Tech Gift Guide

Creative Zen review

Tech Gift Guide (TGG) finally decided to take a closer look at what is possibly Apple iPod’s biggest rival – the Creative Zen.

Many claim the Zen offers better sound and video quality than its closest rival – the iPod Nano. And we’d agree with that. The audio quality is great and the screen is unbelievably good. Videos and photo’s are crystal clear and colours rendered beautifully.

But the biggest surprise was its weight and size. The Creative Zen is incredibly light – so light we thought the battery still needed to be inserted. But no, it really is that light. I carry a thin wallet that only carried my credit cards, and the Zen was roughly this size. In fact I can quite easily carry both my wallet and the Zen in my pocket together.

In terms of usability, the Creative Zen is really simple to figure out. Menus are intuitive with a nifty alphabet listing making scrolling a breeze (not unlike the alphabet running down the right of the new iPod Touch screens).
Our first thoughts were that the menu’s were almost too simple, not allowing enough user configuration. But after actually using the Zen for a week, I’ve changed my mind. The options are minimal, but so far I’ve been able to do everything I’ve needed to.

If there’s a negative side to the Zen, it comes in the presentation. Don’t get me wrong, the Creative Zen is a beautiful machine. But it just doesn’t compare to the iPod for looks. It also comes packaged in a very cheap looking and uninspired cardboard box. The instruction manual is non-existent, although it does come with an extremely basic ‘getting started’ guide. In fact there were a few copies of this guide in many, many languages.

The software, while a little clunky, does the job with no major hassles. The video converting software is particularly brilliant and beats other software we’ve used for converting videos on the iPod. Be warned – synching your music and video’s on your Window’s machine is not an easy or pleasant experience. Sadly the best solution we’ve find is using Windows Media Player. We know… it’s a sad day when Media Player offers the best option!

So instead of keeping things synched, I’ve just been dragging items in using explorer. It works a treat compared to the complex synching process. Track rating on the Zen don’t seem to reflect back to my computer’s media library, which means I could end up with tracks being rated differently on each device.

The FM radio works well if you’re not moving. Trying to listen to the radio on the train is a trying experience. But when the signal is clear, the sound is great. What’s cool is that you can label your preset stations. Although you only get 6 characters, which makes abbreviations a must.

Overall the Zen gets a TGG thumbs up. Half the price of an iPod and does pretty much the same thing. In terms of video and audio quality alone, I’d choose this over the iPod nano any day. If you want to feel stylish and show off a little, this is probably not the toy for you.

The best prices we’ve found for this media player are at Amazon. Click to buy Creative Zen 8GB (UK) / Creative Zen 8G (US)