The slick Creative LX200 packs features aplenty into a small package: MP3 and WMA audio, FM radio, and voice recording features.Flushed from the success of the Nomad MuVo, audio monger Creative returns with another trendy MP3 portable. Dubbed the LX200 Digital MP3 Player, the company's latest melody-maker strikes a nice balance between pragmatism and polish, being stylish, compact and packed with features. You get MP3 and WMA support, an FM tuner that can encode to MP3, a voice recorder and great audio quality at ear-bleedingly loud volumes. You might expect a device of this caliber to be one of the pricier flash-memory players around, but the LX200 is priced at a modest AU$399, cheaper than some of the other 256MB solid-state players we've seen. Gym jocks and office commuters, form an orderly queue.
While not the sexiest design on offer, Creative's latest portable nevertheless cuts a fairly slick and compact figure; considering the modest $399 price tag, the LX200 is also surprisingly solid and admirably finished, clad in the company's signature grey and silver. At 80 x 45 x 17.5mm, the LX200's size isn't exactly record breaking for a digital audio portable but this diminutive 50g player is still small enough to fit in your palm and light enough to be unobtrusive when carried in a pocket or around your neck (with the supplied neck strap).
The LX200's fascia sports a large backlit LCD, with a nifty Sony-like jog dial switch for controlling most playback functions and accessing most of the player's menus and settings. Volume and record buttons are located at the top, while the device's underbelly sports a mode button, mini-USB port and a hold switch for locking the down the device when not in use. The solitary play button on the front panel doubles as the LX200's on-off power switch.
Once plugged into a USB port, most Windows (98SE and above) computers will recognise the LX200 as a removable drive, so you can drag and drop your files onto it via the desktop, rather than having to install a dedicated application. The LX200 is endowed with 256MB of non-expandable storage, sufficient for at least 4 hours of MP3 (encoded at 128Kbps) playback. It can't match portable hard drive players like the iPod in creating weekend-long MP3 playlists but the LX200 an ideal audio companion for those bus ride listening sessions between home and office, or for gym jocks who like to spend hours on the treadmill.
The LX200's MinDisc-style editing features include the ability to delete and arrange tracks. The player doesn't read ID3 tags--the code embedded in MP3 files that reflects information such as song title or an artist's name--but it does read the actual file name itself. You also get the choice to create your own on-the-go playlists, without having to use a computer, a feature that's right out Apple's book of mobile sensibility. It's a boon for those who are always on the road or seldom near a computer but we'd prefer a software alternative as well--categorising a hundred files manually can get a tad tiring, especially for the cut-and-paste crowd.
The LX200's in-built FM tuner is another first-rate feature that should please avid radioheads. The player can also record music straight from its built-in radio, which sports six presets--we found the reception quality to be loud and of extremely good quality, especially when you compare it to other FM-endowed models from iRiver and iBead. Walking around town, we had no problems getting any of our favourite stations, with only the occasional--and seemingly random--spot of bad reception. We also found the unit's voice recorder facility useful for interview sessions and taking down voice memos.
Software freebies, sadly, are almost non-existent in Creative's rather spartan package, one of our major gripes--you get nothing else apart from the few bundled accessories (neck strap and USB cable) and a CD-ROM containing drivers and electronic manuals. Bundling in audio editing software such MP3 rippers and players would've added more value to the overall deal. The LX200 comes with a pair of in-ear type phones, but like most packaged earbuds, the ones included with the LX200 are nothing to write home about. A full-function remote would have been nice, too.
Audio quality when playing MP3s and WMAs through our reference BeyerDynamic headphones was very good--complete with fully tweakable settings for the bass, treble, loudness and balance. The player sounds full and refined with little hint of compression. And unlike some MP3 units that don't play loudly enough, the LX200 drove our test headphones to satisfactory levels, perfect for busy streets or noisy train rides.
Creative doesn't include a rechargeable battery but that's a minor quirk unless you happen to be an extreme power user. For casual listeners, the LX200's above-average 10-hour Lithium ion battery should be suffice for a few days operation on a single charge. The player itself recharges directly from any standard USB port via the supplied USB cable. This can be both a good and a bad thing--the good is that most standard PCs nowadays are laden with such ports; the bad: there's no other way to charge the LX200 and Creative doesn't ship any mains power-to-USB converter, as yet.
The LX200's file transfer performance, too, wasn't entirely impressive--the LX200 struggled to copy over 120MB worth of tracks in 4 minute 40 seconds. That translates to a file transfer speed of 0.4MBps per second, which, compared to other leading flash-memory players like the BenQ Joybee and iRiver IFP-180T, is unusually slow.
Creative LX200 Digital MP3 Player
Company: Creative Technology
Price: AU$399
Distributor: Selected resellers
Phone: (02) 9666 6500
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