Creative ZEN X-Fi 16GB MP3 and Video Player with Wireless LAN Compatibility
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Reviewer
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I was initially excited to get my creative zen as my brother has the same x-fi model and swears by them. I liked the idea of larger storage space and internet access of the x-fi. Unfortunately from the start I had nothing but problems with the music files alone, where I constantly had to reset it - even after going onto their website and trying different remedies including downloading their software and taking files off the machine that may have been causing the problem - all to no avail. I never got as far as using video or pictures on it.
I have sent the x-fi back to the sellers and am still waiting for them to contact me. meanwhile my brother bought me a cheaper creative zen (the mx) he didn't know I had one already- and this one is fantastic even with the files I thought the x-fi may have been having difficulties with. I guess I just got a dodgy machine.
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Good audio and video quality. Logical layout of keys. Posibility to change into
music system through card device and external loud speakers. Small size. Huge capacity for storing folders (audio, video, photo) 32GB. Disadvantage: Cannot connect to standard music system through USB-port.Creative ZEN X-Fi 32GB MP3 and Video Player with Wireless LAN Compatibility
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When my old mp3 player broke I started the search for a new one. I'm not that wealthy, and so I wanted to be certain before I spent all my money on a player, that it was worth it. There were many models I looked at, including the new nano, which my sister owns. I've had a creative mp3 player before, and as they specialise in sound and audio I felt I should go for this model as It had decent memory at a very good price. (Compared the nano, which when I was searching was 50 pound dearer) I have to say I am more than pleased with the x-fi. As it came down to either this or the Nano, I am certain I have made the right choice, when comparing it to nanos.
Price...X-fi! Both players have the same memory, yet X-fi is miles cheaper
Sound quality...X-fi! That's what I wanted most of all and the X-fi delivers much more.
Spec...X-fi! Although the Nano is slightly smaller and lighter, I feel it is too lightweight. The X-fi is small, sturdy, and It won't break the first time I drop it.
Navigation...X-fi. Althought it takes a little bit getting used to, when you've got the hang of it, navigation around the X-fi is so simple.
If you're looking for a new mp3 player, with this type of memory space, go for this. It's far better, and you can spend the 50 pound or so you saves on a nice meal and some CDs
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A brilliant unit. Very pleased with its performance and ease of use.
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I want to keep this review quite simple, so let me start off by saying that on the whole I am pleased with this player. It sounds brilliant, plays videos well and has plenty of room for loads of my music.
However, there are bad sides. First, the wi-fi connection function seems pointless to me. I can connect to the bit with all of Creative's podcasts (which seem pretty unexciting) but I can't get it to work with my home network. The chat function seems like a good idea, but typing is a pain. So basically, I do not use this function at all.
Secondly, the Creative Centrale software does not work well with my computer. I have heard that this is a problem between Windows and Creative. It's not a huge problem, because drag and drop works fine, but it does mean that I have to use Windows media player to sort out the tagging first and I can't sync my player with my computer because Windows media player doesn't like my player either.
Thirdly, I don't really use the xi-fi thing much. The sound on the player is good enough that my music sounds great anyway! Occasionally I use it to enhance the sound on a really old Aretha Franklin album I have, but mostly I don't use it.
Let's move on to the good things. As I have already mentioned, the sound is great. I don't use the speakers that came with it though, so thay may be an additional factor. The screen handles video and pictures very well too, and the buttons, though confusing looking, are easy to use. I especially like the shortcut button. I have mine set up to play everything on shuffle when I press it. That way I can go from playing a specific album to hearing a random selection of everything really quickly.
I also find the SD card really useful. I listen to my music on shuffle a lot, so I don't like to put audio books on my player because then they would be shuffled to. Instead, I put audiobooks on SD cards and listen to them that way. The SD card isn't integrated with the rest of the tracks, which some people have complained about but I find it very useful.
The battery life of the player is very good and charging is easy. The USB charger allows you to charge the player whilst it is connected to the internet, or you can get an adapter so it can charge in a wall plug too. One strange problem the player does seem to have is a tendency to turn on once it's finished charging - I've come downstairs in the morning a couple of times to find it on. However, since it's plugged in, it's not like it's losing battery. Just make sure you have the headphones in or it'll play through the speaker!
Finally, I think the fact that this player can hold 32gb and it isn't even a hard disc is brilliant. I can take it jogging and cycling without worrying about wrecking the disc.
If you want a good music player, definitely consider buying this mp3. The only real downsides are the software (though drag and drop works fine) and the fact that several of the functions are not really very useful. But for good quality music playback, this is a great player.
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