Mp3 Players and Ipod Reviews

The DAP market is currently at a crossroads, with many consumers switching from hard drive players to demanding flash players with higher capacities. It was just a year ago that microdrive players such as the Creative Zen MicroPhoto were a hot commodity. However today as flash players are meeting and exceeding the capacity of those microHD players, they have become a dying breed.

The Creative Zen V Plus offers a cute, pocket-friendly design without sacrificing screen real estate, and the vivid OLED display is viewable from any angle. The player is packed to the gills with features, including an FM radio, voice and line-in recording, photo and video playback, and compatibility with subscription WMA tracks. Oh, and the sound quality and battery life are great too.

The radio reception is on par with any standard FM radio. Reception can vary, however, depending on the headphones, because the Zen V uses the headphone jack as an antennae. I found very slight variation among various headphones and earbuds, but it was inconsistent - meaning that there were no apparent characteristics that made one better than the other. Something missing from this model that has been on previous Zen products was FM recording. It may be for legal or licensing reasons since users have been reporting that new versions of firmwares for other Zen models have removed the FM recording feature.

Creative  Zen V Plus Reviews from Cnet

The good: The Creative Zen V Plus offers a cute, pocket-friendly design without sacrificing screen real estate, and the vivid OLED display is viewable from any angle. The player is packed to the gills with features, including an FM radio, voice and line-in recording, photo and video playback, and compatibility with subscription WMA tracks. It’s the first flash player to be offered with up to 16GB of memory. Oh, and the sound quality and battery life are great too.

The bad: The Creative Zen V Plus’s joystick is really small and has a cheap feel to it, and we wish Creative had included all the buttons found on the Vision:M. The screen is difficult to see in bright sunlight, and there’s no UMS support.

The bottom line: The Creative Zen V Plus is a superb choice for anyone looking for a compact and feature-filled flash MP3 player with great sound quality. If you’re looking for a more sophisticated design (or have large thumbs), check out the iRiver Clix instead.

Creative  Zen V Plus Reviews from PC mag

pros

Lots of features. Very good audio quality. Cute design. Easy to operate and navigate. Good on-device file and playlist management features, including letter and keyword search.

cons

OLED screen isn’t very sharp, and color isn’t accurate. Interface is sometimes sluggish. Video conversion and transfer require proprietary software. No power scrolling or scroll acceleration.