Voice Recorder, FM Tuner, FM Recorder - LCD - White - MPN: 70PF108000371
Strengths: Size, Features, Compatibility w/ both MP3 & WMA, compatiblity w/ future Napster functionality?, Search function
Weakness: Touchpad needs time to adjust to
I do admit that the touchpad needs some adjusting to and it was my intial concern. After using it for a few hours/days, it's pretty easy. (I think with any new tech product, there will be an adjustment period.) I use it at the medium sensitivity level, it seems to work out just fine. But that's about the only negative of the Zen Micro. I love how small it is (about the size of my flip cell phone) and that the edges are curved. I think it's cool to have FM Radio as a back up for when I need a break from my mp3 selection. I like that I can use it as alarm and that it has a sleep function. Sound quality is great. Functionality is everything that I wanted. And I'm not the type that wants to be just like everyone else, so the fact that this is not the ipod mini is another plus for me.
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TopStrengths: Small, Compact, good DJ features, decent battery life, great sound quality, can charge while plugged into USB port or plugged into wall.
Weakness: no dedicated volume button (although it is rather simple to change the volume) No fast scrolling feature (more of an annoyance than a weakness)
Overall, MP3 player is great. The DJ features provide a very good mix of music. The equalizers work very well (although it would be nice if you could assign each song its own equalizer settings - similar to the WinAmp MP3 software).
The user interface is very easy to navigate. The negative reviews about the touch pad being to sensitive are very overrated. My Micro is still set to the default setting and after 5 minutes, I was able to navigate the menus without a problem.
Size of the MP3 player is great. I think my cell phone is bigger than this thing!
The software provided is also decent. It has its draw backs (you can only update songs, MP3 tag info, artists... one at a time) but its nothing that you can't work around.
My one disappointment / surprise is that thus far I've needed to use the software provided with the player to transfer / read files from the MP3 player on my PCs (Windows 2k / Windows XP operating systems - both fully updated). I was hoping to be able to just plug the player into the USB port and tranfer music using windows explorer. Thus far,I haven't been able to figure out if that's possible. This becomes an annoying when I want to grab songs from my friends PCs and i have to wait 15 minutes to first install the software / drivers and now my friend is stuck with the program installed on his computer.
Overall sound quality is amazing, the batteries have yet to run out on me in the middle of the day, and the menu interface is so easy to use, a 5 yr old could figure it out. This is by far one of the best products on the market.
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TopOn Creative's website, it says that if you switch the device into "Removable Disk" mode, you can install it driverlessly.
Strengths: Size, Microsoft Outlook compatibility, Excellent music software, Extra spare battery
Weakness: None for me
In my opinion, this is the only MP3 player on the market that beats iPod hands down, with its intuitive user interface, Microsoft Outlook compatibility, software, and technical support (they update their firmwares frequently). Mine comes with an extra spare battery that doubles its playing time, and the battery is removable. An excellent product!
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TopStrengths: small, cool blue backlight, FM radio, radio and voice recording, 5GB of storage, usb 2.0, WAV, WMA, MP3 formats, Calendar, contacts, to-do list, alarm clock, use it to store any type of data
Weakness: controls take a little getting used to
This is a great device. It's very affordable, and is feature-rich. There is compatability for every online music store, so you can get your music from just about everywhere. It lets you record from the radio, and it has an auto-search feature that automatically finds all the radio stations in your area, which I found really useful when I travel. There is 5GB of space, to store over 2500 songs, and the battery is AMAZING. I've gotten about 12 hours on one charge, constantly playing music. It's palm-sized, and fits great in your hand, and it comes with a desk stand/ hip clip so you can have it where ever you go. The backlight is very effective in the dark, and stylish too (All my friends want Zen Micros instead of iPods now).
Like I said, it's an amazing device, and you can't go wrong with the price
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TopStrengths: stylish and attractive appearance, rounded corners for comfort fitting; great sound quality (of course, a creative product); extra features: fm radio, voice record, and Smart volume management
Weakness: cannot find a lot of accesories dedicated for the zen micro (unlike the ipods); the creative explorer software could get annoying b/c it pauses the player everytime u use explorer if u charge via PC
This is an absolutely great player; i chose it over the ipod mini for its 5gb memory and stylish designs, not to mention it also has a higher pixel resolution than the ipod mini, so it can display foreign characters much better.
this player has a lot of potential as creative engineers are still twiddling around with the firmware, newer optimizations and updates will probably increase the efficiency of the battery even further
the touchpad needs a little getting used to, played around for 4 days, kinda getting the hang of it - shouldnt be that hard
one nit-pick about this product is that the belt clip and stand needs a litte redesign, its a bit annoying when u need to unplug and replug everything to put the player into the stand as well as taking it out, a piece of plastic gets in the way
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Topthis is more of a question than a comment and im sorry this might be a really stupid question but i was thinking about getting this mp3 player but our computer is older and i was just wondering if anyone knows if it works with windows 98? thanx for any help you might be able to give me
on my box it says:
Minimum System Requirements:
- Microsoft Winsows 98SE/Me/2000/XP
etc etc
so I would think its okay
Strengths: holds tons of songs (more than I could ever put on there) small, has leds, Voice recorder, battery life is about 10-12 hours
Weakness: Mine didnt come with a wall charger, Software could be better, FM Tuner could be better,
This is a great MP3 player. I currently have 693 .wma songs and they take up less than 2.5gb!!! The voice roecorder is awesome, I recorded a guy for 6 hours and the battery level was still high, the recording quality was good, and the recording didnt take up much space at all. I use Windows Media Player 10 to sync my songs because I dont really care for Creatives interface. I highly recommend this player. I think its better than the Ipod mini.
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TopStrengths: Size, value, includes FM Tuner which many competitors don't. Battery life is good as well.
Weakness: Definately eeds more accessories. It's competing with iPOD which has a load of fun stuff to go with it. Touchpad takes a little getting used to.
Bought one of these for a friend for Christmas and my sister bought one recently also. These are absolutely great. It is extremely portable and comes with everything you need to get started.
You will need to load a new version of the firmware on the system if you are going to use some music download sites such as Napster. This upgrade will delete all data on the device so I would suggest doing that before you load to it.
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TopHey before you start saying anyhting bad about the Zen Micro .... you need to learn how to spell. Do you need spell check or a dictionary??? I mean come on there wern't any words that were that hard to spell in your review.
Strengths: 5GB for 200, extra battery that can be self changed, good service department*
Weakness: ear phones are too large, plug for earphones shorted out in 4weeks (may have been my fault).
*After beating the hell out of my micro for 4 weeks (dropping, getting wet, etc.) I sent it back to Creative with no trouble. Within 10 days I had a brand new micro in my hands no questions asked. It does sometimes lock up for no real reason while trying to delete songs but thats rare.
Why anyone would still buy an ipod mini with this on the market is beyond me.
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TopStrengths: Sound quality is great, compact and lightweight, intuitive, easy to use, ability to record from radio
Weakness: no AM, inability to display date & time unless via the date/time menu
Overall I am very pleased with the Zen player. The radio option is important to me, and I find the unit very easy to navigate between FM stations/pre-sets and the music I've downloaded.
The only thing missing for me is AM radio. I commute a long distance to work and find that AM is the best source of important daily information....news, traffic, etc. that I need.
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TopStrengths: price, removable battery, fm radio, removable storage feature. very solid design and quality build.
Weakness: the software installs shortcuts to AOL. easy to delete, but I'm not a big fan of aol. I was hoping the radio reception would be better, but i don't have too much to compare it too. no AM radio.
I owned this player for about 2 weeks now and have no problems to report... i chose this player over the ipod mini because of the following reasons:
Price: got mine for 180 including shipping and tax
FM Radio
Removable battery
no proprietary music restrictions (like i-tunes)
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TopStrengths: Price, All buttons are touch pad type, FM radio, record from radio, file types supported and software needed comes with microsoft PC's. Not to mention the great playing features of it.
Weakness: None yet
Great MP3 player. Tons of functions (DJ includes most plays albums, least played albums), major compatibilty (all microsoft products), nice price. Although there is not a whole lot of accessories made specifically for it, i wouldn't spend my money on them anyways. Very nice player, fit me perfect for what i needed. I use the hard drive as a memory card for my computers all the time to carry files to friends houses. Extremely nice. Glad i bought it, dont regret it at all.
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TopStrengths: Battery lasts for minimum of 10 hours constantly playing. Extremely small and light.Excellent sound quality.
Weakness: Touchpad is a bit sensitive.
This player is great. It's easy to add, remove, and edit music. The battery lasts easily 10-11 hours when it's playing constantly. The micro is just that, small. You can listen to, and record, radio, as well as your own voice. You can also sync it with Outlook. The electric blue trim lights look great. The interface is easy to navigate. The downsides are few, but there are a few. Only the faceplate is colored, the rest of the player is all white. The touchpad is very sensitive. It can be adjusted, but even on the least sensitive setting it's still too sensitive. There is a lock for the controls so you don't accidentally hit the buttons, but you can't operate the volume slider while the lock is on. These are very minor faults. All in all, the zen micro is a great player. Smaller and easier to navigate than the ipod.
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TopStrengths: Nice design, easy to use, competitively priced.
Weakness: Software still needs a lot of work. System regularly hangs and can not be powered off without removing the battery.
Customer support is slow and unresponsive. Initial problem was very short battery life which was fixed through a firmware upgrade. Then the power supply failed and it took several weeks to get a replacement (could I borrow one from a friend I was asked!). The music library gets corrupted and has to be rebuilt regularly. Software hangs and unit is rendered inoperative. Takes support about 6 to 8 weeks to process a replacement (reconditioned) unit. After 9 months I'm on my third replacement unit and it has died again. I'm giving up and switching to an iPod.
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TopStrengths: 5GB Sounds Great Small
Weakness: Ear buds don't fit my ears Software takes some time to get used to
I love this thing. I've given it 4 stars because I have nothing to compare this to as it's my first mp3 player.
I pretty much use it solely at the gym to drown everyone out.
Ear buds didn't stay in my ears so I ordered a set of Sony Sports headphones from Amazon.
This unit is amazing in regards to size and audio clarity.
I have not upgraded the firmware from the edition that shipped with it.
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TopStrengths: Great sound quality, (EQ levels!, nice headphones, good finish, can work like an external drive Syncs with Yahoo music AFTER firmware update. Has a removable battery, separate battery charger.
Weakness: Touch pad needs a lot of practice to use effectively.
I am having a ball with this player! It works well with the Yahoo music service and I have downloaded about 1,000 songs to it - all for the monthly subscription of $5. It needed a firmare update though - and I had to work a bit to get that running.
Set the touchpad sensitivity to "low", but it is pretty frustrating until you get the hang of it.
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TopStrengths: small size, easy to navigate, holds decent amount of songs,holds more than competitors at the price
Weakness: it will hold 2500 songs if you set your bit rate at 64 which is not good, i had too get it fixed because the headphone jack got screwed up, very touchy at first,
For the price of the player it was good becuase the next range of player is about 300$. My only big complaint was my headphone jack getting screwed up. If your music is coming out of one ear don't just assume its the headphones. It might be the player becasse some other friends of mine had the same problem. Make sure you test some other pairs before you buy some new ones. The manufacturer will cover it.I have used about 4.20 mb and have 1225 songs at a 128 bit rate.
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TopStrengths: size,color,useability
Weakness: earphones that come with it dont fit that good,took about an hour to get used to the touch pad, usb cable that came with it is really short
this is a great mp3 players it is real easy to load songs on. it is way better than ipod my freind has an ipod and has had it for two weeks and its horably scracthed these arent as easy to scratch all in all this is a great mp3 player way better than an ipod
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Top
A great MP3 player
Strengths: Storage capacity, small size, battery life, FM tuner, recorder, great sound, lots of color choices and attractive design
Weakness: The intuitive touchpad needs practice getting use to
Storage: 5GB (Zen) vs 4GB (iPod)
Looks: The Zen is very sleek looking. You can choose from 10 different colors. It also has a mesmerizing blue glow around the button and around the player.
Battery life: I'd say the battery lasts a good 10 hrs or so. Mine came with a free second battery (limited edition).
File transfer: The Zen includes the software that allows you to transfer MP3 files from your PC to your MP3 player just by clicking and dragging your files into it. Very easy to use!
One of the better MP3 player out there on the market. It's better than the iPod mini, and I highly recommend it to anyone who's in the market for a portable MP3 player.
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