Creative Zen Review, Part 1

Previously, I had mentioned that I was buying a new Portable Media Player (PMP), and that I had basically narrowed it down to the Creative Zen [creative.com]. Well, it has arrived and I have a lot of comments about it. This is part 1 of my review. [Go to part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7.]

There are a plethora of reviews of this device out there. So, I will try to skip the basic stats, which are repeated everywhere. The things that are hard to find reviews are on specifics on the usability of this device. That's why my multi-part review is going to focus on the usability with respect to my specific usage patterns.

First off, I was going from possibly the largest PMP to one of the smallest. Below is the Creative Zen (left) and my old Archos 504 (right):


The Archos unit was really a portable video player that I was using mostly as an MP3 player, whereas the Creative Zen is really an MP3 player that happens to play videos. That works for me, because my highest priority right now is durability. I really only watch videos on my PMP when I travel (which isn't all that often these days). Anyway, the Creative Zen is really about the size of a credit card (but thicker):


It has physical buttons (instead of touchpads or touchscreens that are not great for usability while driving, IMHO). The buttons are also pretty "clicky" -- you definitely know when you have registered a click, both from the tactile feedback and an audible clicking noise -- which many users have complained about, but I actually like.

It does fall flat in many areas. For instance, why doesn't the resume function work properly? More on this later...

[Go to part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7.]