Creative ZEN 8GB - Black - 70PF216000111 - Expandable memory, video, music, photos, & FM radio!

Creative ZEN 4GB - Black  $90.99  

Buy.com Only Creative ZEN Leather Case - Black  $22.24

Creative ZEN Clear Case  $18.24

Buy.com Only Creative ZEN Skin 3 in 1 Pack (Red, Blue, Black)  $18.24

Nice screen. You need to remember to hold down the on button for a few seconds before it will turn on or else it will lock up and you will have to do a reset. Switched out ear plugs b/c the ones the player comes with were uncomfortable. Overall, am satisfied with the purchase.
 
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Excellent design, easy to use, unbeatable price. Who could want more.
 
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The Creative Zen 8gb overall is an excellent product. It has great functionality, sound, radio and video playback. I have yet to try the SD card slot yet, but I'm sure pictures will look great because the screen is that good. Most accessories need to be purchased on-line (the screen protector is a must) and I've never been a fan of earbuds, so I will need to get myselfe some headphones. With all of its functionality at its current price ($120), the Creative Zen is at the top of my list of favorites.
 
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I was waiting to buy the Ipod Nano before I got this and man I'm glad I waited. This player has everything. Style, performance, funcionality and good sound. I like that it plays movies if you get it in the right format. It has a vry nice interface that allows you to change colors and personalize it. My favorite part is that the battery last a very long time compared to my last MP3. The only cons that I found are 1.)The memory card will not load automatically on to the playlists. You have to browse the card to play it's music. 2.) The buttons are not backlit so you have to know where the buttons are to operate at night. 3.)You will need to buy higher quality head phones because the ones that come included really suck!. I recommend the Sennheiser Cx-300b Lightweight Noise Isolating Earbuds. Very high quality for around $40 bucks. I think this player blows the IPOD away!
 
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If you want a mid-priced MP3/Video Player look no further. The video quality is absolutely brilliant. It can beat the iPod hands down. It has a built-in radio which is a plus (I enjoy the radio as it is more 'unpredictable' since there are songs outside your library that are worth listening to). Its small size makes it perfect to carry around in your pocket (just be sure to get some screen protectors). The only thing this machine can't beat the iPod in is its storage. But on the bright side, it uses flash memory so it's not prone to any mechanical problems. I highly recommend the Zen if you don't want to spend money on an iPod.
 
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I recently purchased the Creative ZEN 8GB and am happy with the purchase. The color screen is crisp and sharp. The menu is easy to use. For me, 8GB was enough for my music playlists. My only critique is that the FM radio tuner is not as strong as I expected. I think you would want to buy the FM transmitter to make it be an acceptable radio.
 
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A great ipod alternative. Have no problem with it so far. Pretty good battery life. I would recommend to buy.
 
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you have to install Creative Media Explorer to copy your content to Zen, still better and simple software than iTunes. The sound quality is awesome, standard earphones produces powerful bass. It took me three days to get Zen turned off itself with really low battery. I also own iPod Nano 3rd gen, but since I got this baby I never listened to ipod. IMHO, Creative ZEN is better than iPod and iRiver Clix2 (U20).
 
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I've had my Zen for over a month now and I'm 95% satisfied. I'd give it a perfect 100 if the transferring of music weren't such an annoyance, not impossible, but I wish it were easier for non techies such as myself. However, I did find the ripping CDs feature to be very handy and rather easy. And, somehow I don't get the advertised 25 hours on my battery. I don't know if I overcharged it (it was charged overnight), or if I got a bad battery, but I barely get 10 hours! I don't plan to ever use the Zen for such long hours, but I had hoped to avoid charging it constantely as I do now. Outside of those two gripes, really they are only that, I love my Zen! I'm new w/the whole mp3 thing, my first was a Samsung U3 (a great little thing for its catagory!) so I was immediately struck at the quality of the Zen; big, beautiful screen, incredibly easy to use, love the "short cut" feature, and the expandible SD slot is the perverbial icing on the cake! Nothing against Apple, but I don't see why anyone would pay more for an mp3 that would be--at best--the same quality as a Zen. Oh, I absolutely love the fact that I can change songs and adjust the volume w/out even looking at the device, even when the player is deep in my pant pocket! So overall, a great mp3, esp. for the price. And, when I'm ready for my next one, Creative Labs will most definitely be at the top of my wish list.
 
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Having several features that Jobs forgot to add to his little iPod player, makes the Creative ZEN the easy winner. If you can step out of the box (that most people are in) and compare all the goodies offered with the ZEN, instead of buying under peer pressure or just by the name, then you too will realize how great this player is... Now to my review. I'll simply add the features that I like the most. 1) Extended 4 hrs. showtime for movies/videos. (2x longer than iPod) 2) In comparison to the iPod, the Zen's screen is also a lot brighter. The LCD's contrast is excellent. 3) The FM radio reception is great (I don't live in a big city). 4) It handles all the major formats for music & videos. The graphic equalizer is a huge plus for sound quality. 5) It also has a feature that I (as a parent) love. It has the ability to set the "maximun" volume and password protect that setting so your kid's won't be deaf by the time they reach 20... The Bottom Line is that the ZEN is an excellent choice for your next (or 1st) portable video/music player. I don't have any complaints for the one I bought my daughter.
 
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I've had this player for 2 months and its working liking a breeze. It's works well and is a lot more flexible than an ipod. At first, it started giving some trouble with downloading and deleting music, and the album artwork.At one point, I couldn't delete the music from the player at all and it just turns the black screen of death once more after resetting. After an hour, it started working fine and easy to use. You can use a variety of programs for this player for downloading music, photos, and videos. You can use Windows Media Player, Zen Media Explorer, or straight from under "My Computer". It's so easy! If you want to see the album artwork for each of your songs, using Windows Media Player is your only option. Using Zen Media Explorer(downloaded from creative.com)or from under "My Computer" will completely mess up the album artwork making all the pictures the same when you play your songs. Don't make the mistake I did and just stick with Windows Media Player on any occasion to avoid any conflicts I have encountered. Using Windows Media is a little hard at first but you get used to it, and drag n' drop is a great feature. Just remember to stick with one computer when syncing your songs because I have encountered freezing when switching to my desktop. On any occasion just keep a spare paper clip handy as during times the player tends to freeze(usually when plugged into the computer, not when listening to music).
 
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Good product at a good price. I have enjoyed it so far. Like the good deal I received. I am currently looking for furniture (living room set & bedroom sets) at a sweet deal so if you have any please let me know. Thank You
 
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Easy to use. Good price. Small. Durable. I like Creative products. My wife uses a Zen, and my daughter has a Vision:M. All satisfied.
 
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I have had this Zen 8GB for about 3 weeks now. I have not had one problem with it. I did get the updates right away and everything works great. I have mp3s, audio books and videos from Amazon Unbox. The videos are great quality and no problems viewing them. Everything has been really easy to install so far. It is a lot of fun.
 
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I don't know what I ever did without my Zen! I can now record TV (using Windows Media Center) and transfer movies and TV shows I don't have time to watch to my Zen and watch them throughout my day. I also love the expandable SD slot, so that if I forget to bring my Zen home from work, I can just load up a show or two on an SD card, pop it in, and I'm good to go. Most of my comments (excellent music quality, gorgeous screen, slightly smaller than credit card size (L x W)) about the Zen are already mentioned here, so I'm just going to rebut some of the comments below: First and foremost, I find it absolutely retarded that someone give this player 1 star because they have a problem with the stock headphones. You bought a portable media player, NOT a set of headphones. Rather than rate it a 1 for this whiny, nitpicky complaint, perhaps you should contact Creative and express your concern. You may have just gotten a bad set of earbuds. It's absolutely no reason to rate this product 1 star. Naga Praveen: did you contact Creative? Did you follow ANY of the instructions? Every single piece of technology ever produced may not work properly, but people tend to try to rectify the problem prior to throwing in the towel. Did you do anything to try to fix the problem? Your review reads like you work for a Creative competitor and are trying to take down this incredible product.
 
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The unit is tiny and has great audio. No problems with the buttons or the menus. Nice screen. Compared with Zen V Plus, Ipod 5th gen, and Sansa E2xx series. This one beats the lot!
 
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Hi, Even after reading a negative review about the product,I purchased this product a week back(I am more attracted to the Model and features) and from the day I recieved the product,I am not able to see any thing on the screen and it simply hangs..like a dead screen and even after full charging there is no difference.Finally I am returning the product which is a waste of time and money.
 
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I listen to a lot of audio books (.mp3s) which generally consist of many large files (60-70 MB). Each file plays for about 1.5 hours. I will start and stop listing many times throughout the day. The longer I wait in between listening the more the start point of the files goes backwards. i.e. if the file is at 01:00:00 and I don't listen for a short period of time, when I start it back up again it will be at 00:45:00. The longer I wait the further back it goes. If I turn the player off, it's back at the beginning of the file when I turn it back on and I have to fast forward to the point I left off. I create playlists to listen to my audio books which works just fine. Now if I set a bookmark, I can choose bookmarks when I start listening again and start up right where I left off. However it will only play until the end of the current file and seems to forget that I was using a playlist, at which point I have to select playslists and choose the correct file to continue listing. This seems to be by design and affects many of the Creative models. Other than that it is a pretty good mp3 player, but if like me you listen to large files you will need to make note of the time when you shut it down so you know where to fast forward it to when you start up again.
 
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I would only buy if your getting significantly below the IPOD price. I like the SD memory slot but disappointed that it is treated like an external disk - all the nice music management features of the main memory are not available. If Zen could make a firmware upgrade to make the SD slot a cleaner link with the main memory you would have a Ipod Killer. The UI is not as nice as the Ipod but it is not bad Screen is bueatiful Audio power seems light compared to my busted Iaudio x5l but it is enough to power my ER - 6 buds to volumes I should only be listening too. Overall if you get it in $125 range with rebates - a pretty good value - if they could make the SD seemless it would be awsome
 
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I bought this to listen to audiobooks. The battery life is amazing! I am nearing the end of a 7 hour recording (over as many days) and the battery indicator has just started to drop. Very nice.
 
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Shipping was very fast, (5 days)and so far it has performed as expected. The software is a little redundant but pretty intuitive. You don't really need it if you have Media Player but it's a nice alternative. The controls are easy to use but can be confusing if you are new to portable mp3 players. It helps to read and understand the directions. As with many of the other reviewers we discovered that the unit can freeze up and requires resetting, which can be annoying. Other than that, it works quite well.
 
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My ZEN has stopped working. It hung with a 'black screen of death'. I have already have put some songs and pictures in there. I tried resetting and all that they have in their knowledge base. NO USE! I am returning this product. Didnt expect such a thing from Creative. I will also lose some money on shipping and re-stalking fee etc, which is very upsetting. If you ask me, my opinion about this product is very negative. I am very upset with them! Actually, getting a black screen of death is a very serious problem for Creative ZEN.
 
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I've had my Zen for about a month now and just started using it heavily for about the past 3 weeks.-- About me, I'm technically adept, though not a techie by any means. I use my Zen primarily for workouts at the gym or taking my dog out, thus I barely use the video, mostly music. Being that I use it mostly for music I have no real need for the memory card slot, though I've used it once or twice.-- Previously I owned a Sandisk Sansa e280 and didn't like the scroll wheel on it. Being an anti-iPod'er I liked the idea of a scroll wheel for my replacement of the Sansa so I was dismayed to see that this had none. After reading the reviews I was mixed on if I'd like it or not, but I needed a new player for the gym so I decided to get it anyway. I am quite pleased with it so far.-- AESTHETICS: It's great. Definately compact with a nice, large screen. Thin enough and good looking. The buttons are a little strange for me (because I was looking for a wheel) but after you get used to them, no problems. Would be nice if the buttons had a backlight to them though. Screen colors are bright and vivid. Gives you a decent selection of wallpapers with the option to upload your own. -- PLAYABILITY: The user interface is VERY easy to understand and navigate through. (My friend was telling me that iPod used Creative's interface as a blueprint for their interface). It's easy to download songs and navigate through them (much easier than the Sansa). Like the idea of a "smart button" on the player that you can assign to do various functions. There is also a calander, alarm clock & an option to create contacts in an address book (though I'm not sure who would make use of these functions).----- BATTERY: Very long battery life which is surprising considering the screen stays on the entire time the device is on. I use the shuffle feature and I still never worry about the battery running anywhere near low for at least a couple of days (I use the player anywhere between 1 - 3 hours per day).----- SOUND QUALITY: Great. I was concerned that the bass would be too great after reading reviews but there is a "bass boost" option and I have no problems with the bass levels. Overall sound is crisp and clear.----- SUGGESTION: Update the firmware via creative.com as soon as you get the player. I always updated my players as soon as I get them and noticed that some users commented there was no equalizer and that things from the memory card couldn't be integrated into the player easily but it seems like the updates to the player have corrected these issues. Note: There have been at least 10 firmware updates released by Creative for this player since its release.----- THINGS I'D IMPROVE: Give the buttons a backlight so they are easier to identify in the dark. Creative should make better athletic armbands for working out with. I bought a decent one from Ebay though that is simple yet effective and costed about $8.----- Overall I love it. I would recommend it to anyone who is not brainwashed into thinking that the only good mp3 player is an iPod.
 
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Even after reading a negative review about the headphone here on buy.com, i decided to buy one thinking it might have been a unique case with his player. However, I found exactly the same issue with the earphone...the sound quality changes as you touch the earphone jack. so, you dont really know whats the true sound of the zen!...I plugged in my large headphones and there was no issue at all...however the sound quality was totally different. Creative should have better paid attention to the earphone piece as that