Creative Zen V Plus 4GB Digital Multimedia Device - 70PF2072001Y1 - A new way to find your ZEN
Audio Player, Video Player, Audio Recorder, Voice Recorder, FM Tuner, Photo Viewer - 1.5" Color OLED - Blue

Best MP3 player I have ever had - Used it for music, audiobooks, recording, you name it. I have limited vision so I used it for audiobooks on a full time basis - used it for at least an hour a day for a year. As is typical of this model it froze up fairly often but I was always able to recover. The device finally froze up and will not recover - I have tried all the recommended stuff including disconnecting the battery. No recovery possible - had to trash it and am looking for another device but not one that locks up.
 
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I do not reccomend this MP3 player because it sounds like crap no matter how high-quality the songs are. And it feels like cheap plastic in your hands. Look elsewhere.
 
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Not having a computer at home made it much more difficult to get the player up and running, but once I found a way around that problem, I have to say that I love this little thing. I had some problems with the system that were solved by a download of the latest systemware.
 
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I've had the Zen for about 2 months. I use it frequently but not constantly. I am satisfied with the battery life, and was pleasantly surprised by the sound quality of the headphones. Sounds good through the home stereo as well. Easy to navigate once you get familiar with it. A nice unit for the price.
 
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I'm zero for 2 on Zen products. I've used my current Zen V Plus very sparingly over the past few months. Now it froze up, can't turn off until the battery dies, and won't allow itself to be reset. What an idiot I am for giving them a second chance!
 
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Yes, this is a great little MP3 player as mentioned in the other reviews, but the best feature of the Zen V Plus has not even been mentioned. The bookmark feature allows you to set 10 bookmarks, returning to audio files exactly were you left off in multiple audio books & podcasts. I use this feature several times each day. I have had the 8GB version for about 1.5 years, needing a warranty repair once ($25). Creative support has been very helpful on more than one occasion. I would definately recommend the Creative Zen Plus, but go for the highest capacity unit you can since you will fill it up. My Apple Ipod NANO boots up faster but sits in the drawer - it is not compatible with the local public library's free audio book downloads, nor does it have bookmarks.
 
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Checked for best price, found it at buy.com. Ordered products, made payment, received shipment in specified time. Easy and uneventful for the 4 things I ordered. This is a least my forth time ordering from buy.com. I have not had a problem with their service.
 
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After helping my husband and two teens select their four MP3 players, I finally decided I wanted one, too. I've found the Zen V Plus to be easy to use - easy to load the music, easy to find what I want to play - and the price ($75) was great for the 4G. My son is lobbying for a trade....
 
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I purchased three items from Buy.com. I did two separate orders for these items to receive a discount on each order. I received all three items in the stated time. My first item, a MP3 player, was stolen while in transit. I called and emailed Buy.com and the postal service immediately. Buy.com sent a replacement out in a timely matter. I have now made five purchases from Buy.com and have only positive things to report.
 
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I bought one for myself about 7 months ago and when my beloved said she wanted an MP3 player that wasn't always needing a battery and complaining she couldn't use any purchased music on her primitive unit I decided she needed this for her birthday. She was thrilled - when the unit started to play the look on her face told all. Wonderful sound, simple to use and relatively trouble free. Pros: easy to use, holds a lot, light and compact Cons: battery life is not as good as it should be, unit is subject to lockup at odd times (requires reset - better keep a paper clip handy)
 
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After 2 months it will no longer charge the battery. Otherwise it was a good unit - better than the Sansa units I've had (3) or the old generation iPod (1). I'll no longer purchase without a warranty which is of course a boon to the seller. Workmanship & reliability is a thing of the past.
 
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I got one of these for my husband and he loves it so much I ended up getting one for myself too. We both love the convenience and versatility. We both think it's better (and 3 times cheaper) than our daughter's iPod. The FM tuner is powerful enough to make it useful and the battery life is amazing!
 
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This product, like all Creative products, is of extremely low quality and their warranty policy really reflects that. I won?t be buying anything from them, I have learned my lesson. -I bought two Zen Vs in October to replace two aging (4+ years old) MP3 players; my wife?s original hard-disk Zen (died the week before) and my iriver H10 (still going strong) -I used my Zen V sparingly, mostly connecting it to the aux on my car stereo (I typically use my phone as my MP3 player) -After 4 mos. the screen on my Zen goes black for no reason. The rest of the unit works fine, just no screen, so now it is essentially useless. -I contact Creative assuming it would still be under warranty for defects. NOT! -Creative only has a 90-day labor warranty, after that you?re sunk. -Their response: pay a non-refundable $25.00 fee just to ?look? at fixing it. If repairs cost more than that you are charged for it. Apparently if repairs cost less creative pockets the difference. Not much incentive to make lasting products, quite the opposite. -My response: pay almost 50% of the purchase price to fix a defective product? No thanks Creative. Unfortunately it is too small to be a paperweight. I should have learned my lesson before, as the first Zen I bought several years ago I had to return for a replacement also (this is the one that died prompting the purchase in the first place), but Creative?s warranty period was better back then. No surprise it is shorter now. Do yourself a favor and find a company that stands behind their products for more than 90 days. The iriver H10 I purchased 4 years ago is still working fine and they have a 1 year warranty. Better yet, invest in an iPhone or a Windows Mobile phone. I have a Cingular 2125 Windows mobile device that I used more than the Zen V anyway. It syncs just as easily to my PC, has 4GB of storage rather than 2, has a better and larger screen, plays higher quality video and works flawlessly as a music player?.not to mention it syncs to my work and home email, calendar, tasks, etc. And you can play games. And make phone calls. Why did I even purchase the Zen in the first place?
 
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It's everything Creative says it is. Videos look excellent although, of course, small. Sound is awesome with other than the supplied earbuds. I use Philips SHS3200s -- available online for less than $10.00. I've knocked this unit around several times at the gym, dropped it, and accidentally kicked it. It still works fine, although it doesn't look new anymore. I've had only one problem with it. I carry it in the pocket of my gym shorts. Sometimes the pressure of the fabric toggles the play/pause button on the front when I sit. I haven't fully tested the battery life, but I've used it for over 8 hours to play music. It still had power left over. I can't attest to video battery life. Overall this is an excellent product at a reasonable price. IMHO, it's much better than the iPod equivalent. The companion software is pretty basic, but it does what needs to be done -- which is to manage the files on the player. I'm very pleased with this purchase.
 
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I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER CREATIVE MEDIA PRODUCT! I don't know how Buy.com comes up with 41/2 stars, I rate at 0 stars. Sure it's cute, and it works just fine for a few months. I expect my MP3 player to last longer than that. The system software is defective. Mine started suddenly anbd erratically switching back and forth to the radio player while I was listening to music or books. Eventually it just shuts down. It must be reset often (with paper clip). Also the screen developed a blackline right down the middle. I don't even use it anymore as a player, too frustrating. I am now using it only for the record function, digitizing my LP and cassette collection. Oh yeah, I forgot, the little button in the middle cracked and eventually came off. I have to use a fingernail to move the little action button now. What a piece of junk!
 
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Pros: Great design, Really like the design of the software, , & Great features, if they only worked Small size Cons: Poor quality, Many bugs involve daily resetting, Warranty repairs(3 months after purchase) are 35% the new price and that is full warranty coverage per Creative Labs, Customer Service spends more time trying to sell you stuff than listening (6 for 6 in pushing every product instead of helping resolve), & Need to buy ear buds as the one with it are the 10 cent ones Life of my Zen V Plus: The resetting was a pain, but tolerable since I constantly made sure I bookmarked the location and could easily get back to it (Audio books). The ear buds are junk as are most you get with players. Eventually, the player screen slowly faded over a few days and then stopped working after just over 3 months of owning it. I had been careful and knew it had never been damaged or even dropped. It was always in padded plastic case. I call Creative for the warranty and this is where it got really bad. It took 2 weeks just to get a RMA from creative to send it to them for warranty repairs. I sent it with all the info. They then contacted me 2 weeks later and said they hadn't gotten the receipt. So I faxed another copy of it. They said it didn't come through. Long story short 3 more faxes from different fax machines, 4 times e-mailing it as an attachment as an .mdi, .pdf, and .jpg file and then screenshots of circuit city's order history page and they finally got it. A few days later I get an e-mail requesting I call and provide payment for handling and diagnosis before they'll even look at it. I looked at my warranty and saw it said nothing about having to pay for anything, but shipping to them. They have clarified that it did say I wouldn't have to pay anything. I am now stuck deciding if I want to pay half the cost to get a new one or suck up my loss and go get a different player.
 
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In order to upload or download the files, you need to install Zen's own programs. If you are a dummy like me, the program CD comes with the Zen will install several useless programs on your PC, and without asking for permission these programs will be on your startup list and eat up your memory -- a very bad thing to happen, you not only lost a chunck of memory for something you do not want or need, but also have to wait for these annoying programs to be loaded every time you start your PC.
 
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I love everything about the Zen! The instructions are easy to understand, the battery has great life, very cool product!! Great service from Buy.com too. I just wish i had bought the 8 gig product. Maybe next.
 
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I love it. It is very small so I don't even feel like I have it in my pocket or strapped to my neck, etc. My only grip is the toggle button. It 'clicks' up down left right, and with my big hands I have to use the tip of my nail to use the toggle since it is too small for my fingers. Mostly I use it on random so I don't need the toggle button anyway. I've gotten used to it over the past month, however so it didn't effect my rating. I must also say the player is even smaller than I thought from seeing all the pictures of it online! The headphones are OK to coincide with the small size of the player, but the EQ doesn't change much sound with the supplied headphones. I recently bought a pair of cheap over the head (the big bulky DJ type) monitor headphones for my home theater and I was pleasantly surprised when I hooked them up to this player. It gave the sound much more bass, and the different EQ settings provided a large difference in sound quality.
 
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I purchased the Zen V Plus several months ago and I have been very satisfied with its performance and features. The unit is easy to operate and the included software makes uploading and organizing the contents easy. The volume is more than adequate for listening through the included ear buds but when used to play through a stereo system it must be raised very high which does shorten the battery time considerably. Recharging via my computer's USB port is convenient. To my surprise I filled the 4GB very quickly so if you are considering an MP3 player I recommend no less than 4GB. As the old saying goes, you can never have too much memory.
 
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This player is definitely one of the better investments that I have made this year. I bought this to replace another one, mostly for the line-in record feature, which I still haven't had a chance to use. It takes a bit to get used to how the menu levels are set up, but then again, I don't usually read the manual for anything. I just pick it up and figure it out.
 
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I'm not a techy, but I bought this small MP3 player for books on tape. I use it when I jog, walk, and on airline trips. It is small and perfect for these activities. I bought a small cell phone case to wear at the waist, since I don't like it hanging around my neck or arm. The 4 GB holds Ken Follett's two books -- Pillars of the Earth and World Without End and used only about half of it's memory. I especially like the bookmark feature so I can take up where I left off. Each book has about 4-5 parts of 6-8 hours of narrative. Both books are about 80 hours long. If you sign up thru Audible.com, Creative will give you your first download of a Book on Tape free. I've never had a problem of the battery running down. I just have to remember to recharge it when it runs low. I had one of the earlier 20 GB Ipod which I paid way too much for. I like this little gismo a whole lot better -- size, price and quality.
 
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Alright, so I'm Anti-Apple everything. I refuse to pay $1 a song so instead I subscribed to Napster-to-Go. This was one of the compatible Mp3 players so I read up on it and decided to make the purchase. I can say that after only having it for 3 hours (it was delivered this morning) I am already 100% satisfied. The display is bright and clear, the music is loud and clear. Very easy to navigate the menus and make changes to your preferences, music, pictures, videos, etc. I highly recommend.
 
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I think that the Zen v Plus was very useful and easy to use. I use it almost everyday and it hasn't failed.
 
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I bought the for a gift for my son. He loves it. It is easy to use and works great. The price on Buy.com was the lowest around.
 
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a good deal i like it better then ipod
 
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I've had the 4-gig Zen V Plus for a couple months now. I've never owned or used an iPod other than for a minute or two so I can't compare anything other than price, but the price was half that of a similar iPod. Sounds great and has lots of nice features. However, I didn't give it a 5 on performance because every now & then I get a stray noise in songs. I know the songs aren't flawed because I can play the songs later and they are OK. Strange... I suspect it's probably just my unit because I did a lot of research and never read about it doing that. The screen looks terrific. However, I don't like the way the software organizes pictures. When I'm in the proprietary software interface I can't drag and drop pictures from one folder to another. And I don't like how the album art is stored in the same location as my other pics. It may just be that I haven't taken the time to learn the software properly but it should be more intuitive without the need to figure it out. Overall, I would buy this player again. Love the size, screen, price and features.
 
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I enjoy my Zen a lot. I can't really listen to music at work cause I rock out too much, so the FM radio comes in handy for listening to talk radio.
 
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I am very happy with my Zen V Plus 4gb. I bought mine to listen to podcasts on my way to work, but I've been impressed with the sound quality on the music side as well. I like the size, functionality, build quality of the unit and quality of sound. Like anything new it took me a little bit of time to get used to the new software, but it works pretty well. I was using iTunes on my laptop and got used to that functionality, now I use the Windows Media Player for all of my storage. The only think I haven't liked is the earbuds, for some reason they don't fit well in my ears (not Creative's fault), but the sound quality is still good. The battery life is very impressive. I have used most of the features and got more than expected. The quality of the video is amazing. I don't know how often I'd use it, but it's fun to view short clips. The line-in feature is good to record songs off my satellite radio. I like my Zen V Plus so much that I've bought the 8gb one as a gift. Overall, a very good quality mp3 player at a reasonable price.
 
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The Creative Zen Plus V was bought to download a large 3.5 giga bite book into it to listen to. This is the third one I have bought to give away to friends plus first one I bought is a 8 giga bite Creative Zen which I have used regularly over the past year listening to the book three times through starting on my forth time. As much as I like and use my 8 giga bite the Zen Plus V 4 gig is easier to use and has the same quality of sound. They have simplified the use of the MP3 Player and is easier to operate or it is not as sensitive to the touch. To charge the MP3 Players is done through the USB port of a computer. This was a pain until they came out with a plug in charger. When I would have to go out of town for work I had no way of charging the MP3 Player until I got home again so it was a one way trip of use. With the plug in charger it is now a two way trip plus use while I am there. The plug in charger also charges the MP3 Player in about two thirds the time as does the computer. I would choose the Creative Zen MP3 Player over iPod or any others hands down. I am awed by the quality of sound from both the book and music.
 
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This little machine is wonderful. It has so many features and some that I probably haven't even discovered yet. I've heard that the navigation is better then that of the ipod, and I believe it. My favorite option is the plus and play option. You don't have to download anything but the software that it comes with, as opposed to the other mp3 players, which you have to download itunes, rhapsody, and other programs. So if you're in to free music files, get this player. The screen has brilliant resolution, even for its size. And it has a radio. Better than the ipod. You can't beat it at the price it sells.
 
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I have enjoyed my Zen, particularly the ease of use and the long play time on a battery charge. I have not tried all the features, like pictures and video, but bought it primarily for playing music during bike rides and exercise at the gym. I am very pleased. Arnold
 
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I've owned this wonderful MP3 player for just over a month now. It provides a good sound quality. The battery lasts over 10 hours between charges. Its size is only about two thirds of a business card.
 
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I enjoy music in this MP3 everyday when I am at my work place. the quality is good... sound is clear with good sterio effect. I haven't tried the record option. I liked this product very much and also the shopping with Buy.com was smooth. I got the product as per the scheduled delivery date.
 
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I love it - the only issue I have is that it has hung a couple of times, requiring resetting with a tiny pin. Not normally a problem, except that the last time it happened, I was at 38,000 feet less than an hour into a 10 hour flight with nothing handy! Fortunately, I had an "Aha!" moment and asked my daughter for her earring: the "mounting pin" (stud, I guess?) fit perfectly.
 
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I purchased the Zen V Plus to use to play music during timeouts at high school sporting events. We were using a computer but it took too long to set up. We used it for the first time this week and worked great. The controls are small so it takes a while to get used to but the sound quality was fine and it was much easier to use than our computer. I have also used it instead of my tape player when I mowed my lawn and it works fine... and in this case the small size is a plus. The only downside that I have found is that it does not come with an AC charger. It takes a long time to charge the battery using the included USB cable so I would invest in purchasing the charger. Other than that it is a great product.
 
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I really love these Zen players (I have the Zen Vision M as well). The Zen V suits my needs perfectly. I use it for running and for listening to mp3's and radio at the office. I got the TravelSound speakers for my office. For running, this is the best. Although I have been using it on my commute lately, since my wife has taken over my Vision, I have noticed that the sound quality is not quite as good as on the Vision. But, that is ok for me because this is not my primary mp3 player. Also, the screen is not sharp as the Vision, but again, for my needs, that is just fine. I have also noticed that the battery life is not as long as I would have expected, but I have never timed it, so it might be longer than I realize. If I didn't have any mp3 player, I'd get the Vision, which is what I did. But, this is a nice companion to have. I really think it just depends on how you plan to use it. Since I have a large CD collection and I watch a lot of TV on my Vision, that works very well for me. However, i couldn't stand running with the Vision, which is why I got the Zen V Plus. By the way, I have also used several ipods and i would strongly recommend considering a Creative product if you are deciding between the two. Sure, the ipods look nice and everybody has them, but they are over priced, you run the risk of getting locked into itunes (and therefore ipods), and what ever model you buy will probably be replaced within 6 months to a year by something better...which in turn will probably be replaced within 6 months to a year by something better...the cycle continues. Creative puts out a strong product and keeps it in the market for a reasonable time.
 
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i liked it, bought 2 of them
 
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Everything major of this product is good, except the headphone. You may want to buy a better headphone or you would think the V plus itself is a piece of junk. The batter life is good. Also, if you have a wall charger, the charging is quick. About an hour, it is filled with juice again. The FM radio reception is a little bit above devices in this size -- compare to other two nokia and sony cellphones that I have with FM receiver.
 
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The Zen V PLUS 4GB is by far a better Apple iPOD Nano. Does everything better than an iPOD NANO. The only drawback is there is no memory expansion slot unlike the Sandsisk SANSA E Series of MP3 Players which utilize Micro SD Cards. For the price theat Creative is charging, the ZEN V Plus is value and offers a lot of functionality for the price. A great gift for the kid in everybody.
 
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The Zen V is a wonderful player. The interface is far easier than the ipod, and it cost around 40%-50% less. It also has a line in for direct recording that the Ipod doesnt have. A wonderful player at a wonderful price
 
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This is my third player in the last two years. I cannot imagine why anyone would pay the extra money for an Ipod. The only difference between the 2 is cost and Apple's superb marketing. This Zen is excellent.
 
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As a middle-aged music lover, I wanted a portable digital player that would handle my thousands of WMA music files (though not necessarily store all of them at once). This little gem has filled the bill perfectly. It is tiny enough to fit easily in the palm of your hand, yet the joystick navigator is a snap to handle with a fingertip. Though not up to the gold-standard for music navigation set by iPod, the system is intuitive and simple to use; just a bit slower at searching than it's fruity competitor. Music transfers are a snap using Windows Media Player 11 and Vista. Have not tried transferring videos. The only down side to me is that, unless you spring for a Creative charger, you must charge the player via the supplied USB cable tethered to a computer. Not very handy when traveling without a PC. Not certain why, but apparently, generic or third-party USB chargers won't work with this little guy.
 
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I have had the zen for about 2 weeks now, and it's a wonderful little thing. It is really tiny, which is exactly what I was looking for. So far, however, there have been two minor problems: it froze once, and after I let it shut down and restarted it, it required synchronization with my computer again in order to work. The other problem are the headphones or the outlet for them because the right one keeps going silent so I have to play around a bit in order to get the sound back. Overall, however, I am more than satisfied - the V plus is definitely worth its money.
 
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This is my first mp3 player and I have shopped for one for a while. Four gigs seemed to be a pretty good amount without hitting that huge price increase for the hard drive players with 30+ gigs of storage. My first impression of the player was that it was /much/ smaller than I had figured from the picture, the whole unit fits easily in anyones palm. The sound quality is good and it gets loud enough to where you can hear the music without have the earbuds in. The plastic construction on it is okay but a few parts of it seem sort of clunky, including the joystick, I would have preferred a scroll dial or wheel. The screen is pretty good looking and video is watchable, even though it looks like you are watching it through a fence. Loading songs/movies/pics on it couldn't be easier with the included software. Just be prepared when converting video the uncompressed format, my 250mb video jumped to over 500mb, which seems terrible considering the resolution is bumped down so much. Overall happy with purchase, and with rebate picked up for about 75 bucks.
 
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You've got laugh at the i-idiots for paying 2x for an ipod when this Zen is much better with great sound ,easy navigation, slick software! 10+
 
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After three of the largest mp3 players on the market at the time (a Rio player bigger than my head, a dell jukebox, and a creative zen xtra) I decided to get a compact player. This little beast of a player has satisfied my every need. I am a music lover, yet have had no problems with this product. It is far smaller than the ipod nano and significantly cheaper. Also the screen is a little bigger, and much more lifelike. With video, the player only accepts uncompressed avi files, which are usually much larger than their compressed counterparts. Other than the long video conversion/transfer times, this player is better than the best thing i could have asked for.
 
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Everything received as advertised
 
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This is an excellent MP3 player. It's my third, the first being a Philips/Nike 64 MB player, the second being a Sony 1G, sports model. I love this player for everything it has. It's easy to use, and works with most subscription services (Sony's main drawback)Honestly, I've barely read the directions and figured out how to load it, start playlists, etc. If it has a weak link, it's I can't find skins, or the armband for it where I live. But, I live in a fairly small town, and it's easily available on line. The headphones aren't bad, fairly comfortable, with a good sound. I highly recommend this unit
 
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I really like it very much and an easy way to function, download and listen to with good quality sound. It is very compatible for downloading music from computer even from the psp(playstation portable). I would recommend others to buy this item and you won't be let down. I promise you......
 
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Very pleased overall with this player. Menu is easy to navigate and use, radio works well, video is excellent for the size of the screnn, and sound quality is very good. I have NO complaints.
 
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