|
|
Whistle Stopper - Creative Zen 16 GB Portable Media Player (Black)
|
List Price: $269.00
Our Price: $162.95
Your Save: $ 106.05 ( 39% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Creative Labs
|
Average Customer Rating:  
|
|
Batteries Included: 1
Binding: Electronics
Brand: Creative Labs
Color: Black
Display Size: 2.5
EAN: 0054651143852
Feature: Enjoy all your media on a device that's about the width of a credit card
Is Autographed: 0
Is Memorabilia: 0
Label: Creative Labs
Manufacturer: Creative Labs
Model: 70PF216100111
Publisher: Creative Labs
Size: 16 GB
Studio: Creative Labs
Variation Description: Black
Warranty: 1 year warranty
|
|
|
Features
|
Enjoy all your media on a device that's about the width of a credit card
Watch 64 hours of videos, enjoy up to 4,000 of your favorite songs or share hundreds of photos with your friends
2.5-inch TFT color display with 320 x 240-pixel resolution and support for up to 16.7 million colors
Clock and alarm function, volume restriction, eight equalizer settings, and a USB hard drive mode, SDHC support
Weighs 2.1 ounces and measures 3.26 x 2.16 x .44 inches (W x H x D)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nice device but I hate the video software team.
Comment: I recently purchased a Creative ZEN pocket video player, and I have some comments about the experience.
First, the device itself is quite impressive. It is tiny, elegant, and very functional. It has performed flawlessly for several days, except for one morning when it would not start at all. There's a pinhole in the bottom that lets you reset the ZEN's internal computer, and it rebooted in seconds. The screen is bright and clear. The earbuds work with what seems to me to be sufficient audio quality for my purposes.
My purposes are to download and carry in my pocket some 1500 wmv video files that I have compiled for my academic research. Each video is about a minute long, so in total the files don't even touch the ZEN's capacity. I bought it because other reviewers endorsed it for wmv viewing.
However, the task of getting these 1500 files from my computer to the ZEN device has proven daunting. The ZEN software for video loading is hideously hard to use. Here are my observations, bearing in mind that your mileage may vary:
--- The marketing literature says the ZEN is compatible with Windows XP. The ZEN software absolutely requires Microsoft Media Player version 11. If you don't have that installed, the ZEN device won't even connect to the computer. Unfortunately, the Microsoft Media Player 11 in turn refuses to install on any older version of Windows XP Media Center Edition. Since my computer is a veteran XP Media Center, I am SOL here. There is no way to install the ZEN software on my computer. Fortunately, I have an even older Windows XP computer. MMP11 installed there without a hitch. I installed the ZEN there and went ahead.
--- The marketing literature says the ZEN plays wmv files, but the truth is that it plays a very specific type of wmv file. My 1500 wmv files were originally rendered for 15 frames per second (to reduce storage space on a Pocket PC). The ZEN won't import these files. Every last one of 1500 files had to be re-rendered at 30 fps before the ZEN found then acceptable. You would think that a device that can render 30 fps would be able to accommodate 15 fps, but no.
--- The re-rendering for import is handled by a ZEN software package that gathers all the video files in a directory tree, converts them to a respectable format, and then transfers them into the ZEN's memory. The rendering takes about a minute per megabyte. Most of the file transfers into the ZEN go quickly, but often the system just hangs and waits for ten minutes or so. Then it gives up on that file and transfers the next one. The transferred files often have multiple file extensions, too, such as filename.wmv.wmv.wmv. It has taken me four solid days of tending the computer to convert and upload my 1500 small video files.
--- If, during the re-rendering process, the software encounters an mpeg file, it will crash. It handles most video formats transparently, but not that one. One discovers this limitation by rendering a batch of files for hours and then having the software crash before the batch is done. You have to delete all the intermediate files, remove (or manually convert) the mpeg file, and then start again.
--- The rendering software has a memory leak that slowly fills up the computer's RAM until the machine is paralyzed in paging mode. This means you have to render in small batches... about 50 one-megabyte files in a batch... or watch the computer skid to a stop on its chin.
--- Once the files have been transferred to the ZEN, there is no way to reorganize the directory tree (or move files around). The software lets you look at the ZEN directory structure and delete or rename items, but you cannot move files from one directory to another. If you don't like the directory structure on the ZEN, your only option is to reorganize the directories on your PC and then re-import (and re-render) your files again.
So, bottom line, the ZEN player is very satisfactory but the associated software has stolen about a week of my life and I'm sick of it. Fortunately, the 1500 files are almost all converted and transferred at this point, and they play well on the ZEN. I am pleased with the viewer in actual use. However, in terms of convenience I really regret giving up my Pocket PC. The Pocket PC played all my files just fine, and uploading them was as simple as Copy and Paste from the File Manager. Not so with the ZEN. Perhaps someday it will catch up to the things that a Pocket PC could do five years ago.
I will be using this heavily and am glad to have it, but I will never give it to anyone as a present. I want to keep my friends.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great little mp3 player
Comment: This is a great little mp3 player. I found it pretty easy to use and load music into. The one issue I have is that it doesn't work with Apple's Mac computer, which is our main computer. Fortunately, we do have a Dell it worked easily with. I just wish the product description had mentioned that ahead of time.
Customer Rating:
Summary: wrong player
Comment: I ordered a refurbished 16gb zen media player. The package was for a 16gb but it contained an 8gb that I only discovered when I found that it was full with only 1/2 the media loaded that I intended. While I was told I could return it for a full refund ,I decided to keep it for a partial refund since it was expandable with sd cards. Unfortunately as I have used it I have discovered that I'm only getting a maximum of 6 to 8 hours of audio play back per charge rather than the 25 to 30 hours as stated in the player specs. In all fairness to Creative Media, I do also have a Vision M & W both of which were purchased new and have met my expectations. I guess I'll put the blame for the poor battery life to the "refurbished" part and mark it down as an expensive lesson learned.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Quite Pleased
Comment: I bought this last week for use in the car and at work, and am glad I did. Instead of burning copies of my CDs and Amazon MP3 downloads, I now load albums and songs onto this in Windows Media Player (it's very easy), and sometimes create playlists in the supplied Zen Media Explorer. The sound quality is very good, be it via the Monster FM Wireless Transmitter I use in the car or via the headphones I use at my desk.
The main negative - no gapless playback, so a live album will have a split second of silence between songs. Also, for those wanting to watch movies or TV shows - I can't imagine using this to watch videos for any length of time. I loaded a 3-minute home movie onto it and it was kinda like watching a moving postage stamp.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great buy.
Comment: Beautiful product, I am highly satisfied with the product and would recommend the buy. The screen is bright and has very good colors in normal light but sometimes is difficult to read the text under sunlight. The 16GB memory gives me plenty of space for my favorite music and the sound quality is superb connected to an audio equipment. It was a nice surprise to discover that it supports SDHC memory cards so now my ZEN has and additional 4GB card. Navigation is easy but sometimes the buttons need extra pressure in order to work.
|
|
|
Editorial Reviews:
|
This credit card-sized ZEN has a stunning 2.5" color screen and is perfect for music, videos and photos. Enjoy up to 4,000 MP3, WMA or AAC songs, watch up to 60 hours of videos and share hundreds of photos with your friends. Even expand your portable music, video or photo collection by adding additional content through the convenient SD memory slot.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
