Creative Zen 8 GB Portable Media Player (Black) | 
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| Brand: Creative Labs
Category: CE
List Price: $129.99
Buy New: $105.00
You Save: $24.99 (19%)
New (26) Used (5) Refurbished (3) from $84.95
Rating:  211 reviews
Sales Rank: 164
Color: Black
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: Yes
Display Size: 2.5
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 2.6 x 2.6 x 0.6
Warranty: 1 year warranty
MPN: 70PF216000111
Model: 70PF216000111
UPC: 054651143883
EAN: 0054651150331
ASIN: B000UV4EUG
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | Product Type - MP3 Player | | • | Connectivity - USB 2.0 | | • | Memory - 8 GB | | • | -- Voice recorder | | • | -- Clock and alarm function |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
This credit card-sized ZEN has a stunning 2.5" color screen and is perfect for music, videos and photos. Enjoy up to 4,000 MP3, WMA or AAC songs, watch up to 60 hours of videos and share hundreds of photos with your friends. Even expand your portable music, video or photo collection by adding additional content through the convenient SD memory slot.
Amazon.com Product Description
Bring your media with you wherever you roam with the Creative Zen 8GB player. Watch 32 hours of videos, enjoy up to 2,000 of your favorite songs or share hundreds of photos with your friends. And do it all on a device that's about the width of a credit card. 
A razor sharp 2.5-inch display makes your photos and videos come to life. See the Zen in detail. | 
Small size. Big features. All in the palm of your hand. View larger. | 
Add even more storage capacity via the SD card slot. View larger. | Design
The Zen sports a 2.5-inch TFT color display with 320 x 240-pixel resolution and support for up to 16.7 million colors. This razor sharp display is packaged in a device that weighs just 2.1 ounces and measures 3.26 x 2.16 x .44 inches (W x H x D). The internal battery powers the Zen for up to 25 hours of continuous audio playback and up to five hours of continuous video playback. Use the Zen's SD slot to expand your portable media library with music, photos and videos stored on your SD card. There's also a handy built-in microphone for capturing notes on the go. Features
Load up up your favorite songs, as well as your album art, and get going with the Zen. The device supports iTunes Plus tracks from the iTunes store and MP3 and WMA tracks. Subscription and pay-per-download music services are supported, as well. Discover, save, and play millions of songs when subscribing to services such as Yahoo Music Unlimited and Napster To Go. You can even tune into your favorite stations with the Zen's FM radio. The radio allows you to save up to 34 presets. The Zen has you covered when it comes to video, too. The device supports MJPEG, WMV9 and--with transcoding--MPEG1 and 2, MPEG4-SP, DivX 4 and 5, and XviD. Enjoy purchased or rented movies and TV shows from online services such as Amazon Unbox and Walmart.com. Watch home videos. Even load your Tivo To Go movies and TV shows onto your Zen. Additional features include a clock and alarm function, volume restriction, eight equalizer settings, and a USB hard drive mode, which allows you to drag and drop files directly to and from your Zen. The Zen can also function as a handy organizer, allowing you to synchronize with Microsoft Outlook and display your contacts, calendar, and tasks. What's in the Box
Zen player, earphones, USB 2.0 cable, installation CD, and quick start guide.
 |  |  |  | | A slick user interface makes it a snap to enjoy your media. |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
 If you have iTunes, this is for you September 24, 2007
J. Lee (CA, USA)
70 out of 77 found this review helpful
I recently sold my iPod Video 30GB because iTunes has always been buggy for me and I had to purchase a separate Video Converter, just to watch my videos on the small screen. Most of the time my Divx or MPG files cannot be converted properly into the Apple video file. The video will either be all green or blank. What a shame.
Also Hard Drives are a thing of the past. Flash Memory is definitely the way to go. With Flash Memory, there is a less chance of failure or bad sectors on the hard drive.
I have decided with Creative because of their easy usage of copying Music files into the player via USB. Creative has their own "ZEN Explorer", which allows you to drag and drop files. Very easy. No hassles or waiting for iTunes to run or crash.
The Creative Zen program also comes with a Video Converter for FREE. Of course it converts the movie file to WMV, which you can choose from Normal, Good, or Best quality. You can transfer the file directly to the ZEN player or you can copy the WMV files to a SD card and play videos from there.
I have tested a 2GB Mini SD Card, 1GB Micro SD Card, & 4GB SD Cards. All works great and easy to remove and swap. Removable SD Cards!!! Everyone has SD Cards now a days.
I am truly impressed with this player and charging the player from my car and at home is flawless.
After many months of searching for the next MP3 player (Samsung, iPod Nano, iRiver, etc... ), this is definitely worth the money I paid.
So if you have problems with iTunes and do not want to go crazy for iPods, then this MP3 + Video is definitely for you.
Good luck in your search for your next Music player.
Compact, great sound September 27, 2007
RW (Cincinnati, OH)
25 out of 27 found this review helpful
One week, and little time to explore the Zen's various functions. But I immediately filled it with songs. About 1,700 mp3 files left me with around 500 mb of memory remaining. The sound is much better than my old Dell MP3 player and better than my wife's Ipod Nano. The display is the best I've seen -- like you're holding a tiny HDTV in your hand. I feel it was a great deal for $199. Battery life is great, but I'm only listening to songs -- no video yet.
CONS (minor, really):
1)Slow to boot up (oh well).
2)The included software CD took nearly an hour to download (my computer is by no means slow), and dumped more than 100 mb of stuff onto my hard drive, including FOUR new desktop icons. I have no clue what any of it is. All I wanted was music, and to load mp3s I simply dragged and dropped the files from my hard-drive to the player. They moved quickly and quietly. So what's with all the software?
3) The Zen comes crammed with about 75 needless (yet quite vivid) sample photos and several strange songs. I killed them all to free up memory.
4) The USB cable to connect the player to your computer is not even 5 inches long. My computer sits on the floor, so my Zen would have to sit on the floor, too. I decided to use my old Dell cable instead. It's 4-feet long.
5) The FM radio is a nice touch, but as far as I can tell it only self-programs stations by scanning the dial for strong signals. I'd like to be able to manually program stations into the presets. Maybe I missed that function.
Cons notwithstanding, I love the new Zen already and look forward to using it for photos and video.
Much research and Creative fan January 12, 2008
G. Ribaudo (Lake Saint Louis, MO)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
After much research and being a Creative buyer for a long time, I decided on the Creative Zen 8gb. I was looking for something compatible that had enough memory to use for music, photos and videos. I also liked the ability to use a memory card. I had a Zen V Plus 4gb and the new Zen is so much better. The screen is bigger and brighter and the controls are so easy to use. I would recommend that you buy the Creative charger with it. I tried many other chargers that claimed they worked but didn't and wound up wasting my money and throwing them away. I bought some Creative speakers (I-Trigue 200) and use these at work (they sound great) and the unit can play for 16 hours without a recharge. I also bought the PCMICROSTORE Zen Snap-On Crystal Protective Case Cover, the ZEN Clear Case, a Case Logic Large Pocket, the Zen armband (for jogging) and the Koss KSC22 DVD Sportclip Headphones. The PC Micro case fit perfectly, is thick enough to protect the unit and has cutouts for access to all controls. If it had a lanyard with it it'd be perfect. The Zen clear case is good too, but you can't plug in the speakers when it's in the Zen clear case, although you don't have any problems with the headphones. The Case Logic Pocket is neoprene and has a great lanyard which I took off and put on the Zen case and it works great. I carry the unit back and forth to work in the Pocket and can use either one around the neck, I would highly recommend both. I don't like ear buds (and the ones that come with the unit aren't that good) therefore the Koss headphones. I also put a screen protector on the screen after reading some of the other reviews. In summary if you're buying this unit you need to consider the additional costs of a case, screen protector, charger, headphones and for exercisers, the armband. I would recommend all and am very happy and satisfied with my Zen.
My best effort for a comprehensive review December 11, 2007
Generic Name (Gaithersburg, MD)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Ok, I'll try and be as comprehensive and thorough as I can be. I've got the 8gb Zen and I've had it for about a month and a half now. Currently, I'm using the 1.13.01 firmware and that clear case with key ring that Creative sells.
Given that this is a music player first and foremost, audio quality is priority number one. While I do not consider myself an audiophile, sound quality is nevertheless important to me. The Zen comes out with honors here.
The sound right out of the box is fantastic. However, it can get even better with the equalizer and sound options. Hey, after all, Creative has just a little experience with computers and audio equipment and they get it really right here.
I've listened to other players that are on the market and I must say that I believe that the Zen is near the top if not at the top in terms of sound quality. Also, there is talk that they will be introducing X-FI to their players which is just going to put them head and shoulders above the rest.
Battery life has improved. Initially I was not getting the advertised 20 to 25 hours playtime, but with the firmware updates, this has improved greatly. Not sure if it's at 20 right now, but its acceptable. The Zen easily gets me through a couple of days before needing to be recharged.
The included USB cable is, uhm, convenient if you are traveling and using your laptop? Maybe? Fortunately, Creative is not using proprietary stuff here and I just switched out that USB cable for a longer one that I already had and I'm doing just fine.
There are actually two schools of thought with how Creative implemented the SD Card and I've become somewhat on the fence with this. First, I know that a lot of people would like to see the SD Card fully integrated (which is where I was), not all features are available for the SD Card. However, as a portable flash drive, it is great! Drag and drop with no hassles with the ability to still use it as extra storage for videos and music. And if 4gb, 8gb, or 16gb is not enough for you, just wait. Creative is coming out with a 32gb - don't know when though.
The other features are nice and I can't complain really about any of them. There's a FM radio, Calendar, Clock, Organizer, Contacts List, Microphone and plenty of customizable options. I just wish it could work better as a PDA (alarm and modify daily tasks) and then I would be completely satisfied! But hey, I got this for playing music not as an organizer.
The included software is really easy to use. Drag and Drop if ya want! The video converter works well, but may take a while to convert your video to an acceptable format. I just watched Battlestar Galactica: Razor on my Zen and it looked and sounded great! However it took over an hour to convert and put it on my player. There are other programs to use.
All in all, I have been more than happy with my Zen. Great, size and looks and sound quality is top notch with some nice features added on. There are somethings I would improve, but those do not keep me from enjoying my player. It does everything I ask of it. I highly recommend this one.
If you are considering the Apple Nano, take a look around. There's a reason the Apple Fan Bois are squirming. There are better options around and this is one of them.
Lastly, just remember, get your hands on one and decide for yourself. The vast majority of people that are happy with something are not going to come to the forums to brag about it. That kind of distorts the image more than just a little. There have been bumps in the road, but Creative is really good at fixing stuff and I'm sure whomever wanted to rush this out in time for Black Friday and all that stuff has been fired...
Great Player! October 23, 2007
Ricardo Cardona (Philadelphia, PA USA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I think this player is awesome. I've had it just for a little while now but I have not had any issues with it so far and it works great. It does collect finger prints but I don't care much. I like the whole functionality of the player. I've had the RCA H115 for a while now and this is much better, in every way, than the RCA. The screen is beautiful! The colors pop off the screen and the motion of video is smooth with a crisp picture. I like the radio, too. I read that someone said you can only set presets by the auto scan..... not true. If you hit the play button in radio mode, it takes away the preset mode and lets you tune manually so you can set your own stations. I just hit random buttons to figure that one out because I knew Creative was smarter than that. And there are "dedicated" volume buttons while in music, radio, and video mode. Just hit the up, volume up, and down, volume down, buttons while in one of the modes that has audio. I have not used the organizer yet, no need for it so far. The time display is very convenient, my old player didn't have the time and I had to pull my phone out every time I wanted... the time! I have not used the SD slot yet but plan to really soon. I'm gonna put video and pics on the SD and leave the 8 Gigs for music. I don't see why some people are disappointed, its memory expandability! I like that the user can choose what shows up on the menu. The included Creative Zen explorer software is good. The only thing that I don't like is that you can't drag and drop folders into other folders with the "explore media" (I think thats what it's labeled) menu. You have to do it in "removable media" mode. Why is this bad, I did a few CD ripping's and then imported media, with the import media button, of the same artist and tried to put the imported album into the already existing artist's folder and it wouldn't let me. I had to go into the properties, choose the "show as removable media" option and then go back into the player shown as "removable media" and then do it. Sounds like a long process but not too complicated, just a little annoying. Now that I know this, its a lot easier. Hope it helps someone out. So overall for me it's a great media player, function, ease of use, quality, and enjoyability!
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