Creative Zen Nano Plus 1 GB MP3 Player (Blue)

I really love this little gadget. I have no interest in spending the mega bucks for an iPod, but I wanted an mp3 player to take with me when I fly, and for walking, etc. I scanned numerous products and reviews before I settled on the Zen Nano. It seemed to have everything I was looking for, including pretty good user reviews and a good price for what you get. What you get: A really versatile mp3 player that's smaller than a Zippo cigarette lighter. My family couldn't believe how eensy it is. But that makes it easy to transport in a purse or backpack. An armband is included, but I don't use it. The Nano has flash memory, which means the user can save music files on it, or with the USB cable, use it for storage as a flash drive. Flash memory is super-stable, so that's a plus if someone needs it in that capacity. 1GB of memory will hold about 500 songs, which is plenty for most people. The Nano also has a voice recorder and an FM tuner which works very well. It will not, absolutely will not skip. I haven't had any problems with the battery compartment cover, but forewarned is forearmed. I am very careful when changing the batteries. I get about 10 hours from a AAA alkaline. It's a feature with all these sorts of players, but be careful how you name the song files when you load them up. All the tracks labeled "01" will play first, in alphabetical order. There are ways to get around this, but bottom line: if you want all your album tracks to play in sequence, pay attention to the file names. Cons: Cannot scroll from one album to the next, only between tracks. The instruction manual could also use some work. No accessories available. I'd like another cover for it, but so far, Creative Labs hasn't offered one. Naturally, the earphones are blah. I like the blue around the ear version by Sony, myself, and these are what I use. Still, these are small things, and not enough to drop a star. This is a fine little player that does the main thing I want it to do: play my favorite music. I happily give it 5 stars and tell the Creative folks they've done a good job.

This mp3 player more than fills the bill for me: worksite music with no commercial interruptions or having to constantly change cd's. Creative has a great line of computer audio gear, so I'm familiar with their electronics; I also like the ability to change the battery and not worry about a charger. I have to agree with the other reviewers who've commented on the build quality, it does seem a bit light-weight, but I guess time will tell - so far, so good. The earbuds are useless, as far as I'm concerned; they sound ok, but they keep falling out! (I've just ordered a pair of V-Moda's, which should solve that problem). The one thing that sent me over the deep end with this little unit is the sound through my Sony MDR-V600's (bought for use with my home stereo); I can't believe they actually power them with one AAA battery. As I'm typing this, I have the Zen set on the #1 (lowest) setting and it sounds great. The software looks good, Creative's thrown in a few bells and whistles for you to play with, but, my audio library is all in the Windows Media Player, so I don't really need theirs. I did have some initial problems with migrating from the computer to the Zen, but that may have been my impatience. I finally just clicked the :F drive(Zen) icon and used that menu to transfer to the player. I can't think of anything bad to say about the Zen, so I'll just say, if you're looking for an alternative to the Apple gear, this is it.

I primarily use my Zen Nano Plus at the gym. I listen to music and lectures/books. It sounds great and it's a great alternative to its more expensive ipod competition. I know because my wife's shuffle pales in comparison. The player is easy to use. Drag and drop simplicity was it's main attraction. It's versatile and has good features for the price. It plays MP3s and other formats--WMAs and WAVs. It can be used as a USB drive, a voice recorder and it has an FM radio. It's about $15 less than a 1GB shuffle--and a much better deal if for no other reason than the LCD screen. It doesn't require proprietary software. The single most hateful aspect of using an ipod is having to load that odious software on my PC. My sole complaint is the little tab on the battery compartment. (But for this, I'd have given 5 stars.) Lots of others have complained about this thing breaking off. It hasn't happened to me yet, but it IS very flimsy. If the battery compartment won't close and other "stuff" gets inside, it's over. The player won't last forever, but it seems a shame to invite its demise with this vulnerability.

I bought my Creative Zen Nano about 6 months ago and since then it has done nothing but make me happy. It's a great little device. It's tiny, has all the features I need, is really easy to use, and has a great battery life. The jogging strap it comes with works great as well. I use it all the time. Best of all, it's durable! I ran it through the washing machine by accident and was sure it'd be toast. I was planning to buy a new one from Amazon. But after 4 days of drying out, it works just like new. I'm amazed and very pleased. A few days before that it got soaked while I was running in the rain and it survived that too. It's a great little device. I recommend it very highly! :-)

The installation disc messed up my Window XP. I had to use my friend's computer to load music to the player. Those of you who use Window XP-home edition, don't bother with the included disc. Use WMP 11 to load music. The player is so-so, but the battery life is far shorter than advertised.

Well, this is by far the most extraordinary thing I've ever bought. Who would ever have thought that we could come up with something so tiny that would play music with such extraordinary sound quality, and lots of it! I've had the Zen 1 gig player two months now and have hardly any complaints. I'm mostly into classical music, and so a number of the files I listen to are large. The capacity and function of the Zen player is not compromised by this, however, and I have yet to max it out. The sound quality is great (especially with better ear buds), and the controls are easy to use and quite intuitive so long as you're not gadget phobic. The included software is quite useable, but the player will interface with a PC very well without it. Some people have complained about the flimsiness of the buttons and the relative "fragility" of the player itself. The controls are pretty easy to read, and I think the buttons are more than strong enough for a product this size. As for the player's fragility, the people who complained about breakage had also dropped it on a hard surface. WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?!?!? If electronic components come back ticking after they are dropped, you should count your blessings. If they don't, well, you shouldn't have dropped it. I travel a lot, and the player goes everywhere with me in my shirt pocket, zipped inside a carry-on bag, or clipped to my shorts in the gym. The Zen works great everywhere. The only real complaint I have (and it's small) is that I get more like 5 or 6 hours of play on a battery, not 11. Not a real problem, but I am going to switch to rechargeable batteries the first chance I get.

I purchased this MP3 player for my daughter for Christmas. Even though there are newer models with greater amounts of storage, we selected this player for the combination of 1GB of storage,FM radio, and value for the $$. This player is a big hit with our daughter. The controls are small, and the dual function controls are a bit tricky to use at first, but after a short time the navigation through the player's menu is pretty easy and intuitive. The FM tuner seems to pick up channels clearly, and the sound quality of the earphones is pretty good as well.

I BOUGHT THIS UNIT BECAUSE IT WOULD RECORD CASSETTES AND CDS. HOWEVER, THE DIGITAL READOUT WAS SO SMALL, I COULD NOT READ IT. I PUT A MAGNIFYING CLASS ON IT, AND IT WAS STILL TOO SMALL. YOU CAN'T HOLD A MAGNIFYING GLASS AND THE MP3 AT THE SAME TIME. THE SCROLLER WAS DIFFICULT TO WORK. THANKS AMAZON FOR TAKING THIS PRODUCT BACK THAT I COULDN'T USE. JAY KING