Creative Zen V Plus

[Brian]

Creative Zen V Plus (http://www.thetechlounge.com/article/406/Creative+Zen+V+Plus/)

"When compared to the iPod shuffle the Zen already has twice the capacity at a price that is nearly identical. We’re not doing a head-to-head comparison between the two products, but it is interesting to see how much of a price premium you pay for an Apple branded product just in terms of capacity, not to mention the many features the Zen V Plus can boast of as well. Let’s take a closer look and see if the Zen’s features and performance can make for a well-rounded product."

[handrail]

what did you think of the navigation joystick, mark? was is difficult to manipulate or toggle through menus or songs?

brad.

[Mark]

The joystick isn't too bad. It was a bit annoying at times, but it's still functional, even for someone with larger hands like myself. As I stated in the review however, there are definitely better control mechanisms out there on similarly sized players. Take a look at the iRiver Clix for example. You just press down on all four edges of the screen, and those are your buttons. There's really no wasted space with that kind of a setup either, so your player is ALL screen which is obviously quite nice.

[aussiebear]

I got the 1GB model. (Its the same thing, but the ring around the joystick is orange instead of green).

MORE Cons!

* Creative forces you to use WinXP if you aren't technically minded. The apps they provide on the CD does NOT work with Win2k. The reason is because they claim the requirements for PlaysForSure (MS's DRM) is WinXP.

* As part of PlaysForSure, these devices don't behave like the old or generic portable USB devices. You simply can't plug it into a PC and pass MP3s into it like a USB drive. You have to install drivers because of some proprietary protocol via USB. Damn you Microsoft!

To get things to work on Win2k, go here and scroll down to the 7th post from the top.
http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=dap&message.id=165041&view=by_date_ascending&page=2

For Linux, you need:
http://gnomad2.sourceforge.net/
(This is the only way to access this device).

* If you use Win2k or Linux, you are pretty much out of luck if you want to use it to watch videos. The Zen V Plus's apps converts a video into some weird format called DIB. From what I've read its just passing 15fps of JPEGs to make it look like its playing video. This little device is so underpowered its not funny.

(Then again, you wouldn't watch videos with something this small, its bad for your eyes!)

* Another sad thing about it, is that (for the 1GB model) you can only re-allocate 512MB for storage of regular data files. You can't use the whole thing!

Conclusion?

This is my last brand-name portable player. I've learnt nothing but to despise MS and their PlaysForSure DRM specification. (Its pretty much on all brand name portable players!)...YUCK!

[dave]

can some make a step my slow step video of how to use this ZEN V Plus 2GB i try all over the web SEE I'm Old got it for x-mas i seen a video on youtude.com for another kind of MP3 player i try goin" to Cnet.com/PC world.com and yes CREATIVE I E MAIL THEM they won't write back it's still in box hard for me to see book in box get lost with that CD thing I * HOPE someone out there care to help me one day we all get old and will need help with new stuff this no joke i still use my AIWA cass tape player so E-Mail me with a video web site for this ZEN V plus THANKS brb_brks@yahoo.com may 22,2007 8:21pm---->looks at the video's Ppl make on youtude.com and make one of this Creative Zen V Plus 2 GB black / green god bless ALL

[blackjet]

hehehehe "prefer not to destroy" = keep perhaps? eigh? ;-)

[Kurtis]

nope, not keep. we bought it for review and then sold it on ebay. sometimes it's easier to do that than to get on a waiting list for sponsorship.

[blackjet]

awww man that's a drag I thought companies would love to get you guys to review stuff for them, great publicity!

[tbaarr]

How do I transfer my old record albums to my zen 5? The my recording section fills up after 20 songs. Those songs are deleted from my playlist if I delete them from the MY recordings area

[kjay]

the software can be used to turn your computer into an all around recorder for anything you play

[penguin]

The Zen V Media Explorer software is ridiculous to use. Somehow every song I added ended up as a separate file, if they show up at all. When I go in to manage my playlists, many of the songs in my files don't show up, most of my sub-files don't show up, and if I add new songs to my files I have to reboot the computer for the Zen V software to recognize it. One reboot per new song is stupid. Also cannot figure out why I put a song in my music file and when I go to edit my playlists....I CAN'T FIND IT ANYWHERE!!!

[Markus]

The creative zen v plus an one of the worst pieces of technology I have every come accross. Everything works as you say but you cannot charge it without the origional installantion. So if you ever lose the computer you had when you 1st got this piece of crap you can never again recharge it. What a piece of garbage.

[Alison]

@Markus
You can charge it without any creative software at all.
Maybe there's something wrong with your computer, not the player.
And also to the reviewer, good uses for line-in record are songs that aren't available for download, but ARE available for streaming on youtube, myspace, playlist.com, etc.
:)

[Mrs Fallon]

I have a Zen V Plus $GB and has been excellent, until I upgraded my Norton Anti virus softwer. Now the PC does not recognise my MP3 Player when it is connected, and tells me it is not connected. I have uninstalled the softwear and installed the softwear about 6 times and still the same the PC does not recognise that the MP£ player - it switches it on and that is it.

i think there must be somthing getting blocked - can anyone help.

Mrs Fallon