Creative Zen Review, Part 7
posted by Terence @ 5:00 AM on Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Previously, I had described some of the experiences I have had with my new Creative Zen [creative.com] portable media player (PMP). This is the 7th and final part of the review.

Here is a list of the previous review portions:
  • part 1 - Size and layout
  • part 2 - Resume function doesn't work properly
  • part 3 - Bookmark function doesn't work properly
  • part 4 - Converting video formats for the Zen
  • part 5 - Transferring files to the Zen
  • part 6 - Volume, music sorting, screen brightness, and battery life
In summary, the device has several great features, and several features that could be improved greatly.

The Good:
  • Small size, good layout, attractive
  • Buttons are clicky (good feel)
  • Device is easy to use, and there is a configurable shortcut button
  • USB cable uses standard connections (finding a replacement is easy)
  • Great battery life
The Bad:
  • Resume function doesn't work properly (see Part 2)
  • The way bookmarks are handled could be improved greatly (see Part 3)
  • The bundled video converter software is rubbish (see Part 4)
  • Comically short bundled USB cable (see Part 5)
  • Can't charge device from a computer and listen to audio at the same time (see Part 5)
  • Slow rate of transfer between computer and device (see Part 5)
  • Screen is unreadable in direct sunlight (see Part 6)
  • Music can't be sorted by folder (in my opinion, this problem makes this PMP almost useless for listening to music)
  • Documentation is terrible/non-existent
The good news is that most of the drawbacks of the device could be fixed in firmware. So, it is possible that these shortcomings could be addressed, making the device a complete standout in a sea of mediocre media players.

A lot of other reviews I have read have complained about a slow or sluggish interface on the device. I have not seen any evidence of this on my PMP, so I can only assume that sluggishness was a problem with older firmware versions.

So far, the device has been pretty stable. My average usage is probably around 12 hours/day. In the 2 months that I have been using it, I have only had to perform a hardware reset 4 times (almost all occuring during data transfer). The number of required resets is far fewer than with any previous device I have owned.

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