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Creative Nomad Zen Xtra 60 GB MP3 Jukebox
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| Price: |
1 new or used available from $150.00
Average customer review:
Product Description
Featuring a large, hi-res, blue backlit LCD, the NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra builds on the industry-leading music features of the NOMAD Jukebox Zen product line. Simply transfer all your music into the player with Creative MediaSource or the new NOMAD Explorer using ultra fast USB2.0, press the play button and get set to enjoy high-fidelity music. With advanced features such as Quick Scroller Navigation, Find, Playlist Creation and automatic ID3 tag categorization, managing and organizing your music will be a breeze.And the NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra doubles up as an external hard drive for storing all your photos, documents and other data files. Simply open NOMAD Explorer (integrated into Microsoft Windows Explorer) and drag and drop data files into the data folder or music files into the music library.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #41587 in Consumer Electronics
- Brand: Creative Labs
- Model: 70PD055000001
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 2.80 pounds
Features
- 60 GB storage lets you bring up to 16,000 WMA songs (80 kbps) or MP3 songs (128 kbps) everywhere you go
- Use AudioSync to synchronize your music on your player with your PC at work, school and home or on the road
- Load a song a second with ultra fast USB 2.0 port, compatible with USB 1.1 too
- Removable, high-capacity Li-ion battery -- up to 14 hrs continuous playback per charge
- Compatible with Microsoft Windows 98 SE, Me, 2000, and XP
Editorial Reviews
From the Manufacturer
From the Manufacturer Featuring a large, hi-res, blue backlit LCD, the NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra builds on the industry-leading music features of the NOMAD Jukebox Zen product line. Simply transfer all your music into the player with Creative MediaSource or the new NOMAD Explorer using ultra fast USB2.0, press the play button and get set to enjoy high-fidelity music. With advanced features such as Quick Scroller Navigation, Find, Playlist Creation and automatic ID3 tag categorization, managing and organizing your music will be a breeze
And the NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra doubles up as an external hard drive for storing all your photos, documents and other data files. Simply open NOMAD Explorer (integrated into Microsoft Windows Explorer) and drag and drop data files into the data folder or music files into the music library.
A Stylish Digital Audio Player with Huge Storage Space
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- Advanced EQ lets you customize your music playback with Equalizer presets or set your own using the 4-band custom equalizer
- Smart Volume Management adjusts the playback volume of all the tracks on your playlist so they will remain at the same level without you reaching for the volume control between songs!
- Time Scaling speeds up or slows down an audio track with no distortion
- Sleep Timer and Wake to Music Feature
- Environmental Effects simulate audio environments such as "Concert Hall" or "Arena"
- Spatialization Effects expand your soundstage
Customer Reviews
From a recent Zen buyer- dont believe the negative hype
Well, after reading about 150 other customer reviews, I decided to take a chance on the Zen XTra 60GB. For those of you who are hesitating, don't. Here are my observations.
Creative's software- it is ridiculously easy to use. Less than 10 minutes after installing the software (on my Win XP system, with absolutely no problems. However, READ THE INSTALLATION INSTRUCTION BOOKLET BEFORE YOU START) I downloaded 3 cds to my Zen.I did not have to read the online manual (there are no printed instructions, but relax, you won't need any.) The process is very intuitive, and all you do is click your mouse 4 times (3 if you don't need to download song information) and away you go.So far, it hasn't locked up or frozen or done any other mean, nasty things.I have read other reviews that complain that the software is difficult; all I can say is that they must have an earlier version (I got mine in March). I bought a Rio MP3 player for my son in Jan. and the software for it is a nightmare. I don't know anything personally about the iPod, so I can't comment on their product. I will say that you should take anything an Apple user (any Apple product user) says with a grain of salt. They all hate any computer-related product that isn't made by Apple- my brother is an Apple disciple so I CAN comment on this. I have heard his Apple propaganda for years.
The scroll wheel- yes, if you hold it down, it can zoom past the entry you're looking for. It took 5 seconds to figure out- don't hold it down for long periods. I haven't had any problem getting it to select when you press it in- I'm not sure why other people say they have.
The case- the metal cover is thin, but mine has not popped off at all. Several of the complainers stated that the cover pops off when or after they've dropped it. One guy even complained that it pops off when he goes snowboarding with it. Well, DUH!
The headphone jack- I haven't had mine long enough to comment on this, but common sense says if you drop it, it can break.
The leather case- it protects the player very well, and despite what one reviewer said, it took about 8 seconds to put on. However, it does cover the screen and the DC-IN jack when it is on. Get out your X-Acto knife, and in 5 minutes the problem is solved. I have read that the iPod has a similar problem, but I don't know this myself.
No stop button- no, it doesn't. Neither does the iPod, evidently. Just press pause/play (it pauses),then the "Skip" button (they're next to each other), and presto, it stops and returns to the main menu.
The player is very easy to use, the screen is easy to read, and it is loaded with cool features you may or may not use. No, it doesn't have video games. That's what your cellphone is for. This is for listening to music, and the sound is fantastic. The included earbuds aren't painful, as some have said, but they seemed too big for my ears. However, they sound great, and there is plenty of volume, unless you're a brain-dead teen trying to rupture your eardrums. They may want to strap a 300-watt amp to their backs and pump up the volume. For the rest of us, there's more than enough volume.
To wrap up, I highly recommend this product. I would have given it 5 stars, but that would imply that it is perfect, and it is too soon to make that judgement. Granted, I haven't had it long, so if my opinion changes in the future, I will write a new review. But if you want a player with HUGE storage, easy-to-use software, fantastic sound, loads of features, AND a price you won't be ashamed of, you should buy the ZEN XTRA. Just remember that it is basically a small hard drive, and treat it as such. If you want something to play video games on while you're snowboarding down Mt. Everest, I suggest a flash-memory type player, although I understand the iPod has been tested by dropping it from a plane at 50,000 feet - at least, that's what my brother tells me.
Excellent product, excellent value
HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
PROS:
60GB storage. I have almost 900 CDs. No other product currently available will hold this capacity without seriously compromising sound quality.
Size/weight. This unit is only very slightly larger and heavier than the iPod, and you get 50% more storage capacity (for $100 less!) When I look at my huge shelf of CDs, which is about 7 feet high and 3 feet wide, I literally can't believe all this music fits on this little unit, about the size of a deck of cards! But it does! (With plenty of room to spare for future additions to my CD collection.)
Great sound quality. I am saving my tracks in WMA format, as side-by-side comparison between MP3 and WMA at various bitrates consistently rendered better results (although slightly larger file sizes) with WMA format. Even with the cheap little earbuds Creative includes with this player, all genres of music sound crisp and rich.
Bright LCD, menu easy to navigate. Everything is right where you'd put it if you were designing this product yourself.
Easy to also plug this into my home stereo system or car stereo, so I can have my entire CD collection literally anywhere I go.
Price. I got this direct from Creative Labs for $399. (And Amazon currently has it for $350!) A 40GB iPod costs $499. By extrapolation, if they ever come out with a 60GB iPod, it will cost $650-750. What a deal from Creative!
Summary: I have literally been waiting for years for a product like this, and now I am SO glad I waited instead of settling for a lesser 20- or 40-GB product. If you have a ridiculously huge CD collection like I do, I cannot recommend this product highly enough. This is the best electronics purchase I have made since I got a Sony CyberShot digital camera.
CONS:
The earbuds don't fit well in my ears. Either the buds are too big, or my ear holes are too small.
The carrying case should have a clear plastic window so you can see the LCD even when the unit is in the case. Instead, it has a solid black flap that covers the LCD, so if you actually want to look at the screen you have to un-snap the case. Stupid design.
Software takes a little while to learn, but once you figure out all the options & preferences it is pretty solid. No resets or crashes yet!
Summary: a couple of nitpicky problems, but overall this unit far surpasses anything else in this product category.
Great player!
First of all, I want to address all of the complaints about the software. Yes, the media source software is not that great, however if you look a little more closely in your "My Computer" window, you will notice a new Icon called "Nomad Explorer."
Nomad Explorer is the drag-and-drop feature that everyone seems to be looking for. This is fully integrated with Windows Explorer, and it is already included! This is the only way that I have been transferring music. It is very easy to transfer files, and also makes it easy to fine tune your ID3 tags by right clicking on whole groups of files to easily adjust genre, artist name, or album name.
For the price and the storage capacity, the Zen Xtra is an amazing product. I have a large collection of live shows that I wanted to be able to keep at a high quality bit rate and take where ever I go. 60 GB lets me do that.
The only complaints that I have so far are that you need the disc to install the device on another computer. I'd like to be able to plug it in to any computer and have it ready to transfer files, especially as a data storage drive. I also replaced the earphones. I would like it to support lossless files such as flac and shn. I am hoping this can be added with a firmware upgrade in the future (you can easily upgrade via their website).
I would absolutely recommend the Zen Xtra to anyone interested in a great jukebox with a huge hard drive, great sound, and low price.
