[Morphling]

the Dell DJ was definitely underestimated in battery life most people claim well over 3 hours more battery life than Dell claimed

 

[PirateJack]

Thanks for the quick reply Gloco and thanks to Creative for making something that makes sense.

According to UPS my Zen is at my house now, so I'll hopefully be posting a review sometime this weekend.

 

[PirateJack]

As stated I got home and it was awaiting me. I've played, I've tinkered and I've written the best, most complete review I can write for it.

I don't want to re-post it here because it is lengthy. If anyone wants to read it, here's a link right to it. (no ads, no pop-ups, it's my own personal site)

Zen Micro Review

Thanks to everyone in this thread that's kept me sated with your great comments while I waited to get mine.

 

[mushu]

Nice review! I'm still happy I bought my carbon though, the drag and drop makes transferring files so easy, and the micro does look quite thick and brick like.

 

[n0On3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stash I would just like to ask you proud owners of Creative Zen Micro if it "plays" text files? Can You read e-book on your Micro?

I don't think you can.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mushu Nice review! I'm still happy I bought my carbon though, the drag and drop makes transferring files so easy, and the micro does look quite thick and brick like.

will you write a review aswell?

 

[slunk007]

Wow... This player sure does seem tempting. For the longest time, I have had my eye on the Carbon. With it's proclaimed 20+ hours of battery life (although I've heard a wide range of actual battery life measurements between 12-24 hours), and the ability to be completely UMS (no silly data partition, no silly music upload software) it was my ideal player.

Is there any word on whether or not Creative will implement a completely UMS firmware for the Micro? The fact that you can only use a max of 2GB of storage towards data and that you can't go to another computer to upload/download files without software sounds very annoying to me. Other than that, this player looks damn slick. I'm not too crazy about the carbon's iPod-like metal backing which is prone to scratches.

Is the finish on the Micro like the Mini?

 

[yeeyy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slunk007 Any word on whether or not Creative will implement a completely UMS firmware for the Micro? The fact that you can only use a max of 2GB of storage towards data and that you can't go to another computer to upload/download files without software sounds very annoying to me. Other than that, this player looks damn slick. I'm not too crazy about the carbon's iPod-like metal backing which is prone to scratches.

I thought the 2GB can be used as Mass Storage Device, no?

Ok, I saw this from Taphil post, so the 2GB thingy can be used as Mass Storage Device without software.
Quote:

Originally Posted by Taphil It does work as a USB mass storage device. On the player itself, you can set the data parition size (128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, 1.5GB, 2GB if that much free space is available) and the device will function as BOTH a mp3 player and removable drive, contrary to the egadget review. So for example, you can make it 4.5GB for music and 0.5GB for files and use it to play music or as a removable drive. When you "disable" the data partition, all data on it is erased. I was at first critical of this, but it seems to work ok, so no complaints here.

[Edited] Typo of wrong name of quoting person.

 

[Azure]

So, with the Micro you can load up multiple albums at once and have the option to save that playlist? The Micro seems really tempting, but it's thickness is really turning me off. It looks ridiculously fat compared to the iPod Mini! How much heavier does the Micro feel than the iPod Mini? And, as far as sound quality goes (Unamped A500s), which Zen would be better - Micro, Xtra, or Touch?

Also, do the Micro or the the iPod mini have any visualizations of some sort? Does the Micro have any games?

 

[PirateJack]

While the Zen Micro is .2" thicker than the Mini, it's still really, really small. I was wearing some fairly tight blue jeans today and it slid right into my pocket like nothing. It's also still smaller in depth than the 40 and 60GB players.

 

[uncle b]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azure The Micro seems really tempting, but it's thickness is really turning me off. It looks ridiculously fat compared to the iPod Mini!

The thickness of the Zen Micro is pictures is truly misleading. It is a VERY SMALL player, and that thickness is not striking at all in person and hand.

 

[Azure]

Does anybody have any "in-person" pictures of the Blue/Light Blue Micros? I'm torn between the two...

 

[DanGilbertTX]

For those that already have the Zen Micro (lucky b@stards), does it look like the faceplates are interchangeable? I am waiting on a black one, but am wondering if I should just go with the silver one since I can have it here next week and not wait on the backorder. That is, unless one of you guys knows of a place that has black ones in stock and is close to the $215 they cost at Buy.com ($230 - $15 online coupon). The silver one is $225 after coupon, but would definitely pay the extra $10 if I knew I could change the faceplate at a later date and could get it here before Turkey Day.

Thanks in advance for the answers.

 

[thebobblehead]

Being that you have a Muvo2 and a Micro, can you tell me if there is any different in sound, and amplification? Since i sold my JB3, i had found my Muvo2 to have the best sound, but i needed playlists, so i sold that. Please let me know if the sound is comporable.

 

[mushu]

This is just a little carbon review:

Design:
First of all, the looks of it are just amazing. The red lights and the white backlit screen look very different yet sexy. The lights fade out when you haven't touched the keys which is a nice feature. The fornt is made of a nice shiny grey plastic, sides have rubber for excellent grip, and the back has the "scratch loving" ipod steel. I have had mine for about a month, and the back is perfect, because I kept the plastic on, and just cut out the but that went over the top. Speaking about the top, the top, still in the steel, has a USB2.0 5 pin USB mini B plug, the power button, a 3.5mm phone jack and the scroll wheel in the left corner. The USB 2.0 doubles up as the charger, so it charges while in the computer, and you also get a charger that uses the USB cable, which I think is a great idea. Now, the phone jack. You have all probably heard about the static problem, which is due to the case being made out of steel. Silly rio. A very easy way to solve this though is a tiny but of clear nail polish around the top of the carbon, or on the jack. Note, this only happens with the phones with the all metal jack, which not all have.

Features/control:
The controls of the carbon are actually rather easy to use, (the ipod still beats it though). You have a dpad with play/pause, stop, ff and rewind, and in the middle the enter button, the scroll wheel that clicks (like the jog dial) and the menu button just under that. They make playing and selecting stuff very easy. Now, the menu. You get to play stuff by song, album, artist, genre, track, year and new music, not forgetting playlists (not OTF though). From all of these menus, you can choose an individual song. The click wheel is faster at selecting song that the carbon, but the carbon still does a fine job. The battery life is unbelievable. I get around 18 hours with loads of stopping the player, turning it on and off, having different volume etc. The sound quality is also great, not as great as a zen, but not very noticably behind. The amp is also quite powerful, but again zens ave a bit more power. The standard headphones are god awful, make sure you get some new ones (or plugging in your E5's

)

Display:
The display is very crisp, and is very easy to read. When playing asong, it has artist, then underneath album, then in big bold font, the song name, then underneath a small bar showing how far through the song is, and then a changable info bar, of date/time, eq, track time, time remaining, and file type/bitrate/size. On top is battery bar and vol level.

Conclusion:
This IMO is easily the best mini mp3 player out there. Battery life, size (1gb more than ipod using seagate's new drive), controls (tactile buttons all the way, much easier when using it in pocket), completely plug n play with any W2K or newer OS, and more. The static problem really shouldn't put you off, it is quite easy to fix. Hope this helps some of you!

For great pics and a really in depth review, check out dapreview

(btw, I'm pretty sure all the creative players (from muvo to zen xtra) have the same sound quality, with an SNR of 98dB, and I don't think the faceplates are changable)

 

[PirateJack]

Pick your color wisely, 'cuz there ain't no changing it.

I updated my review (on my website) with my experiences with it over the last couple of days.