Creative Zen NX

Creative has to pull something spectacular out of the bag if it wants to catch up with the Apple Ipod in terms of sales but, at first glance, the Zen NX isn't it. It's smaller and lighter than previous Creative jukeboxes, but still 68g heavier and 6mm thicker than an Ipod. The thickness is no big deal, but extra weight is a crucial consideration if you're planning to listen to music while walking or running.

The Zen is also awkward to use - the small screen makes it difficult to read the name of the track currently playing, and there couldn't be a greater contrast between the user-friendly touch-sensitive wheel of the Ipod and the Zen NX's small, clunky control buttons. Not only do they make the jukebox tricky to control, there's no hold switch, so the danger of accidentally knocking a control while the Zen is in your pocket or bag is ever-present.

On the good side, audio quality is top-notch and the headphones are as good as we'd expect for freebies. One benefit of the bulk is a removable long-life battery that you can replace yourself should it start to underperform.

Windows Media aficionados will appreciate the Zen's support for that format, alongside the more standard MP3.

Creative impresses with its PC syncing software - it's easy to transfer music from the PC to the Zen, especially compared to the Musicmatch package sold with the Ipod. Transfer times are fast using the USB2 connection - our 10.5GB collection of albums took 56 minutes.

But while good synching software can't make up for bog-standard hardware, a low price might. £250 for a 30GB MP3 jukebox is an incredibly low price to pay, and might persuade those on a budget that it is time for Zen.

Contact: Creative
http://uk.europe.creative.com

Specifications:

• 30GB storage capacity
• USB2
• headphone socket
• 226g
• 76 x 22 x 113mm (w x d x h)
• Up to 14 hours quoted battery life
• Mediasource -
• Zen NX driver

See also:

Creative Jukebox Zen NX

Another hard disk MP3 player but can it trump the iPod on design and function?  04 Dec 2003

Apple iPod

The new iPod from Apple.  10 Oct 2003

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