MP3 Players Review

Creative Zen 32 GB Portable Media Player (Black)

Customer Reviews

Good player, but beyond the hype...

The unit is a good media player, but when you look beyond the hype: I was disappointed to find it does not support lossless WMA format. And the player apparently does not properly use ID tags with WAV files. So I'm forced to use a lossy file format. So, even though the player has good sound quality playback capability, it is compromised by having to use lossy formats. Support from Creative Zen has been nonexistent: emails have gone unanswered, there is no toll-free number, and wait times are untenably long on the toll number.

Good Successor To The Vision M

The new Creative Zen is a great product, and an excellent bang for the buck. Pros: 1) Obviously, great sound quality which is what matters the most 2) Intuitive menu system 3) SD expansion slot 4) Beautiful screen! 5) Excellent battery life 6) Extensive file support compared to other players 7) FM tuner 8) I'm not forced to use proprietary software. (Apple, please take notes) 9) Small size Cons 1) Attracts fingerprints and scratches. (Buy a case and screen protector) 2) As early reviewers mentioned, no video out capability. 3) Included USB cable is a joke and no wall charger I highly recommend this mp player! You will be hard pressed to find a better mp3 player for the money. Invest in some good earphones and a SD card if you plan on filling this thing up (SD cards are dirt cheap these days!).

The dreaded "White Screen of Death"

I'm so bummed. After having mixed results with a Cowon iaudio 7, I decided to try this player, since it had such great reviews everywhere. Once I got it, I plugged it in to charge, and patiently (well, maybe not so patiently) waited for it to charge up so I could play. After about an half hour or so, the screen started flickering. I thought that was alittle weird, so I tried turning it on (or off) I wasn't really sure. Nothing happened. I let it charge for 6 more hours, and still couldn't get even the home screen to load. Nothing but a white screen. I searched around the creative website, and saw that they said not to worry if it takes alittle while before the "charging" icon appears on the player. That said it could take overnight until the unit's fully charged the 1st time. Then I searched on google for "white screen zen" and found a ton of information about people having trouble with their players. They call it the white screen of death or "wsod". After reading descriptions of the problem, I figured out that this was what was wrong with mine. I was also really surprised that I didn't really see it mentioned in any of the reviews. But if you do a google search, you'll see countless forums where they discuss the issue. There's even a youtube video showing ways to make it go away. (it didn't work for me) It does seem like a really cool player, if it would just turn on. Honestly, I think the size is really great for what it would do. But I'd just be cautious ordering it, because $300 is alot to spend for a paperweight.

I'd buy an 8-Track Player before I bought another one of these defective things!

I usually love Creative products. I bought this player after my Creative Zen Micro 5G filled up. Before the Micro, I had a Creative Zen Nano 1G. I never had any problems out those devices. I read the reviews on the new Creative 32G and saw that some people were having software issues and some dead on arrival players. I was hoping that wouldn't happen to me. Three, yes THREE, players later, I have given up. I use Yahoo Music Jukebox as my music manager. The first player I ordered had sync issues. It would begin to sync and then just as suddenly "disconnect" and stop syncing. It was quite a hassle loading my library onto the player. In all fairness, the sound quality, as usual with Creative products, was terrific once the player was working. Then shortly after getting everything set, the player began randomly stopping for no reason. When the stops happened, I always had plenty of battery power left. I reset the player and everything seemed fine. Then it happened again and again and again. The player would inexplicably just stop playing and have to be reset. I clipped a safety pin to the ring on my plastic case so I could have a conveniently located "reset tool" handy. I decided that it was ridiculous that I had to constantly reset my brand new $300.00 MP3 player, so I sent the first one back and got a second one. This one was better than the first--no syncing issues at all. But it wasn't too long after I got it that I needed a handy reset tool for this player too. Again, plenty of battery power, but suddenly the player would stop--usually right at the end of a song. I liked the player so much, I was hoping the third time would be a charm so I tried one more time with a third player. It worked great the first week or so after I got it, but now it has reset issues too. I have had to reset it 4 times or so since getting it a little over a week ago. So I'll be sending this one back too and getting a refund. This is a great player if you get one that functions. The sound is great, the screen is clear, and it's the perfect size. Unfortunately, there is a good chance of getting a defective player--as evidenced by the three duds I got. For that reason, I have to give this product one star.

A Well Thought Out Product

Hi - I happen to own the 16 GB version (actually have two) and have been using it for several months now. It's great! I use it for podcasts and TIVO. Even though the controls are tiny, the software is intuitive (especially if you have used previous Zen products). The quality seems to be improved as I have not seen any screen cracking or delamination. I opted for the leather carrying case as in previous experiences with screen covers and gel cases, I couldn't help but wonder if they were retaining sufficient heat as to damage the screens. Anyway, if you are in the market for a do-all media unit, this is the one.

Keyword : creative+mp3