New Creative Zen MX? I was just getting ready to order the Creative Zen when I noticed that they have a new one on their site (not on Amazon yet) called the Zen MX. It is about $20 less but otherwise looks the same as the regular Zen. I don't know much about MP3 players and I want one mainly for audiobooks. I can't tell the difference between the two except that they make a big deal about the SD card. Maybe it solves the memory card transfer problem that so many have talked about? Is anyone familiar with this model? New Creative Zen MX? I was just getting ready to order the Creative Zen when I noticed that they have a new one on their site (not on Amazon yet) called the Zen MX. It is about $20 less but... » Read More New Creative Zen MX? I was just getting ready to order the Creative Zen when I noticed that they have a new one on their site (not on Amazon yet) called the Zen MX. It is about $20 less but otherwise looks the same as the regular Zen. I don't know much about MP3 players and I want one mainly for audiobooks. I can't tell the difference between the two except that they make a big deal about the SD card. Maybe it solves the memory card transfer problem that so many have talked about? Is anyone familiar with this model? « Show Less
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The only difference is that the original Zen is compatible with more formats (MPEG4-SP3, DiVX3/4/5, GIF and WAV) while the MX supports MP3, WMA, Audible 4 audio formats, JPEG and CMV(creative video format).
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Wow, I just bought the 16GB Zen MX from Costco and if it does not have the FM radio, it is definitely going back. I saw the posts saying there was no radio so I went to the Zen website and it does say that this model comes with the FM radio so I guess my battle will be with Costco too. I had received the 8GB for a birthday present last weekend then saw the 16GB for practically the same price, now I know why..... I'll be returning both on principle alone.Thanks for the info.
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MX also will have much better functionality for the SD card. Zen does not import songs/videos into its menus, MX will.I have had the 16gb Zen for a year and a half and love it. My only complaints are 1) lack of accessories such as external speakers with docking options 2) limited SD card functionality and 3) the organizer software is substandard. #1 is worth putting up with since I usually use it outdoors or at the gym, the MX solves #2 and I use WMP instead of the organizer when loading music.If you're looking for an alternative to iPod Nano, this should be at or near the top of your list. MX also will have much better functionality for the SD card. Zen does not import songs/videos into its menus, MX will.I have had the 16gb Zen for a year and a half and love it. My only complaints are 1) lack of accessories such as external speakers with docking options 2) limited SD card functionality and 3) the organizer software is substandard. #1 is worth putting up with since I usually use it outdoors or at the gym, the MX solves #2 and I use WMP instead of the organizer when loading music.If you're looking for an alternative to iPod Nano, this should be at or... » Read More MX also will have much better functionality for the SD card. Zen does not import songs/videos into its menus, MX will.I have had the 16gb Zen for a year and a half and love it. My only complaints are 1) lack of accessories such as external speakers with docking options 2) limited SD card functionality and 3) the organizer software is substandard. #1 is worth putting up with since I usually use it outdoors or at the gym, the MX solves #2 and I use WMP instead of the organizer when loading music.If you're looking for an alternative to iPod Nano, this should be at or near the top of your list. « Show Less
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I'm not sure how I can let the whole world know of either a deception, or scandal, but here it is. Creative now makes a "Special Edition" MX that is sold through CostCo for $99. IT DOES NOT COME WITH THE BUILT-IN RADIO!!!! No where on the internet, nor does CostCo advertise this fact. Even CostCo's conceriege services is unaware of this. DO NOT BUY THE MX THROUGH COSTCO.
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Big mistake getting this unit.Very slow, not at all user-friendly, poorly designed media manager, i.e. Creative Centrale.As a satisfied Zen 8GB owner, I'm very disappointed this Zen-MX 16 GB is not worth the cost and the time I've spend trying to work with it.Creative Labs Zen MX 16 GB MP3 Player (Black)
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"MX also will have much better functionality for the SD card. Zen does not import songs/videos into its menus, MX will."So theoretically, Creative should be able to release a firmware update for the Zen that features better SD card integration.
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Audible.com also has a subscription service. You pay a montly fee (mine is $22ish for 2 downloads a month). Seems a little pricey, but when you consider that most audiobooks on CD cost upwards of $50.00 its not a bad deal. Once you've downloaded a book from Audible, you own it. Between that and my library, I have audiobooks for the entire month. Audible has a very wide selection of both abridged and unabridged titles. My library has a far smaller selection and many are abridged, which I don't like. I want a book to last upwards of 10 hours. Now if I can only find a player I like...I bought the Zen V Plus and just don't like it as much as my old Nano. (see my review). Audible.com also has a subscription service. You pay a montly fee (mine is $22ish for 2 downloads a month). Seems a little pricey, but when you consider that most audiobooks on CD cost upwards of $50.00 its not a bad deal. Once you've downloaded a book from Audible, you own it. Between that and my library, I have audiobooks for the entire month. Audible has a very wide selection of both abridged and unabridged titles. My library has a far smaller selection and many are abridged, which I don't like. I want a book to last upwards of 10 hours. Now if I can only find a player I like...I bought... » Read More Audible.com also has a subscription service. You pay a montly fee (mine is $22ish for 2 downloads a month). Seems a little pricey, but when you consider that most audiobooks on CD cost upwards of $50.00 its not a bad deal. Once you've downloaded a book from Audible, you own it. Between that and my library, I have audiobooks for the entire month. Audible has a very wide selection of both abridged and unabridged titles. My library has a far smaller selection and many are abridged, which I don't like. I want a book to last upwards of 10 hours. Now if I can only find a player I like...I bought the Zen V Plus and just don't like it as much as my old Nano. (see my review). « Show Less
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I haven't had any problems with the headphone jack. I have a Creative Zen Sleek (with the monochrome screen) and have had it for about 8 months. The only problems I have had are: 1) Dust under the screen (seems pretty common, but there are now jackets and cases available which might alleviate that), 2) The thing has locked up a few times (maybe 4 times since I got it), and 3) I get an error when trying to configure the removable disk feature. As far as the price, is you spend another $24 you can get the Creative Zen Vision with 10 more Gigs, a larger screen and VIDEO!!!
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I disagree about Creative Labs being "excellent player". I have had a CL Zen for a year now and I'm ready to replace it. The Zen locks up once a week. The controls seem to respond randomly when you press the main function key. I had a great offer for a Zune, but after reading all this crap (pro and con) I have decided to live with the Zen for another 6 months ...
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I'm wondering the same exact thing. I saw another one by AJ Wholesale, but they're charging $599 for the 32GB one...so I'm just waiting when to hear from these guys. I hope it's not too long...I've Googled it and still can't find an answer.
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Thank you for the information. Since the 32 gb is only $50 more, it would make more sense to me to go with that one and then I can add whatever music I want, whenever I want and whatever genres I want and have an incredible personal jukebox. But I'll keep in mind what you said and I can always change my mind and drop down to the 16 gb. And no, I don't care about the video. If the 16 gb does not have the video function, that might be the way I would go then. Why don't these places just make music players at a less expensive price for those customers who don't want every electronic function that is available at the higher prices? Thank you for the information. Since the 32 gb is only $50 more, it would make more sense to me to go with that one and then I can add whatever music I want, whenever I want and whatever genres I want and have an incredible personal jukebox. But I'll keep in mind what you said and I can always change my mind and drop down to the 16 gb. And no, I don't care about the video. If the 16 gb does not have the video function, that might be the way I would go then. Why don't these places just make music players at a less expensive price for those customers who don't want every electronic function... » Read More Thank you for the information. Since the 32 gb is only $50 more, it would make more sense to me to go with that one and then I can add whatever music I want, whenever I want and whatever genres I want and have an incredible personal jukebox. But I'll keep in mind what you said and I can always change my mind and drop down to the 16 gb. And no, I don't care about the video. If the 16 gb does not have the video function, that might be the way I would go then. Why don't these places just make music players at a less expensive price for those customers who don't want every electronic function that is available at the higher prices? « Show Less
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Dear Thelma, I must confess, my new Creative Zen is still in the box. My old Creative Zen was great for audio books and that is what I used it for. Great audio, great bookmarking. After 5 years it no longer was recognized by my computer so I purchased the new one, but haven't set it up yet. I borrow my books from the library, online. Ours has a great selection of e-audio books, so you don't have to pay to listen. Hope this helps.
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Bought mine for the $30 price. I agree with Bryan that it's probably just different sellers. Go with your wallet!
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A 2G card is pretty cheap, so maybe, but I only paid $80 for my 4G Zen from Amazon. Realize that the files on the card are not integrated into the music menu, they're separate, on a separate menu. Although I have not tried an SD card yet personally, I have read that you can't navigate away from that menu without stopping the music.
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It seems that other than the Sansa products, the main alternative is the Creative Zen Mozaic. But some of the customer comments on the Zen were that it freezes up when you try to fast forward or fast rewind. The Sansa seems to be better in that regard. It also seems that the Fuze has an automatic bookmark feature. I can't tell if the Clip has this or not. It does seem that the Sanza products do not have manual bookmarking that would let you keep your place in several books at the same time. That seems to be a feature that Creative Zen has had in some models. Larry
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I absolutely agree with the OP.This is the most advanced MP3 player on the planet, and to ship it with 16GB Flash instead of an 80 or 160GB microdrive, like the classic has, was stupid IMHO.It would have also been considerably cheaper with a 160GB drive instead of 16GB of Flash.I have a 2nd Gen iPod and a 1st gen 4GB Nano, both still in perfect condition. The Touch was to be my next purchase, but now I'm just not so sure any more.To be totally honest, the 160GB iPod Classic is a FAR better buy. It's cheaper, has 10 times the storage, has the same new interface and OS, and lasts 40 hours per charge.Apple has made my decision WAY too hard. I absolutely agree with the OP.This is the most advanced MP3 player on the planet, and to ship it with 16GB Flash instead of an 80 or 160GB microdrive, like the classic has, was stupid IMHO.It would have also been considerably cheaper with a 160GB drive instead of 16GB of Flash.I have a 2nd Gen iPod and a 1st gen 4GB Nano, both still in perfect condition. The Touch was to be my next purchase, but now I'm just not so sure any more.To be totally honest, the 160GB iPod Classic is a FAR better buy. It's cheaper, has 10 times the storage, has the... » Read More I absolutely agree with the OP.This is the most advanced MP3 player on the planet, and to ship it with 16GB Flash instead of an 80 or 160GB microdrive, like the classic has, was stupid IMHO.It would have also been considerably cheaper with a 160GB drive instead of 16GB of Flash.I have a 2nd Gen iPod and a 1st gen 4GB Nano, both still in perfect condition. The Touch was to be my next purchase, but now I'm just not so sure any more.To be totally honest, the 160GB iPod Classic is a FAR better buy. It's cheaper, has 10 times the storage, has the same new interface and OS, and lasts 40 hours per charge.Apple has made my decision WAY too hard. « Show Less
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I use my mp3 exclusively for audiobooks. I'm a real junkie and listen nonstop all day when I'm not at work. The first one I bought was a Zen V. It had issues, but improved when Creative came out with new firmware. After using it for a year, the battery would no longer hold a charge. There was no way to replace the battery. So I decided to look for a player with a user-replaceable battery and bought a Zen Micro. It worked fine for a few weeks, then it broke and Creative said they could not repair it. I decided the battery was more of an issue than the bookmarking, so I bought a Sansa e250 v2. I've had it for about a month and it's great. Better than either of the Creative players. But it doesn't have bookmarking. Rockbox wizards are working on a new version that will work with the Sansa e250v2, so I'm hoping that will give it bookmarking capability. The resume playing works really well with the Sansa (unlike with the 2 creative players). Since I only listen to one book at a time and don't listen to music, the only time bookmarking is really an issue is when I transfer or delete books when the player is connected to my PC. (I have a Gomadic wall charger to recharge the battery at night.) I'm really not sure about the full time stamping. My library changed from netLibrary to Overdrive. Overdrive breaks audiobooks into multiple files instead of having one really large file like NetLibrary, so that hasn't been an issue. In 2006 a survey showed that 25% of the adult US population listens to audiobooks. It's really stupid that mp3 manufacturers continue to ignore our needs when the technology and software already exists to provide every player with full time stamping and bookmarking. If just one of them would come out with a reliable player with a user-replaceable battery and those features, they would probably rival iPOD overnight. If Sansa would respond with a firmware update to provide those features, the e200 series could be that player. Instead, they foolishly continue to ignore the pleas of audiobook listeners.
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Tarek, I am glad I could help. You are correct in that Amazon has added the new version to their database. Doing an Amazon search for "HKGOPLAY5BLK" will pull it up. It is interesting to note that some places it is HKG<zero>PLAY5BLK but I believe Amazon has it correct with HKG<capital o>PLAY5BLK.Once Amazon gets them in stock I am sure they will correct the price to $350 or below since that is the actual MSRP.I can see how the cost-benefit margin might be slim if you don't have an i-anything, have you considered the Soundsticks II? The aesthetics are certainly better than the Z-2300. Either one is at a price point that might allow you to get the new GO + Play when you get an i-something and the price has come down. Tarek, I am glad I could help. You are correct in that Amazon has added the new version to their database. Doing an Amazon search for "HKGOPLAY5BLK" will pull it up. It is interesting to note that some places it is HKG<zero>PLAY5BLK but I believe Amazon has it correct with HKG<capital o>PLAY5BLK.Once Amazon gets them in stock I am sure they will correct the price to $350 or below since that is the actual MSRP.I can see how the cost-benefit margin might be slim if you don't have an i-anything, have you considered the Soundsticks II? The... » Read More Tarek, I am glad I could help. You are correct in that Amazon has added the new version to their database. Doing an Amazon search for "HKGOPLAY5BLK" will pull it up. It is interesting to note that some places it is HKG<zero>PLAY5BLK but I believe Amazon has it correct with HKG<capital o>PLAY5BLK.Once Amazon gets them in stock I am sure they will correct the price to $350 or below since that is the actual MSRP.I can see how the cost-benefit margin might be slim if you don't have an i-anything, have you considered the Soundsticks II? The aesthetics are certainly better than the Z-2300. Either one is at a price point that might allow you to get the new GO + Play when you get an i-something and the price has come down. « Show Less
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Hi Darlene...sorry it's taken so long for someone to respond to your post! Anyway, I'm the proud owner of a Creative Zen V Plus, and I can honestly tell you that YES, the little bugger playes videos/movies. The player comes with a handful of Creative Zen commercials installed, including a really cute one with a panda! However...the size of the video displayed is REALLY small....literally the size of a postage stamp, maybe smaller than that. Do realize that a Zen V Plus is only slightly larger than Apple's iPod Shuffle, which is one of the smallest players around. If you want to rip DVD's to play on this thing, that I don't know about. I've been able to upload a "home movie" video that I made myself, and Creative has a ZenCast web site that has a bunch of FREE video downloads. If you are wanting to buy a player primarily to play videos, look elsewhere. The Microsoft Zune does a fantastic job with video for a pocket size player. Other than video display, the Zen V Plus is a great little device.
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Am thinking about buying the Creative Zen and read where someone stated it was hard to bookmark on the SD card. Have you had problems doing this too?He said it was not good for audiobooks. I use my Creative Zen Vision W and iPod only for books and would like to purchase another.....Thanks for any info......
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I've had my Zen Nano Plus for about a year now. It's been flawless. Use it working out, cutting grass, on vacation at the beach, etc. Lots of fun with no problems.So, I have to agree with all the other comments/posts here. I'm sure the Ipod is a great product too, but I think you get more bang for the buck with the Creative Zen Nano Plus. (And it's great that you don't have to load any software on your computer to use it. Just drag and drop.)
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The library's a great suggestion -- thanks! I called both SanDisk and Audible to complain about their mutual incompatibility and was told by both that it was up to SanDisk. Anyway, my lesson from all of this is that I should look into these things more thoroughly before I buy another player (which hopefully won't be any time soon!).