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MP3 players have been on the market for some
time now. Flash Players being the first introduced. Creative has
made a name for themselves in this market with the introduction of the Nomad series MP3
players. Their
Flash players were great and in my opinion, they manufactured the best flash
player to date...The Nomad II MG. However, flash players only offer
limited storage space, usually allowing no more than a few dozen songs with
the expansion slots already taken up with flash memory. If your an
audiophile like myself, you'll quickly see just how fast your MP3 collection
can grow. Today's hard drive based players allow maximum storage capacity and
excellent sound quality, however most devices are bulky and just not suitable
to carry around. Today, we look at Creative's latest player, the Nomad
Jukebox Zen. Personally, I've been waiting for a player like this!
It's got everything you can ask for an more. Although the Jukebox 3
has some nifty features, huge storage capacity and excellent sound quality, they are too
bulky and in my opinion, suffered major design flaws. It simply looks
more like a CD player than an MP3 player. Just not something small enough
to carry with you.
IPOD Killer?
That's what everyone has been asking since the Zen was recently introduced. Apple's IPOD is Creative's main competitor.
This hard drive based player took the mp3 market by storm! It's remarkably small size and
innovative design attracted many and is probably the best selling player to
date. Just recently, Apple introduced their players to the PC market,
increasingly making them the MP3 player of choice...until now that is!
Say hello to the Jukebox Zen, Creative's latest player and IPOD's main
competitor. The Jukebox
Zen sports a new design! It's small form factor and excellent storage
capacity should compete well with the IPOD, especially when it comes to value!
The IPOD is well overpriced. The Zen offers more storage space for
your money. A whopping 20GB (update 5/7/03: find out how to
upgrade it!) for $299 (after rebate).
But
how good is the Zen? Let's take a closer look!
The
device comes in an attractive package and includes everything you need to get
started!
Package Contents
The package includes your Jukebox Zen player
with built-in Li-ion battery, a nice travel case to protect it, stereo
headphones, power adapter, USB cable, Firewire cable, Installation CD and
Quick Start guide. The travel case adds additional bulk but is decent
and allows access to all buttons and functions except for the top transfer
ports. The stereo headphones don't sound as good as they look. You
should consider ditching them for a decent pair.
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