Mini review:
Packaging: Minimalism is the current theme for most consumer electronics, and the Creative Zen doesn't break away from this. The plastic part around it is a pain to get out. It took about a minute of looking at it, and about 90 seconds of surgery to cut it out with my trusty Benchmade knife.
It comes with a CD for the Zen Explorer utility and a couple of other apps, a really short 3" or so USB cable, and some headphones that aren't that bad as far what can be expected. Also, a quick start guide and warranty info.
Charging: It says charge for 4 hours, I don't know how long it took for mine. I didn't get home until really late, so I plugged it in to my PC, and fell asleep minutes later.
First Impressions: Plugged it into the PC again to throw a couple of playlists on it. After telling WMP 11 not too sync my whole collection, I drag and drop the playlists in there. Transfer rates seem acceptable. After the sync it was time to plug in the headphones.
Wow. The quality actually is very noticeable between this and the Sansa players. Also sounds better then my friends ipod Video 80GB (pre "classic"). Subtle parts of some tracks really come through compared to the Sansa. The Sansa sounded flat and tinny with the exception of some piano pieces I put on there. The Zen sounds superb with anything. Rock, classical, pop, soundtracks, lectures, it's perfect. I didn't find the EQ necessary.
Menus-UI: Slick, easy to learn on the fly. Buttons have a tactile feel, menus are designed with care. There are some parts of the navigation that requires multiple button hits over and over again. But that rarely leads to flying over your choice. (For example viewing the playlist while listening to one of the selections requires hitting the middle-main select button about 3-4 times.)
Again, really easy. The looks dept. It really shines here. Typefaces look smooth and modern. The themes are actually tasteful, and the selection of your own wallpaper out of the photo menu adds a nice touch. You can even add effects to the wallpaper when applying the image for that. Brightness and some basic filters like cool, warm, b&w, and sepia.
Video: Briefly played the included commercials pre-loaded on the Zen. Very impressive with the sharpness and vividness. Sometimes it borderlines too saturated, but that's just my photography preference kicking in. I think most will adore it.
I will load some of my own vids later this week.
Apps: I briefly tried the Zen Explorer to throw some of my photos on there. I really hated previous Creative apps and drivers in the past. My X-fi soundcard came with Creative's version of the Windows Media Player. I thought it was overly complicated for most tasks.
The install was a silly amount of time. About 10-15 minutes for only 200-250MB in file space. 10-12 minutes was just the install dialog sitting there until it declared it finished.
I was really scared I was going to deal with more pointless bloat. After a reboot, it turns out the Zen Explorer is really minimalistic. I kind of like it so far, but that's just some first impressions.
Quick Sansa View comparison:
Value:
Sansa View for now. The Sansa View comes in at 149 and 199, for 8GB and 16GB models. The Creative Zen is now at 199 and 249 for 8GB and 16GB models. Although there is a 4GB Zen for 129. These are street prices I have come across so far, nothing official.
Build, size, etc: The build quality goes to either. The fronts on both are really glossy. Looks nice, but attracts fingerprints like nothing else. The Sansa View has a coated metal (I think it's metal) back that is grippy. The Zen has a matte back that is plastic. It doesn't scream tank like, but nothing at all seems cheap or screams "cost reduction".
The scroll wheel is slick on the Sansa, almost like ball bearings, but it's hard to hit the direction part of the pad right the first time. The Zen has a slight edge since I know for sure if I hit the button or not.
Screen: The Zen, easily. Both are good while viewing photos, but it's Zen all the way. The Sansa's video seems to have a screen door effect that is distracting.
Audio: Zen all the way.
Battery life. I don't know how they are rated, but both seem to be about the same. The Zen does take a bit longer to charge.
The biggest hands down winning thing about the Zen: A regular ol' mini-USB connector. That's right. Kick the man in the nuts and say FU to proprietary adaptors and cable nonsense.
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