$299 for 32gb Zen

[LordMattman]

Digging the 32GB of NAND, but not so hot about the $499 pricetag on Apple's latest iPod touch? Creative would like to remind you that it got there first, for less, with the Zen, and has slashed the price to $299 from the original $349 to keep that margin healthy. Sure, the 2.5-inch screen is a bit smaller, and we've given Creative a bit of a hard time over the years for an occasional failure to innovate, but reviewers seemed to love on the Zen, and it's hard to argue with this deal.

From Engadget

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Looks like a good deal to me, not sure when it's gonna become a reality though.

[saints]

With expandable memory, now were talking!

[Step666]

Originally Posted by saints

With expandable memory, now were talking!

I don't know exactly how but every time the Zen's SD slot is mentioned over on DAPreview, it's described as 'crippled'.
Not a good sign IMO...

[mixin]

Instead of the player merging both the files on your memory card and the flash memory into one easy to use library, you instead have to access the files on the memory card by selecting the "Memory card" option in the menu which brings up a file browser I believe. So you have two locations to access music, which is kind of annoying.

[Step666]

That's all?

That doesn't strike me as 'crippled'.

[mixin]

I've only played around on one for about 10mins and that's all I could find wrong with it in regards to the SD card.

[Step666]

I'm not saying you're wrong, more that the reaction of the people over at DAPreview seems a little harsh.

[saints]

I agree step if thats all it is I guess a firmware could fix that by browsing via id tags like cowons d2, still wouldnt stop me at that price, put the music i dont listen to that much on the memory card and all else on the player, prol better for battery life too.

[Not_Spanky]

So what's the verdict from any owners out there?

Just lost my trusty H340, and this looks to be best replacement out there that might actually make me think I've upgraded a bit (purely because of solid state memory), rather than paying a fair slab of cash for the same features I had before, which would just depress me more.

I've loved all my iRiver's, but they've kind of stalled on large capacity players recently, and Creative and Apple (*spit*) seem to be the only real contenders (and maybe Cowan).

Any opinions welcome. Cheers.

[Step666]

The general consensus is that it's pretty poor.

This thread on DAPreview sums it up - as DaHarder puts it, 'Friends Don't Let Friends Buy Creative Zens'.

[BBD]

This is perhaps even more telling:

Originally Posted by daharder

Regardless, I'm planning on CRUSHING MINE in a Hydraulic Press This Weekend.

That's How Much I've Grown To Hate It!

Almost as opinionated as some here......

[musichound]

From what I hear the SQ is not up to par as Creative's earlier models and the audio volume is relatively low.

[Step666]

Which bearing in mind that Creative is rarely, if ever, on a par with iRiver...

[sweetspot]

I LOVED my Creative Jukebox 3. It was the Shizzy at the time. I've also played extensively with my Cousins' Creative 60 gig Zen and his Creative Zen W, both of which displayed very decent sound quality IMO. I don't like comparing different DAPs with judgment upon sound quality that sounds like there are absolutes.

It's all subjective because each DAP's SQ is colored differently, and that's all. Some like one type of color, and others will go for a different shade etc.. Some of those guys at DAPreview are just freekin' prima donna's when it comes to brand's and brand loyalty IMO.

I'd consider buying one if it had file tree browsing capabilities, but that's just me. I say, buy one, give it a whirl, and if you like it keep it. If not, it goes back...very plain and simple.

Edit: I've heard many an Creative DAP sound better (to my ears) than those of iRiver's competing players, so that last one might be neither here nor there Step.

[Step666]

To be fair, DaHarder seems to know what he's talking about.
He has a DAP collection that shames even P-Man's from what I can work out and he also seems to be a pretty fair judge of when something's good or bad.

Ok, I think he does seem to have had a buggy Zen, so his experiences may not be indicative of most people's in this case but when it comes to SQ, I would trust his opinion as much as I do a lot of people's around here.

[sweetspot]

Sure, I get where you're coming from. But I also think that it's safer for a person to test a DAP for themselves, and only use opinions as a slight baseline of sq, if you will. No matter how many DAPs I or someone else may have, the inescapable fact is that our ears are shaped differently, and hence the reason for differing opinions about what sounds good and not.

I would never reject testing a DAP based solely on a few opinions. Because for every negative opinion, you can bet that there is an opposite opinion. And I seriously doubt that people who claim that their Zen's sound good, is out of spite for those who claim otherwise.

Now, if every single person who tried it had the same opinion, that would be different. Doubtful you'd ever see such a scenario, unless one was rigged, though.

[Step666]

Very true - with something like sound quality, relying solely on other people's opinions isn't necessarily the smartest move.

But in a case like this, I don't think I've read anything particularly positive.
All the opinions I've seen have ranged between ok and poor. Now that alone as you say isn't really reason to discount it but add into that things like the poor SD integration and you do have to start to question whether it's worth going out of your way to try one...

However, that's just me.
Not_Spanky may well hold a different opinion, in which case your advice to try one himself is certainly the soundest course of action.

[Not_Spanky]

Thaks for the info Step - I'd actually only seen a couple of positive reviews, no negative, but then I'd hardly launched an intensive search, so the extra view is welcome. I'll approach with due caution.

I must be old-fashioned and one-eyed I guess, cos the more I look, the more I'm convinced I won't like anything out there now as much as my H340 - but I'm not quite ready to spend $200+ on a 3-4 year old used player off eBay or something.

Woe is me I guess