[tattoou2]

About two weeks ago I pre-ordered a black one from Amazon.com. Product release was supposed to have been 11/5, last week. Today I received a notice from Amazon stating: "This item is not stocked or has been discontinued." My cc was not charged according to the email.

Anyone know if the release date has been postponed?

 

[Taphil]

I ordered one for my roommate on Saturday. Yesterday (Monday) I noticed that on the product page it said discontinued/out of stock. I haven't received any emails from Amazon about it though. My shipping date is 11/12. I looked on eBay and one selller was selling the silver limited edition (comes with extra battery), so I bought it and it was shipped already. Not sure how she got it so fast or how she can sell at that price, but 100% positive feedback so I took a risk.

 

[tattoou2]

Thanks.

I just took a look at the Creative site and it seems they have the silver in stock and shipping right now, but not any of the other colors. Just thought it was a little odd of Amazon not to advise me of another ship date. I'll probably just go ahead and order directly from Creative.

 

[fr4c]

so other than battery life and storage, in what other ways are the Zen Micro superior to the iPod minis?

 

[Taphil]

advantages:
5GB vs. 4GB (25% more)
12h vs. 8h battery life (50% more)
Removable/replaceable battery
FM radio
FM radio recording
Voice recording
Backlit buttons
WMA support (but no AAC)
higher resolution screen (160x104 vs 138x110) allows same number of lines of text but longer amount of text per line
text scrolling from long names/titles (I'm assuming)
same price
better sound quality possibly, or at least more bass and less shrill
it's not Apple

similarities:
1 year warranty
customizable menus
contacts, calendar, to-do, notes
preset EQ settings

disadvantages:
shorter but thicker
0.2oz heavier
no iTunes support

Anyway, I think Creative has finally got a good product that will sell well to average consumers, a la iPod, though of course not as well in number comparisons. I don't think their any of their other HDD players are at all appealing, which includes all of the version of the Zen - Zen, Zen Xtra, Zen Touch, Zen NX - and Muvo2.

 

[GSTom1]

Does the iPod Mini require software to load music? Does it act as a USB Universal Mass Storage (UMS) device?

Apparently, the Zen Micro requires software to load music (mp3/wma/wav) files but acts as a USB UMS device for all other files. Some other advantages of the Zen Micro are that there is an optional remote (included for free in some countries) and limited PDA functions (i.e. calendar). Also, the some limited edition Zen Micros includes a free second battery.

 

[Taphil]

Yes, iPod mini requires software (iTunes) to load music.

Yes, iPod mini acts as a mass storage device (no drivers needed).

So both mini and micro are equal in those aspects.

 

[sleepkyng]

another disadvantage: no apple lossless for any other daps besides ipods

 

[Taphil]

True, but what's the point of lossless on a relatively small 5GB drive? Lack of a line-out (on the unit or dock) would be a disadvantage though.

 

[sygyzy]

Can lack of iTunes really be considered a disadvantage? C'mon now.

 

[Taphil]

Compared to Creative PlayCentre or MediaSource, which I use for the NJB3 (and maybe micro) because I refuse to pay for exta/better software, a big definite YES! However, I don't see anything that says the micro requires software to load music.

 

[sleepkyng]

well i have most of my music on an external hard drive and rip most of it into lossless so on my 15 giger it's no problem, dunno about 5 gigs, though most of the time i only have about 4 gigs on my ipod at any given time.

 

[GSTom1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taphil Compared to Creative PlayCentre or MediaSource, which I use for the NJB3 (and maybe micro) because I refuse to pay for exta/better software, a big definite YES! However, I don't see anything that says the micro requires software to load music.

Here’s what Harvey Fong, a technical marketing specialist for Creative Labs, wrote in three different posts on the Nomadness.net:


**********

There are a lot of things going around and I'm sure there's going to be confusion. I'm going to try and summarize this

Out of the box

You'll be able to use it with MediaSource. Additionally if you are out someplace where there aren't drivers installed on the system, you can allocate of to 2 GB of diskspace and make the Zen Micro a USB Mass Storage device to get your files to whereever you want to go. During this time, the device will be a USB Mass Storage device it will not be recognized by MediaSource. After you get your data home or whereever, you can remove the USB partition and the Zen Micro will once again be recognized by MediaSource.

MTP Firmware Update

This is a feature that will be offered as an update only, it installed on the player when it is shipped. As the installation of this firmware (not reversable or recoverable) will make the Zen Micro a Windows MTP device that will be recognized by any Windows XP system that has Windows Media Player 10 installed. You should not install this update if you will be using your Zen Micro with other operating systems, or earlier versions of Windows, or earlier versions of Windows Media Player.

**********

Yes, there should be firmware updates for both versions.

The USB function is more for temporary usage when you encounter a system that does not have drivers installed or where you cannot install drivers (e.g. a public computer). There is the presumption that you will probably have musical content on the player, so if you convert too much space, you'll lose your content. As it stands, it will only let you convert up to the amount of unused space available on your player; if you have less than 2GB available, it will only let you format up to the available space. Yes the conversion is literally done on the fly, on the player.

**********

The USB Mass Storage portion is only for data transfer. Audio content would have to be in the Music Library portion for playback. Yes, you can name the radio presets, and you can do so directly on the player.

The Zen Micro has already started shipping, pre-orders that we have received in the Americas region are currently in the process of being fulfilled (both Canada and US). The players are also on their way to or have arrived at some retail stores. J & R Music in New York City will be having a Launch Party on Thursday Nov. 11 at their Park Row store.

The Americas warranty is applicable world-wide in any Creative region, but Canada is in the Americas region. So it wouldn't really make any difference which side of the border you purchased the player. As long as you don't try and pay for it with loonies and toonies.

 

[GSTom1]

Here's some information from Harvey Fong regarding the limited edition Zen Micros with the free 2nd battery:

**********

The free extra battery is not restricted to a specific time, but rather a bonus that will be limited to a specific number of players from the intial offering. Look for the "Limited Edition - Free Extra Battery ..." sticker on the front of the box to be sure that you are getting one that has an extra battery. It will be in all retail boxes until we hit that 'specific number'; regardless of where they are sold. (and just because someone may try and do it, do be aware of people trying to sell you a package marked as have an additional battery, with one battery.) It shouldn't be an issue on the first bunches of players that go up on store shelves, but if you are looking 3-4 weeks down the road, you'll want to be sure the box has that sticker on it, otherwise there's only going to be one battery in the box.