THE BORE

General => The Superdeep Borehole => Topic started by: Flannel Boy on November 28, 2007, 08:27:17 PM

Title: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Flannel Boy on November 28, 2007, 08:27:17 PM: One of the nice things about the Creative Zen is that it is relatively small; it is about the size of a credit card. Unfortunately it is kind of stout. This makes it feel substantially larger than the very thin iPod Nano. The Zen is Camryn Manheim to the iPod Nano's Heidi Klum. The analogy falls apart because it is the Creative Zen that married to black. Yes, like Robert De Niro the Zen only comes in black. This doesn't bother me, however, but it might turn off some.

The 2.5" screen takes up most of the surface space of the Creative Zen. The controls are to the right of the screen. The main functions are handled by a four-way directional pad which is surrounded by a select button. In addition there is a short cut button, a pause/play button, and a back button. The controls work well and it is fairly easy to navigate around the Zen’s slick menus. It is not as nice as iPod's clickwheel, but it works.

The aforementioned screen is one of the Zen's strong points. It is bright, sharp, and displays vibrant colors. Videos look very nice with little to no pixelation. The video playback is good, but you will have to convert most of your videos using Creative’s software. The Zen will not downscale videos and will not play many common formats. However the converted videos look and sound great.

The most important thing about a MP3 player is the sound quality. The Creative Zen is a fabulous sounding player. The bass is deep and tight and every instrument can be heard clearly. Jenny Lewis has never sounded better (SHUT UP). Even with the volume turned up the audio is never muffled. This is easily the best sounding MP3 player that I ever had. Just replace the stock headphones. You'll be doing the Zen and yourself a disservice by using crappy earphones.

The Zen also has a voice recorder and a FM tuner. These features are not important to me, but I suppose they’re nice to have. In addition the Zen has a SD memory slot. For most people 8 gigs is too limiting, so this is a nice feature.

:drudge WARNING :drudge

The Zen has a serious problem; after using the Zen for less than a day I had to reset the player four times because of a bug that I have dubbed the 'White Screen of Death.' The name should tell you what happens. This has not happened while watching a movie or flipping through the menus; the problem seems to occur when locking the player (though not everytime). Getting rid of the white screen is easy enough; just hit the reset button. But the problem is nevertheless annoying.

For $179.99 the Creative Zen is a good flash mp3 player. The audio and video quality is excellent; and the build of the machine is good. But the Zen is not without its share of problems. The storage space is inadequate for most people, video must be converted, and the machine is buggy. As long as you have a really small pin to hit the reset button with and don’t mind the size constraints, I can recommend the Creative Zen.
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Bloodwake on November 28, 2007, 08:27:57 PM: I'm getting an iPod Classic.

Hells yes.
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Flannel Boy on November 28, 2007, 08:30:13 PM: Quote from: Bloodwake on November 28, 2007, 08:27:57 PM
I'm getting an iPod Classic.

Hells yes.
You read my review and typed that up in forty seconds?
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Flannel Boy on November 28, 2007, 08:32:40 PM: Quote from: Genghis Cohen on November 28, 2007, 08:31:31 PM
Putting Drudge sirens in is an instant way to lose 80% of your audience.
Drudge sirens are out already?
Shut up!
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: bagofeyes on November 28, 2007, 08:34:17 PM: Hmmm I approve of the vibrant colours, but I don't approve of the white screen of death
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Vizzys on November 28, 2007, 08:35:45 PM: good review

have you tried updating the firmware to maybe rid yourself of this white screen business?

I read up on the creative zen and I heard certain firmwares have problems, Id look into before you just go into creatives site and just download the latest however
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Bloodwake on November 28, 2007, 08:37:12 PM: Quote from: Malek: King of Kings on November 28, 2007, 08:30:13 PM
Quote from: Bloodwake on November 28, 2007, 08:27:57 PM
I'm getting an iPod Classic.

Hells yes.
You read my review and typed that up in forty seconds?

Actually I had already decided, but thanks for the review. If I don't get enough money, we will see about that.

But I need space for ALL MY MUSIC.
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Flannel Boy on November 28, 2007, 08:38:25 PM: Quote from: Genghis Cohen on November 28, 2007, 08:33:55 PM
Oh no. I'm saying that if I come across drudge sirens I tend to read only the highlighted bit. You put a big WARNING in yours.

It's a big problem. It deserved the sirens damn it.

Quote from: bagofeyes on November 28, 2007, 08:34:17 PM
Hmmm I approve of the vibrant colours, but I don't approve of the white screen of death
It has only happened while turning the player on or putting it freeze mode. If it happened while watching a video I would have returned already.

Quote from: Viz on November 28, 2007, 08:35:45 PM
good review

have you tried updating the firmware to maybe rid yourself of this white screen business?

I read up on the creative zen and I heard certain firmwares have problems, Id look into before you just go into creatives site and just download the latest however
I upgraded the firmware yesterday.
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Vizzys on November 28, 2007, 08:39:07 PM: that might be your problem
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Flannel Boy on November 28, 2007, 08:40:12 PM: Quote from: Viz on November 28, 2007, 08:39:07 PM
that might be your problem
I don't think it is a firmware problem. According to the Creative forums people have had the problem with the old firmware too.
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Vizzys on November 28, 2007, 08:43:41 PM: strange, I didn't know of this problem otherwise I would have mentioned it somewhere
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Flannel Boy on November 28, 2007, 08:57:07 PM: Looks like there's another firmware upgrade.
/me downloads
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Flannel Boy on November 28, 2007, 09:11:02 PM: I turned the player on and off twenty times and then put it in freeze mode a few times. No white screen yet. Maybe the new-new-new firmware fixed the problem.
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Vizzys on November 28, 2007, 09:21:12 PM: good to hear
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Cormacaroni on November 28, 2007, 09:58:43 PM: which of the approx. 4,000 Creative products with 'Zen' in the title somewhere are you referring to?
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Vizzys on November 28, 2007, 10:07:40 PM: they just called this one the creative zen

which is odd because this is actually the second "creative zen"

comes in 4gb,8gb,and 16gb tho
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Flannel Boy on November 28, 2007, 10:20:36 PM: Quote from: Cormacaroni on November 28, 2007, 09:58:43 PM
which of the approx. 4,000 Creative products with 'Zen' in the title somewhere are you referring to?

(http://regmedia.co.uk/2007/08/29/creative_zen_1.jpg)

Still no white screen. I think the latest firmware fixed the issue.
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Van Cruncheon on November 28, 2007, 11:13:07 PM: this is not the zune
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: MCD on November 28, 2007, 11:16:12 PM: Quote from: Professor Prole on November 28, 2007, 11:13:07 PM
this is not the zune

which reminds me...

http://www.amazon.com/Zune-Digital-Media-Player-Generation/dp/B000WG6XW6/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1_s9_rk?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&s9r=8a02b541163d85d3011644af144b0171&itemPosition=1&qid=1196306481&sr=8-1

IN STOCK FINALLY!

:bow :bow :bow

oh wait...

Quote
Availability: In stock on December 16

:gloomy :gloomy :gloomy
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Van Cruncheon on November 28, 2007, 11:16:58 PM: :bow :bow :bow

WELCOME TO THE ~~WILD HOMO~~SOCIAL
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: MCD on November 28, 2007, 11:19:10 PM: :heartbeat

ah well, no harm in waiting a little more.
Title: Re: Creative Zen (8GB) review
Post by: Flannel Boy on November 28, 2007, 11:35:23 PM: Microsoft Zune: weighs almost as much as the moon.
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Not as big though
[close]

Tell your fucking bosses to release the Zune in Canada. It wasn't even an option.