[mdmania]

Hi Folks,
First of all this is not a joke. There is an actual Zen Xtra unit available now at Best Buy. So check your BB nearby and nope, I'm not affiliated with them.
I recently exchanged my Zen NX 20gb when I learned that BB carry this particular unit, and at the beginning I was indisbelief because of the accumulated rumors that were going on all over the forums and there is nowhere insight you can find any information on this. Thank God that one of the guy from nomadness.net posted his 40gb Nomad Zen NX Xtra there and told us about it.
So to make story short. I exchanged my nx 20 for Zen Xtra 30gb paying only $50.00 more, but I thought it was well worth paying for. My initial impression with the unit was that having larger LCD and bluelight to go along with it made the unit more impressive. It doesn't look as cheap and it feels more solidly built. The scroll wheel appears to be higher than the one on the NX and makes it easier to go through menu.
As far as the features go, there is a Shuffle repeat. I believed that this wasn't included on the NX, but I could be wrong. And finally on the profile setting (Style menu) you have an option of either changing the setting from List or Tabbed. Tabbed almost reminds me of the set up from Iriver Slim-x.
Overall, comparing this to NX as far as features goes, they are both about the same. The only significant differences between the two is the LCD, the return of the blue light from the original Zen and maybe the scroll wheel. Unfortunately there is no additional outputs or any access for remote control.

BTW: 30gb = 299
40gb = 349
60gb = ? There is this add I saw at nomadness.net that there is going to be a 60gb version. Check out nomadness.net forum and see it from there.

Thanks!

 

[ezra2323]

It's not at my local BB, and not on their web site. Anyone else know anything about this unit being available?

Madmania, can you try uploading continuous WMA files from a live concert CD and confirm if the Nomad Xtra plays gapless? Thanks!

Also - is the scroll wheel more like the higher quality Zen or the cheap Zen NX????

What software does it use?

Thanks!!!

 

[mdmania]

It's not at my local BB, and not on their web site. Anyone else know anything about this unit being available?

****Keep checking with them. My BB here in Boise usually have their truck shipment on Mondays and Thursdays. So I check their mp3 section on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Mdmania, can you try uploading continuous WMA files from a live concert CD and confirm if the Nomad Xtra plays gapless? Thanks!

**** I will confirm this later.....


Also - is the scroll wheel more like the higher quality Zen or the cheap Zen NX????

****First of all I never had experience with the Zen but I can compare this with the Zen NX. Zen NX scroll wheel is just plain round and my index finger tend to slipped a bit from it. On the Zen Xtra, there is a bump on the upper wheel that gives you extra grip, which makes it a lot easier to go through menu. Overall I like the feel of the NX Xtra.


What software does it use?

****Same as Nomad NX except it has that XTRA into it.

 

[mdmania]

Question:

Mdmania, can you try uploading continuous WMA files from a live concert CD and confirm if the Nomad Xtra plays gapless? Thanks!


Answer:

Unfortunately the answer is not a gapless playback while playing continuous WMA files and MP3 file as well. Sorry...We can only hope that this can be fix in the firmware in the near future.

With all that, there is something I've discovered on improvement on playlist shuffle. If I remember right, the shuffle playlist on the NX always starts at the very beginning of first track from that playlist. This behavior doesn't happen on the NX Xtra which is a great thing. Now I don't have to do this manually and never have to hear the first track of playlist all the time which was very annoying to me.

 

[callanish]

Don't you think though that whatever added features the XTRA gets (firmware possible), it will more than likely be out as a update for the regular NX like you mentioned with the playlist shuffle feature?

Just to clarify, the Zen Xtra is a regular Zen size but 2 ounces heavier than the NX with a bigger screen in blue as well as having the replaceable battery like the NX correct?

 

[mdmania]

Question:
Don't you think though that whatever added features the XTRA gets (firmware possible), it will more than likely be out as a update for the regular NX like you mentioned with the playlist shuffle feature?

Answer:
I believe so. Maybe the X-tra is ahead of its time at the moment.
Here is the version of zen xtra: 1.00.04

Question:
Just to clarify, the Zen Xtra is a regular Zen size but 2 ounces heavier than the NX with a bigger screen in blue as well as having the replaceable battery like the NX correct?

Answer:
I can't really compare the Zen with the Zen Xtra. But I can definetely say that Zen Xtra seems heavier and built much better than the Zen NX. Even though the specification on the box has the same weight, I truly believe that the Zen Xtra is a lot heavier.
I think it is somewhat a good thing. This means they pack this baby up with better hardware. I'm still hoping that this thing has 16mb as opposed to 8mb of Zen NX.

Oh and yes larger LCD with Bluelight

 

[the_Omniscient]

To compare the Xtra with the normal NX:



Well, quite obvious: screen is indeed more sizeable and has that stylish indigo/glacier blue backlight.

Indeed, there's also a 60 GB version of it, pricing is about 385 Euro (420 USD?) in Japan for that one.

 

[GSTom1]

If you're interested in the Zen Xtra, they have finally posted detailed about it on Nomadworld.com.

NOMAD JUKEBOX ZEN XTRA

While they only have the 60 GB one listed, people have reported seeing and buying 30 & 40 GB models at Best Buy, so it looks like there will be three size ranges to choose from.

Why did they even bother to make the Zen NX, when the Zen Xtra came out a couple of months later and it's practically identical (according to the specs) expect for the wonderful large blue screen.

I think they rushed the Zen NX to the market and should have just released the Zen Xtra so as not to confuse the public!

If you had the choice and they were around the same price, wouldn't your go for the Zen Xtra over the Zen NX??? I know I would!

 

[mdmania]

The bad thing about it is that most people wouldn't know the difference between the two unless you really take a closer look and make a comparison. When I went to BB, people never bother comparing Zen NX and Xtra to see what they are getting. They just grab them and go.
But fortunately most of us here who are expert on these mp3 player pay close attention to details. They can't fool us.

 

[bandit1200]

Press release:

-----------------------------------
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Sara Jane Todd
Creative Labs, Inc.
(408) 546-6443
stodd@creativelabs.com



Creative Sizes Up LCD On Award-Winning NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX
NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra 30GB, 40GB and 60GB MP3 Players Feature Large Screen LCD for Easy Music Navigation and Hold up to 2,000 Hours of Music


MILPITAS, Calif. - Oct. 14, 2003 - Creative (NASDAQ: CREAF), a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products for PC users, today announced the NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra featuring a large, cool blue backlit LCD with bold font for easy music navigation-the award-winning NOMAD Jukebox Zen just got even better. The silver and white NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra is stylishly slim and light, yet holds up to 2,000 hours of high-fidelity digital music. USB 2.0 connectivity allows incredibly fast file transfers and a removable, high-capacity battery provides up to 14 hours of continuous music playback. Three versions of the NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra will be available in October 2003: the NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra with 60GB has an estimated street price of US$399.99, the 40GB model at $349.99, and the 30GB at $299.99.

"Creative continues to innovate within its popular NOMAD Jukebox Zen line," said Lisa O'Malley, senior brand manger for portable audio products at Creative. "Navigating through entire music collections is now even smoother using the large LCD with bold, easy-to-read content on the NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra. With the introduction of this new player, Creative offers the widest selection of hard drive players with 20GB, 30GB, 40GB and 60GB models, still priced at least 30 percent less than comparable Apple iPod products."

True to Creative's rich audio heritage, the NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra features outstanding audio quality at 98dB SNR, and supports both MP3 and WMA formats. The players offers out of the box support for Windows Media Player 9 Series, as well as and a wide range of music download services using WMA. The 60GB model can store 2,000 hours of high-quality WMA music-enough music to commute for a whole year and never listen to the same song twice. The 40GB NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra can store 1,333 hours, and the 30GB model stores 1,000 hours.

The NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra builds on the industry-leading music features of the NOMAD Jukebox Zen product line. Creating and editing music playlists is easy whether at the PC or away, and AudioSync enables uploading, downloading and synchronizing music between multiple PCs. With the Find function, users can locate tracks in seconds using alphabetical input, and since the music is automatically indexed by ID3 tag information and conveniently categorized by genre, album and artist, it's never hard to find.

The NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra also includes music enhancement tools such as Smart Volume Management™ to match volume variations across MP3 tracks, and Sleep Timer and Wake to Music modes to add convenience whether traveling or at home. Users can choose from the preset equalizer settings, such as living room, jazz club or theater, or can even create their own setting using the four-band custom equalizer. The NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra can be personalized with different profile settings to customize screen savers, skins, idle timers and more, and with the new car setting enabled, the player will even automatically turn on when the user starts their car.

The NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra is the first product to ship with NOMAD Explorer , an application enabling drag-and-drop transfer of music files into the music library or data files in the data folder. With the new NOMAD Explorer, users can drag and drop photos, documents, music files-any file type-using just one easy program. In addition, the NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra ships with Creative MediaSource , an easy to use music ripping and organizing program. Consumers can enjoy using MediaSource to convert their entire collection of CDs into a digital library that can be transferred easily to the NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra and taken wherever they go.

The NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra MP3 players come bundled with a designer black travel pouch with belt clip, comfortable stereo earphones, and a universal power adapter. More information is available at www.nomadworld.com.

About Creative
Creative is a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products for PC users. Famous for its Sound Blaster® sound cards and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative is now driving digital entertainment on the PC platform with products like its highly acclaimed NOMAD Jukebox. Creative's innovative hardware, proprietary technology, applications and services leverage the Internet, enabling consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment -- anytime, anywhere.


# # #

 

[pinsomniac]

Quick search on Froogle for those looking at this:

Around $260-270 for the 30GB (YesMicro), $300-320 for the 40GB (Sparco.com/Buy.com)... pricing seems very competitive. I just might look into this.

 

[Deleted]

Is the Xtra worth getting over the original Zen?

 

[mdmania]

It all depends on your needs. Remember there are few improvements the latest Zen NX Xtra offers. Not a whole lot but considered enough "XTRa" Large LCD screen with Blue Backlit, 16mb? (this one still in question), Nomad Explorer software (supposedly better than the previous file manager). And most of all, it looks so much better and impressive.