Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen 20GB USB 2.0
Creative's answer to the iPod is the Zen. How does it stack up?Since we last looked at the Zen it's gained some capacity and changed connection methods. The original Zen had a 10GB drive and dual USB 1.1 and Firewire connections, while the newer Zen weighs in at 20GB and comes in two flavours; the original dual USB1.1/Firewire variant, and a new USB 2.0 only model, which is what we've reviewed here.
Of the three hard-drive based players in this review, the Zen sits in the middle size-wise; it's much smaller than the CD-shaped Nomad Jukebox 3, but still seems bulky compared to the uber-thin Apple iPod.
The Zen uses Creative's Playcenter software for file transfers, and has no DRM to speak of; we were rather effortlessly able to shift files between systems and then use them on a variety of players. Despite there being a Firewire variant, there's no Mac support for the Zen.
Our largest complaint against the Zen was its overall stability, especially when switched off. Half the time the unit would simply fail to switch back on again, even if the battery was fully charged. The solution for this is to reset the unit, and we took to carrying around a bent paperclip with us to enable this.
The Zen's battery lasted for around six hours in our tests, playing continuously. It is capable of recharging via USB, but the procedure for doing so is more fiddly than that of the iPod. It's not capable of charging while synchronising, and plugging it in while switched off will switch it on. You thus need to disable the system's ability to detect the Zen, then switch the Zen off before plugging it in to take advantage of the charging capability; a chore compared to the iPod where you just plug it in and let it do the grungy work.
The Zen is competitively priced given its 20GB capacity, but for our money it's not as easy to use or as well designed as the Apple iPod. Creative has recently announced a staggering 60GB Zen, although we were unable to secure a unit for review; depending on how that unit is priced -- and how that affects the ongoing price of the 20GB unit the tide could shift back in the Zen's favour. Until then, though, we'd recommend the iPod to MP3 fans with plenty of music to store.
Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen USB 2.0 20GB
Company: Creative Australia
Price: AU$899
Distributor: Selected Resellers
Phone: (02) 9666 6500
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