# Official Creative Zen Thread!



## NOFX

Surprised there's no thread on this! Anyways here you can talk anything about the zen! I bought the vision m couple of weeks ago for 200 bucks at Best buy! Its been great! Love the radio, the recorder, great pictures, and movies!!! The only thing I dont like is that a freezes alot but hasnt lately! Everything else is great, it gives the video Ipod a run for his money!


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## Ja Phule

NOFX,


Hopefully, I'll be joining you soon in this thread. I got the 30gb Creative Zen Vision W coming soon.


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## like.no.other.

I think Creative has the best sound quality in a mp3 player. I will have my Creative Zen Touch

next week and will give review here.


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## Neve

I have Zen vision M. It is indeed a great player.

A few things that I realized only a while after I started using it:

_*Very Good Screen*_ - I did not think i would ever watch movies on screen of that size but it actually works. I can upload any kind of show downloaded from the web and watch it ... at work.







It plays back diVx files

_*Podcast support*_ - there is a website called zencast.com - a directory of podcasts including video podcasts. I installed the required software and can now subscribe to these podcasts with just one mouse click. There is a discussion forum as well that gives some tips about most current podcasts, basically what is worth downloading: findyourzencast.com 

*Sound Quality* Overall good, but the supplied headphones are quite average. When the song lacks bass or trebles fortunately I can improve sound using EQ - it's not just presets but regular EQ with separate bars for each frequency range. That's very cool. Since I got e2c headphones I use EQ less but it is good to know it is there when you need it.

*e-books* - are not supported. But it is possible to load text files as series of jpg files, one guy over at the Next Chamber has described this process step by step: http://julioangelortiz.net/?p=515


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## jdmcdonald

I had a Zen Micro Vision 8 gig. I liked it. It broke in two days, froze up and would not connect to computer at all. Called their help line and they said it was dead, return it. So I did.


What about the V Plus. It uses Flash memory. Is the little stick thing reliable? Both of

these players are terminally dim in the screen. Do most people find this a problem?


Doug McDonald


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## ndskyz

I started with a Zen Vision 30Gig. Loaded up some new firmware that caused it to crash constantly. Finally it just locked up. Sent it in, and Creative sent me back a Zen Vision W 30gig. Couldnt be happier with the screen upgrade, but the software on the W is MUCH more stable hasnt crashed once. Sounds great and the screen has better viewing angles than the Vision 30. Couldnt be happier with the "W" now.


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## Ja Phule




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ndskyz* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I started with a Zen Vision 30Gig. Loaded up some new firmware that caused it to crash constantly. Finally it just locked up. Sent it in, and Creative sent me back a Zen Vision W 30gig. Couldnt be happier with the screen upgrade, but the software on the W is MUCH more stable hasnt crashed once. Sounds great and the screen has better viewing angles than the Vision 30. Couldnt be happier with the "W" now.



The Vision W is great. I kinda wish I got the 60gb version now....


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## Neve

New ZEN player was announced: Zen Stone











A minimum mp3 player - I would call it:

1GB of space for music at $40 is a pretty good value even if this player lacks features all other Creative players have, such as FM tuner. But at such low price it is still a bargain I'd say...


details:
creative.com


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## Ja Phule

^^ Cool, those look pretty slick. I guess they're trying to compete with the iPod shuffle. It's definitely cheaper than the shuffle at half the price.


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## Rocenante

I have a 20GB Sleek Photo. I love that little guy.


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## ndskyz




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ja Phule* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> The Vision W is great. I kinda wish I got the 60gb version now....



Now that I've finally got the movie converting down.. The 60gig does look very attractive..LOL


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## Neve




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ja Phule* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> ^^ Cool, those look pretty slick. I guess they're trying to compete with the iPod shuffle. It's definitely cheaper than the shuffle at half the price.



And what do you say about his little, smart brother:









It seems ZEN Stone was revamped with the addition of FM tuner, a screen and an extra gig of memory (so it is 2GB now)

And EQ as well...

Full specs:
specs sheet 

Advertised price of $US69 still beats Shuffle big time.


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## flagyl

My sister has a Vision M and I am thinking about getting a W 60 gig (I wish they sold them in stores).


Playing w her player while driving to Universal theme park, I notice that the screen is HIGHLY reflective of the surrounding light. Does the W come with a matte screen, or are there aftermarket devices that cut down on the reflective glare? Thanks


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## ndskyz

No the "W" doesnt have a matte screen. You can buy a screen protector that cuts down on glare. PSP screen protectors fit the Vision "W" perfectly.


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## palmfamily

We have two Zens; Sleek Photo and an older Jukebox. Both are great. We now have a new Pioneer Elite receiver that has a cable and hookup for Ipod. The cable appears to fit only ipod. Has anyone been able to hook a Zen to any of these new receivers? Is there a cable for hooking a Zen to a receiver? Thanks.


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## flagyl




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *ndskyz* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> No the "W" doesnt have a matte screen. You can buy a screen protector that cuts down on glare. PSP screen protectors fit the Vision "W" perfectly.



Thanks ND for the quick reply. That will probably help viewing in the outdoors a whole lot (hopefully it doesn't degrade the amount of light transmitted through the screen). I appreciate you taking the time.


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## flagyl




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *palmfamily* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> We have two Zens; Sleek Photo and an older Jukebox. Both are great. We now have a new Pioneer Elite receiver that has a cable and hookup for Ipod. The cable appears to fit only ipod. Has anyone been able to hook a Zen to any of these new receivers? Is there a cable for hooking a Zen to a receiver? Thanks.



This may be an inelegant solution, but what I did for my much older 5.1 receiver was i bought a mini jack that became 2 red and white rca type jacks, and then plugged that into a front panel line in. This may be sufficient for your purposes. Hope this helps.


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## palmfamily

Thanks flagyl. That will probably work. I've done that before on other audio equip. and I can honestly say it hadn't occured to me to try that again. It might not have the bells and stuff since the ipod used through the receiver is supposed to display on the television but its about playing the mp3 for tunes. I think the Vision M is supposed to be able to display photos and maybe video direct to televisions too. We'll give it a shot and see what happens. Thanks again.


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## flagyl




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *palmfamily* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Thanks flagyl. That will probably work. I've done that before on other audio equip. and I can honestly say it hadn't occured to me to try that again. It might not have the bells and stuff since the ipod used through the receiver is supposed to display on the television but its about playing the mp3 for tunes. I think the Vision M is supposed to be able to display photos and maybe video direct to televisions too. We'll give it a shot and see what happens. Thanks again.




No prob man. Hopefully this will at least let you hear your tunes until you find a nicer solution that will allow you to look at the cover art, etc. Take care and have a great day


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## Senor Mortgage

Am I the only one who ha had issues with the creative zen v plus? Its a god player but after 7 months the LCD had crapped out and now (after getting a replacement one through repair) the buttons have broken. Its a great player but I'm it seems as if it is just a shoddy player or rotten luck.


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## NOFX

my complaint with my vision m is that it freezes way too much!!!


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## dotVIBE




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *NOFX* /forum/post/11151980
> 
> 
> my complaint with my vision m is that it freezes way too much!!!



have you upgraded the firmware?


My Vision:M works perfectly, and i LOVE it.


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## KorbenD




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *NOFX* /forum/post/11151980
> 
> 
> my complaint with my vision m is that it freezes way too much!!!



This can be caused by a corrupted MP3 file. I had a problem with occasional lockups on my Zen Vision W until I managed to track down the file that was having the issue.


Once it was gone, I haven't had a single lockup after using it for 6+ months.


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## NOFX

Damn how the **** do you track it down??? I have over 1000 songs


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## NOFX




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dotVIBE* /forum/post/11397277
> 
> 
> have you upgraded the firmware?
> 
> 
> My Vision:M works perfectly, and i LOVE it.



Where do you upgrade?


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## nweibley

I've got a Zen Vision:W and use it religiously.


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## Ja Phule

Creative has announced a new player replacing the Vision:M. The all new ZEN. Comes in 4gb, 8gb, and 16gb variations from $150-300. It seems they will be competing with the new iPod Nanos. No news on any disk based players yet.


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## ndskyz




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *NOFX* /forum/post/11400403
> 
> 
> Damn how the **** do you track it down??? I have over 1000 songs



Turn off random play start at the top and go through them one by one. I had the same problem. My Zen would lock up at various times, So I went through and found all the MP3's that wouldnt play and deleted them. My W hasnt crashed or locked up since, and this was at least three months ago with daily usage.

It's a PITA i had over 1000 songs too, but if you want to stop the crashing, get rid of the bad MP3 files.


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## NOFX

Thanks man, thats sounds like good advice!


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## Ron_M

I've had a lot of mp3 players over the years and my creative 30 gig vision M and 8 gig micro photo are my favorites. I use my vision M 4-5 hours a day and will be buying a 16 gig zen when it is released.


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## GeekGirl

Just ordered the Creative Zen 8 GB. Note: Check out DELL for prices. They're discounting from list and are cheaper than Amazon / Newegg. Sale until Nov 01. http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...9&sku=A1253445 


I've also got a Creative Zen Stone (not the plus) 1 GB. Great for voice (podcasts) and portable use (exercise).

Heads up:

There's a firmware update for the Zen, released 23-Oct-07, reported here: http://www.epizenter.net/news.php . Significant boot time reduction.


Which links to: http://us.creative.com/support/downl...pe=0&x=32&y=13


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## Magendanz

The new ZEN firmware definitely boots faster, and also significantly improves the video FF/REW indexing time (which used to pause for around 10-20 seconds). Since they don't resume playback and don't show any video frames during FF/REW, it can take quite a few tries to find your place in a movie. Reducing this index time makes it less of a chore, but not nearly as easy as the Meizu M6.


Unfortunately, I haven't been able to access Recovery Mode after installing the firmware update. Holding the Play/Pause on power up now seems to have no effect. Is it just that boot is so quick now that my timing is off?


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## dendo

I have the Vision M---I noticed recently that the FM tuner does not work anymore. Anyone else encounter this or have any suggestions?


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## Magendanz

It seems that the boot time optimizations in the current Zen firmware updates use some kind of low power standby mode instead of completely shutting down. When in standby, there will be some battery drain (just like a cell phone) and you may find that you're losing a lot more battery charge while the unit appears to be off.


Also, since the Recovery Mode check doesn't seem to occur when recovering from standby, you'll need to do a full shutdown to access that mode by holding the Play/Pause button. From my experience, this occurs automatically after the unit has been powered down overnight, but you can also force a full shutdown with the Reset button.


Identifying a traditional boot is easy: look for the CREATIVE logo. Resume from standby will skip directly to the ZEN logo.


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## Magendanz

Also, there have been a couple of recent Zen firmware updates :


Filename: ZEN_PCFW_L22_1_12_01.exe


Added Features or Enhancements:

- Improves your player's playback time for AAC (.m4a) and WMA (.wma) files.

- Improves player stability for continuous playback over a long period of time.


Filename: ZEN_PCFW_L22_1_11_04.exe


Added Features or Enhancements:

- Improves your player's speed of reading a memory card.


Fixes:

- Displays the correct battery status after the player is charged with a power adapter.


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## Neve

This is Creative ZEN 32GB priced at US $349.99:











32GB is probably enough for music and movies but there is also this slot for SD cards - comes handy when you want to backup pics from your camera I guess.

http://us.creative.com/products/prod...&product=16999 


Also saw a mention of a "small" capacity 2GB priced below 100 bucks on another website. Great stuff, Creative!


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## GNaroz

My 30GB Zen Vision M has rock solid stable. has not locked up once since January 07 when I bought it. 2000+ songs and 8 Movies and still tons of room!


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## Angel L.

Can the new zen import pics from sd cards, or is it only for additional storage?


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## Magendanz




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Angel L.* /forum/post/12425981
> 
> 
> Can the new zen import pics from sd cards, or is it only for additional storage?



There doesn't seem to be any way to import photos or any other media from the SD card to main memory without a PC.


Actually, the SD card integration leaves a lot to be desired, but I've been so happy to have expandible memory that I haven't felt I had a right to complain about the implementation. Any contents of the memory card are browsed in a separate area of the user interface and are not indexed like main memory (so you can't view by artist, album, etc.). In fact, you have to put the device in a separate mass storage class (MSC) mode to place any content on the card.


Personally, I just put movies on the cards, and this works fine for me. But for music or photos it's quite awkward.


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## Al-berta

I'm looking for a small flash player and see the Creative V plus gets good reviews on CNET. I've read a bit about it freezing up, but hear that was a firmware issue.


Anybody had any experience with a V plus?


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## MaliciousBraham

I ordered an 8Gb Zen through the Dell.com deal yesterday... here's to hoping it performs well!!


It's going to replace my 4GB Iriver X20 that was busted up when I was hit by a car a couple months back.


for those interested in the Zen deal, the 4gb is about $110 at dell.com while the 8gb is about $135.


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## Magendanz

For a while there, you could "downgrade" the 8GB Zen to a 4GB version on the Dell site and get it for $82 (keeping the 25% off and $10 coupon). However, it looks like they figured out that little trick.

http://www.**************/t/18/793628


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## Steve Scherrer

I just picked up the Zen Creative M 30gb, and so far so good. I was a little worried--I picked it up refurbed for my wife for Christmas, and I opened it up to upload her favorite CDs. The unit had some sample MP3s on it, and some sample video files.


The player would freeze up when I tried to upload more than one song to it at a time. I uploaded the firmware--no luck. I then scrubbed the hard drive. That did the trick. No problems now and I have added about 500 songs or so to it.


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## Magendanz




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Magendanz* /forum/post/12439160
> 
> 
> There doesn't seem to be any way to import photos or any other media from the SD card to main memory without a PC.



Actually, thanks to the latest firmware update I get to eat my words.


It looks like v1.20.02 includes a new feature to transfer and view photos from your memory card:


- To transfer files, select Memory Card --> Import All.

- To view transferred photos (.jpg), select Photos --> Imported Files --> [memory card name] --> [folder name].


Pretty slick!


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## Magendanz

If you're encoding video for the Creative Zen using Microsoft Expression Encoder, here's a handy preset to make this even easier. It does the following:


- Crops video to fill QVGA screen (eliminating black bars)

- Sets to standard 256Kps VBR VC-1 (MP) profile

- Sets video quality to Best (5)


Just place this file in your \\Documents\\Expression\\Expression Encoder\\Presets directory, import the source files, right-click, and assign preset.


Of course, compression time will decrease considerably if you opt for a lower video quality. Regardless of the quality setting, however, you should be able to compress about 50 full-length movies onto a 8GB SD card using this preset.

 

Creative Zen.zip 0.62890625k . file


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## Ninjahedge

Hey people.


Friend of mine has the Zen 8G I believe. I am looking to get him a gift (LATE X-Mas!!!!) and I was wondering what SD cards were compatible that WERE NOT LISTED on their site.


There are a few 16G's coming out now, as well as some 8G's whose serials do not match the ones given on the websites compatibility list.


Has anyonetried the new A-Data 16G card? any other 8G or 16G cards that work?


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## tracyjump

got so much information from this thread.

thx guys


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## Magendanz




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Ninjahedge* /forum/post/12969968
> 
> 
> ...any other 8G or 16G cards that work?



I've been extremely happy with my three Transcend 8GB SDHC Class 6 cards (model #TS8GSDHC6). They're currently $33 at Newegg (and they'll even throw in the USB reader for another $4).


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## Ninjahedge

Yeah, I got tired of the canned responses from Creative (I sent them the same question, saying I looked at their website and their list and asked for more info, so their answer was to check their list..







)


I went with the Transend 8G. I will see if my Epson printer can read/write to it, otherwise I might need to buy another just to get the package deal on the USB reader!!!!


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## Aegwyn11

Does the Zen not support WMA lossless? When I try to sync a lossless file, it complains that the file isn't supported. What a waste if this is the case...


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## chavel




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Aegwyn11* /forum/post/13145074
> 
> 
> Does the Zen not support WMA lossless? When I try to sync a lossless file, it complains that the file isn't supported. What a waste if this is the case...



Afraid not. On one of my computers WMP will automatically convert WM-lossless files to 320Kb WMA files and then sync them up to the Zen.


BTW if you ever want to hear how good the SQ is from the Zen get the Grados Labs SR60 headphones for around 70 bucks.


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## Angel L.

Just bought one from creative refurbished with full warenty and latest firmware installed for $94.00 for 8gig zen player. Many more to choose from.


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## Ecuadorian




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Neve* /forum/post/12394576
> 
> 
> This is Creative ZEN 32GB priced at US $349.99:



Hello, I am considering buying the ZEN for watching videos on the go... Anybody knows if the included encoder can convert ISO-standard MP4 videos to ZEN compatible wmv? I need to know because I'm also planning to buy a Neuros recorder.


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## grimholtz

Anyone know how to print playlists that are in the Creative MediaSource/Music Library software on my PC?


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## Ecuadorian




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *grimholtz* /forum/post/14067232
> 
> 
> Anyone know how to print playlists that are in the Creative MediaSource/Music Library software on my PC?



Haven't found a "clean" way to do this, but you can always show the playlist in the ZEN Media Explorer, hit the "Print Screen" key on your keyboard, and then paste, trim and finally print the image in MS Paint.


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## Brown Radagast

If you can view the folders similar to windows explorer, then go to Start>Run>cmd to bring up the dos window;

cd [path to folder];

tree/f>contents.txt


a .txt file will be created in that folder with a list of all the files.


An easier way to map to that folder is to right-click on My Computers, Map Network Drive and assign a drive letter to the folder/drive. Then when you type the cmd, just type "cd [new drive letter].


Cheers


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## futureboy

So what are the real advantages of the W over the M? I'm thinking of buying my girlfirend a mp3 player. I'm not sure if I should get her an "M" or buy myself a "W" and give her the "M."


Why is the "W" better?


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## Ja Phule




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *futureboy* /forum/post/14138613
> 
> 
> So what are the real advantages of the W over the M? I'm thinking of buying my girlfirend a mp3 player. I'm not sure if I should get her an "M" or buy myself a "W" and give her the "M."
> 
> 
> Why is the "W" better?



The W has a much much larger screen and is ideal for watching video. However, it is also larger so its not as portable as the M.


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## bfrink75

FYI - found this thread indicating Creative Zen supports AVI seeking from the SD card but not from internal memory. Have observed this phenomenon (June 2008):


www anythingbutipod com forum showthread.php?p=220306


Hope this helps someone else - spent half a day trying 100 different options in vain: mencoder (xvid, lavc, x264, idx, forceidx, softskip, ffourcc, profile, hr-edl-seek, skiplimit, max_key_interval, noodml, nogmc, noqpel, mp3lame cbr, keyint), ffmpeg, avidemux2_gtk aviindex avimerge.


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## Cal1981

We have two Zens. My wife has the 16GB model and I have the 32GB model. We love them. I had the original USB Zen and always loved its sound quality (if not it's brick-like bulk). The new models maintain that quality, especially when paired with good headphones. We use Sony EX-85 and EX-90s. They have been modified by covering the ports on their bases and opening up the raised port tube. This forces all of the sound out of the tube port, enhancing the bass and overall audio response and increasing isolation. When I listen to well-encoded MP3s, the sound is close to reference quality and blows any Ipod away. I haven't used the Zen for video but as an audio player, it's first rate.


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## hayjay69

Hi,


I am thinking about buying this model. I just wondered if I am able to put all of my music on and then delete it from my pc without worrying about it disappearing from the player.

Any help would be much appreciated.

















Thanks


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## Buddy C




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *hayjay69* /forum/post/15753767
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> 
> I am thinking about buying this model. I just wondered if I am able to put all of my music on and then delete it from my pc without worrying about it disappearing from the player.
> 
> Any help would be much appreciated.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks



Definitely don't do that. I've had a number of music files get corrupt on my Zen. I simply clear out the Zen's music directory and reload the files off my PC again. You can accidentally drop the ZEN, crush it, or run it through the wash cycle. Where would your files be after that? I also regularly backup my important files from my PC to an external hard drive. With hard drives as huge and cheap as they are now, there's no excuse for not having the proper backup.


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## jalad pitt

You have a portable video/audio player, lets say a fancy Creative Zen, which you got as a gift from your friends or you bought for yourself, and would like to watch your favorite movies or just listen to the beautiful music using it? Sometimes you might encounter such an embarrassing situation as you are trying to playback a certain file format (video/audio) on it, but it just cant work out. * Creative Zen video converter * is just the program you need. It is a simple yet powerful Video to Creative Zen converter software that can convert almost all video/audio formats to Creative Zen compatible format and enables you to solve these problems quite easily with a few mouse clicks.


The Creative ZEN is a range of digital audio players (DAPs) and portable media players. All players are compatible with MP3 and WMA, while various models support WAV and Audible files. They are natively compatible with Windows, while the current players exclusively support Windows XP and Vista. They also support various other formats: Video: iMJPEG, WMV, and AVI (MPEG-4 SP, DivX, Xvid), while MPEG-1, and MPEG-2 are supported, but must be transcoded with the included software (Video must not exceed the player's dimensions at 320?×?240 pixels); Audio: MP3, AAC (unprotected ".m4a"), WMA (including protected), WAV, and Audible 2, 3, and 4 formats.


At the moment when you feel you got what you wanted of using Creative Zen video converter, there are reasons to save your project, in case if you want to change any adjustments and settings late, or a desire to get the resulting video as soon as possible.


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## DeeKaye07

I shall soon be the owner of one of these, also. I ordered it last week and it's due to come in within the next few days. I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do. I wanted it mainly for watching TV shows (downloaded from online) and music as well, but am glad to see it's also got an FM radio and is expandable with an SD card.


DGK


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## glennds

product: Creative Zen (2gb)


memory card: 32gb



-Sound quality of player is very good.


-The physical player is not user friendly. The case is extremely slippery. The labels for the buttons are very hard to read (faint grey lettering on black background). The buttons themselves are very low profile and have no tactile feel to them so I have to physically look to see where the buttons are, I can't just feel for them.


-Can't use advanced features of player (i.e. playlists, search by genre, song, ect..) while using memory card. Not only can it not use advanced features but also convenience features like memory (if you shut off player, it won't remember what you were listening to, it will delete what is in 'now playing' and go back to the main menu), and you can't browse for the next song while listening to current song (it will delete the current playing song as soon as you leave the 'now playing' mode. You have to listen to the current song in it's entirety, then go back to the menu to browse for the next song (and imagine searching through 32gb's worth of music without using genre or other advanced search tools)).


I already have a 2gb Zen V Plus, this Zen player was bought specifically because it has an expansion slot for more memory, but the lack of features make this worthless to me. And nowhere in the manual does it mention any of this, I did find this info on the Creative support web site though. In fact, the manual states that you can 'import' files from the memory card to the internal memory, but it fails to mention that if the memory card contains more info then the internal memory can hold, it cannot import any files. What a waste!


-So I spend $60 for the player, and $100 for the 32gb card, and it's no better than my old 2gb Zen V Plus! Sure I could get my $60 back for the player, but now I'm stuck with a $100 memory card I don't need. Thanks alot Creative. I was so close to getting that 30gb hard drive player instead.


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