Creative Labs NOMAD IIc 128 MB MP3 Player

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Product Details

Product Manual [2.63mb PDF]

• Item Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006A7AY
• Item model number: N2C128
• Batteries: 1 AA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (175 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #29,030 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 21, 2002

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

The Creative Labs Nomad IIc 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 IIc's most overlooked feature is that it is a digital voice recorder. Since voice recordings aren't the memory hogs that music files are, the Nomad IIc 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 IIc to your PC.

From an audio perspective, the Nomad IIc couldn't have performed any better. The equalizer had good settings, and the ability to program user-defined settings was awesome. 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 delivering skip-free music. To test the Nomad IIc, 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, with more than enough crashes. We did our best to make it skip, but it performed perfectly (but beware--the Nomad IIc isn't scratch-proof). Only after the battery started to get low (the Nomad IIc offers 8 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 IIc has 128 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'll be at a loss.

MP3 music, like everything else technology related, is in constant flux. Recognizing that, Creative Labs ships the Nomad IIc 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 IIc for years to come. --William O'Neal

Pros:

• Awesome sound
• Lightweight
• USB interface makes connecting to your computer simple and downloading fast

Cons:

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

Product Description

With the versatility of removable flash memory, you can enjoy your favorite MP3 and WMA digital audio anytime, anywhere with NOMAD IIc compact digital audio player. NOMAD IIc offers voice recording, upgradeable technology, and plenty of features designed specifically for your active lifestyle.NOMAD IIc supports standard MP3, WMA, and WAV digital audio formats and it is geared for access to future audio formats, too. SDMI-compliance offers standards support and potential access to label-released content. Upgradeable technology allows new features and enhancements to be downloaded to it when available. With NOMAD IIc, you can keep up with the ever-evolving world of digital music and be on the cutting edge of digital audio technology.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

109 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Product, Bad Software..., July 15, 2002

By	Philippe (Canada) - See all my reviews

This is not my first MP3 Player... In the last week, I bought the Rio One MP3 player... Big deception... So, I replaced it with: The Creative Labs Nomad IIc.

And until now, I'm generaly impressed. ;)

The reason why I purchased this MP3 player is because I travel a lot by motorcycle and, after 4 hours of riding, you start to grow tired of hearing wind and engine... It helps to have a distraction like... hmm.. your favorite music? ;) The problem, forget about my CDPlayer with 45 secs of memory. It starts skipping the moment I start riding... :(

The product, I find it great: The menu is easy to navigate (from my personal point of view, though, if you check reviews for the 64MB, you'll find that some complain about the navigation). Music, Settings, Information (to know where you are at with the memory), Time (Yep, there is a little clock in it to know today's date and time) and recording (yes, you can record your voice) are all neetly seperated with Iconized menus.

Features: 1. You can record your voice in 2 levels of fidelity: Hi and Low (the latter for when recording from a noisy environment). It's a bit complicated to start, but works just fine (have to go in voice and press the record button on the side quickly, otherwise, you'll have to do it again) and the output is nice. Usefull for those on the run notes... when you forgot your PDA... ;) And you know how much time each voice recording has...
2. It shows the name of the file (or some limited MP3 tag info)
3. You have an equalizer with 5 choices plus, you can set your own Treble and Bass settings)
4. It has Single repeat, section repeat, whole repeat and random options
5. The buttons are very easy to use and precise
6. flowing through the music can be a bit tedious if all your songs start with the same 12 characters... but it is quick and efficient. :)
7. has a backlight that is powerfull and settable (how long it will stay on).
8. It has a clock with date wich is a nice addition.
9. The music sounds real good with ordinary 25$ Canadian Panasonic ear buds
10. The plastic is of quality and Philippe Proof (things tend to break with me in a short notice time)
11. It has a sleep mode if you forgot to turn it off after stopping the music (settable)
12. You can even erase files (Songs or recordings) on the fly with the simple press oif a button on the side followed by the PLAY button for confirmation. That way, you eliminate those songs that you've put on and don't wanna hear quickly and painlessly

The bads are: 1. The PlayCenter software that is a pain to use. With the Rio One, you plug it in and it appears as hard drives. So, you simply drag and drop the files and voila, the players recognizes them. But, with Nomad, they had to make the process complete. You NEED to install the Nomad USB drivers + the PlayCenter software, reboot and only then, through the software, can you transfer the files. :/ No chance of using it as a other format files transport device like Rio...
2. The slip in for the Smart Media card is under the cover... Nice protection compared to the Rio One, but it is hard to rech for extraction and you tend to bend the thing to get it out, which is usually not good. And, you have to open the Battery cover as this is through where you have to pull it out or put it in.. :(
3. The Memory Card is not Hotswapable (it tends to freeze the thing)
4. You cannot browse the menu while music is playing... It's one or the other
5. You cannot play music while connected to the USB port
6. There is no way (compared to Rio One) to know if there is an actual transfer going on by looking at the Nomad. On the Rio, the Connection Icon flashes during an actual file transfer / Format / Delete.
7. The fact that you are obligated to work with the software and cannot (as with the Rio One) just plug it in and transfer. It supports SSFDC FAT12 format and not the other standard: FAT16.
8. The fact that, when showing the listing of songs, you only see the first 12 Caracters. It is painfull for people like me who thends to name the MP3 files in the Author, Album, Song format... :(
9. It doesn't come with a Lithium Battery and a charger. You have to purchase the docking station to have charging capabilities and it supports only NiMH batteries.
10. There is no cover for it. A nice water proof one would be nice since I tend to hit rain on a regular basis on bike and like to have access to the device for live mods. I think I'll ask my mom to sow me a little wrist bag for it so that I could attach it on my right fore arm. ;)
11. The IIc has no radio. :( Sad. Sometimes it is nice to know what is the traffic situation ahead... but I'll live on that one. ;)

Overall, I love the product. It works better then the Rio One, easier to navigate and the finish on it (the feel of the casing and buttons and the plastic used) is of better quality then the Rio One. The only drawbacks to this great product are the standards, software and cost (almost 2 the price of Rio One, but Rio One is 32 Megs and Nomad IIc that I kept is 128MG on board).

So, if you have the dow, consider this little baby. It's worth it and the sound is great on it. Proof that Creative is still good with sound, and not just with PC Sound Cards... ;) Now, if they could just upgrade the OS of the device so that it supports FAT16 and would depart itself from that restrictive software... ;)

63 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A month with the Nomad IIc 128mb clamshell mp.3 player, September 20, 2002

By	BigMamou "BigMamou" (Port Townsend, Washington USA) - See all my reviews

I purposely waited for a while to write this review in order to explore all of the criticism - good & bad - about this unit. I chose it because it had the most memory for its price and size. It is a GREAT and amazing player. I'll address the main criticisms I've read in other reviews on this site:

1 - It's not loud enough. It is plenty loud, too loud for me. The people who have this issue with it must be deaf or they are downloading mp.3's from the internet that are compressed too much with lowered volume!

2 - The documentation is poor and the software is confusing and hard to use. Yes, the documentation and software could be better but the key is to get the drivers and firmware downloaded from the Creative site and nomadworld.com. There are at least 5 downloads to be gotten before the unit kicks into life. Read the software descriptions carefully and download the drivers in the proper order as some of them need to be present on your computer in order for later updates to work. Also, don't download the driver from the Asian Creative site that changes the menu text to Chinese.........read carefully first! Once I got the proper drivers downloaded and rebooted my PC I plugged the player in with the USB cable and the unit fired up immediately. I then found the interface easy to use and was able to quickly load mp.3's onto the player. One handy feature of the interface is that it shows how much space is left as you download - this allows you to find mp.3's to fit into the last remaining space. Also, buy a 128mb SM card immediately (even at the same you buy the player) to double your capacity. You can also erase tunes right from the player instead of having to plug it in again to delete them.....you're ready to start loading then as soon as you go back for more downloads.

3 - I don't find it flimsy at all. The belt clip is too small for it to be real stable while wearing it on the belt but a small Elph digicam leather case for $9 is a perfect fit for the unit and the case has a very stable belt attachment. Also, the battery compartment lid fits well and I find the added SM card to go into its slot just fine - and out again!

4 - The menu is kind of hard to figure out if you just try to figure it out for yourself but read the help manual - it's all in there.

5 - I love the voice recording capability. I can make notes to myself, record conversations with other people (up to 8 hours) and download right to my PC.

6 - Overall, I find this to be a wonderful little unit and I'm very happy with it. The price, size, capacity and ease of use (once you get it set up correctly) can't be beat. I'd buy it again and I have already recommended it to my friends.

7 - I love carrying around the music I WANT rather than listening to the radio - but, that said, I do wish it had at least an FM radio built into it.

8 - Lastly, the earphones. I find them to be very comfortable and they impart great sound. I think the critics have been putting them on upside down or something! The only thing I can criticize about them is they are not as convenient as earbuds but then again I find earbuds to be uncomfortable after an hour or so.

9 - Did I miss anything? Ask me!

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great sound for a great price, January 22, 2003

By A Customer

Have owned the Nomad IIc for a month and haven't dropped it yet, so I can't attest to its durability. Top rating from Consumer Reports (for the 64MB version) influenced my buying decision. The "quick setup guide" is not much help, so if you need detailed setup instructions, install the PDF manual from the CD like other users have suggested. Don't bother downloading the manual from the Nomadworld site - it's exactly the same as the one on the CD, only with some annotations. Setup was easy after reading the aforementioned manual - install the software, plug in the player, transfer the files. Have used both the PlayCenter 2 software and the MusicMatch Jukebox Nomad plug-in to transfer files; since I rip CDs using MusicMatch, I prefer using that program, but the two perform identically in terms of letting you know how much memory is left, etc. Be sure to pick up a 128MB SmartMedia card to expand memory capacity (256MB total will hold 50-plus 128 kbps MP3 files). Written documentation for inserting and removing the card is nowhere to be found, but just look at the two little pictures on the back side of the player (where the battery cover is) and the instructions are right there. Actually putting in and taking the card out is a little tricky, especially if you have RSI like me - you may need to take the battery out first! Would give this product five stars if it didn't come with a stingy 90-day warranty and those extremely uncomfortable, ear-pinching "backphones". Use your favorite pair of headphones or earbuds instead. Either way, the sound is awesome for such a small device - after all, Creative is a leader in sound cards - and the player is easy to use once you've gone through the menus and controls a few times. Have it set on a pretty low volume (around 2 or 3) and it's quite loud enough with the Sony earphones I use.
Overall, an excellent product. Just hope it doesn't conk out on the 91st day...