Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra 30 GB MP3 Player

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Manufacturer: Creative Labs
Price at amazon.com: $248.14
Usually ships within 24 hours

Product Features:

• 30 GB storage lets you bring up to 8,000 WMA songs (80 kbps) or MP3 songs (128 kbps) everywhere you go
• Use AudioSync to synchronize your music on your player with your PC at work, school and home or on the road
• Load a song a second with ultra fast USB 2.0 port, compatible with USB 1.1 too
• Removable, high-capacity Li-ion battery -- up to 14 hrs continuous playback per charge
• Compatible with Microsoft Windows 98 SE, Me, 2000, and XP

Product Description:

This sleek Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra MP3 player by Creative has a large, hi-res, blue backlit LCD and 30GB of storage for up to 8,000 songs. It features fast USB file transfers, Quick Scroller navigation and playlist creation so you can load and organize your music quickly and easily. Compact and portable, it can also double as an external hard drive for storing photos, documents and other data files. The quick-charge battery offers up to 14 hours of continuous playback, while the anodized aluminum body is sleek and durable. Compatible with USB 2.0 and 1.1 for quick and easy file storage and transfer. Includes earphones, travel pouch and USB cable. Imported. 4-1/2Hx3Wx1D".

Average Customer Rating:

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Comment: The best Rating:
So, this is my first MP3 player, but that does not stop me from thinking it is the best available. I have had the unit for just over a month, and I have loaded around 100 of my 400 CD collection with the software that was provided - no upgrades necessary. To rip and fit a CD takes around 3-5 minutes max. I know the rest of my collection will fit. Since I travel long distances for work, and have eclectic taste in music, I can sort and play by genre, artist, album, or song. Admittedly, the scroll joy stick is a little hard to use, and I sometimes select the wrong item in the list, but I can live with that since it is easy to return to the last selection list.

It is simple to operate, and the sound from this little thing is great. Headsets, or powered speakers provide greate stereo separation. I use it as my main music source when I am away from the stereo system. Transferring from my PC to my Nomad could not be simpler. It connects through the USB 2.0, so transfer time is minimal.

The screen is easy to read - even for someone those eyesight fails at 50+, and the adjustment buttons and bars are easy to access.

I am not sure about the battery life. It seems to run shorter than the manufacurers claims, however that is during writing MP3s to the Nomad, which I assume would consume more power than playing. Guess I will find out on my next 12 hour flight in June, but having an airplane power adapter should solve that problem. The A/C cord is small enough to fit in my other pocket!

I am considering buying another unit for the spouse. After looking at reviews of the other units within this price range, I am finding no comparison. Also looking at the 60 Gb version, which should store all of my future CDs!

The only problem I have experienced to date is that it occasionally locks up when being written to for 100-120 MP3s. The reset button is easy if you have a paper clip or mechanical pencil point, and it boots up fast, so little time is lost in transferring activities. Just a little frustrating, so I just reset it each 8-10 CDs or so. This may be my operating system - using XP Professional.

When you select by album, it plays back in the original recording sequence. When you select by artist, you can sort by album or alphabetically by track, so it is easy to find what you are looking for. Selection by Genre works the same way. For play mode, you can select any option from shuffle with and without replay, normal, repeat forever, etc. Only problem with this is that setting the normal after you have selected the album/artist/genre will cancel the selection (or I just have not figured out how to do this yet). So, I go back and re-select and there it is! Selecting a new album switches from the I am listening to within 4 seconds. Not bad. This may slow down some once I load my entire CD set, but I think I can live with this!

Ok - so, no, I was not paid by Creative Labs to write this. Yes, I am planning to purchase another for the spouse.

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Comment: Review for Folks new to mp3s Rating:
I purchased this mp3 player just last night after doing some scouting around.

Here's a basic run-down from what I learned:

Flash card memory vs. Hard Drive ( i.e. Why does a 256 mb player cost $$$...and a 40 GB (40,000 mb) player only cost $...?)

mp3 players have either flash card memory or a hard drive in them. The flash card memory is more expensive but is very light and compact. That's why you have these things that can be keychain size. Tiny! mp3 players of this kind of memory are typically small and light and have between 64 mb - 1.5 GB of memory. I am averaging 4.5 mb per song, to give you an idea of how many songs you can get by the amount of memory. (1 GB = 1,000 mb)

Hard drives (this is what most iPods have - and just about all mp3 players over 3-5 GB of memory). Cheaper to produce, holds a lot, heavier and has moving parts which means it's a little more prone to damage from being banged around. That said, they are pretty sturdy machines and I wouldn't let this dissuade you from getting an mp3 with a lot of memory. Just be aware of it.

This explains why you see what appears to be such weird pricing on mp3 players. A 256 mb player (roughly 60 songs for me) is about X amount of dollars But a 30 GB (30,000 mb) player (roughly 6,650 songs) sells for only slightly more. It's because the 256 player uses flash memory (smaller/lighter) and the 30GB uses a hard drive. That's the first thing to understand. So consider what you're going to use the device for. If you're a jogger and you want to strap it to your arm, I'd recommend flash memory. If you want to listen to tunes while you travel, I'd get a hard drive because you can put so much on the thing - including audio books.

REVIEW OF ZEN XTRA - 40GB

The device is larger than an iPod of similar capacity. This didn't bother me too much because it's still a decent size. It comes with a good case that fits it snuggly. The front cover (which you remove to take out the battery) feels flimsy but when snapped on, the device still feels pretty solid. As some other reviewers noted, after it was connected to the computer for a bit, it somehow stopped reading the player so I had to replug it. It did not lock up my computer or require a reboot. The software lets you pop in a CD and then scans the internet to name the artist, track name and album name. Extremely convenient. Then it rips the tunes into mp3s and puts them on your computer. You can even skip that step and rip them directly from the cd to the player. (won't leave copy on your computer.)

The pros and cons of it: Great price. The iPod costs more for the same amount of memory. I thought the software was decent enough - it wasn't complicated to learn at all. The scroll button is sort of annoying to push - a nice button would be nicer but eh, not a big deal. It also stores data so I can see myself placing some data files on here.

It is slightly larger than an iPod, no doubt about it. For me, that was the only drawback. I'm really happy with this purchase. Also, when I installed the software, it said that Windows XP hadn't approved something with the drivers, etc - and that continuing it install may cause instability. If you're like me, that will definitely make you pause. After I reviewed the manual (a pdf file included on the cd), I felt better because they warned you about the message and said it wouldn't cause problems and, in fact, it hasn't. So if you have XP, be prepared for this and don't be alarmed.

If you are out for an mp3 player with a lot of memory and do not want to spend a ton of money, I think this is a great purchase and strongly recommend it. I would have liked to have given it 4 1/2 stars docking that 1/2 star only for the size.

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Comment: Standing the test of War Rating:
As a soldier in the US Army stationed here in Iraq, I can testify that the Zen Xtra is well worth its weight in gold. Its taken more than its fair share of bumps and bruises and has never skipped a beat. While many of the guys here have opted for MP3/CD players, they are constantly cleaning the lenses and the moving parts often get fouled with sand and dust. The Zen Xtra is a sealed unit with no moving parts other than the rocker wheel on the side. While I agree that the wheel could be a little more responsive sometimes making it a little difficult to make your selection, this is an outstanding piece of equipment. Once the MP3's are uploaded to the unit (I have well over 5,000), you can generate your own playlists and sort by artist, album, or genre. It even has a sleep and wake function. Its a little larger than the iPod but I think its a bit sturdier as well. I know that I'm quite impressed with my purchase and my platoon enjoys it as well. (I often plug it into a set of computer speakers I carry in my Hummer.) If and when I get redeployed back here, I know that I'll have one of these tucked away in my ruck.

Posted at November 11, 2003 06:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)