[jpelg]

Public Service Announcement:

Staples has a sale on 40gig Creative Zen Xtra's for $199 this week. Actually the sale price is $219, and there is an additional $20 rebate. You can buy thru the website or at a B&M near you.

Not the newest, nor the smallest DAP, but forty gigs for under 2 c-notes is a good value. And the headphone-out is supposed to be pretty good & strong, so you may not need an external amp.

Mine's charging up right now

...

 

[MD1032]

Yup, I've never really heard anything bad about these, but I've seen cheaper so I'll wait around until they're dirt cheap.

 

[Sinbios]

Eh, is this US Staples only? Cause we don't carry Creatives.

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MD1032 I've seen cheaper

For the 40 gigger?

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sinbios Eh, is this US Staples only?

I guess so *shrug*.

 

[ILikeMusic]

That's a great bargain, I haven't seen the 40 gig units below $200 yet. While not the smallest or most stylish unit on the market the Zen Xtra is a very good player... top quality sound, good battery life (and you can swap batteries for even longer play), and very capable feature set.

 

[a1leyez0nm3]

i picked up a zen xtra at frys for 199, 169 after mail in rebate. just got it charged... im starting to have second thoughts (iRiver everything else i own)... im not hearin any bass yet... and the organization/song scanning is ridiculous.. i cant figure how the 2@%$@#$% i can just push the next button to get to the next song without it jumping around to only 5 out of the 2000 songs on it

ill give it a week. anyone have any links handy about the zen and how to fool around with the settings? maybe im doing something wrong..

 

[jpelg]

I returned mine yesterday. It was just too big to carry comfortably in my pockets or hold in my hand. Control buttons are not the least bit intuitive. And what makes the size issue worse is that they are placed on two sides of the unit. I needed either two hands, or an in-hand reposition to change a song & then adjust volume. This would surely result in a dropped unit soon - stupid design. Now I remember why I loved my old iPod!

Sound was just "ok", imo. Not the best I've heard from a DAP by a longshot. In fact, the sound I've been hearing out of some SigmaTel-based flash players has easily trounced HD-based DAP's I've heard.

Creative's transfer software was ok, but kinda slow. It's fairly intuitive, as I was able to figure out how to transfer songs without reading any manual or help guide. Still, it's no iTunes, or even ephPod.

I guess I'm back in search mode. I'm looking at flash players again, or I may just buckle and get an iPod mini this weekend and be done with it.

 

[Sinbios]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a1leyez0nm3 i picked up a zen xtra at frys for 199, 169 after mail in rebate. just got it charged... im starting to have second thoughts (iRiver everything else i own)... im not hearin any bass yet... and the organization/song scanning is ridiculous.. i cant figure how the 2@%$@#$% i can just push the next button to get to the next song without it jumping around to only 5 out of the 2000 songs on it ill give it a week. anyone have any links handy about the zen and how to fool around with the settings? maybe im doing something wrong..

Lack of bass may be your earphones... which phones are you using? And I don't quite understand your problem with it "jumping around"... have you loaded the songs into your "Selected Music"?

 

[emmpeethree]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a1leyez0nm3 im not hearin any bass yet... .

i take it you've never used an ipod!

Quote:

but I've seen cheaper so I'll wait around until they're dirt cheap.

i can't see them getting that much cheaper. the one i have was purchased a year and half ago for 300. i bought it 3 months later for 220 shipped. now a year and a half later, new they are 100 bucks off...

its becasue of their capacity relative to everythign else on the market is still the largest. and compared to any other name brand 40 giger, are dirt cheap.

they are bulky and heavy and i dont consider the battery life that great (8-10 hours) but they get the job done and hold all the music you could ever want in a portable.

great for using on public transport, but running with it is not going to happen. what's nice about the new ones is that the head-phone jack problem is fixed (the only real problem with them) and the case has a window on it so you can see the display without opening it every time.

unfortunately when I RMA'd mine (headphone jack...) they sent back the player by itself!

 

[TomRemixed]

the only complaint about these is size, and ugliness
however my friend was walking by some kid and was insulted for having such a larger mp3 player(whats wrong with kids today?) so he turned it off to show the kid his turning off picture saying FU** YOU!

thats one cool feature on these players is customizing the turn off picture with ms paint

 

[TomRemixed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by emmpeethree i take it you've never used an ipod!

whats that have to do with bass?

@jpelg why would you buy one of these if you already have an ipod it's a good deal but still $200 is your pod broken?

 

[taymat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg I returned mine yesterday. It was just too big to carry comfortably in my pockets or hold in my hand. Control buttons are not the least bit intuitive. And what makes the size issue worse is that they are placed on two sides of the unit. I needed either two hands, or an in-hand reposition to change a song & then adjust volume. This would surely result in a dropped unit soon - stupid design. Now I remember why I loved my old iPod! Sound was just "ok", imo. Not the best I've heard from a DAP by a longshot. In fact, the sound I've been hearing out of some SigmaTel-based flash players has easily trounced HD-based DAP's I've heard. Creative's transfer software was ok, but kinda slow. It's fairly intuitive, as I was able to figure out how to transfer songs without reading any manual or help guide. Still, it's no iTunes, or even ephPod. I guess I'm back in search mode. I'm looking at flash players again, or I may just buckle and get an iPod mini this weekend and be done with it.

This is why I love my bros rio karma and hate my zen xtra, the only reason I haven't replaced it is because I don't use it enough. I actually got third party software called notmad, to replace creatives sub standard software. The player is still bad though, you can't change the buttons! Save up more for a karma/ipod. I haven't used an iriver/neuros/sony hd mp3 player so can't comment on them.

 

[emmpeethree]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomRemixed whats that have to do with bass?

an ipod has NO bass...

even with my portapros it was nearly lacking!

 

[derek8555]

I own a Zen xtra, and the sound is absolutely stunning. Never use the bundled earbuds from Creative, they muffle sound and I threw them out right after unpack mine. About the bass, yes, it's a bit light, but if u tune it with the EQ then you will get some deep bass. From various articles and reviews, the sound quality is rated above iPods', bad thing is its size and appearance but if you are serious about sound quality those are just minor factors.