Creative Nomad Jukebox ZEN XTRA - Digital player - HD 40 GB - WMA, MP3 - silver
By: Creative Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 110
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 On: 2007-07-19
Ive had my Zen for over 4 years now (hard to believe Ive had it that long). I still havent filled up the memory on it, Ive never had a days trouble with it, and its easy to use. Im starting to find it a bit bulky now in comparison to some of the smaller, sleeker-looking players on the market, but I still have the attitude "if it aint broke, dont fix it". The zen is superb, its reliable, its solid and easy to use, and I just dont see the point in changing to an ipod purely for aesthetics. I love my zen, and I wouldnt be without it.
 On: 2006-12-05
Before I bought this I read reviews at Amazon, Cnet, and other places. Some unkind things were written. I have been living with this player for three weeks and have nothing but positives. Being new to portable music I didnt want to shell out $$$ for an iPod, but I wanted the massive storage space. I have no desire to watch videos, listen to FM, or share files, so this Zen Nomad seemed perfect.
What it has going for it:
1) Better price bargain than any competing device (I got it at an after-Turkey Day promo for under $100.)
2) It sounds great. The included ear buds sound ok, but the fit seemed insecure. I spent more for Bose In Ear TriPorts. WOW! The combination is superb and better than I thought possible with portable devices.
3) The build seems solid. My case has not popped open. It doesnt skip (but then, I dont jog with it), and the display is easy to read.
4) I can replace my own battery, thank you. I dont need to send it off and pay $50 - $100 for a replacement. Of course, its possible the player wont outlive the battery.
5) The software is pretty easy to figure out. But I must admit that people who arent computer savvy might be hopelessly frutstrated. There really should be a section in the next-to-useless booklet that explains step by step exacly how to transfer an album to the player and then play it. I shouldnt have to go to Creatives website to get this information.
6) Ok, its heavy compared to an ipod: and uglier, too. BUt hey, I figure since its not the toy everyone else wants, its theft proof.
 On: 2006-02-18
First, the pros:
The battery is easily removable and replaceable ($20), compared to an iPod which requires service from Apple if the battery dies. The same goes for the hard drive - I bought a Zen xtra with a broken 30G hard drive, and was able to easily swap it out and replace it with a standard 60G laptop hard drive that was sitting around. After installation of the firmware and operating system (available from Creatives web site), I was good to go with 60G of storage.
The cons:
Software, software, software. Creatives PC software is HORRENDOUS. Get used to long delays and frequent freezes and crashes, especially if you have many songs. My Zen has 22G of music on it in one big folder, and it takes minutes to load the folder up. You cant even browse the device as a hard drive: you have to use special Creative software that provides a pseudo-explorer-like interface. The cd-ripping software froze about half the time for me, and the sync tool didnt seem to work.
In short, if youre concerned about hardware and youre willing to put up with the hassle of getting this truly awful software working, get a Zen...otherwise just sped the few bucks extra to get an iPod.
On: 2006-02-05
I bought this for my spouse for Christmas...he absolutely loved it. A week later he closed his car door on his jacket pocket - the pocket containing his Jukebox. It was busted, would not work at all. We were devastated. After a few emails back and forth with Creative, they gave me an authorization for repair; I sent it to them and received the repaired unit, like new, in about a week. Fabulous! No problems since. If you dont care about the "ipod" name brand, I highly recommend this one!
 On: 2005-12-30
I bought this MP3 player about 6 months ago, and love it. I got an upgrade to expand the hard drive to 80GB and I cant even see myself filling half of it anytime soon. The menu structure is very intuitive, and the screen is very easy on the eyes. I have seen other MP3 players that hurt the eyes when youre looking at the screen for too long.
The only issue I have with the player is a short battery life, but I usually have it plugged in with the AC adapter anyway. All in all, if youre looking for a large capacity MP3 player that wont break your bank, this is the one to get.
On: 2005-11-04
This is my second MP3 player. I am very pleased the Zen player. I have the 30 GB model and approximately 7500 songs loaded up. The random mode is outstanding. I rarely hear duplicate tracks. The sound quality (as expected from Creative) is top notch. I dont bother to use EAX in fact the quality is so high. I have read that the battery life is shortened by the use of EAX, which only makes sense. I am able to go about 14 hours in between charges. I had to be creative (huh huh huh) to get the included case to work but that is a small compromise. Right now the 40 GB models are going for under $200. You just cant beat that value. I bought myself, and wife both 30 GB Zen models for less than the price of 1 20 GB Ipod. The creative software is flexible and fast. I had to use windows media player with my previous MP3 player which was slower than molasses in January when it came to looking up and erasing tracks that were currently on the player. I would rather have a little larger player and get the battery life that goes hand in hand. Lets face it, the bottom line is, these players have to have 1. A hard drive 2. Some type of processor/memory combination to process the info from the hard drive and turn it into music, and 3. A battery. There is not too much variation in items 1 or 2. The only area that can be cut to make the unit smaller is in the battery. Ipod may be smaller, but I can go over twice as long in between changes. The bottom line is I am thrilled with this player. If I were to somehow drop the player from a moving vehicle, or have a pack of wild pixies make of with my player in the middle of the night, I would not hesitate to order another one immediately. My search is done, yours can be too. You cant go wrong with the Creative player, but I would recommend spending the $10-$15 difference to upgrade to the 40 GB version. 10,000 songs in a package that is smaller than a portable cassette player that will go for 14 hours in between charges..... There are no cons. What are you waiting for?
On: 2005-09-18
I have had mine for about two years. Ive taken it everywhere and not one problem...It followed me to Iraq and back with heavy use and countless falls..The sofeware is easy to use and the it has CD quality music..Personally I think it is a great buy and beats the hell out of ipod
On: 2005-08-26
Another reviewer recently advised that this is the model to look for. I was just advised at a well known retailer that this model has been discontinued. Is this true or is this a classic bait-and-switch technique? Their current weekly sales circular features this model at a sale price. When you get to the store, they dont have it but when they look it up in their computer, it shows up as "Discontinued". It is difficult to relate reviews to actual products when the reviews you base your buying decision on could be about(a)different model(s) from the one you actually buy online or in-store. The Creative Labs own website does not give model numbers so they are adding to the confusion.
On: 2005-07-20
I bought the Creative Nomad Zen Xtra 30Gb around the start of the new year. By mid May, the player would get hung on the EAX Soound screen and wouldnt fully turn on. Since it was only about a month out of its warrenty, they would not help with a costumer service line or anything, but I had to send an email to the company. Well, after much hassel and faulty instructions about how to "update my firmware" I ended up having to send my product into the company in TEXAS so they could fix it. Now, not only was it a problem because I couldnt listen to my music anymore, but I also had to pay a hefty $40 fee just to return it, and if there was more to the problem than just my firmware, I would have to pay another $40! About three weeks later, they sent back a refurbished 40Gb player that works just fine, but now I have the task of uploading almost 25Gb of music back on. Speaking for myself, they were not helpful what so ever, the warrenty sucked and should have been extended so things like this dont happen, and they tried to buy me off with a bigger player.
One a side note, this player is HUGE! I know you are getting alot of memory and all, but this is in no way sleek or descrete. I cant fit it into any of my pockets or just carry it around because it it bigger than my hand! It may not look so big in pictures, but dont be fooled!
On: 2005-07-13
Ive had my Zen Xtra 40Gb for just over a year now. Up until now I have never had an issue with it. A lot of complaints that have been sent the Zens way seem to have been a result of either ignorance or negligence.
Complaint 1: The sound quality is average...
Well it depends on what you call good quality sound. If you are from Europe and your idea of good sound is cranking up the music higher than anyone else in the area, then perhaps - if you did not upgrade your firmware with the US firmware (which does not have a volume limiter)- you are incorrect. I am a musician(trained to hear good sound) and with a good set of headphones/earphones, the Jukebox is out there beating the competition. Do yourself a favour and upgrade your firmware. Youll notice an immediate difference in the way it plays.
Complaint 2: The Control Buttons are inconvenient in comparison to the iPod
I couldnt disagree more heartily. I did a comparison with my fathers iPod and immediately realised that navigating the iPod blindly while carrying it on the belt would be a very difficult task indeed. Instead, the Zens side controls allow for blind navigation as each button serves as an individual function button. Perfect for rush hour on the tube when you want your player out of sight, but accessible...
Complaint 3: The iPod has more features.
Perhaps. Although I dont know if the iPods playback menu items are near as comprehensive as the Zens. For example: on the Zen it is possible to search for: a track, an artist, an album or a genre. Something the iPod doesnt seem to be able to do.
Complaint 4: The Zen is flimsy.
As with any portable device, the first thing you should do for it is get a case. Mine has never left its case except for the odd clean here and there. The case is tight-fitting, robust and has a belt-clip. Abuse or neglect any computer and it will give you hassles...
This machine is tough, its good-looking (although not as good looking as the iPod), has awesome sound with a feature rich interface (theres always a pleasant surprise in the form of a menu-shortcut or an added feature springing up somewhere) and after 4639 songs, it still has 16Gb of free space. Nothing wrong with that!
My only complaint is with regards to Creatives software. Now Creative make damn good hardware, but their software sucks to be honest with you. I am quite savvy when it comes to computer related stuff, but Creatives Media Source software is just aweful and buggy and so damn ugly. I eventually went across to Red Chair and bought their Notmad software which really does bring out the potential of the Zen and even adds some enhancements such as faster transfer of songs between the Zen and PC, streaming music from the player to the PC etc, etc... Do yourself a favour and dont even bother opening up Creatives solution!
For the sake of their software alone, I am dropping a star off my rating. I would give the hardware a 10 out of 5 and the software a minus 6 leaving us with four stars. Thats fair I think. :)
In conclusion, I think this is the best, most complete MP3 player on the market(despite all the new competition!!)
On: 2005-06-13
This is the version of the Creative Nomad Zen Xtra with a faulty headphone jack. You want item model number 70PD055000032, not 70PD055000017. The other one is the same product, just manufactured at a later point and they have fixed the headphone jack problem. Hope this helps.
On: 2005-06-08
I bought this wondering if it would work as well as some said or turn into the nightmare that some (the few) said. It is Great and works like a dream. One thing: Read on how to use the product...that took a bit of getting out of "Ill figure it out" but the scroll wheel was something that once I read it was easy. I have 2000 songs in another format (real player) and the stubborness in me made me want it to work. Real player had the problem but all turned out well. I dont have a problem with the cover coming off. I dont have a problem with dropping it (duh, I dont treat it like a basketball) I have room to spare for more songs and playlists and others others asking me how to buy at this price because Ipod is so expensive that its pricing itself out of a market that is not only easy to use with multiple formats but for those who do not want to take the time to convert or re-load all their music. I give it 5 stars knowing that I had a great experience and "didnt have to ask customer service for help... didnt drop it and am semi-computer literate (and realistic to know that asking directions sometimes = reading the directions)" I have a friend that asked me if he should buy...? I said YES!
On: 2005-05-04
After a little over a year my Zen Xtra has stopped playing sound. Everything else works it just appears to be a faulty headphone jack which is a common problem on Creatives players. On a dinky $30 portable I wouldnt expect much but on a $300 device this is just unacceptable.
Their warranty period and customer service is a joke. Go have a look at their forums. Stay away from Creative products. There are other alternatives out there.
On: 2005-04-25
I love my Zen Xtra 40GB - well at least I loved my Xtra. The player is great, except for one major detail - the shoddy quality of the headphone jack. IT WILL FAIL! If you get lucky it will still be under warranty. If you arent expect to pay at least $40 for the clowns at Creative to fix it. If you think I am just flaming them, check out their forums.
On: 2005-03-01
I got this for Christmas in 2003, and have used it regularly ever since (every day to/from work, plus during travel, in the car, etc.). Ive still got tons of storage, and its no worse the wear even after a couple of drops. I find the software very easy to use, so no complaints there either. Its not as cute as the iPod, but frankly, I didnt find the trade off of price vs. size worth it -- the Creative is still plenty light enough to loop on your belt while youre walking.
The only complaint I have is that if I havent used it for a couple of days, it needs to re-boot on startup. This takes about three minutes, so it is annoying. Still, this jukebox gets my hearty endorsement -- a friend got it on my recommendation, and I got my wife the 30MB version this past Christmas (to her great delight).
On: 2005-02-14
Yeah, the Zen is awesome. I debated back and forth for about three months over buying the Zen and the iPod. Eventually, I decided on the Zen. Why? Mainly for the issue of the battery of the iPod. From what I understand, the iPods battery dies and will not hold a charge after about 18 months. And, when it dies, Apple replaces if for $100 and doesnt even send back your original iPod - so all the music which you put on it is lost. This does not seem to be the case with the Zen. However, now that Creative has (or is coming out with) a 40 GB version of the Zen touch model, that might be a better purchase, simply because the battery seems to last much longer. I can get the Zens batter to last for about 9 hours on 20% contrast and a 5 second backlight, while still skipping tracks frequently.
Also, the headphone jack problem has been mentioned in some of the previous reviews. From what I understand, that problem was an earlier model of the Zen and Creative has fixed the headphone jack. I certainly have not had any problems with mine. Definitely a good buy!
On: 2005-01-07
When I looked at all the reviews, and saw the price, i said wow.
I got a 40GB Creative Zen Xtra, and it was LESS then the 4gb mini ipod.
but, after a few days, it slipped out of my hand, onto the lanolium floor in my school office.
Unfortunatly, since the product was created very poorly in MALAYSIA, it was destroyed, and i coulndt do anything.
Ipod vs. Zen
they both have their own strengths. The iPod, has a more easy and secure system that wont crash as often (my zen crashed 4 times in 1 day, 2 days after i got it).
but, the zen has longer battery life and a less sensitive wheel that is easier to navigate around in.
(this is the big one)
the iPod has a ONE YEAR warranty, as the zen has only 90 DAYS. and, since it was "my fault their player cant withstand one 2 foot fall", i either can go back to the place i got it (best buy) or give it to them and pay them to fix it.
i have heard from numerous people that the iPod can withstand quite a few falls, but the creative i now know, can only withstand one fall.
from my jeans pocket to the floor ( i am 511). now it is dead.
spend the extra money, get the smaller and better iPod.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-12-19
Well.
I really wanted a iPod or this Poliard one, but my dad said that Poliard makes Cameras not MP3 Players!
So we bought the Creative Labs Nomad Juxebox Zen Xtra 40 GB and I LOVE IT! So small, very good sound Quality holds up to 11.000 MP3 Songs and 667 Hours and WMA 1000 hours,
It includes:
. 1 Nomad Juxebox Zen Xtra Player
. 1 pair of Stereo Earphones
. 1 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery
. 1 Travel Pouch
. 1 Universal Power Adapter
. 1 USB 2.0 Cable
. 1 Installion CD
. 1 Quick Start Quide
I would recommend this product to everyone!
i hope this Review was very helpful to you?
[...]
Thanks for viewing my review-
:)
On: 2004-12-16
In April of 2004, I received a birthday present which happened to be the Zen Xtra 40 GB. I was thrilled, but also a bit hesitant. I have had numerous other mp3 players, ranging all the way back to the Rio 600. None of which really met what I considered to be a good player. They all had some flaws, but had some good points about them as well. The last creative product I owned was a Jukebox 3, which was flawed as well. The hard drive failed, and so I called their customer support (this was at least 2 years ago), and asked if they could repair it. They said that they could, so I sent it off. They send it back saying it wasnt repairable. So I went with my first instinct and replaced the harddrive, and then not 2 months later the headphone jack went dead. So it was all line-out for me after that, what a pain.
So that brings me to the Zen Xtra, and I have to say that after some abuse, but also some TLC, that the Xtra has performed like a champ. I have had no problems whatsoever. Apparently, Creative fixed the headphone jack issue, because after switching between the home setup and the car setup at least twice/three times a day, it still performs flawlessly.
I am now going to comment on some of the other users issues.
1. The battery life- I honestly have not had any problem with battery life, last time I checked and ran it dead at work one day while listening to it, It lasted 11.5 hours. (I wasnt at work the whole time, but I never stopped playback from when I got up, to around 7:30 that night.) This was listening to mostly VBR mp3s encoded with LAME with --alt preset standard, and some extreme.
2. The headphone jack- As I said before, I have not had any problems with the headphone jack, as I have with the NJB3 headphone jack. (Which by the way I resoldered and fixed and then the whole unit broke, cheap parts?)
3. The battery cover lid - Honestly, I leave mine in the leather (pleather?) case pretty much all the time, and this keeps the case from coming open. It also keeps the unit from getting scratched, so thats another plus. All I did was take a hobby knife, and cut away a screen (inbetween the layers of fake leather, there is a plastic screen layer, so I just left that, and cut a small square hole for the power plug. I usually never have to remove it.
4. Its so much bigger/heavier/crappier than the Ipod - I have used Ipods before, and honestly, yes the xtra is thicker than the ipod, however, is less than .5 inches thickness worth losing the USER replaceable battery, and costing at least 100 dollars more ( I think its more like 150-200, but Ill be generous). To me it was not worth that extra money. And to the guy that posted a link to a free ipod site, Uhh.. That sounds like a scam.
5. Frequent Crashing - Mine has crashed maybe 5 times, out of everyday use, and when it froze, I unhooked the battery, and replaced it. After a few minutes of the library rebuilding, I was back to enjoying my music.
This unit has literally worked flawlessly for me. The fact that it has multiple format options, It can also be used for external storage, which works nicely. I do not use the Creative software, I use Red Chairs Notmad Explorer, and do not have any problems.
I would recommend this product to anyone who wants a good mp3 player, and an even better price.
--Rob
On: 2004-12-05
Mind you I did not buy my Zen from Amazon, however I bought myne back in May - 40gb.
Within 3 months, just after the warrenty expired, the headphone jacks died. I have a friend who has been trying to work on the jacks now for several months, and still no luck. Apperently they are attached ON the board instead of through the board. They have apperently been made horribly. For the price you pay for these things, they should work.
At this time, Im very skeptical about buying another Zen due to this problem. I have read some reviews which states new ones have been made in July with a case with a window. Unfortunatly, it is very hard to figure out if you bought a new one or old one when your buying them.
Im not sure how trusting it is to buy another one of these machines as they seem to be crafted for 10 cents and sold for 300$
Im thinking spending the extra 100$ for the Ipod might be a smart idea at this time. You get a 1 year warrenty and you will not have to worry about this jack problem, at least nothing ive heard of anyway.
Buyer Beware... Think and read this before you buy the Zen.
On: 2004-11-18
I bought this product about four months ago. I really liked it. It was a little bulky, but I have never been too worried about the style of a gadget. It did everything I wanted it to do: It held my whole music collection with plenty of space for the rest of my life. I brought it to college and used it all the time. I never had any problems with it besides the minor fact that the battrey life was a little short. But then about a week ago, I was using it, and it randomly broke. All the buttons stopped working. I dont know why this happened, because I hadnt loaded any new songs onto it recently, so I dont think it could have been a bad file or anything, but nonetheless, it just stopped working. I ended up removing the battery and replacing it. When I turned it back on, It was in "rescue mode" and said there was a problem with he harddrive. I called customer support, and they said that since I had bought it more than 60 days ago, and hadnt bought the extended warranty, it would cost $150 to fix (which is more than half of the price I paid for the item). I obviously did not do that. I ended up buying a new mp3 player, by a different company.
I thought this would be a great product, and the price was excellent (for 40GB). However, if you want a quality item that will not break in a few months, then pay a little more for a better quality product. I ended up spending the same amount of money that I spent on The Zen on a 20GB player, because I realized that I will never need 40GB of music.
Its not only the fact that the Zen broke so quickly, but the fact that Creative does not back its product for very long (60 days!) shows that they dont trust their own products to work.
Dont buy it!!!
By the way, I ended up buying the iAudio M3 20 GB player (they sell it here, so just put it in the search)
On: 2004-11-13
GET THIS. Not that having a cool MP3 player is the most important thing in the world,but I think everyone can agree that the ipod is the coolest. But who cares. If you are going to buy an MP3 player go all out. Get one that will last, one that has more space than youll need. This is the right one for everyone. This player does everything you need it to. and its not as expensive as the ipod.
On: 2004-11-12
GET THIS. Not that having a cool MP3 player is the most important thing in the world,but I think everyone can agree that the ipod is the coolest. But who cares. If you are going to buy an MP3 player go all out. Get one that will last, one that has more space than youll need. This is the right one for everyone. This player does everything you need it to. and its not as expensive as the ipod.
On: 2004-11-11
Ive had my Zen Xtra for about a year now. Its hands down the best MP3 player on the market, but it does have its limitations.
Lets start with the good:
-- Removable battery. Those of you with iPods, you know exactly what I mean.
-- Huge capacity for a low price. Apple now makes a 40GB iPod, but its more expensive than the Zen Xtra, so unless you like paying more for the Apple cachet, Id suggest the Zen Xtra. Mine isnt even half full yet.
-- Great sound. I have the Belkin FM transmitter for the car and a small pair of speakers for work, and everybodys always stunned at the sound quality from "that little thing".
The not-as-good:
-- Its not well-suited for athletic activity, and dont even think about what happens when you drop it. I broke my first one when it fell out of my purse, and Ive managed to scramble the disk drive one other time. Fortunately, it was still within warranty. Creative could DEFINITELY have made this one a little more sturdy.
-- The headphone jack breaks with very little contortion. I accidentally pulled VERY hard on the headphone cord once and had to return the device because the jack broke away inside the case. Again, good thing I bought the extended warranty.
-- Comes with a crappy headset. Fortunately, headsets are plentiful in stores.
-- Clunky, unintuitive interface. Also, as I discovered, you HAVE to make sure the USB cable is well-seated in the unit, or your computer will not make a connection to it. But the interface is very powerful and has some very cool features once you get used to it. But while were discussing the interface...
-- Its interface ONLY works with Windows products. I got a Mac recently and was very upset to discover this. Fortunately, Mac users are innovative people as a group and there are a few Mac shareware utilities that allow you to get around this issue. A good copy of VirtualPC also works around this problem.
All in all, well-worth the money, but not perfect.
On: 2004-11-10
Ive had my Zen Xtra for about a year now. Its hands down the best MP3 player on the market, but it does have its limitations.
Lets start with the good:
-- Removable battery. Those of you with iPods, you know exactly what I mean.
-- Huge capacity for a low price. Apple now makes a 40GB iPod, but its more expensive than the Zen Xtra, so unless you like paying more for the Apple cachet, Id suggest the Zen Xtra. Mine isnt even half full yet.
-- Great sound. I have the Belkin FM transmitter for the car and a small pair of speakers for work, and everybodys always stunned at the sound quality from "that little thing".
The not-as-good:
-- Its not well-suited for athletic activity, and dont even think about what happens when you drop it. I broke my first one when it fell out of my purse, and Ive managed to scramble the disk drive one other time. Fortunately, it was still within warranty. Creative could DEFINITELY have made this one a little more sturdy.
-- The headphone jack breaks with very little contortion. I accidentally pulled VERY hard on the headphone cord once and had to return the device because the jack broke away inside the case. Again, good thing I bought the extended warranty.
-- Comes with a crappy headset. Fortunately, headsets are plentiful in stores.
-- Clunky, unintuitive interface. Also, as I discovered, you HAVE to make sure the USB cable is well-seated in the unit, or your computer will not make a connection to it. But the interface is very powerful and has some very cool features once you get used to it. But while were discussing the interface...
-- Its interface ONLY works with Windows products. I got a Mac recently and was very upset to discover this. Fortunately, Mac users are innovative people as a group and there are a few Mac shareware utilities that allow you to get around this issue. A good copy of VirtualPC also works around this problem.
All in all, well-worth the money, but not perfect.
On: 2004-11-09
I personally like the control that the Zen Xtra gives you in organizing and classifying your music. It also creates playlists on the go for you (combining tracks by the same Artist, the same album, or same genre) for easy playback retrieval.
The software that it comes with, Creative MediaSource, is great also, however may be a little complicated for new computer users. It lets you edit all track information (Artist, genre, album, track #) regardless of what ID3 tags were used when recording.
Also do I need to remind you of the removable battery. Poor iPod users have to shell out almost $100 to get their battery serviced/replaced when its dead. Also you can store, data files, video files, etc. on the Zen Xtra (its a portable hard drive also)
The only negative is the buttons on the case are oddly positioned.
Overall I dont recommend this item for newbies. But if you want great control and organization over your MP3s, this is definitely the player for you!!!
On: 2004-11-08
I personally like the control that the Zen Xtra gives you in organizing and classifying your music. It also creates playlists on the go for you (combining tracks by the same Artist, the same album, or same genre) for easy playback retrieval.
The software that it comes with, Creative MediaSource, is great also, however may be a little complicated for new computer users. It lets you edit all track information (Artist, genre, album, track #) regardless of what ID3 tags were used when recording.
Also do I need to remind you of the removable battery. Poor iPod users have to shell out almost $100 to get their battery serviced/replaced when its dead. Also you can store, data files, video files, etc. on the Zen Xtra (its a portable hard drive also)
The only negative is the buttons on the case are oddly positioned.
Overall I dont recommend this item for newbies. But if you want great control and organization over your MP3s, this is definitely the player for you!!!
by: punkdigital On: 2004-10-30
When I originally bought this item I was thoroughly pleased with its ease of use, generous screen size and scroll wheel but within a month the unit ceased to work.
I contacted Creative Labs and they gave me an RMA. I sent the RMA back to them and then heard nothing from them anymore. Then I contacted them again and they created a new RMA and then sent me to fill this one out. I did and when they received it they claimed it was past the expiration date. I explained to them that this second RMA was necessary only because the first one wasnt processed but they would have none of it. As of right now they have both my defunct mp3 player and no replacement in sight.
DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND DO NOT BUY FROM CREATIVE.
Their customer service is atrocious and the mp3 player is flimsy in spite of appearing otherwise.
ADDED ON MARCH 17TH --- 2005.
Still nothing from Creative. Worst company ever.
ADDED ON NOVEMBER 12TH
Still nothing from Creative. Are they the worst company ever? Well...there is Enron. But Creative isnt far behind.
On: 2004-10-29
When I originally bought this item I was thoroughly pleased with its ease of use, generous screen size and scroll wheel but within a month the unit ceased to work.
I contacted Creative Labs and they gave me an RMA. I sent the RMA back to them and then heard nothing from them anymore. Then I contacted them again and they created a new RMA and then sent me to fill this one out. I did and when they received it they claimed it was past the expiration date. I explained to them that this second RMA was necessary only because the first one wasnt processed but they would have none of it. As of right now they have both my defunct mp3 player and no replacement in sight.
DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND DO NOT BUY FROM CREATIVE.
Their customer service is atrocious and the mp3 player is flimsy in spite of appearing otherwise.
ADDED ON MARCH 17TH --- 2005.
Still nothing from Creative. Worst company ever.
ADDED ON NOVEMBER 12TH
Still nothing from Creative. Are they the worst company ever? Well...there is Enron. But Creative isnt far behind.
On: 2004-10-28
Ive had this unit for about 4 months and am very happy with it. The battery life is great, the sound is awesome, the software is simple to use, once you get a hang of it.
I did buy it at a local store and I did, just like another reviewer said, I bought a 2 year extended warranty. I also never buy an extended warranty unless I am buying a telephone, a cd player, or a device like this WITH A HARDDRIVE. Anything that has a harddrive may die at any point because hard drives fail. So I did not want to take my chances and bought the extended warranty.
I also bought a tape-adopter for 10$ at a local store and use it in my car - it is great that you can play it in your car for hours, dont need to run to your trunk to change these cds all the time. I filled about 25GB from 40GB available with music.
I also liked that it came with a case that can clip to your belt. The only thing I wish is that this model be a bit smaller - it is just big compared to ipod and a new zen, but it has 40GB not 20GB as others and the sound is very very good. Just buy a pair of decent earphones - it comes with a cheap ones. I am very happy with it, especially great sound and great battery life.
On: 2004-10-14
After roughly a year of fairly reliable use, Ive also fallen prey to the faulty headphone jack. Now im wondering what to do with an item that I paid nearly $400 because the limited warranty conveniently ran out eight or nine months ago ("limited" being somewhat of an understatement). No one should ever have to consider "fixing", and possibly further marring something they paid that much money for.
A month ago I wouldve given this item four stars. After coming here and seeing so many people with the exact same problem that Creative continues to neglect, Im outright angry that Im not alone.
On: 2004-10-13
After roughly a year of fairly reliable use, Ive also fallen prey to the faulty headphone jack. Now im wondering what to do with an item that I paid nearly $400 because the limited warranty conveniently ran out eight or nine months ago ("limited" being somewhat of an understatement). No one should ever have to consider "fixing", and possibly further marring something they paid that much money for.
A month ago I wouldve given this item four stars. After coming here and seeing so many people with the exact same problem that Creative continues to neglect, Im outright angry that Im not alone.
On: 2004-09-30
So far so good,(3weeks)two complaints is the headphones that you get are very uncomfortable?I purchased the Sony Fontopia® In-Ear Headphones (MDR-EX71LP),they are great you can almost shut out the world! You can fall asleep with these bad boys on.they are like a stethascope(you know the thing doctors use to hear your heart)!Second issue is it froze once,first day easy re-set with small safety pin,got scared I guess? This Zen comes with pre-loaded classical music too!Once you get the hang of its use you can download from walmartmusic.88 cents, musicmatch .99 cents(both have no monthly fee if you choose).The only thing is their(ceative labs) tech support is not toll free and nowhere does it show you how to "TRANSFER" music to Zen,its just an arrow pointing right(one underneath points left,dont touch this one).Once you plug in your USB and highlight your music and open(far right side tab)of the creative media PC MUSIC Library,make sure it says zen THAT WHERE ITS DOWNLOADING(rips then writes and its done!)its ready to listen too!Plus downloaded songs can be dragged to other music software for buuuuuuuuuuuurning!So far I have 1,908 songs downloaded!It holds over 6,000 songs!Dont waste your money on the 256Mb ones they hold I heard about 20-40 songs?
On: 2004-09-29
So far so good,(3weeks)two complaints is the headphones that you get are very uncomfortable?I purchased the Sony Fontopia® In-Ear Headphones (MDR-EX71LP),they are great you can almost shut out the world! You can fall asleep with these bad boys on.they are like a stethascope(you know the thing doctors use to hear your heart)!Second issue is it froze once,first day easy re-set with small safety pin,got scared I guess? This Zen comes with pre-loaded classical music too!Once you get the hang of its use you can download from walmartmusic.88 cents, musicmatch .99 cents(both have no monthly fee if you choose).The only thing is their(ceative labs) tech support is not toll free and nowhere does it show you how to "TRANSFER" music to Zen,its just an arrow pointing right(one underneath points left,dont touch this one).Once you plug in your USB and highlight your music and open(far right side tab)of the creative media PC MUSIC Library,make sure it says zen THAT WHERE ITS DOWNLOADING(rips then writes and its done!)its ready to listen too!Plus downloaded songs can be dragged to other music software for buuuuuuuuuuuurning!So far I have 1,908 songs downloaded!It holds over 6,000 songs!Dont waste your money on the 256Mb ones they hold I heard about 20-40 songs?
On: 2004-09-26
Like others I did plenty of research before plunking down $300 for an mp3 jukebox. Id had a RioVolt CD-R mp3 player for about 3 years and was very happy with it. I didnt want to be an early adopter of the portable hard drive players, they were too expensive & seemed too fragile.
But now I wanted to step up to the convenience of a jukebox (actually, for me the only real drawback of the RioVolt CD player was its just too big). An iPod wasnt really an option as I dont care for Apples proprietory (and overpriced) hardware. So Creatives Zen units looked like the way to go.
After using it for about a month the only complaint I have (and the reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5) is that the software that comes with it is a little cumbersome. Once you get the hang of it it does the job, but its bloated and slow. Also, the program uses an annoying, curvy, neon-style skin that everything seems to use these days. And you cant set it to look like the normal Windows interface. But like I said, it does what it needs to do.
One other minor complaint regarding the unit itself. The jog wheel is overly sensitive when scrolling but you have to press it too hard to select things. It also times out too quickly. And it has PLAY as the default selection whereas I feel OPEN would have made more sense.
And although it only comes with ear bud style headphones they sound surprisingly good (though I found them uncomfortable).
* * * I M P O R T A N T * * *
You may have noticed the binary-ness of the reviews for these units here. That is, they are either totally positive or totally negative. The fact of the matter is these units are little PCs. They have a hard drive, an OS, memory etc. and therefore when they fail, they fail completely. If someday it doesnt boot up theres really nothing you can do about it. So a word of advice:
BUY A SERVICE CONTRACT!!!!
I dont know if theyre available here on Amazon. I bought mine at a local store and it was only $39 for a 2-year contract. And let me make one thing very clear: Normally I never, _EVER_ buy service contracts! Theyre a waste of money for something like a $99 DVD player (too inexpensive a unit) or even for a $600 big-screen TV (no moving parts, not likely to break). But they are perfect for these very compact and expensive mp3 players!
On: 2004-09-10
I have this Zen Nomad and love it! Its sleek and stylish, much like the iPod. An excellent less expensive solution.
One critique, the USB and various plug ports are open to the elements. Less than suitable for walking near the beach.
 On: 2004-08-25
My Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra 40GB only worked for 6 months. I no longer have any sound and the battery doesnt charge. When I called customer service I was given the excuse that it wasnt supposed to be used in the gym. As you all know it is marketed to fulfill your portable music needs. If you cant use it in the gym then it is not truly portable. I know many people who use their ipods in the gym and have had no problems for years. This product has fallen far below my expectations. It is not worth the $300, not to mention the fact that it only has a 90 day warranty. Can you trust a product that is only guaranteed to work for 3 months? No.
On: 2004-08-24
My Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra 40GB only worked for 6 months. I no longer have any sound and the battery doesnt charge. When I called customer service I was given the excuse that it wasnt supposed to be used in the gym. As you all know it is marketed to fulfill your portable music needs. If you cant use it in the gym then it is not truly portable. I know many people who use their ipods in the gym and have had no problems for years. This product has fallen far below my expectations. It is not worth the $300, not to mention the fact that it only has a 90 day warranty. Can you trust a product that is only guaranteed to work for 3 months? No.
by: werdnaraad1 On: 2004-08-21
When I was researching MP3 Players last fall, I knew one thing: I didnt want an iPod. The iPod is a good machine, but you have to pay for the name as well as the player itself. Anyway, I stumbled across the Creative Nomad Jukebox, and let me tell you, it is great. The sound quality is fantastic, it is very sturdy, and its software is very easy to use. This player may not have the recognition that the iPod has, but that is almost an advantage in and of itself because this allows it to be cheaper than the iPod, and the two machines are nearly identical. I would reccomend this to anyone who is unsure of the MP3 Player they want. The Nomad will never frustrate you and will never let you down.
On: 2004-08-15
I purchased this player over 4 months ago. I read all of the reviews and I was aware of the pros and cons going in. This player is slightly thicker than the same capacity ipod. On the upside, the battery is user upgradeable, which iPod users cant do. The main downside to this player is the software. I highly recommend NotMad Explorer from http://www.redchairsoftware.com as a replacement for the poor Creative software. The upsides are great sound quality, great capacity, decent battery life and a good price. If you dont care about looking trendy carrying an iPod, take a good hard look at the Creative Nomad Zen players.
On: 2004-08-15
the warrenty on this device is only 3 months and it breaks quite quickly. the cover kept popping off and when it broke creative said the warrenty ran out
On: 2004-08-02
Cheap, Efficient, and Reliable
By far the best mp3 player i have ever used.
People gripe about the size but i dont want something that is so tiny that im gonna lose.
I mean think of what you would be hauling with you if it were a cd player and the over 800 cds you can fit on it.
Second off the battery life is astounding, I get two days of use out of it in a single charge. I use it for about 6-7hrs at work and the trip to and from work in the car and i get about 2 days out of it.
I dont know if people are not charging their batteries right but after reading the booklet it has not given me any battery related problems other than EAX will tend to shave off about 2 hours of life when enabled.
I cant say enough about this thing, its a new appendage. I mean Ive left my house without my wallet before and had my mp3 player with me.
After showing it to people at work 2 coworkers have already purchased their own.
On: 2004-08-01
Cheap, Efficient, and Reliable
By far the best mp3 player i have ever used.
People gripe about the size but i dont want something that is so tiny that im gonna lose.
I mean think of what you would be hauling with you if it were a cd player and the over 800 cds you can fit on it.
Second off the battery life is astounding, I get two days of use out of it in a single charge. I use it for about 6-7hrs at work and the trip to and from work in the car and i get about 2 days out of it.
I dont know if people are not charging their batteries right but after reading the booklet it has not given me any battery related problems other than EAX will tend to shave off about 2 hours of life when enabled.
I cant say enough about this thing, its a new appendage. I mean Ive left my house without my wallet before and had my mp3 player with me.
After showing it to people at work 2 coworkers have already purchased their own.
On: 2004-07-31
I have had my 40 GB Nomad for nearly a year now, and recently had the opportunity to compare it with my brothers 20 GB Ipod. I have to say that, all in all, the Nomad is in nearly all ways superior. First of all, even with twice the capacity of the Ipod, the Nomad is still cheaper. The computer software interface (Creative PlayCenter) is simple to use, and makes it easy to move files around not only on your computer, but within the player itself. So its a little bit thicker and very slightly wider than the Ipod - so what? I didnt look for an MP3 player to wear to a fashion show. I wanted the top-of-the-line, I wanted something that worked, and I wanted the best price-to-capacity ratio I could find, because I own a lot of music. Bottom line is: if you want to be trendy and stylish, go ahead and blow your money on a device like the Ipod thats twice the price. But if youre a REAL music lover who owns tons of music, and wants to carry everything you own in the palm of your hand, this is the machine to own. BTW: If Creative Labs ever puts out an 80 GB unit, Ill buy it in a heartbeat!
On: 2004-07-30
I just got my Creative Labs Nomad And Ive Already Put Most Of My Cds On It And Am Hard Pressed To Fill It Up, Im Going To Borrow My Friends CD collection But 11000 Songs Is A Lot To Come By. I Love It And It Was A Lot Cheaper Than the 40 Gig ipod and the ipod has some questionable reviews.
Great Player. Great Deal. Cheaper.
On: 2004-07-29
I just got my Creative Labs Nomad And Ive Already Put Most Of My Cds On It And Am Hard Pressed To Fill It Up, Im Going To Borrow My Friends CD collection But 11000 Songs Is A Lot To Come By. I Love It And It Was A Lot Cheaper Than the 40 Gig ipod and the ipod has some questionable reviews.
Great Player. Great Deal. Cheaper.
On: 2004-07-28
Ok, so an iPod is completely out of my budget, so I shopped around for alternatives and came upon the Nomad Zen Extra. I bought it because it seemed to be the best deal around, and I really wanted the 40 gig drive for all my music, without forking over my net worth.
Ive had it for about a month, and Im extremely satisfied.
My only two complaints are:
[1] it was a little larger than I expected (though it certainly isnt the size of cassette players as another reviewer said). Just dont expect it to be iPod sized, and youll be fine- I mean, youre paying $250-ish for something that can probably hold EVERY SINGLE CD youve ever owned, and your friends too. The bulk/weight (and the difference isnt even that much) isnt gonna be worth the extra $100-200-ish you might pay for a smaller unit of the same disk space, in my opinion.
[2] the scroll wheely thing is annoying. when i first got it i kept accidentally erasing the whole playlist-in-the-making by not getting the right balance with the little wheel. However, its not hard to learn - once you get used to it, youll hardly notice it. (basically, you tap it up/down to scroll through stuff, and straight in to select whatever youve landed on - its the pressing straight in thats hard).
No complaints about battery life. I dont think its as good as advertized, but still good.
Transfering files is fine - the software is great. One thing ive noticed is that, when i transfer files i ripped with iTunes, it doesnt read the artist/album of that file, making it really hard to find in the Nomad. maybe this is just me being inept. *shrug*? it was easily fixed in the software.
Sound quality: amazing.
It doesnt have the little thing on the headphone wire (like iPods and iRivers) that lets you play/stop/skip tracks easily, so if you want to skip/repeat something, you have to dig it back out.. thats another drawback.
Anyway, this is solid for its price, and Im in love :) I got everything I was looking for, so.... woot. I hope it works out as smoothly for you!
On: 2004-07-27
Ok, so an iPod is completely out of my budget, so I shopped around for alternatives and came upon the Nomad Zen Extra. I bought it because it seemed to be the best deal around, and I really wanted the 40 gig drive for all my music, without forking over my net worth.
Ive had it for about a month, and Im extremely satisfied.
My only two complaints are:
[1] it was a little larger than I expected (though it certainly isnt the size of cassette players as another reviewer said). Just dont expect it to be iPod sized, and youll be fine- I mean, youre paying $250-ish for something that can probably hold EVERY SINGLE CD youve ever owned, and your friends too. The bulk/weight (and the difference isnt even that much) isnt gonna be worth the extra $100-200-ish you might pay for a smaller unit of the same disk space, in my opinion.
[2] the scroll wheely thing is annoying. when i first got it i kept accidentally erasing the whole playlist-in-the-making by not getting the right balance with the little wheel. However, its not hard to learn - once you get used to it, youll hardly notice it. (basically, you tap it up/down to scroll through stuff, and straight in to select whatever youve landed on - its the pressing straight in thats hard).
No complaints about battery life. I dont think its as good as advertized, but still good.
Transfering files is fine - the software is great. One thing ive noticed is that, when i transfer files i ripped with iTunes, it doesnt read the artist/album of that file, making it really hard to find in the Nomad. maybe this is just me being inept. *shrug*? it was easily fixed in the software.
Sound quality: amazing.
It doesnt have the little thing on the headphone wire (like iPods and iRivers) that lets you play/stop/skip tracks easily, so if you want to skip/repeat something, you have to dig it back out.. thats another drawback.
Anyway, this is solid for its price, and Im in love :) I got everything I was looking for, so.... woot. I hope it works out as smoothly for you!
On: 2004-07-21
Ive had the Jukebox for a few days now and Im really pleased with its versatility and ease of use. The battery life seems rather good and the playback is great. Ive even been able to hook it up to my surround sound through a headphone jack adapter. Its a touch larger than the new Zen, but at twice the capacity its hard to pass up. I have enough room to store all of my music (6000 tracks) and my entire "my documents" folder on the data part of the hard drive and still have 20gb free. I wish you could play tracks off of it on to your computer without transferring them to your computer hard drive; maybe you can, I just cant figure it out. Ive made the mistake of unhooking it from the computer while it was transferring ... the first time I let the battery die and the second time my computer turned off. Doing this is a hassle because you have to reinstall the firmware and rebuild the library. Its a simple process, it just takes a couple of minutes to let the machine fix itself. However, at $150 less than an ipod I think it works just fine. The software supplied is easy to use, it also will work with Windows Media Player. The headphones arent great but the free case is a nice touch, you dont want to bang up these hard-drive based players. All in all, great player at a great price.
On: 2004-07-20
I finally bought an MP3 player when there was a reasonable alternative to Apple. I was involved with Apple when they built the first one and had an Apple 1 in the late 70s. I saw them get very close to the vest and I was closely involved with IBM when they broke all their "Big blue" rules and turned a group loose in Boca Raton FL with but one charge - to get out a PC in two years regardless. I had a Beta test model.That led to creation of a VERY open software platform, the relagation of Apple to schools and graphics types, and the creation of countless numbers of millionaires and the VERY rich William Gates. So now that I dont have to deal with "my way or the highway" Apple, I can get it my way. The Nomad Zen Xtra 40 GB is every thing I want and then some. Those who fault the size being bigger than iPod did not grow up in the days of 30 pound luggables with a whopping 64 KB like I did. The software is top notch and works seemlessly and rapidly with my PC. The manual leaves a few holes but once you play around, you find that you can do all sorts of stuff with the Nomad connected to the computer that you cannot do with it disconnected. The data storage is a big plus. I will still use my flash drives (128MB & 256MB) for portability of a lot of my data, but to back up my growing digital picture files this will be invaluable. I can take my entire picture collection around with me. This is a real winner and I have not even gotten my FM attachment yet!
On: 2004-07-10
I received this player as a gift in the fall of last year. I have never had a problem with it. It has been great on trips and I bought an RF adapter that plays it through my car radio.
I take this thing everywhere. I know a lot of people like iPods. I have never used one. I HAVE used this player and can tell you that it has been nothing but great to me! I have only used up half the memory so far. I upload tons of CDs all the time. I even have a book on tape on it (28 compact discs alone!) the memory is huge on a 40 gb.
by: net-wait On: 2004-07-06
I take this unit everywhere, and love it. I use this in my car with a C. Crane FM Transmitter and boy is it oh so nice to essentially have your own radio station.I have to admit that the case could be a little better. You have to open it to see the display and make music selections. I also wish it came with a car power adapter, Im still trying to hunt one down for this particular model so that I dont have to run it off the battery all the time. Other than these two minor issues, this unit is a great value. The battery is easy to get to (meaning you dont have to take the thing apart like the Ipod) and it will play wma files and hooks up to my Windows Systems!
by: Anonymous On: 2004-07-04
I usually expect quality product from Creative, however, after buying this product and trying it out for a week, I felt ripped off and returned it. Now Im starting to realize why the iPod is such a superior product compared to the Zen Extra (FYI: I am not a big fan of the iPOD or Apple if youre accusing me of being an iPOD fanboy). First of all, its such a pain to navigate through your collection with the way the buttons are placed. My fingers felt cramped after operating it for a few minutes. The hard drive in the unit vibrates when it is searching for songs. The unit also freezes up on me many times and requires pushing the reset button. It does it for me after reseting the unit for more than 10 times and discovering that more than 80% of all the songs I upload were no where to be found when the unit "rebuilded the library" after resetting it. However, when I looked into the database, the missing songs appears to take up disk space, yet no where to be found in my library or with the Creative MediaSource Organizer. The EAX console and the 97dB Signal to Noise Ratio were the main reason I bought this product. The unit produce excellent sound quality which is about the only good thing (not with the earbuds it came with, which is no good). However, the EAX console was a big dissapointment. When you enable the EAX enviroments, the volume is cut in half, maybe even more. But I found myself reaching for the volume up button whenever I turn this feature on. I just gave up on it after trying it out a few times. My friend owns an iPOD and it sounds good with easy controls. I was just turned off on the $500 price tag for a 40GB player and the "extra" accessory I needed to purchase to get the most out of the iPOD so I went with Creative (havent triend the iRiver yet). I must say that buyers beware of purchasing this unit. I recommend purchasing the product at a place where it is returnable and trying it out.
On: 2004-07-02
Pros:
Durability
Screen
Capacity
Sound Quality
Software
Battery Life
PriceCons:
Size
Side scroll button Ive owned my Creative Nomad Zen Xtra for 7 months now. In all honesty, I use it everyday. I plug it into my speakers at home; use it with a FM adapter at work, at the gym, and walking to classes. The $300 I spent on this product has been well worth it. After 7 months and frequent use, the battery still makes it through 8 hours at work and 1 at the gym, with 1 of 3 bars remaining. Battery life: Great Things happen, the player gets dropped. I almost always have it in the case, which seems to have provided enough protection against the numerous (but infrequent) slips and falls. There is even a battle wound / dent on the back from one of its falls. Still works without a problem. Now as far as the firmware and software goes, I admit that it was frustrating at first. Sometimes the device wouldnt be recognized, sometimes the library wouldnt load correctly, and sometimes files wouldnt transfer. Creative has done a great job of addressing these problems. With the most recent firmware and software updates, I can tell you that 1) the device NEVER freezes anymore and 2) the software does everything I want it to do. The only thing that seems to be an issue is that some song files do not play properly on the computer. I believe it only occurs with files that were loaded either from another source (i.e. external HD) or ripped with earlier versions of the software. The problem is fixed simply by removing and then re-adding the files to the media library. I dont usually play music through creative media source so its not an issue for me. Im not sure if Ill ever use all 40GB of the HD. I have over 2,300 songs loaded and its just over 1/4th full. Were talking 200 CDs here and many of which I dont remember listening to more than 3 years ago. However, I dont use the device for anything other than music. Capacity: More than enough for music needs. Other highlights include the stylish blue screen and excellent sound quality that you can expect from a leading sound card manufacturer. Another feature I find myself using quite often is the EAX audio. I use the Custom EQ when I want everything to sound its best. As many listeners may have realized, not all recordings are mastered at the same volume level. You can be sitting at work quietly listening to Led Zeppelin, recorded decades ago, then an associate comes in the room for a quick word just as a Dream Theater track comes on, twice as loud as you expected. This can be a nuisance, but when the auto volume/smart volume feature is turned on, all songs are played at an equal level. This feature comes in handy when your play list has music that ranges in production quality. Some sound quality is sacrificed since no other EQ can be used, but then again, if your main concern is volume, you probably arent going to be listening close enough to notice quality. The design of the menu is very intuitive. After some playing around with the buttons, anyone can catch on and work it like a pro. There are so many features that I am still finding out new ways to tweak the player to my needs. Some people like these things, and other just want to plug and play. For the latter, again, the device is easy to figure out, making the time from plug to play minimal. I have only two minor issues with the player that concerns the physical design. Its a little big. It fits in my pocket, but takes up the whole pocket. The other is the scroll button doesnt allow for as much navigation control as Id like. I dont see any other player on the market today that Id rather have. The Creative Nomad Zen Xtra does it all, does it well, and that does it for me.
On: 2004-06-21
Many other people have complained about the headphone jack and I would have to say that that this is reason enough to not buy the player. Sure you could hope to get one of the few that have held up but PLEASE dont buy this mp3 player! I purchased this player before heading to Spain to study for three months. About two weeks into my trip the left headphone went out, but with some manuvering i was able to listen to music, given i did not move the player around. Half way into my trip the whole thing went out and I was left with a $300 piece of junk. And the whole reason I bought it was because of all the favorable reviews I had read, I figured it would hold up. Since i was overseas for the duration of the warranty I was not able to return it to creative labs. Now Im stuck finding someone to fix the thing. Final warning: save yourself the hassle! DO NOT buy this player! If youre a risk taker, go ahead, but its not worth it!
On: 2004-06-19
Ive already dropped it, (unit was off) and its fine. Its a little larger than I expected, so is more of a pocket unit than an armband or clip-on. The creative software is not too good - I did some searching and found some recommendations for Notmad Explorer - which does truly rock as accessory software for the Nomad. It will copy over playlists from most other media players without a hitch- which was problematic with the Creative application. Overall Im pleased with the purchase.
On: 2004-06-18
Other than the infrequent rebuilding music library message on startup, my Zen Xtra (40GB) always works great, has great battery life and stores more music than I have time to install on it. The software to add/delete music from the player is intuitive and easy to use.The only thing I wish would work better is using the device as offline storage. Too bad it doesnt work just like a memory key in terms of moving non-music data to/from your PC.
On: 2004-06-16
Was advertised on Amazon at $244 with a 2-week delay in shipping; I ordered it then. When the price went up to $269, Amazon cancelled my order. Its still available cheaper than this in stores, so scout around. I did, and I love mine. Slightly less-enthused about Amazon.
On: 2004-06-14
I did a ton of research on mp3 players before I finally bought the 40 GB Nomad Xtra over the ipod. I have a lot of music and needed a large player but didnt know if I wanted to spend the big bucks and splurge on the ipod--which I had convinced myself is what I wanted. But after talking with reps in the stores and doing my own research I realized that there are just too many obvious problems with the ipod and I cant spend the money on something that will eventually at some point need to be re-worked on (the non-removable battery). At the stores I was told more people bring back a ton of ipods--but never the Nomads. The Nomad is small, holds a ton of songs and doesnt cost a lot for all the storage space you get-and I spent my extra money on a good 3-year service plan just in case something breaks down. I have had NO problems with the player out of the box, and I keep it in its case and take special care so as to not drop it or knock it around. Take my advice and skip the ipod!! Its not worth it!
by: Anonymous On: 2004-06-12
With the new hard drive based MP3 players, I wanted to rip all my CDs (about 200) and put it on a player. This meant one with at least 20GB. I decided to rip at 224Kbps for higher quality. I ended up using 16GB for 2229 Tracks from 225 Albums. To give myself more head room I decided that 40Gb should be my choice.Some of the features out there...
*Hard Drive - Definitely needed this to rip all my CDs to MP3.
*FM tuner - This was a nice to have...so, I wasnt disappointed that this doesnt have it
*Voice Recorder - This is also a nice to have....so, I wasnt disappointed that this doesnt have it
*Line in to record - This is also a nice to have....so, I wasnt disappointed that this doesnt have it
*Use as a hard drive - I really wanted to have this, but as youll see below, I kind of didnt get it. So, everyones question is why didnt I get the iPOD? Its definitely the coolest. I played with one a little at a Bose store and really liked it. Also, heard it could be a hard drive and has some other stuff like address book. But, in the end, it was too much money for me to spend. I got a 40GB Nomad for the less than a 15GB iPOD. Im pretty happy with the Nomad Zen Jukebox Xtra (besides the week it took me to rip my CDs, which isnt the Nomads fault). I didnt use the app that came with the Nomad to rip the MP3s. I started a few days before getting it, so I used a shareware tool called dBPowerAMP Music Converter from download.com. It worked fine. I use it...
...in the car and now I dont need the CD changer anymore. I have playlists of my kids CDs for them, or when its my turn, I can play my lists. In my car, theres an auxiliary jack; in my wifes car, we use one of the tape player accessories.
...in my office while I work...hooked up to my PC speakers secondary source (Megaworks 250D)
...in my family room when guests are over for background music. In the past, we only had a single CD player and kept having to change it. Now, I can set a playlist and let it go the whole night.
...in the gym while I work out. On the treadmill, I put it in a small fanny pack and hang it which limits the shock to it. I wear the pack when I do weights. Pros
-Navigation - Although there is some complexity to it, I got used to it very quickly. I really like the flexibility. I found that its possible to do what you want whether its removing a song from the selected music list, removing the whole list, starting a new list, finding an artist/album/song..I havent found any instance where I thought, "Gee, I wish I could do that...."
-Playlists can be made on the fly from the current "Selected Music" list...I hear iPODs cant.
-Has a Replaceable battery. Honestly, Ill probably get a new one before this one dies, but its always nice to have a choice.
-The case that comes with it fits well and seems to protect it.
-You can use the Nomad Explorer to change artist, genre, and album. This is useful when the CDDB isnt exactly right and I missed the misspelling or something.
-You can shut it down and it will pick up right where you left off.
-Battery life has been pretty good, but not spectacular. Ive done alot of downloading (which kills the battery) and creating playlists and changing music, so its hard to tell what Im really getting.
-The headphones are pretty good and fit well. They seem a little more cushier than most earbud headphones.
-The sound is great. Cons
-The scroll wheel is a little weird and takes a little getting used to.
-Its a little big. Cant fit in your pocket well.
-Doesnt have the accesories that an iPOD has.
-It has no "stop" button. This is kind of weird, but you get used to it. There is a "pause" to stop the music anytime you want. The only difference between "stop" and "pause" is that (I guess) "stop" will go back to the beginning. But, this concept does need some getting used to.
-Using the Nomad as a hard drive needs to use the Nomad Explorer, so you have to have that installed to load files. Its not very useful since most folks dont have that loaded on their PCs.
-USB only, but USBv2.0 was pretty fast. I used 2 computers to rip MP3s. The older one uses USB v1.1. I didnt know how slow v1.1 really was. It took overnight and then some to download about 5GB of music. The Nomad was getting a little so hot that I turned a fan on it to cool it. That seemed to work pretty well. Conclusion: If its a big MP3 player only that youre looking for, this is a pretty good one. The navigation is pretty flexible, but takes a little time to get used to (because it lets you do so much). Im pretty happy with my choice. And, pretty happy with the big drive MP3 type that allows me to pretty much use it anywhere and listen to any song in my collection. That flexibility is nice...
On: 2004-06-12
There must be a new cover for the Zen Xtra because the top is very sturdy and there is no way it can fall off accidentally. The carrying case also now has a window so you can always keep the cover on and you dont have to worry about damaging it.
I recommend if you really want/need one now, just buy the Zen Xtra at a store, get a 2 year warrenty (about $50), and then you can exchange it for FREE (because it is the same price) for Creatives upcoming model, the Zen Touch, which looks as sleek as the Ipod and has a said 24-hour battery life, which is probably more like 15 (being pessimistic)--still MUCH longer than that of the Ipod, and cheaper. The Zen Touch should be coming out within the next few months--and it looks very promising. It comes with a 12 month warrenty (as opposed to the 3 month warenty than comes with the Zen Xtra).To save you some trouble, when installing music into the Zen (which is very fast), make sure you have everything titled correctly on your computer (song titles, albums, and artists)--that way you dont have to worry about re-titling anything on your Zen.
On: 2004-06-11
The price looks good do not be fooled.Mine also worked ok for the first 6 months reguardless that the software would not transfer a portion of my music. The death of this unit was when I had fixed the ID3 tages to get all my music to be able to be tranfered to the player , I removed the music library and then reloaded the repaired lib at this point the player will not play anything corectly. parts of tracks play and parts are garbled.
This is true when playing over headphone jack usb to pc will still play normal. This is not the same problem as the phone jack breaking like happens to 2/3 of the players.
On: 2004-06-11
Having purchased this player as a gift in Dec-03, I was dissapointed when headphone jack became severely intermittent after 4 months of "careful use". Since I am in technical electronics (and player was out of warranty period), I opened it up to find the problem. The Headphone jack is only secured by three small solder pads, and the metal pad for the left channel had broken between the board and jack, and the right channel pad was almost broken. This jack is not reinforced on the circuit board, so it easily breaks. My repair was to remove the cheap internal jack, and then solder a flexible extention cable through the original jack hole to an external female jack (available from most electronic shops). Works great now...but looks a bit strange with this cable coming out of it. Future plugs and unplugs of the jack will not place any strain on the player, Creative Labs...fess up to the poor design, and fix these players that many others are having issues with.
On: 2004-06-11
this player supports ONLY mp3 and wma
unfortunately, my own-made music format is ogg, and downloaded radio recording is asf format, this player dont support both
and lack of digital recording is a major drawback too, unlike iriver, it has digital in and out, this is a necessary for me
sorry, zen, this is not for me
On: 2004-06-10
I must say that Im extremely pleased with my new player. Its become my new best friend. Its so simple to use anyone can get the hang of it. The price is reasonable and a better deal than most other players out there. Under 300 for 40gb? Thats unheard of these days! Im already done transferring all of my essential stuff and still have room for more music!! I have no complaints about this player its just awesome. The only thing though my headphones came messed up one side being longer than the others but thats ok cuz I dont use those little ear pieces anyways :) The size might be a little larger than an ipod or a mini sized mp3 player but its not that big of a deal. We all had cd walkmans and those were way bigger..Its about the size of a palm pilot I would say. The design is also great. No annoying buttons everywhere or joystick controllers. Trust me when I say this is probably one of the best mp3 players around. The sound quality is also amazing :)
On: 2004-06-04
As a soldier in the US Army stationed here in Iraq, I can testify that the Zen Xtra is well worth its weight in gold. Its taken more than its fair share of bumps and bruises and has never skipped a beat. While many of the guys here have opted for MP3/CD players, they are constantly cleaning the lenses and the moving parts often get fouled with sand and dust. The Zen Xtra is a sealed unit with no moving parts other than the rocker wheel on the side. While I agree that the wheel could be a little more responsive sometimes making it a little difficult to make your selection, this is an outstanding piece of equipment. Once the MP3s are uploaded to the unit (I have well over 5,000), you can generate your own playlists and sort by artist, album, or genre. It even has a sleep and wake function. Its a little larger than the iPod but I think its a bit sturdier as well. I know that Im quite impressed with my purchase and my platoon enjoys it as well. (I often plug it into a set of computer speakers I carry in my Hummer.) If and when I get redeployed back here, I know that Ill have one of these tucked away in my ruck.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-06-03
I have been using my zen xtra for 3 months now and i am very pleased with it. I can drag and drop songs with the nomad explorer. I can listen to it for 15hrs at a time before it needs a recharge and it holds my whole collection of cds.
There are however a few cons to this product.
The plastic clip that comes on the carring case snaped so I replaced it with a nylon strap I sewed onto the back of the case and havnt had a problem since.
There are two things that could really improve this product, a line out and a fm transmiter to use to play in cars that have only a cd player.
This is an awsome mp3 player and well worth the money.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-05-26
If you want space to carry your music everywhere...this is your device. For all those reviews about the cover, now the cover included with the player has window to the screen, no need to take the player out of the case, unless you are changing the battery. A USB cable is included...no extra purchase. And the fact that you can copy the music back to your computer is a plus for me. The buttons takes a little getting use to it, but for almost $200 less, I can deal with it. The software is easy to learn, and the fact that you can replace the battery with ease...big plus...
On: 2004-05-20
I loved this thing until 2 1/2 months after purchase... The phone jack is not working properly. Now I am very disappointed. Glad I got a 2 year replacement plan from Best Buy. Recommend you protect yourself if you buy this product. I dont think the phone jack problem is a rare one from what I have read here.
On: 2004-05-18
If youve already got a big music collection in Windows Media Player or MusicMatch youre in for a lot of pain as you transfer your library into Creatives proprietary software application on your PC. All of the information about Music Genre will be stripped out during this process (despite the fact that Windows Media Player was able to read it from my database originally created with MusicMatch).Battery life is only about 5 hours (bad) but you can carry extras and replace them quickly (good). It is relatively easy to change tracks or volume by feel thanks to some little bumps in the controls. A pretty thoughtful mechanical design.
On: 2004-05-16
I had an RCA mp3 player that used cards. I decided to purchase this one based on its reviews and cost. Im not sorry. The only thing I had challenges with was transferring music from my PC and CDs to the player. I searched and searched and finally figured it out. I think Creative needs to have a picture of the software in the quick guide so people know which window is which.I love the ability to organize and listen to music using several options: genre, artist, etc.. It transfers very quickly (using a 2.0 USB hook-up) and sounds great. Im just beginning to play with it so Im looking forward to finding out everything I can about it. It isnt much larger/heavier than an IPOD and is very versatile (not to mention a whole lot less expansive). I also like the fact that its a "mini" external hard drive so I can store large files on it if necessary.
On: 2004-05-12
I have not compared my player to other brands, but I am very happy with it.I have not experienced any of the problems discussed in the negative reviews. The cover has never come open accidentally. I have also dropped it dozens of times and it still keeps going. Of course, I always keep it in the leather case, which seems to absorb the force of the impact. My only complaint is that the headphones were not durable at all. They went bad within a week. No problem though, since headphones are really inexpensive. I go through a pair of Sony headphones every few months. What I love most about the player is that it contains my entire music collection with lots of room to spare. I store my mp3s at 96 kbps, so I have room for about 13,000 tracks. I cant tell the difference between the mp3 and the CD in terms of sound quality. When I meet other people on campus with mp3 players, almost all of them tell me that they paid close to the same price for a unit with much less memory. Freud might have a field day, because when I see other people with mp3 players, I think to myself, "Mine is bigger than yours." And I smile at that thought.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-05-09
Forget how this unit works because it has a basic design flaw that will drive users crazy! The front cover has a release button that allows removal of the front cover to access the removable battery. Forget about the release button. You dont need it. just tap the lower left hand corner of the case and the cover pops open! Convenient, huh? No way! This design flaw is a total pain in the ass! And its not just my unit. I tested two other new, out of the box units and both did the same thing. Simply bad design and no quality testing. Do yourself a favor and avoid this unit at all costs unless you dont mind continually closing the case after it has popped open on its own.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-04-24
So far, so good. No problems at all with the product. Ripped about 70 CDs on to hard drive. Software very easy and intuitive. Takes < 1 minute a song to rip to unit.Had concern about the reviews related to unit being fragile, but have not experienced any problems so far. Controls very easy to learn. EAX - overrated. Sounds fine without it. Battery - nowhere near the claimed 14 hours, but I used the .wma format rather the mp3 to store music. Overall, what I expected for the money
On: 2004-04-22
I took my zen back after a week of problems.
Its really fussy about id3 tags, which is a problem if some of you collection didnt come _directly_ off cd. I fiddled around with various automated taggers, but never got things working to satisfaction. The player crashes every 3 to 8 hours of operation and frequently takes 20+ minutes rebuilding its database of tracks after a crash (i hear this process is made long by incomplete id3 tags).
Two days ago the left headphone channel started cutting out, as it has for many other reviewers. That was the last straw. Im over it, thinking about a rio Karma or nothing at all.
On: 2004-04-21
This is important. Make sure you are running the most recent firmware and drivers from Creative. Recent updates have done loads for stability. Also, I use Notmad from RedChair software for manipulating the data on the Zen Xtra (40Gb). This software takes managing the device to EXACTLY where it needs to be. It also has a web based streamer with it to play songs via WinAMP streaming from other machines. The cons to the unit is that it has a history of headphone and USB jack problems, plus the faceplate is a little to quick to pop off when the case is not on it. The case annoyingly, covers up the face and power jacks. The power jack isnt a big deal, but the face is. Cutting a hole (as someone recommended) is ok, but no longer provides protection like a vinyl window would. I would recommend reviewing the Zen NX cases from Vaja(vajacases.com). They are the same layout as the XTRA. Despite the small issues, the unit has performed very well with the recent firmware updates and RedChair software. Also, there is a Gnomad package for Linux.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-04-11
This product is junk. I am using Windows XP and I have had repeated problems.
Here is a quick list:
1) When I try to copy a file to my Zen it will copy one or two files and then error out telling me that the Zen is busy or that it can not write the file. Some times it will even error out on the first file.
2) When anything goes wrong the Zen seems to lock up and I have to reset it. So far I have had to reset it about 20 times in 2 days.
3) The Creative Media Source software that comes with this product also locks up when an error occurs during file transfer and I have to kill the process to shut it down.
4) I checked Creatives KB for the errors I received and it was no help. I downloaded and installed the driver updates, firmware updates and all the patches I could fine but I still have the problem.
4) Creative has no weekend support which stinks and their support line is only open 9am to 6pm during the week. So for those of us that work, I guess we are on our own.I had high hopes for this product because I did not want to buy an IPod but it looks like Creative leaves me no choice. For any one thinking about buying this product, just remember, you have been warned. I only gave this product a 1 because the system does not allow me to give it a 0.
On: 2004-04-11
The case is mndblowingly awful. If I squint very hard at it the front cover pops off. I only have to slide the catch a fraction of an inch and it pops off, exposing the battery, which is packed loose and so can fall out immediately depending on the angle. The front panel slides across the front of the device if you press it, in a disconcerting way. Basically the build quality is on a par with a sub 10 dollar tape walkman from a backstreet in Hong Kong, and is criminally shoddy for Creatives flagship mp3 jukebox.
Having held an Ipod for a few minutes, it feels as if it was hermetically sealed in pressurised chambers by aliens who breathe through their arses once every six years. Build quality is a chasm of difference between this and the obvious comparison of the ipod.
That aside... I love the damn thing more than any other gadget I have ever owned. It is very easy to use, works ok with windows (buy Notmad on the web for a user friendly, powerful and funky companion), and packs a punch sonically. The inclusion of WMA encoding lets you pack alot more music on than MP3 at higher quality, which is a massive bonus not to be overlooked. It just takes a moment to weigh resenting microsoft against having a much larger, better encoded wma library.
You mixologists will agonise over the break between songs; it is a split second, often not noticeable, sometimes quite noticeable, but much better than the second of silence the ipod jams between all tracks. For purists the only way to go is an album in one file Im afraid. I have alot of mix albums, mostly down temp and it doesnt seem to hurt them at all. Something more driving is a bit more noticeable but not much.
EAX = so so. The normalisation of volume is a godsend late at night or when playing tracks encoded by different packages, bitrates etc. Although the geezer below me who listens to everything as if he lives in a church has me mystified. The only person I know of who lives in a church is Peter Stringfellow. Yike.
Great product. I love it. I was going to go for the RIO Karma but it hasnt really hit these shores. I dont regret my purchase for a second.
Oh, the sound quality (small point) Creative have been in this game a long time, and were building the first generation of music sequencers when I was in short trousers, so as far as I can tell nothing touches this device in the sonic stakes.
On: 2004-04-09
I bought the Zen Xtra 40Gb yesterday, taking it back today. The sound is awful. The volume range goes up to a 25, and even with the EAX or whatever its called on, its barely audible. I dont know if its the jack gone like you all say or if this is just designed for easy listening. No good for loud music. Prepare to listen to background noise, not your music. This thing sucks. Dont buy it.
On: 2004-04-09
Ive owned all three 40GB players available today: Creative Zen, RCA Lyra, Apple iPod. This is the review I wish I had read before I started shopping. It was a originally more comprehensive but I had to trim it to 1000 words. For the most part, the Creative Zen has the best features of the three, as well as the best price. It sounds like a no brainer except for the fact that these things break like crazy! If you read some of the other reviews on here, youll see a few people mention that their headphone jack shorted out when they dropped the player....well mine shorted out while the player was sitting on my desk not moving at all. I dont know a single person who bought one of these players and didnt have their headphone jack malfunction! Many reviewers suggest buying an extended warranty because of this problem. I would most definitely agree with them on that one, but personally I dont have the patience to wait a few weeks every time the player decides to stop working. Those warrantees are supposed to be purchased just in case something goes wrong; not because something most likely will! The Lyra from the moment it came out of the box to the moment it stopped working for no apparent reason, four hours later, was on the whole a piece of junk. That said...on to the comparisons. PRICE: As just about every anti-iPod reviewer mentions, THE IPOD IS MORE EXPENSIVE AND DOES PRETTY MUCH THE SAME THING. The iPod is basically the BMW of mp3 players...the other mp3 player work like, and cost about as much as a Kia. They all do basically the same thing, but the cheaper ones are cheaper for a reason! SIZE: All three players are smaller than a walkman, so its kind of silly to even discuss this, but it seems to be a hot topic in the other reviews. From largest to smallest the players are ranked as follows: Lyra, Zen, iPod. The Lyra is the only one of the three which will not fit easily in your pocket. It is the widest /longest /heaviest of the bunch, and personally, I hated the way it felt in my hand. The Zen and the iPod were both a pleasure to hold. CONTROLS/NAVIGATION: iPod gets first place here simple because its touch sensitive navigation wheel allows you to get from the first album in your collection to the last in seconds and it stops on a dime anywhere in between. The Zens controls are very good however it takes longer to scroll through your entire collection and when it really starts moving fast, it continues scrolling after you release the button sometimes skipping past another 50-75 albums! The Lyra had decent navigation, but the buttons had to be pushed more than once before they responded almost half of the time! The Zen and the iPod can be operated easily with one hand. PLAYLISTS/SONG RATING: The Zen wins here without a doubt. It is the only one of the three where you can create, edit (even while its playing) and SAVE multiple play lists on the player itself without connecting it to a computer. The iPod allows you to make ONE play list on the fly, which cannot be edited or saved.
The Lyra allows you to tag songs you like or dont like and it makes play lists of each...yes, it makes a playlist of songs that you tell it you DO NOT LIKE...if that doesnt explain whats wrong with this product, nothing will! The iPod allows you to rate songs 1-5 stars on the player, and then make a play list automatically based on those ratings when connected to a computer.
BATTERY: Again, Zen is the winner here. Not only does it offer a battery that lasts 14 hours instead of iPod and Lyras 8 hour batt. it is also the only player of the three where you can remove and replace the battery when it deteriorates with age as all rechargeables do. It should be noted that the battery times I listed are the official times given by the manufacturers. The Zen actually lasts about 10 hours the other two go between 5 and 6 before needing a charge. SCREEN: The Zen not only has the biggest screen of the bunch, it also scrolls the album title in the directory screen allowing you to see the whole thing instead of just the first few words. TRANSFER TO PLAYER: All three units use USB 2.0, the iPod also can be used with Firewire. TRANSFER FROM PLAYER: The Zen allows you to transfer music freely from your player to any computer loaded with its software. The iPod does not allow this however third party software that can be purchased and used to pull songs from the iPod. In all honest, the Lyra broke before I could find out if you can pull songs off of it. SOFTWARE: iTunes is easy to use and offers tons of ways to organize your music. Creative Media Manager takes a lot of getting used to but is decent once you figure it out. Musicmatch, which comes with the Lyra is garbage. It`s slow, difficult to figure out at times, and constantly badgers you to buy the upgrade to its premium version. EXTRAS: The only one that actually has extra features is the iPod which comes loaded with 4 different games, the ability to read text documents that are stored on the hard drive on the players screen, a date book, and an address book. The Lyras ONLY advantage over the other players is the fact that it comes with a complete car kit (charger/tape adapter)....which is pretty nice, but useless when the player turns itself into a paperweight after just a few hours. All three players come with a case....iPods is the only one which does not give you access to the players controls when its in the case.
Hope this helped.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-04-09
I have to say, this product is a great buy. I got it for Christmas of 2003, so Ive had it for roughly 3.5 months. Its easy to use, with track selection and control that is very comfortable. The software that comes with it, MediaSource Organizer, works terrifically, ripping the music off of CDs very quickly. I havent had any problems with this product thus far. I have bumped it into walls and such, but I have not experienced the problems some other consumers are finding. The headphone jack works as good as new. Yes, it is bigger than an iPod, but it still fits in my pockets, and it is incredibly cheaper.
On: 2004-04-09
The headphone jack on my Zen Xtra stopped working day 40 (1st day on a 7-day cruise, no less!) While Creative did replace the unit, why havent they recalled all Zens?This is my second Nomad -- I had a Nomad 2.0 20GB, but its screen stopped working. Creative refused to repair unless I paid $105, so (silly me) I bought a new unit instead. Never again, Creative!
On: 2004-04-02
Ive only had the Zen Xtra a couple of weeks but am totally hooked on it. I was wary on buying a Creative Lab product after the Jukebox I bought 4 years ago from Creative which crashed with regularity. This one is different, so far no problems with playing or downloading to it. The volume on this player is sufficiently improved as well. It does have a couple of minor drawbacks but they are over shadowed by all the advantages the player has. After downloading the newest driver and updated software it was a snap to upload music to the player. It take less than 30 seconds an album to upload to the Zen using USB 2. For simplicity, Ill compare the Zen Xtra to an 20 gig Ipod. Ipod 20 gig
25 % smaller than the Zen
Simple interface
Bauhaus design industrial white
Zen Xtra 40 gig
Twice the drive space for a LOT less
WMA capability
Since the same quality WMA is 1/2 the size of MP3, the Zen holds 4 time more music
Has more sound controls
Has more play choices User replaceable battery (what was Apple thinking!)
Leatherette case included
File drag and drop from File Explorer
Mass file tag editing
On the fly Play lists
On: 2004-03-30
This is a great player in every respect (Id rate it 5 stars otherwise), I loved it, right up until the headphone jack broke. I use mine for snowboarding so it takes some pretty tough abuse, but I notice that my iPods headphone jack is part of the case rather than part of the PC board and the iPod is still playing fine after years of snowboarding. The Zens headphone jack is completely separate from the case and is only held to the PC board by three small solder joints which, as it turns out, break quite easily.So be warned, if you use the Zen for any physical activity it will break.
On: 2004-03-30
This product is the the first Mp3 Player that I bought and it has turned me off from buying anything from creative again. As others have mentioned the headphone jack breaks quite easily, but not from rough use, it just breaks down. I barely had this thing a month before it started giving problems, and I only used it to go from home to work. This I guess is why people flock to the Ipod, cause you may not be able to replace the battery but it is damn sturdy. This is just a piece of junk
On: 2004-03-27
Opened my Jukebox Christmas morning and have used it everyday since - I love it! I should point out that I have not used any other MP3 players. Where to start - its a great place to store all the CDs that I only ever want to hear one song on. In addition, its wonderful for long car trips - I can avoid dragging my music collection along for the ride. I make one play list that lasts hours. Its easy to use (as is the software - Ill get to my complaints about that in a moment) and works on my home or office computer. Its larger than some of the others but Im not one to complain about that. I like how it looks and the carrying case works fine for traveling to and from the office.I wanted an MP3 player for my new Element which came with an auxiliary jack. The problem was when I drove my other car (without an auxiliary jack) I couldnt use it. After shopping at Target and inspecting iPOD accessories, I found that they too work for the Jukebox. I can use both the Belkin FM transmitter for my car and RCA jack to hook my Jukebox up to my home theatre system. The other attractive feature for me is that I can use the hard drive to carry computer files to and from work - I have both a Jukebox and memory stick that are easy to use. Complaints:
Ive never had a problem with the software but did notice only a few days ago that I cannot burn CDs of my play lists - BIG BUMMER. I checked with the Creative site (which is not the best for customer service or simple fact finding) and it said that only "certain versions of the software have the option to burn CDs." Problem was it didnt tell me which versions. The best solution to that is to use RealPlayer to organize my files instead (both RealPlayer and Windows Media Player will recognize and transfer to and from the Jukebox). I have heard of other "organizer software" for the Jukebox which is available for download but have yet to find it. My second complaint is the volume of media is so large on my Jukebox that it is a nightmare to find one song - if you dont use the play lists youll be fumbling a lot in the car. I also have experienced the "rebuilding library" message that lasts from two to five minutes if I have not turned on my Jukebox for several days - Im unsure if this is due to the other computer files that I store on the hard drive or that I simply have not used it. Just my thoughts.
On: 2004-03-24
If you want to get yourself a Hard Drive MP3 Player, you need to go out and get this one. Couple reasons why: 1. price is the same as IPOD-20GB 2. Has lots of great features that comes with player.
The bad parts of the player is the softwear. I had a hard time getting my computer to recgonize the hardwear. I suggest you read the mannual that is on the CD real carefully. If you do not follow the installation process correctly the player will not work on ur computer(I have windows XP home edition).One thing i think that it lacks is a FM tuner but with 40GB i guess no need for it.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-03-09
I couldnt be happier with the performance and ease of use of the Nomad Zen Xtra. The software is simple to use to sort your existing music and rip new music. CDDB functionality allows you to automtically label new CDs and tracks.Clearly the iPod is the popular choice, so Ill go with why I think the Nomad is more practical than the iPod:
*Longer battery life
*The 40 Gb Nomad is about $100 LESS than the 20 Gb iPod
*Windows friendly (especially if youre PC only supports USB and not firewire).
*The buttons are more consistant with old school walkmans that Ive been using for years (Volume control, track selection, etc.) Why the Nomad isnt the iPod (not so good reasons):
*Accessories. You cant dress it up like the iPod.
*The included case is functional. Its protective and has a belt clip, but it is a little awkward.
*Its bigger than the iPod: noticably, if you have them next to each other. Dont get me wrong, though. It still fits easily in all my pockets. *The iPod is a pretty stable device, from what Ive read. In the month that I have had my Nomad it has "hung" once. I had to remove the battery and turn it back on. Everything came back to the state it was the previous time I had turned it on. (Ironically, this happened as I am writing this review. Thus, the rating of 4 stars and not 5) I think electronic/hardware stability is pretty important cause if that goes what can you do? I have a particular concern living in a foreign country with absolutely no way to return this should it die. If you absolutley must be cool, get the iPod. If you want to save some money, buy the Nomad.
On: 2004-03-08
UPDATED - 4 YEARS LATER!
I still have it and I love it more than ever. There have been some problems along the way. The headphone jack died like other people mentioned. Creative Labs fixed it with no questions asked, even though it was well out of warranty.
The hard drive died which usually means the end of the road for a device like this, but since the HD is just a regular notebook hard drive, I simply bought a new 80 GB hard drive, replaced the dead drive, flashed the BIOS and reloaded my music. I doubled the capacity as a result.
Ive needed a new battery, but thats not a problem. The later version of the driver allows me to use Windows Media Player to sync everything nicely with my PC.
I hope to get at least another 3 years out of it, as long as I can keep getting new batteries or drives if they die, why would I replace it? Sure, it doesnt play movies or have anything remotely cool about it, but its mine!
------------------------------------------------------------
I couldnt be happier with the performance and ease of use of the Nomad Zen Xtra. The software is simple to use to sort your existing music and rip new music. CDDB functionality allows you to automtically label new CDs and tracks.
Clearly the iPod is the popular choice, so Ill go with why I think the Nomad is more practical than the iPod:
*Longer battery life
*The 40 Gb Nomad is about $100 LESS than the 20 Gb iPod
*Windows friendly (especially if youre PC only supports USB and not firewire).
*The buttons are more consistant with old school walkmans that Ive been using for years (Volume control, track selection, etc.)
Why the Nomad isnt the iPod (not so good reasons):
*Accessories. You cant dress it up like the iPod.
*The included case is functional. Its protective and has a belt clip, but it is a little awkward.
*Its bigger than the iPod: noticably, if you have them next to each other. Dont get me wrong, though. It still fits easily in all my pockets.
*The iPod is a pretty stable device, from what Ive read. In the month that I have had my Nomad it has "hung" once. I had to remove the battery and turn it back on. Everything came back to the state it was the previous time I had turned it on. (Ironically, this happened as I am writing this review. Thus, the rating of 4 stars and not 5) I think electronic/hardware stability is pretty important cause if that goes what can you do? I have a particular concern living in a foreign country with absolutely no way to return this should it die.
If you absolutley must be cool, get the iPod. If you want to save some money, buy the Nomad.
On: 2004-03-07
I went to Fryes Electronics 3 weeks ago to purchase the Creative Labs 40GB Zen Xtra, when I noticed the Polaroid Juke Mam. I was impressed by the FM tuner - complete with 10 presets (it even records FM programs to MP3 files), the voice recorder, and nice large LCD screen were nice too. It was also priced within $10.00 of the Zen Xtra, so I opted for this unknown (unresearched) option.The sound was great, and I really loved how easy and logical the modified joysick-style selector button works. A week later, and after loading over 19GB of data to its hard drive, the thing simply locked-up and would not reboot. Frys promptly replaced it for another. The second players screen began to fade beyond readability after 4 days. That window gave me time to remove most of my data, and return the second Juke Jam to the store. This time, I traded it for the 40GB Zen Xtra. I have had ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEMS with the Creative Labs model. The product rep was there in the store. He told me they recently upgraded the firmware, allowing simple drag-and-drop tranfer of data. It not only performs better, but it also has an AWESOME EAX sound enhancement tool. Honestly, it made my very basic car stereo sound like I was listening to my BOSE home theater!!! He mentioned they should be releasing a player with an FM-tuner soon, but I wanted my portable music options now. The features of the two items may appear to be similiar; in fact, the Polaroid features look better at first glance. But, I have to put my money (nearly $300.00) where the quality is. Creative Labs created a portable music experience! I dont mean to sound like some kind of spokesman for CL, but this thing simply ROCKS!!! Did I mention its nearly $200.00 cheaper than the IPOD (which by the way, does not play the smaller sized, better quality WMA files). I LOVE the size of the IPOD, but that feature doesnt come close to justifying its $489.00 price tag. Macintosh has once again, priced themselves out of the market. Sure there are thousands of people that have IPODs, but they could have cornered the entire MP3 portable player market. Fortunately, Apple once again let the competition create feature-packed players for $100.00s of dollars less. If you want real quality in a player that plays MP3, WMAs, and features an unmatched sound processor, go with the Zen Xtra. If youve got the money, and dont really need as much space as I do, get the IPOD. Otherwise, wait for more of the research and design to shake-out in this industry. There are sure to be some very interesting innovations coming to this Christmas!!! Today - ZEN XTRA ROCKS HARD!!!
On: 2004-02-27
DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT--I took perfect care of this player and still it died in the week after the lousy 90 day warranty ended. Nearly 4000 songs went up in smoke. The software is not good either and the driver has trouble working with other SOUND BLASTER products, which is very dumb.
On: 2004-02-27
What a junk. Every time NOMAD thinks the file is corrupt the OS freezes. The only way to recover is to plug the power cord and go into recovery mode. So if you happen to be out of the house and you have a frozen OS you cant use NOMAD until you get home. After OS froze twice on me in the subway I returned the jukebox.
On: 2004-02-21
This is an excellent player, especially for the price, with features that are comparable to and even excel the Ipod. For a price thats still less than even the lowest level Ipod I was able to get this 40GB monster, and the best part is it works as great as it was advertised to and then some.Here are the pros and cons (few there are) in detail: Look/Design: The system is terrific in size and design, IMO looking better than the Ipods. Its bigger, but people have grossly exaggerated the size differences- its only about half an inch longer and 1/3 inch thicker than the new-generation Ipods. Its very solidly built, and has a nice dense feel to it. I find all of the controls well-placed and not flimsy in the least. The scroll wheel is better than the Ipods as well, in that you dont risk giving yourself a cramp running your thumb around in circles endlessly- just a small nudge of the finger and youre there. The screens large and easily read. The only beef I can raise in this regard is the pop-off face, that sometimes comes off a bit easily, but besides that its perfect. Sound: Exceptional, though I cant really compare it to the Ipod. From what Ive heard its at least equal. Like others have mentioned, you can manage to hear new things in songs even though theyre on lower bit levels. Theres no so-called background hiss that Ive noticed, at least so far. Interface- Practically seamless. Songs are recognized automatically by ID3 tags, which at first I was against since I had organized my files by folder with a previous player from Iriver. Yet after ensuring that all the ID3 tags are in order (with the software which is actually not as bad as people make it out) it actually turns out to be really handy. Its a dedicated music playing device, anyway, so this serves it better. You can find any song quicky by an artist, album, or genre search. Playlists can be generated on the fly (which is a bit clunky but still a really nice bonus) or by using the software, and there are a bevy of EQ options. The only thing missing is an option to adjust the balance. Software: As I mentioned before, the Creative Mediasource software is actually really robust despite what others have said, though Notmad may still work better. Its easy to transfer, preview, and organize files. The in-program ID3 tag editing is a strong point, as well. It was no problem for me to use their software. Some may complain that theres no drag-and-drop capability, but what they should realize is that this is mainly a portable music player, not a computer accessory or hard drive. The software and design are geared towards enhancing the music experience. Overall, Im giving this 5 stars as Ive seen nothing of the problems people have repeatedly cried havoc over, but as Ive only had the player for a while I lea |
