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148 of 149 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome!!! No matter what else you own, GET THIS MP3 PLAYER!!!!, February 26, 2006
This review is from: Creative Zen Nano Plus 1 GB MP3 Player (Blue) (Electronics)
My review can be summed up in one sentence: You can get a BUNCH of songs on this VERY SMALL player and play them for a VERY LONG TIME!
I love the new Sandisk Sansa's, the m230, m240, and m250, and I only gave them 4 stars. Without a doubt, the Creative Zen Nano get's 5 stars. It's that good. It doesn't have all the cool cache' of the iPod nano, but it is without question the most optimized little player I have had the pleasure to review.
Creative has been in the MP3 player business for a LONG time. Their early offerings came up against a market that wasn't fully matured and able to handle the higher end devices they produced. Apple stole their thunder and has overshadowed everybody with the iPod. Creative's higher capacity devices are still too large to compete on portability. It's funny the way things work out. If not for Creative, Apple wouldn't have ever had a market to introduce the iPod into.
The Creative Zen Nano is lighter than the competition, and is actually much smaller than the iPod Shuffle. Unlike the shuffle, however, you can actually see your track names! The little LCD isn't high resolution, but it's perfect for a player this size.
The controls are simple but effective. A 2 way toggle wheel let's you forward or reverse from song to song. There's a play / pause button on the front panel and forward & reverse buttons on the side by the toggle wheel. Other than a headphone jack and a line in jack, the unit has a USB B port and the battery panel. That's it. I think these controls are the best possible for the form factor. The only potential negative is that they might be on the small size for somebody with larger fingers.
What about sound? The sound is great, and it comes through in pure stereo. As usual, you will hear complaints about the earbuds. I've yet to use a pair of standard earbuds so I won't hold that against Creative. I will say that the armstrap could have been better designed. Also, this unit definitely does not have the power output of the iPod Nano, and as such may not be loud enough for those who really love to blast it. But as a result, the power consumption is the best I've seen. I've gone over a week on a single AAA battery!
For those needing more space, the Zen Nano doesn't have larger storage options. This unit is ideal as a player and not for those who primarily want to use it for recording. Even with a HUGE music collection, I can get a great deal of music on here and take it with me everywhere.
The price isn't a give-away, and this unit won't make it through battle, but it strikes a good enough balance to meet your needs for a long long time to come. Highly recommended.
Pros -
- great stereo sound
- nice capacity
- ridiculous battery life!!!
- light-weight
- FM tuner ( though it's just average )
- voice recording
- Direct line-in recording!!!! ( for those without a PC )
- ergonomic design
- great navigation and sorting features
- Microsoft PlaysForSure compatible
- USB 2.0 connectivity
- replaceable battery!!!
Cons
- smallish buttons
- Average shuffle feature
- mediocre backlight ( but it can be disabled )
- some song transfer issues on older computers
- not enough size options
- no slot expansion
(...)
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93 of 96 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best purchase I've made in some time!, August 2, 2005
This review is from: Creative Zen Nano Plus 1 GB MP3 Player (Blue) (Electronics)
I have a 40GB Creative Labs Zen Xtra MP3 player from Christmas a year ago, but that big thing (although it's a great vacation device) sits at home now that I have my 1GB Zen Nano Plus! Super light-weight, durable, and great battery life, I take this thing with me almost everywhere - to the gym, in the car (which came with an 1/8" auxilliary input for devices just like this), and lounging near the pool.
1GB doesn't sound like much, but it's plenty of room to store all your favorite "current playlist" songs and then some. If it gets full, just delete some of the stuff you don't like as much.
Two cons (but not worth marking down a star):
1. Get a different set of earbuds. The ones that come with the unit just don't cut it. I got a pair of $20 KOSS earbuds from a popular retailer and they've been great.
2. There was a high-pitched noise whenever the blue LED backlight came on (i.e. whenever you skipped to the next song, etc). Thankfully, there's an option to turn off the backlight permanently (which also saves on battery life), without which I would have had to return the unit because I couldn't have put up with it.
Note: I did return the unit once thinking it was defective because of the high-pitched tone, but apparently all the units have this same problem. I lived with it because I don't mind having the backlight off permanently.
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51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Good MP3 Player - but is it right for you?, August 10, 2006
This review is from: Creative Zen Nano Plus 1 GB MP3 Player (Blue) (Electronics)
I would have given Creative Zen Nano Plus (abbreviated "CZNP") 5 stars, except for two small deficiences: it does not have gapless playback (see #4 below), and the build quality and controls are kind of cheap (see #9 below). Assuming it lasts, it seems a very good unit for the money. Here's why I bought mine.
0. Do I want to make a fashion statement with my choice of MP3 player?
Some people will only buy a trendy iPod. Buying a lesser-known unit like CZNP makes a different fashion statement, especially since you can choose from 12 colors. I prefer function over form, but CZNP offers some of each.
1. Do I want more than just sound?
The CZNP is a basic MP3 player, FM Radio, and recorder. It has a simple monochrome display and controls that make it a good choice for playing music, podcasts, and ebooks, and listening to local radio stations. It can record from the built-in mike or radio, or from a line input, which may be handy at times.
Some players can play videos, show pictures, etc, and cost a lot more because of the required color screen and larger memory. I don't need these things and prefer not to spend the money needed to get them.
2. Will I be listening to mostly music or mostly spoken content?
When you switch off a unit while it is playing, or pause it and it turns off automatically after awhile, some units will resume at the beginning of the current track, and others (e.g. CZNP) resume exactly where you left off. If you are playing music, you usually prefer to start the song over again. For ebooks or long podcasts, I need to resume where it was turned off (like CZNP does), because it is hard to fast-advance back to where you were.
3. What kind of accessories can I get?
Creative has a set of speakers tailored to the CZNP, and there are many generic accessories that will work with it. By comparison, there are entire catalogs of accessories tailored for optimal use with an iPod (and may not work with others). I have what I need, but pine for some things available for iPod only.
4. How convenient is it to use?
MP3 players vary considerably on how easy they are to use. The iPod is famous for ease of use, though it does not do everything I want to do. The CZNP has relatively cheap controls that work well enough, and does what I want. You don't have to be a computer whiz to use it or its software.
5. How long will it last?
On Amazon, click the link "See all 109 customer reviews", then look for the dropdown "Show:" and choose "Lowest review first" and click the Go button. There are a number of reports from people who had problems with their CZNP, some bad enough to throw it away. Some are real problems, others might be a lack of understanding how to use the player.
Despite these complaints, the average review is high. You'll find about the same mix of reviews for most players.
I decided to take a chance. My unit will be well-cared for. If I have a problem, I'll update this review.
6. Can the battery be replaced?
CZNP uses an AAA battery which is said to last for 15 hours and can be changed easily.
The iPod Nano has a rechargeable battery that is not designed to be replaced, which means the iPod Nano becomes landfill when the battery no longer takes a charge in a couple of years. There will be millions of iPods being thrown away simply because the owner cannot make them continue to work, which has an impact on the environment. There are now battery replacement kits for iPod, with tools and instructions, so this concern is lessened for DIY people, but most won't bother.
7. How does it sound?
The CZNP sounds very good to when when I use good earphones like Koss "The Plug", or when plugged into a stereo.
The free headphones you get with it won't give you the best sound, and you should not judge the player on how it sounds with them. Go buy quality earphones for any new player, as this will make a huge improvement in your enjoyment at relatively low cost.
8. Does the player use flash memory or hard-disk for storage?
CZNP uses flash-memory. Flash memory is more expensive per MB/GB than hard disk memory, and flash memory players are smaller than hard disk players. I would not want a hard disk, which I think is too heavy and too fragile for a portable player. Get a hard disk player if you want to carry a lot of content, but make sure you have a backup. Get a flash memory player if you want to hold the content you will listen to today or this week.
9. Does the player have enough memory?
I think I can have 12-16 hours of MP3 music at highest quality on the CZNP 1GB player, or podcasts (lower quality) up to 32 hours. With that much space I can have some new or favorite albums left on the player, and have plenty of room for content that changes (like podcasts). If you don't use a computer regularly, you might want more memory, maybe even a hard disk.
10. Does the player support gapless playback between tracks?
Some albums have music that flows continously from one track to the next. Examples: Radiohead "OK Computer", Dandy Warhols, Moody Blues. The listening experience is disrupted if the tracks have a gap as the player switches from one track to another.
I don't know of any portable MP3 player that offers gapless playback (without Rockbox), though it's bound to come. The CZNP has a brief gap with no clicks, but it is still somewhat disruptive. One solution is to rip the album as one continuous track. The Rockbox open-source technology essentially replaces the firmware on your player, and it features gapless playback. It is supported on a few players, including some iPods, but not CZNP.
11. Does the player require proprietary software or hardware?
CZNP includes software, but it can work like a USB drive, so you can manage content with Explorer / Finder if you want to. All connectors are industry standard (though the 3/32" stero line input is less common).
As I understand it, iPod can only load music using iTunes, and other players require software supplied with the unit, or with Windows. The iPod and others also use proprietary connectors, replacing a lost cable is more expensive. I would not be happy with such restrictions. Open standards promote flexibility and interoperability.
For me, at a minimum, the player needs to look like a USB drive when I connect it to the computer, so that I can load it by dragging files to the player's file system, and the CZNP does that. I want to have a program automatically create a custom listening program of various short podcasts that play in a particular order to support Radio on Demand, and I want that to happen by simply connecting the device to the computer, with no keyboard or mouse interaction involved. I have not found such a program, and may have to write it, but I can do that if I want to. With an iPod I have no choice but to use iTunes (or replace the firmware with Rockbox).
12. Is the player file-based or tag-based?
The CZNP is file-based: it can play songs in alphabetical order for a given folder. (It also has shuttle, etc.) I tried the SanDisk Sansa, but returned it because all content is organized and played on the basis of tags, exclusively. While my music has tags correctly set to play the way I wanted, podcasts don't use tags consistently enough to play them in a particular order that I chose. With the CZNP you can at least control the order by putting a sequence number at the beginning of each filename.
Tag-based probably have some advantages over file-based, but only if all of the content you want to play is properly tagged.
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