Creative Zen Micro, Novatech or Ipod?

Viz_2

Definitely the Creative Zen Micro.  ;D
Is cheaper, has bigger drive and more battery life then the mini i-pod.
Also has better sound and is something different ! :P

I bought Girlfriend one for xmas and she loves it.

dollybird

Creative zen is the best

The_Bhoy_3

I'd suggest you'd be better going for the Rio Carbon instead: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1675130,00.asp

It's got 5gb space, 20hr battery life, has great features & looks good.

You can pick them up new on e-bay for £139.50 for highly reputable suppliers.

Agent_C

Do you use a camera (dig) too ?

If so consider the xdive camera buddy , its an mp3 player , portable hd and camera backup drive.It has slots on the side for transferring the pics from your cameras removable card ie xd , sd , mm etc.

price 20 gig abut 150 , 40 about 160 delivered inc vat.

This sounds interesting, though I couldn't find much info about it on the net - specifically about its mp3 playing capabilities. I'm after an mp3 player that will allow me to transfer pics over from my digital camera when I'm on holiday (camera takes compact flash cards) but which is also a good mp3 player and can encode mp3s directly, etc. Any suggestions?

echelon_2

I have the Novatech Npod, and have extensively used the Creative Zen Micro so i feel i can give a balanced opinion. I definitely and wholehartedly recommend the Zen Micro.

First of all the Npod is good value for the money, and im reasonably happy with it, but it has 2 big problems. One is it freezes frequently, and unless you carry around a thin pointy thing that fits in the reset hole, you can forget about listening to music for the rest of your journey (ive been caught a few times when its locked up while out of the house).

The second is the sound quality isnt that great. Its slightly worse than my friends Ipod, and definitely not as good as my last mp3 player. No amount of toying with the EQ can help  :(. the extra recording feature is ok but i havent really used it yet, and the USB host function is practically useless (only works with FAT formatted cards, not FAT16 or FAT32).

As for the Micro, i bought my girlfriend the pink one for Xmas, and i have to say this is probably the best mp3 player ive ever used. Much cooler than an Ipod, plus it has more features (fm radio is essential to me). Also it is TINY, smaller than a credit card, and light too.

5GB is actually enough space for around 1000 tracks at 160kbps VBR MP3, which translates to about 80-100 cds..more than enough really! with my npod i find i usually end up listening to the same 20 albums over and over anyway. The micro has a nice feature where you can randomly play all tracks by one artist, or all tracks of a certain genre - npod cany do that.

Oh and the sound quality of the zen micro is amazing, best ive ever heard from any portable player, plus comes with great earphones, bag and case. Very nice bit of kit, highly recommended.

Sooler

Archos Archos Gmini 400 20GB - around £240 - has built in CF slot
http://www.kelkoo.co.uk/ctl/do/search?siteSearchQuery=gmini

A revolutionary next generation hard-drive based audio player featuring the industry's first color LCD and advanced features such as photo viewing, gaming and video playback for the ultimate musical entertainment experience.

The Gmini400 goes way beyond music to bring long awaited features such as a color LCD for viewing photos and videos, a built-in CompactFlash™ reader for storing photos and data, and the ability to play games.

20GB 1.8" Hard Disk - Store up to 300 hours of music, 200,000 photos or 80 hours of MPEG-4 videos


iRiver H320 20GB MP3 Player - around £270 - plays Ogg Vorbis (there is a LITE version for around £220 with less accesories and may not have USB On The Go)
http://www.kelkoo.co.uk/ctl/do/search?siteSearchQuery=iriver+h320&catId=100164013

USB On The Go Connect other USB units and use them together without the need of an computer. For example if you have a digital camera (the camera must be supported), connect it to the H300 and transfer the images from the camera to the H300.

thegriffmiester

Creative Zen Wins by a MILE!!!!

jonnibgood

Mikehoe - the pixmania link doesnt seem to work, maybe they've run out ?

anyone seen any comparable offers - 30GB around the £120 mark??

Cheers

lellie

I'd love a creative zen too..

but as I already have about 45GB of mp3s (I ripped my entire cd collection over the long summer holiday (between school and uni and that is often expanded.. have about 10 CDs to rip at the moment!) I'd also be interested in the 60.. any idea where from??

Sooler

Creative Zen 60gb from around £205
http://www.kelkoo.co.uk/ctl/do/search?siteSearchQuery=zen+60gb


Creative Zen 30gb from around £140
http://www.kelkoo.co.uk/ctl/do/search?siteSearchQuery=zen+30gb&catId=100164013