Yesterday Weiganla posted that Amazon had the new Creative Zen for sale and that the starting price for the 4 GB model was a whopping $299, and the 16 GB model was $499.  Both NoWire and I read on Engadget and Popular Mechanics (the review) that the prices were supposed to be $150, $200 and $300 for the 4 GB, 8 GB and 16 GB respectively.  Since then, Amazon pulled the preorder pricing.   Something strange is afoot.  More coming after the break.

Meanwhile,  Popular Mechanics had a lot to say about the new Zen.  Here are some of the highlights.

Form Factor 

It weighs a mere 2.1 oz, it’s less than 1/2″ thick and is about the size of a credit card.  They say it’s their “best-looking product.”  They go on to tout, “Even the interface, both the hardware and the menu system, fells tighter and more intuitive than past models.”

Video

The 2.5″ screen is as big as the current video iPod, but with more format support and 320 x 240 resolution.

Music

The Zen is “at least as loud – and sharp – as any iPod.”  It plays DRM free AAC, and many other music types, something the iPod can’t do.  It also bests the iPod with an FM tuner, onboard recording and it syncs with Outlook.

Memory

16 GB of flash memory is enough.  But add to that an SD card slot.  Creative says the slot will handle up to 32 GB of memory. 

Bottom Line

“You’d be an absolute idiot to buy the Zen before Apple’s Sept. 5 announcement…”

Ok, call me an idiot.  Will Apple provide Divx video support? Will they let people use services other than their own subscription service?  Must we marry AAC?  I believe it is possible that Creative is giving its customers more value for the money.  I don’t think their customers would be “idiots.”  I think Apple is feeling the heat.  And they should.

[tags]zen, creative, apple, iPod, jamm, just another mobile monday[/tags]

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