, so I'll see how it goes.

If anything happens, I will update. If not, I'll update in a few months.

Edit #1
I forgot to mention the touch pad. Yes, it's tricky to get at first, but I lowered the sensitivity to low, and after a few hours of use it became second nature to me. When you make your decision, the touchpad shouldn't be a serious issue.

Edit #2
It is now 4-01-06, and my Zen is just like it was 6 months ago when I bought it. I've had no problems whatsoever, and I recommend this product to anybody that wants an mp3 player to play MUSIC, and doesn't want to pay for features like photos or videos.

I bought this elsewhere for much cheaper, so do your homework. Amazon prices don't seem as competitive as they once were! Anyway, on with the review. I think this unit sounds fantastic. The headphones really work well for me. They fit my ears well and sound full and robust. I have a pair of Sennheiser ear buds (MX500) and a Sennheiser headset (can't find the model number) and they do not sound as good as the included earbuds. This is a pleasant surprise as I expected the included phones to not fit well and sound poor. So that is good. Earbuds seem to be a very individual thing. In any case, I want to get a new set of headphones, perhaps the Sennheiser PX100s... Overall I find earbuds dainty and difficulty to store well (there is no case for the included earbuds, I use my MX500 case...)

I find the software to be completely usable. I do not use it to rip unless my EAC/LAME setup cannot handle one of my CDs, then the Mediasource software usually handles things just fine, which I find interesting. One thing for sure is that files upload VERY quickly to the player and it is so easy to SYNC your PC music collection to the player (or vice versa). I especially like the media sniffer aspect of Mediasource which scans the directories you point it to for new additions to add to the collection... Very handy!

I would give the player five stars, but: I do wish Creative had included a remote. Also, the case is just crappy and doesn't clamp well to my belt or jeans pocket. I usually put the player in a pocket. Get used to using the player lock button as the random button for some reason seems to get pressed a lot for no reason....

As for the controversial touch strip, I find it to be okay. Yes, it is sensitive, but I find that I am getting better. Initially I was terrible, but incrementally and slowly I am seeing improvement. I turned the tap feature on the touchpad off. The buttons are useful, except for the random one, which is just plain dumb... No one must have tested this in design phase.

Overall, this is a great player. Comparatively cheap, well designed, and fabulous sound. Works perfectly well for me. I have had it for about 3 weeks now and have been listening and using it a lot!

I just got a Zen touch 40GB and it is amazing. I have no complaints so far. The reason I am writing this is to let anyone know that is considering this product, that everyone complains that the touch pad is too sensitive, but you can adjust the sensitivity of the touch pad under the player settings. Also, a great thing about this player is that you can put protected wma files on it, so if you have cd's that you accidentally copied in that format (like me) it is no problem!! Overall a great player. I like it much better than my ipod. ipod is great, but its not worth the money, for the amount of comparable features you get.

A note to JGM (Lexington, KY USA), Every point you made in your review is wrong.

1- It is a totally different player than the Dell
2- It is still supported with firmware upgrades and accessories available on their web site.

This is the third Hard drive player I have owned (20 GB version, identical except for the hard drive. (Gateway XP-20 and iPod) and I feel this is the best of the three. Despite what you read the software is easy to use. Sound is better than the iPod. Searching for songs is easier too. Some people complain that They don't like moving your finger up and down when searching through many songs. Well guess what! you don't have too. Simply holding your finger down on the bottom of the strip causes the player to scroll through the songs. You can also search by the alphabet which narrows down your search.

I use this several hours a day almost every day and it never locks up.

The sound is the best. I use third party headphones.

Queing 3400 songs takes only a couple seconds.

Follow Up nearly 6 years later. I still own this player, still use it regularly and still would give it 5 stars.

I would rate this 4.5 stars since nothing is perfect. The case is well made but you have to remove the player to see the screen or access most of the buttons. That's really my only complaint.

I have had this product for 2 weeks and I am very happy with it so far.
I wanted a player that read wma, had at least 40gb, a good battery and easy navigation. On all aspects the player scores very high.
I use windows media plyer 10 to transfer the music and nomad explorer to rename some of the wrongly catgeorised mp3s. Overall it works well.
I used to own the Gmini 220. This was such a bad player. It had only one good feature: the file tree structure. All the rest was crap (battery, speed, stability).
This one is fast, and i have not had to reset it once in 2 weeks although I have been listening to it a lot.

HIGHS
- Price
- Very good built quality
- Capacity
- Speed of navigation. I read many reviews on the touchpad. True it is sensistive but i think it works fine. It is very easy/quick to find your song (i.e. to scroll through your entire collection) and then it is easy enough to select the exact song you want (i do not use the touchpad "tap to select" option - i did not find it useful). Also, this machine is used to listen to music not scroll down and up for hours...
- Battery - Amazing
- Sound - very good. The bass are not pronounced enough though. It lacks a "boost bass" option. The EQ function is not very useful to increase the bass as it distorts the music too much.

LOWS
- The firmware is not as evolved as the one used on the Zen Micro (the player is not recognized as a hard drive directly, the touchpad is more sensistive than the Zen Micro)
- It is thicker and heavier than an ipod
- Headphones: Apparently it is not good. I have not tried them. I use the etymotic er6i, which are amazing. I used to own a noise-cancellation hp. This is much better and much more convenient to carry when you travel.

Conclusion
I would defintely recommend the player if you are looking after WMA playback, Capacity and battery.

I upgraded to this player after having the Archos Jukebox Recorder, running the open-source RockBox software. Here's what I've learned:

First, make sure you head over to creative.com and download all the updates. The firmware and software updates are VERY handy. All the complaining about Nomad Explorer is moot, because the downloads give you the Zen Touch Media Explorer, which works exceptionally well for me. Multiple file tag edit, drag and drop, you name it.

Second, the firmware in the player is good, but it felt like a SERIOUS downgrade from the RockBox software. I realise that I can't expect Creative's software to compete with open-source programming, but still. I had gotten used to having a sleep timer, for example. The list of features that Creative DOESN'T have is a mile long. BUT on the flip side of the coin, I'd never go back to the Archos for one big reason: the Archos didn't sort by ID3 tags. I didn't like it at first, but it grew on me fast. I just wish there was more ways to sort them.

Pros:
-Fast player. Switching between songs rarely takes a full second
-Great interface. I love the touch pad.
-Big bright screen. Go check out the Archos Jukebox Recorder to see what I came from.
-Lock button. LOVE IT.
-Battery life. I left it playing ALL NIGHT last night and it's still got quite a bit of battery left.
-Read: Sort by Genre + Shuffle Play = best radio station ever!

Cons:
-Very limited firmware. The stuff you can do is cool, but the stuff you can't is vast.
-Creative's tech support is infamous. INFAMOUS! For sucking.
-Touch pad is quite sensitive. I have mine set on low, and it still takes a very steady hand.
-included earbuds suck. Who's surprised? Not me.
-Absolutely NO accessories. The iPod has this player whipped in this category. (and every other player too, i suppose)


All in all, I'm very impressed with this player. It's very nice looking, very long battery life, intuitive interface (i've browsed the manual to see if i missed anything, and I didn't really see anything that I didn't figure out on my own), and plenty of space on it.