It all started when one of our JAMM contributors mentioned something about a nice little portable media player (PMP) coming very soon. A PMP that is not made by a company named after a fruit, no less. Yeah, my thoughts exactly. Is there really a portable media player that didn’t come from Cupertino that is worth mentioning? The answer is a resounding Yes, and they both start with the letter "Z". That said, I’m only going to talk about one of the "Z’s" in this review.

I can’t say that it was love at first sight, but it was pretty darn close, that’s for sure. Okay, I lied. It was definitely love a first sight. Once I saw this little gem (and I mean little), I knew I had to have it. Long story short, I have found my ZEN.

Most people might think that I’m a music junkie with all the portable media players that  I have accumulated over the years. The truth is, I’m not. I love gadgets, and that’s about it. That being said, please don’t expect an in-depth review, or scrutiny of the fidelity of the sound that the device produces. You will not find it in this review.

Okay, that’s enough of the introduction, lets get it on!

Lets get started. So, what do you get for a suggested retail price of just a penny short of $130.00? If you are impatient like yours truly, then there’s another $20 to have it delivered the next day. Okay, so I’m $150.00 in the hole, is it worth it? Why don’t you join me, and we’ll find out together. (Note: When it was initially announced, the price for the 4GB Zen was listed at $149.99).

What’s in the box:

• ZEN Player
• Earphones
• USB 2.0 Cable
• Installation CD
• Quick start guide

I really didn’t expect much in terms of extras with the price that I’ve paid for the Zen. No extras, just enough for me to get started. Although, I’m thinking that Creative should’ve at least included a case or a sleeve for such a delicate device, but as I write this review, and watching "Heroes" ripped to my iPhone, I realized the iPhone didn’t come with one either!

Specifications:

• With size similar to a credit card, and just barely thicker (55 x 83 x 11.3mm to be exact), the device is very small. Okay, not really "barely" thicker, but you get the picture.
• The Creative Zen comes in three (3) flavors – 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB. I chose the 4GB because of the Zen’s ability to accept SD cards.
• Weighs about a tad heavier than Nicole Ritchie, the Zen comes in weighing at staggering 65g.
• 2.5" 16.7 million color TFT LCD 320 x 240 pixels. Now that’s a lot of color there.
• Battery is rated at 25 hours for music playtime, and 5 hours for video playtime. I fell asleep before the 25 hours was over, but happy to say, that the device kept on playing. And playing…

Software:

I’m not going to go into too much detail on the software side of the Zen, as I will be concentrating this review on the hardware aspects of the Zen.

Before you plug in your Zen to the computer, it is recommended to install the software that came with the player. Nothing fancy here, just an update to Windows Media Player that added Urge I believe. Similar to the iTunes store, where you can purchase you music, and such. There’s also the Zen Media Explorer, and the Zencast organizer. The Zen media explorer is pretty much where everything happens. You can import your iTunes music here (unprotected AAC), search for media, Rip Audio CD, Convert videos, and more. The Zencast organizer is pretty neat looking program where you can subscribe to available feeds. Most of it looks free, then again I didn’t really thoroughly check it out, so your miles will vary.

Now lets move on to the hardware side of things.

Dissecting the Creative Zen:

Earphones:

Let me start with the earphones, because honestly a Portable Media Player can’t do much without them. Well, it can still do a lot of things, but who’s going to hear it? Owning several PMP’s I have my share of earphones in my drawer. The earphones that came with the Zen are nothing special. The important thing is that they do their job, and it do it very well. It comes with the standard removable foam cover. I hated those things, so I didn’t even bother putting them on. Length wise, the earphones that come with the Zen are adequate enough even for someone who is related to a giraffe. Okay, maybe not that long, but it’s long enough for the average Joe’s out there. Sound quality is great, and it compliments quite nicely with the device. Like most PMP’s with a FM tuner, the earphones also act as the antenna.

 The ZEN:

Measuring at only 55 x 83 x 11.3mm, and weighing a staggering 65g, the device is quite small and light. Here is a comparison shot with some of the other devices that I currently own.

T-B: Creative Zen, 5G Apple iPod, Apple iPhone, and the Microsoft Zune v1. Sorry, no Nano’s in this review. Creative Zen obviously wins in the tiny department.

The back of the Zen has a semi-glossy-matted kind of finish. It works quite well in preventing those micro scratches that some PMP’s are susceptible to. As you may have already noticed, there is no battery latch. I really don’t see any problem with the device not having a replaceable battery. With technology these days, I’m quite confident that the battery will hold it’s charge very well till its demise.

Here are the main ports for the Creative Zen. L-R: Earphone jack, Power slider with hold option, and the USB 2.0 port. On the top of the device (not shown) you will find the SD Card slot, and the built-in microphone. The reset hole is located on the bottom of the device. Speaking of reset, I’m not sure if my device was faulty, but I did use the reset hole quite a few times within the past weeks. I’m not going to go deep into that issue right now.

While the back seems to hold its own when it comes to scratches, I can’t say the same with the front. Before you start saying "Yuck", it’s not really that bad. The main face/front of the player doesn’t seem to get scratched as easy as one of those popular PMPs. In fact, with all the rubbing, and cleaning that I do to the screen, I still don’t see any signs of scratches to the face.

So, what the hell am I talking about then. Well, somehow the buttons seem to be the ones that are very sensitive to micro-scratches. Not very noticeable, but if you take a close look you can see that there’s scratches there. Again, none on the main screen, but rather on the buttons. I’m not sure if they use a different material for the buttons, but it doesn’t seem to take rubbing/cleaning very well.

Display:

A 2.5" TFT display doesn’t really sound that impressive, but size can be deceiving. Boasting 16.7 million colors support, the Creative Zen screen is one of the more gorgeous screens that I’ve seen in a while.

With an amazing 16.7 million color support on a 320×240 resolution, this little player is not afraid to show it’s true colors. To be honest, I really don’t have a problem with that.

The startup for the Zen is a bit on the slow side though. I timed it at 15~ sec. from clicking the ON switch to the main screen. I believe this is due to the obligatory "Creative", and "ZEN" splash screen that comes out every time I turn it on. If I could turn it off, and go directly to the main screen, then I could probably shave at least 5 seconds off that number.

USB Cable/Charging:

Eh, so what’s wrong with this picture? Please do not adjust your monitor, this is not a test. Yes, that’s is how long (short) the USB cable that came with the Zen is. If you have a laptop like me, then this is really not much of a problem. Of course not everyone who will buy the Zen owns a laptop or uses it with a laptop. So I can just imagine trying to plug in the Zen with the USB cable in the back of a desktop computer. I know, I know, most desktop now come with the USB port in the front, and there’s always an extension cable that one can buy. But really, come on.

Anyway, with the miniature cable that came with the device, I am suppose to charged the Zen for the recommended 4 hours prior to use. Of course the Zen the I’ve received was already half-charge, so I was able to play with it right away without having to deal with the dreaded "charge-before-play" dilemma. I’m not sure if I ruined the life-expectancy of the battery, but I’m sure I’ll find out later. So far the signs it’s giving me are very positive, so I’m assuming nothing really bad happened.

If you need to charge your Zen, and have no PC to plug in the USB cable, then you’re out of luck. The Zen doesn’t come with any accessory to charge on the wall outlet. It wasn’t a problem for me since I own a lot of gadgets. So, charging the Zen to the wall outlet is just a matter of digging in my drawers to find the right accessories. In fact I was able to plug in the USB cable to my Apple iPhone AC adaptor, and the Zen charged with no problem. This might be a different story if this is your first PMP, and really don’t have much of an option.

The battery is rated at 25 hours for music, and 5 hours for videos. I wasn’t sure about the 25 hours at first, but after 10+ hours of continuous play, after which the battery meter didn’t seem to change, I think I’ll just take their word for it.

Menu system:

Being a long time Zune (oops, did I just said the other "Z"), Apple iPod user, and the recent recipient of an Apple iPhone, I’m not expecting any problems dealing with the Zen’s UI.

It was quite different from what I’m used to, but to Creative’s credit, it was very easy to get familiar with. There are 8 basic functions you can access through the menu system. The menu is also configurable to your hearts desire. Here’s the breakdown of the menu subsystem.

• Music: includes all the basic functions that you will find with most PMPs. Layout is very straightforward, and very easy to use.
• Videos: Video (duh), TV, ZenCast, and recently added videos.
• Photos: My Slideshow (This can only be created on the PC thru Zen media explorer), Pictures, and recently browsed photos.
• FM Radio: When you’re in the menu, hitting the square (OK button) will take you the radio interface. Here you can do the Autoscan, rename, add, and delete of preset stations.
• Microphone: Voice recorder.
• Extras: Basic Calendar, and Contact functionality.
• Memory Card: Here you can browse your SD card, Set it as a removable media, and view the information on your card.
• System: This is where you configure all the device options.

I’m going to start with the FM tuner because after the "sexy" factor, having an FM tuner built-in is the next most important feature on my list that I look for when it comes to a PMP. In fact, I’d say I listen to the radio about 80% of the time, and the rest will be everything else (music, video, etc). So, it’s no surprise that the Zen with it’s built-in FM tuner earns some extra points with me.

FM Tuner:

The Zen comes with FM radio with 32 presets. Auto-scan did its job with flying colors. I was impressed how fast it was able to lock on all available stations here in the Bay Area. After just a few minutes out of the box, I was listening to my favorite station.

One of the neat things about the presets, is the ability to change/rename them to whatever name you desire.

I have to admit that the Creative Zen doesn’t seem to have the greatest reception out there. I can barely get the signal to full-bar when I’m in my office. I’m right by the window, so it shouldn’t be a problem, but sadly it is. Fortunately, even if the signal is not at it’s full strength, it hardly affects the radio’s functionality. Maybe the occasion "MONO" only reception, but overall the radio feature is one of the best out there.

One thing I do miss though is the ability to display the artist, and the track title (on stations that support it). The Zune is the only player I know of that uses RDS to display the radio station identification, artist, and track title.

Music:

With vast support of popular types of music encoding, there is really no excuse not to have music on the device. You can enjoy your favorite music in MP3, WMA and non-protected ACC (.M4A) formats. The player also supports subscription services.

I’m the first to admit, I’m no audiophile. So, I’m not going to pretend to be one in this review. What I have going for me here though is the fact that I own several popular PMP’s. With that out of the way, I’m quite impressed with the sound quality of the Zen. Out of the box the vocals are clear, and the bass is thumping. If the thumping out of the box is not enough "boom" for your ears, you can up the ante with the Bass boost.

The Creative Zen also has several equalizer (EQ) presets that you can choose to your liking. If that’s STILL not enough, you can do your own customization to get it just right. The sound quality of the Zen is comparable to the Zune, Apple iPod, and the Apple iPhone.

Besides the standard Playlist, Albums, Artists, Genres, All tracks, Recordings, Bookmarks, the Creative Zen also includes something called DJ. Here you can play the Album of the Day, Random Play all, Most popular, Rarely heard, Highly Rated, and Yet to be Rated. I use the DJs when I don’t have anything specific that I want to listen to. The device also supports Album Art, which I’m having trouble making it show on my device. I have a feeling that there’s a size limitation for the album art to work. But those that do work, the images are amazing, thanks to its vivid display.

Photos/Videos:

Photos: Having two small kids, gives lots of excuse to carry around lots of photos and videos. For the purpose of this review, I transferred a couple of photos from my library. The photos are taken with my Olympus E500 DLSR camera. I didn’t reduce or manipulate the pictures in any way. The transfer went through without any problem. With 16.7 million color support, the pictures looks fantastic. The colors are great, and the detail is amongst the best I’ve seen. I did notice a slow down in refreshing the pictures. I believe this is due to the size of the photos that I’ve transferred.

The photo menu carries the standard Slideshow (My Slideshow). You can’t create a slideshow on the Zen though. To create a slideshow you will need to use the Zen Media Explorer on your PC. You can always skip the slideshow options, and just click "Play". You can also set any picture that’s on your Zen as your wallpaper out of the box. Yes folks, no need to jailbreak your Zen.

Videos: I didn’t have much time to try out ripped DVDs to the device. The best thing I could try is the AVI movies taken with my Canon SD300. When I try to play the video directly from the SD card, it gives me an error on ‘wrong resolution’. So, now I have to do some extra steps using the Zen Media Explorer to re-encode the video to WMV and to its proper resolution for the device to play. Although it’s fast, it’s still another step that I have to worry about. This is a minor thing, that is probably not even because of the player, but rather how my camera is encoding the AVI. Overall the videos are awesome, colors are true, and the playback is smooth.

Even with its minute screen, compared to other devices, I still enjoy watching videos on the Zen. Again, because of it’s size, and color support, the video just looks amazing.

Extras:

Extras includes your contacts and calendar. Not something I would use especially if I already own a laptop/PDA, and a phone that do these kind of things very nicely. Again, for the purpose of this review, I did sync my contacts and appointments that were in my Outlook, and everything went through without any problem. One thing I didn’t like is that Outlook keeps asking for permission to allow the transfer. Annoying as hell, so I did a sync once, and that’s about it. I don’t think a lot of people would use this feature anyway. While it’s good that it’s there, I don’t see it to be practical for everyday use.

Memory Card:

This is another feature that I really like about the Creative Zen. Unlimited expandability is such a cool thing! The Zen comes in three flavors, the 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB. I chose the 4GB version with the memory card option in mind. With the price of memory cards at its lowest, it really doesn’t make sense to me to get the 16GB. Of course this all boils down to personal preference. I’m pretty sure that someone would argue that getting the 16GB will make more sense.

There are some differences in terms of how the device reacts on the files that are on the device, and those that are on the SD card. For example, music that is stored on the SD card doesn’t seem to stay in memory. Once you turn off the device, the music wont start where you left off. Personally, I don’t think its such a big deal. It’s also nice that I can pull out my SD card from my camera, and view it on the device without any extra work. Although most cameras now include a LCD viewer, it is still nice to have this feature.

Microphone:

I have to admit, I’m not going to use this feature on a daily basis, but I can just imagine how useful this feature is especially for meetings and such. On the other hand, I really don’t see the Zen being lugged around to a meeting, either. Of course it always good to know that it’s there if you need it. To record a voice memo is very easy, you click option and click start recording. You also have the option to stop, or split the recording during a recording session. After recording, you have the option to preview your voice memo or delete it. The microphone picks up very well, even in a noisy environment.

Features:

• Enjoy your favorite music in MP3, WMA and non-protected ACC (.M4A) formats. Also supports subscription services.
• View digital photos on razor sharp display with 16.7 million color support.
• Enjoy purchased or rented movies and TV shows from online services, or watch home videos. (WMV9, MJPEG, MPEG4-SP3, compatible DivX 4/5 and XviD3 formats)

Expandable Memory

• Expand your portable media library with more videos, music and photos stored on your SD card.

Battery Life

• Listen to 25 hours of audio or watch up to 5 hours of video on a single charge.

Additional Features

• Vibrant 2.5" TFT display to view album art, photos and videos in sparkling detail.
• FM Radio with 32 presets
• Voice Recorder

In summary:

Overall, this is definitely worthy of my calling the device a "Little Gem". With so many features, and so much potential at such a minuscule size, it’s really nothing short of a gem. Does size matter? Yes, of course, it always matters. Fortunately, in the Portable Media Player world, size can work both ways. Creative created something very special here, and I highly recommend this player to anyone.

This will be a great stocking stuffer for the coming holidays, and if you are like me, you’ll make sure it’s on your "must-have" list of gadgets. In just about a month or so the other "Z" of Portable Media Players will also be out on the market. It will sure be interesting to see how the Zen will stack up against the Zune v2. Although, it is obvious that the Zen can hold it’s own when it comes to delivering the goods. The Creative Zen has also proven that it is worthy of being in the same league as the iPods or Zunes.

FYI

• Manufacturer/Model: Creative Zen 4GB
• Price: $129.00-$249.99
• Available at: Amazon.com, and all major electronic stores.
• Comparable Devices: Apple iPod  Nano 4G, Microsoft Zune Flash 4G