Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra. Good buy? Which size?

[kcbass]

I'm looking to buy an mp3 player, and I need one with some size to it. I've heard bad things about the ipod in terms of support and size, and have found the nomads to be the cheapest out there. I checked reveiws on amazon, and people generally seem to like the 30 and 40 gig versions, but i found nothing but bad reveiws on the 60 gig model. Shouldn't they all be the same except for size? Any input from happy users and any horror stories are welcome. If i'm gonna be spending 200-300 dollars I wont to be well informed.

 

[kcbass]

bump

 

[DarkAmeba]

Not sure where you heard anything bad about the support and size of iPod, they're two if its strongest points. iPods are the smallest hard drive based players you can buy, and Apples support is highly acclaimed. I would push you towards an iPod, I love mine to death.

 

[exodus454]

this is something i know much about, and all i can say is STAY AWAY from creative. they only have a 3 month warranty and my zen started suffering from the infamous "headphone jack" problem, as well as a failed hard drive about 6 months into it (at which point i couldnt send it in under warranty). their driver support and programs used to import and export music/files to the player is less than perfect. the creative file manager is slow as all hell, and the creative mediacenter's layout is horrible. if you want a SUPERB player, go check out the iriver hard drive based players. they are explorer integrated (mount via usb as a regular mass storage device, so no drivers are needed) not to mention have a great interface, excellent battery life, nice crisp lcd and good features. i would recommend iriver over an ipod any day (comes with longer warranty too!)

 

[kcbass]

That's what I keep hearing, but ipod's and irivers don't have the storage capacity that i'm looking for, and they're so much more expensive. I'm still up in the air, but i'm just not sure. any other comments from anyone? 

 

[nortexoid]

what u're looking for is a player smaller than the iPod with a 40GB capacity, handles a crap load of file formats, has 14hrs of battery life, an inline LCD remote, costs less than an iPod, has a built in FM tuner, line in, and microphone, looks arguably nicer than the iPod, and so and so forth?

iAudio M3

(there's also an long play version, M3L, that has a battery life of 35hrs (most users claiming just over 32hrs), though it only comes in a 20GB version and it's dimensions make it slightly thicker)

 

[kcbass]

Those look pretty nice, but they're pretty high up there in price. never heard of the company before. The 40 gig is nice, but why don't they have it in silver?...Do they have a 40 gig with the extended battery? Anyone had any experience with these? Good product, or otherwise?

 

[kcbass]

nortexoid, what benefit does the iaudio cradle give to the actual player? what functions does it serve, because they're charging $20 for it. Also, when the description says built in FM, does that mean you cna listen to the radio on it, or does that mean it'll transmit to your car radio for mobile listening? 

 

[nortexoid]

1. the price is in the middle of the market. cheaper than the ipod and iriver, but more expensive than the zen
2. the company is based out of korea
3. they have a silver 40gb - look carefully, it's there
4. they do not have a 40gb M3L long play version. no idea why not.
5. i've read only good reviews about them. their support is excellent and they listen to consumer feedback
6. the cradle offers a line out, line in, and USB charging and file transfering capability. the mini-dock offers the same features
7. built in FM means you can listen to the FM radio depending on which country you live in. it currently supports a good number of countries, including the USA, Japan, Korea, etc.

the only thing i'd like to see added to this player in a future firmware update is the ability to sort music by mp3 tag metadata (artist, genre, etc.). currently, u can only sort by directory tree structure, which is fine for me since all my music is categorized in directories. but it would still be nice since all my mp3s are also properly tagged, as they must be so that i can find them on my ipod (which i'll be ditching soon for the iaudio m3l)

 

[kcbass]

sounds great. I've also heard nothing but good things. ever have a problem with the battery? is it easily replaceable? I also found a link to one called the neuros. ever heard of it? It has built in FM, but also built in FM transmitting, and it comes in sizes up to 80GB....i'm checking it out too.

http://www.neurosaudio.com/

 

[nortexoid]

the neuros, IMO, is a piece of crap compared to the iPod, iRiver, and iAudio. it's far too large as it uses a standard 2.5" hdd laptop, and not a 1.8" toshiba drive. and the list goes on.

the battery on the M3 is not user-replaceable, but the battery replacement program offered by Cowon is dirt cheap. $30 compared to Apple's $90 (!). the replacement battery for the M3L is probably more, but I doubt much more. this player is extremely popular in Japan and Korea, because iPods aren't offered Korea.

 

[kcbass]

ok. I'm not that concerned with size. people whine all the time that this player is .2mm thicker than this other player, but I look at it like i can carry this device, or I can carry a cd player, and a 208 cd carry case and get less music than the one device. I'm starting to get impressed by the features the neuros provides. They're the only one with built in fm transmitter, and they "promise" firmware updates every month. Still researching, though. Also, you said there was a silver 40GB iaudio, but i still can't find it. can you get me a link? 

 

[kcbass]

bump

 

[kcbass]

nortexoid, can you provide me a link to purchase the 40GB silver player with dock? I'd appreciate it, becuase I can't find it anywhere 

 

[AWhackWhiteBoy]

I've extensively used most of the hard drive players on the market,i think i got it all down. its a question of your needs. everyones going to have a horror story and great praise for different players. most of its luck,eitherway,heres my multipler cents.

Creative Zen Xtra:
Pros - best sound quality of all the players/price(you get A LOT of storage for the price)/durability(uses a standard laptop hard drive,can't kill'em), ability to exchange the battery(they can be had off e-bay for $20! )/fast song seek times and browsing due to file tagging
Cons - very big player size wise/inferior controls and GUI/garbage stock earbuds

IRiver IHP-120
Pros - average price/ features feature features,its the ultimate gadget(some of the features like a build in FM transmitter alone are an expensive Ipod add-on)/comes with a remote and case/good battery life/works as an external hard drive so it works on ANY OS/supports many file types
Cons - odd shape/menu system could be better/navigation is so-so/slow song seek times and browsing due to FAT32 file system and no file tagging/worst sound quality of all the players

Ipod
Pros - looks great/ great menu system/wonderful support/very good sound/million accessories/fast song seek times and browsing due to file tagging/cult following
Cons - Very pricey/so-so battery life/ hard to use with one hand,usually need two/need software or second hand software/accessories cost money

Rio Karma
Pros - second best sound quality of all the players/best battery life that i know of(15 hours,and it actually lasts for the full 15 hours if playing MP3s/amazing gui and controls(one handed operation)/works on any OS/docking station with composite hookups for your stereo system/supports many file types/proprietary file system makes it the fastest player for song browsing and fetching/ability to make and edit playlists
Cons - very poor support/ occational crashes/ lots of complaints about hard drive failure(i'm willing to bet its a user abuse issue)

 

[kcbass]

Based on your input, it's looking like the Neuros has all the pros you listed for every system (except maybe ipod, which i really don't care much for) and the only con it shares is the size.  nort, if you're still watching, I'd really like the link to the silver 40 iaudio

 

[nortexoid]

here (UK)
and here (UK)

and there's a ton of other stores, but oddly, they all seem to be european (mostly UK) based. hmm, when i have the time, i'll try to find a north american distributor of silver 40gb M3s...or you could do a search yourself on google. but they do exist, even if you need to get them imported from UK.

i still think it's a much better player than the neuros, barring the FM transmitter (not receiver). but again, if u don't care about size, then at least on paper, the neuros looks fine. there's another player i saw as well - up to 80gb - with features comparable to the neuros i believe that's manufactured in the states. it's called the dmc xclef 500, and the 20gb (and small, but not thin), DMC 800 here

 

[kcbass]

thanks a bunch for the links. I think I read somewhere in another thread that the iaudio is based in the UK and is just now trying to make its way over to the states. Not sure why they've only selected to bring part of their product line over with them... 

 

[kcbass]

Well, I googled for the 40GB silver, and all I got were a bunch of forums where people were asking why the silver isn't available in the US, so i guess that's my answer...

 

[memories2002]

How about the Rio Karma 20gb ?!?

 

[kcbass]

I cehcked that one, but it just doesn't have what i'm lookin for. I'm trying to find some inexpensive 40GB's. Like I said, i dont' really care about size just so long as it's lighter and smaller than a cd player and a 208 cd carrying case full of cd's. I like features like the playlist stuff, sound enhancements, and all that, and what's really gonna catch my eye is all the FM features and recording options that I've been seeing in the iaudio and the neuros. FM receive is cool, but build-in FM transmission really impresses me (I don't want to spend 300 dollars, then have to spend another 50 on a so-so 3rd party transmitter). 

 

[powerMarkymark]

I'm very satisfied with my Zen Xtra 40GB. The headphones aren't up to snuff but other than that it's a great buy for the money.

 

[Erasmus-X]

his is something i know much about, and all i can say is STAY AWAY from creative. they only have a 3 month warranty and my zen started suffering from the infamous "headphone jack" problem, as well as a failed hard drive about 6 months into it (at which point i couldnt send it in under warranty). their driver support and programs used to import and export music/files to the player is less than perfect. the creative file manager is slow as all hell, and the creative mediacenter's layout is horrible. if you want a SUPERB player, go check out the iriver hard drive based players. they are explorer integrated (mount via usb as a regular mass storage device, so no drivers are needed) not to mention have a great interface, excellent battery life, nice crisp lcd and good features. i would recommend iriver over an ipod any day (comes with longer warranty too!)

I too have had my shares of problems with Creative. My first one was a Nomad II w/64 MB of memory. After about owning it for six months, it stopped powering on. So I junked that one and I picked up the original Zen 20 GB player. It was a fine player until the headphone jack started giving me problems (seems like a common problem with those things) and I exchanged it for another one under my replacement plan with Best Buy. The second one did the same thing three months later! Replaced it with an 3rd-gen iPod 10 GB. I couldn't be happier. The battery is still holding up fine with normal usage (despite the several complaints you generally hear about that) and it's 10x simpler to operate than the Creative.

If you're worried about price, Apple phased out the 3rd-gen iPod and you they're now available as refurbs on their website.

 

[kcbass]

can you give me a link to that? 

 

[Erasmus-X]

Reburbished Apple iPods.