[ImMersion]

Hi guys,

I just bought a 40gb Zen Xtra a few days ago and am getting used to it and know the features it has, but there are always little secrets and findings that powerusers and enthusiasts like you guys find out when they compare.

What are you general like/dislikes and thoughts on this player versus those from Apple or Iriver (in the same capacity level)

Menus?
HD lag time?
Sound quality?
Battery time?
etc?

 

[ImMersion]

anybody...anybody at all?

 

[Charlie87]

From what I have heard:

Battery:14 hours IIRC, compared to Apple's 12 hours, iRiver new h340 has 16 hours

Menus: Am not sure but I know that Creatives software is horrible, Apples Menus are awesome, and the iRiver h-series is not very user-friendly by any means, it is for the folder-oriented user, but lame for a person like me that has too many artists and not enough by a singe artist (some may argue, but i am just going by what i tested at Best Buy)

Sound Quality: Supposed to be up there with the best, from the one creative I heard, I can say its more 'enjoyable' than my friends iPod

I think what turns people away from this player are its size and software

EDIT: i said 24 hours, I double checked and it was 14***hours

 

[audiomortis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie87 Menus: Am not sure but I know that Creatives software is horrible

was this based on experience? I've had mine for a short time, and I heard so many people complaining about this that I was worried, but now that I have it I can't find a problem here. I have NO problems finding anything or making a playlist on the fly or anything. As far as the PC software, no problems here either. it's drag and drop. I've heard one person say it crashed on them, but I've not seen it, and I've only heard of it once.

If your files are Tagged well, you'll be fine, and my understanding is, if you don't have good tags, it's going to be pretty hard on most players.

 

[Charlie87]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audiomortis was this based on experience? I've had mine for a short time, and I heard so many people complaining about this that I was worried, but now that I have it I can't find a problem here. I have NO problems finding anything or making a playlist on the fly or anything. As far as the PC software, no problems here either. it's drag and drop. I've heard one person say it crashed on them, but I've not seen it, and I've only heard of it once. If your files are Tagged well, you'll be fine, and my understanding is, if you don't have good tags, it's going to be pretty hard on most players.

Sorry I worded it wrong when I said " I KNOW it sucks" I have heard it sucks from many people and many big review sites, my mistake

 

[audiomortis]

yeah, I heard that soooo much too, but I still got one as it was the only one who offered the space i needed for the price I could afford (40gb-$200). When I got it and started using it, I couldn't find a problem with it. Now, I don't use it to convert files or anything, but only to put files from my computer onto the player and to delete stuff from my player. Also, this is my first MP3 player so I have little to relate it to, so that may have something to do with my satisfaction as well, but I've got almost 3000 songs on it now, and no probs in any way really. I'm not a big fan of the button lay out, or the lack of remote (or any accessories for that matter), but for what I paid, I'm very happy.

 

[ILikeMusic]

The 'Creative software sucks' line usually refers to the PC software bundled with the player (to manage and download tracks from the PC), and not the firmware in the player itself. In that respect the Zen units are quite good IMO, lots of features and easy to use.