Zen Micro, Better than iPod Deal and review @ Fry's

ilikeTOFU

ilikeTOFU

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Deal -

Creative Zen Micro 5gig - $189.99 @ Fry's So. Cal (YMMV)

When I went there was 2 packages available. New package with just Zen Micro player and usb cable, and old package sets which includes, player, usb cable, home charger, belt clip, stand, little baggie.

Colors Available: All 10, Fry's became some sort of Official Authurized dealer for Creative i suppose, huge banner ads, floor displays, and lots of stock. Hurry while you can.



Review (iPod vs Zen)-

anyway... so recently i returned my ipod mini and got a Creative Zen Micro... for roughtly the same price... when i bought the mini i thought it was the best two bills i've ever spent, for the 2hr drives to work, long times working on tedious websites while the boss man is bumping house music... but.. i just wanted more... thanks to Target's 90day no hassle return policy =] it went back to the store. after having both for roughly couple of weeks and 24/7 continuous usage on both.... heres the pros n cons... from my point of view...
in no particular order...
ipod3xl.jpg
ipodbox2be.jpg


ipod_mini.jpg

ipod mini
-18hr battery life [feels more like 12...]
-4gig memory [actually 3.7gig...]
-cant play directly from pod while docked
-click wheel [weee makes me spin it for no reason what so ever]
-rate songs [how fucken cool is that]
-matallic finish [hard to scratch.. i loved that...]
-mainstream [you are just another white earpiece walking down the st.]
-sexy [.... not on me.. but other ppl]
-Non-removable battery [.... $120 to replace ((O_O)) ]
-mad 3rd party support [linux, opensource plug-ins so many goodies..]
-comfortable eaepiece [small buds for small ear canals.. ha]
-difficult to lock pad [be quiet... ]
-have to push down to change tracks [it sometimes goes to volume or seek instead...]


zen4kg.jpg
zen25yy.jpg


zen33ey.jpg

zen_micro_1.jpg

Creative Zen Micro
-5gig [well 4.8 gigs]
-fits in palm [mine at least]
-removable batteries [$40 to replace, looks like cell phone batt.]
-no rating system [wth!!]
-track counting
-FM radio [good reception too...]
-better sound
-it pulsats when you charge it.. [hey this is fawken cool ok]
-not mainstream [i think this is a pro, some may thing con...]
-can play directly from pod>earpiece while docked
-higher LCD resolution
-up/down volume controll [instead of wheel, perfect for trigger happy users like me who always over shoots my target volume on the pod]
-easy on/off lock interface
-voice or radio record! [4 gig of radio or live sound!! useful in lectures but it didnt exist when i went to school =( ]

um.. bottom line personally i like the zen much better, all the buttons are touch sensitive and easy to lock the pad. dont have to put pressure to change tracks, custome EQ settings, custom menus, but i really miss the rating and track count... for some reason that was super addicting.. the Zen is much easier to navigate while driving/drinking coffee/smoking during traffic. the battery time is not as long but i got 2 batteries from Fry's..(limited free mail-in battery promo) home charger.. dock, clip, cover.. lotta of free shwag... i wanna zenpod with ipod's rating system, matallic finish, battery life, but removable batteries, zen's touch pad, interface, memory, and sound quality. Now get to it~! btw sound was ranked by test in sound labs, and ranks goes... 1. ipod shuffle, 2. creative zen micro, 3. panasonic something, 4. ipod mini, 5. ipod i'll put the link up when i find it.
 
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yes i have an ipod, its 20gb. i like it but that Zen Micro is tight looking and i have heard good things about it. I might get one, but 5gb isnt enough......
 
[quote name='stocker08']yes i have an ipod, its 20gb. i like it but that Zen Micro is tight looking and i have heard good things about it. I might get one, but 5gb isnt enough......[/QUOTE]

Currently there is a 6gig Zen Micro that just got released along side with the iPod Mini 6gig. $10-15 less than the iPod 6gig. It should be a while untill we see some huge memory capacity jump with these mini HD mp3 players. so if you want small in size, you'll have to take the memory cut =(

and yea~ get it. im sure you will be very happy =) i have no regrets so far i put the Zen Micro to use about 18hrs daily (12hr battery life, i leave home charger at the office)
 
I just picked this 40 GB Sony VAIO Pocket Player for 299.99 about a month ago. Color screen and has all the bells and whistles you could want and you can dowload pics to it too. Compared to my iPod I LOVE the Sony. Not that I hate the iPod but wish I'd bought this first. Sony gets a lot of crap for their SonicStage software but it's as easy to use as iTunes in my opinion. That Zen Micro looks and sounds cool as hell too.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INT...&CategoryName=pa_DigitalMusicPlayers_Network#
 
[quote name='mmercer13']I just picked this 40 GB Sony VAIO Pocket Player for 299.99 about a month ago. Color screen and has all the bells and whistles you could want and you can dowload pics to it too. Compared to my iPod I LOVE the Sony. Not that I hate the iPod but wish I'd bought this first. Sony gets a lot of crap for their SonicStage software but it's as easy to use as iTunes in my opinion. That Zen Micro looks and sounds cool as hell too.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INT...&CategoryName=pa_DigitalMusicPlayers_Network#[/QUOTE]

I ordered this exact same player from buy.com on Thurs for $240 shipped (coulda had it for $230, but didn't want to wait the predicted 7-9 days for the free shipping ;) ). It looks awesome - I had been looking for a high-capacity player for under $250, and the full-color screen, picture/file transport support, remote, etc. are all just icing on the cake. Added bonus, I've been compulsively tagging my mp3's w/ their album artwork using musicmatch for years, and this player says it supports it. I can't wait for it to come in. :D
 
[quote name='ilikeTOFU']can play directly from pod>earpiece while docked[/quote]
I just bought a Zen Micro from zipzoomfly for 180 with free 2 day shipping. So far so good, but one question, how do you get it to play when it is docked? Mine will play fine while charging in the wall, but not while docked. Not really a big deal to me, but I was just curious.
 
I love my Zen Micro so much. I found out that Zen > iPod a long time ago. I got mine at the cheap ass price of $149. There was a settlement with Creative about their Soundblaster cards. My friend got in on that class action settlement back in the day. I told him that I was going to get the Zen Micro, and he told me about how the settlement got him a coupon for 25% off any Creative product. Being the nice person he is, he just gave it to me and I got a whopping $50 off the best player on the market.
 
[quote name='zzl365']I just bought a Zen Micro from zipzoomfly for 180 with free 2 day shipping. So far so good, but one question, how do you get it to play when it is docked? Mine will play fine while charging in the wall, but not while docked. Not really a big deal to me, but I was just curious.[/QUOTE]

When docked, the sound comes out of the player, even when you're controlling it from the computer. It took me a while to figure that one out too.
 
I've had a Zen Micro for several months now and love the hell out of it. I even made my own little case out of an Altoids tin. I'll post pics later if anyone cares to see them?
 
[quote name='zzl365']I just bought a Zen Micro from zipzoomfly for 180 with free 2 day shipping. So far so good, but one question, how do you get it to play when it is docked? Mine will play fine while charging in the wall, but not while docked. Not really a big deal to me, but I was just curious.[/QUOTE]

you close the driver software and Creative Mediasource (or what ever you use to transfer to your Zen Micro) then it just goes into "charge mode" like it does when plugged into the home charger.
 
[quote name='WAJedi']I've had a Zen Micro for several months now and love the hell out of it. I even made my own little case out of an Altoids tin. I'll post pics later if anyone cares to see them?[/QUOTE]

Pixplz.
 
I have a Zen Touch; which i slike the bigger version of the Micro. Its great, so I can vouch for Creative - but their firmware support sucks.

Big Time.

As in the next firmware update is supposed to have MTP support...and was announced about 10 months ago.
 
does the Zen Micro have the feature that plays your mp3's off the player and over your car radio?
My buddy's iPod does this, and I think it's, by far, the coolest feature.
Aside from that, the micro looks awesome. 4.8 gig is enough for me, and I don't really care for the iPod look and interface.

Thanks
 
[quote name='lukenot']does the Zen Micro have the feature that plays your mp3's off the player and over your car radio?
My buddy's iPod does this, and I think it's, by far, the coolest feature.
Aside from that, the micro looks awesome. 4.8 gig is enough for me, and I don't really care for the iPod look and interface.

Thanks[/QUOTE]
You can do this with pretty much any audio device.. as long as your cars headunit has an auxiliary input.
 
[quote name='chaarlieee']You can do this with pretty much any audio device.. as long as your cars headunit has an auxiliary input.[/QUOTE]

And if it does not, you can buy an FM transmitter and play it like that.
 
[quote name='ilikeTOFU']Currently there is a 6gig Zen Micro that just got released along side with the iPod Mini 6gig. $10-15 less than the iPod 6gig. It should be a while untill we see some huge memory capacity jump with these mini HD mp3 players. so if you want small in size, you'll have to take the memory cut =(

and yea~ get it. im sure you will be very happy =) i have no regrets so far i put the Zen Micro to use about 18hrs daily (12hr battery life, i leave home charger at the office)[/QUOTE]

meh, i am very happy with my ipod right now. No problems as of yet. My only real complaint is that itunes kinda sucks balls. But i found another program to load the songs on. I am not sure 6gigs could hold too much of my music. I already have 3 gigs on and i got it around christmas.
 
You can get a Dell DJ 20 gig for about $212, and it's just as big as an ipod (not a mini, but still fits in the plam of you hand and pocket). Creative built the Dell Dj for Dell, and it has the exact same firmware just minus some of the features (Mainly FM radio) it also supports PFS (Play For Sure, for bought music).

main%20menu.jpg
 
My Zen Micro has met the same fate as many others. Battery was only about 3-4 hours, earphones just totally snapped in half, earphones plug started to break off then did, randomly deleting songs, then eventuallly deleted all of them, stopped communicating with my comp, reset the software on both, then fried itself in the process. I'm happy with my Xbox I got back from the money.

-Cal
 
I actually jumped the Creative ship long ago. Their software isn't as intuitive and easy to use as iTunes... espcially when it comes to transfering. I haven't used the Zen Micro, and it is quite slick looking... but my iPod has yet to piss me off. Even a couple weeks ago when for some reason the songs were on the HD but not showing in the software... I just plugged the iPod in and iTune opened up and told me what to do. Painless.

It's all about the complete package for me, and iTunes and the iPod seem to be an unbeatable combo.
 
Zens in the past have had tons of HD crashes or damages. I don't know if they have changed much since the past. But it wouldn't surprise me if they have. A lot of companies have stepped up into their A-game to take down Apple's iPod.
 
[quote name='pumbaa']Even a couple weeks ago when for some reason the songs were on the HD but not showing in the software... I just plugged the iPod in and iTune opened up and told me what to do. Painless.

It's all about the complete package for me, and iTunes and the iPod seem to be an unbeatable combo.[/QUOTE]
There is the source of the ipod's power and selling point is its dynamic relationship with iTunes and its room to grow into other medias. In the future (the near future) you'll be able to buy movies off of itunes and various other forms of media as apple gears up for the iPod movie players (even though the current gen have the ability). Not only that but iTunes will soon be available on most Motorola phones. So I don't expect the iPod or iTunes to fade away any time soon.
 
[quote name='WAJedi']I've had a Zen Micro for several months now and love the hell out of it. I even made my own little case out of an Altoids tin. I'll post pics later if anyone cares to see them?[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I did the same thing with mine. Here's some pics:

0703.jpg

0706.jpg
 
[quote name='pumbaa']I actually jumped the Creative ship long ago. Their software isn't as intuitive and easy to use as iTunes... espcially when it comes to transfering. I haven't used the Zen Micro, and it is quite slick looking... but my iPod has yet to piss me off. Even a couple weeks ago when for some reason the songs were on the HD but not showing in the software... I just plugged the iPod in and iTune opened up and told me what to do. Painless.

It's all about the complete package for me, and iTunes and the iPod seem to be an unbeatable combo.[/QUOTE]

One word: Notmad

http://www.redchairsoftware.com/notmad/
 
im looking for a mp3 player that runs of file names and not the mp3 tags like the ipod does. is there such a thing that exists? one of the things i hated about the ipod was that i runs of tag names and it takes forever to transfer your music. i want an mp3 player where you could just drag and drop mp3 folders over too.
 
[quote name='unbroken']im looking for a mp3 player that runs of file names and not the mp3 tags like the ipod does. is there such a thing that exists? one of the things i hated about the ipod was that i runs of tag names and it takes forever to transfer your music. i want an mp3 player where you could just drag and drop mp3 folders over too.[/QUOTE]
The iRivers are drag and drop through windows explorer. However they seem problematic with Windows XP. In some cases windows won't even detect the device or it won't let you drag a file to it.
 
[quote name='unbroken']im looking for a mp3 player that runs of file names and not the mp3 tags like the ipod does. is there such a thing that exists? one of the things i hated about the ipod was that i runs of tag names and it takes forever to transfer your music. i want an mp3 player where you could just drag and drop mp3 folders over too.[/QUOTE]

Yes my Dell DJ can read the file name of the mp3 file. If it can't find the tags, it will sort it by file name. The "Dell Explorer" (It's acutally just embeded with windows itself) software works as drag and drop, works well but could be better.
 
[quote name='O.D.D']One word: Notmad

http://www.redchairsoftware.com/notmad/[/QUOTE]

Why should I have to pay a 3rd party for something that Apple themselves? The fact of the matter is that the reason the iPod is so damn popular isn't because someone decided that it was "hip"... it was that they work consistently, easily, and well. It's digital music for the masses... iTunes is a fully featured jukebox and a damn good one that I'd use even if I didn't have an iPod. The same can't be said for software that comes with most players. THAT's the reason for success, software and hardware linked seemlessly with excellent UI on both sides.
 
Well, my Sony VGF-AP1L VAIO came in the mail yesterday, and already I absolutely adore this thing. It's exactly what I wanted, and cost me far less than a comparable player of another brand would have. The LCD is gorgeous and displays all the album artwork I've worked so hard to attatch perfectly. The very unique way of navigating menus is very intuitive. The 40 gb (a little over 37 actual usable space) gives me plenty of room. And the sound quality is great.

I'm definitely glad I waited until this came along to buy a player, since nothing else I've looked at has come close to doing everything I really wanted it to. $240 for this was a steal.
 
[quote name='alfonsosoriano']I see the Zen Micro isn't compatible with iMacs. Bummer.

"Minimum System Requirements:

* Microsoft® Windows® 98SE/Me/2000/XP"[/QUOTE]

theres a way around this, theres a zen micro plug in for iTunes. Mac Only.


do a yahoo/google search for Zen Micro iTune plugin and stuff'll come up.
 
[quote name='lukenot']does the Zen Micro have the feature that plays your mp3's off the player and over your car radio?
My buddy's iPod does this, and I think it's, by far, the coolest feature.
Aside from that, the micro looks awesome. 4.8 gig is enough for me, and I don't really care for the iPod look and interface.

Thanks[/QUOTE]

your buddy is doing this over a FM modulator, the ipod ones are very slick looking blends right into the form and design of the player itself so you prolly didnt even notice it.

as for now, i have yet to find a form fitting FM modulator for the Zen Micro. =(
 
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