Creative Labs Zen Style 300 8 GB MP3 and Video Player (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I listen exclusively to audiobooks that I download from the state's library site using Overdrive.Overdrive manages both mp3 and dwma formatted files, each about an hour long.

In the past, I have used the creative muvo, sansa clip, and Sony (the screen quit, and it was too costly to replace even though it was still under warranty, shame on you Sony).I have been most happy with the zen Mosaic, and I will use this as a basis for comparison on this review.

Button Layout (style 300 wins) The Mosaic buttons were designed to be stylish, not functional.If the Mosaic is in my pocket and I receive a phone call, I must take it out of my pocket, look at the player to find the button and press it.The Stylehas a better layout and I can find the most important buttons (on-off, volume, forward/backward) by sense of touch.

On-Off Button (Mosaic wins)On the Mosaic, you slide a button on the side of the unit.On the Style, you press down the button on the far right of the line of buttons under the screen.The difference is in how fast the unit starts up.If you have used the Mosaic in the past 20 minutes or so and then turn it on, the unit plays almost instantly.The Style requires you to press the button down for about 7 seconds before it starts up.It takes the same amount of time if you had used it one minute ago or one month ago, definitely a step down from the Mosaic.

Lock Button (Mosaic wins)Unlike the previous review, the style does have a lock feature.You press down the menu button (the second one from the right on the line of buttons under the screen) and press the square toggle button up once and press the center button.This works, but is more time consuming and complicated than the Mosaic, where you slide the on-off button up for a couple of seconds to enable the lock.Turning off the Moziac when the buttons are locked is also easier.You just slide down the on-off button and hold it until it turns off.With the Style, you must press a button and then follow the instructions on the screen....and then then press and hold the on-off button.

Pause Button (Mosaic wins)I can't help but believe that this is a bug in the style that hasn't been fixed yet.When you press the pause on the style and then get delayed so the unit automatically turns off, when you turn it on again, it starts at the beginning of the track and not where you paused it.(this run-on sentence is why I was not an English Major)This is very annoying when you are 45 minutes into an audiobook track.On the Mosaic, the player starts up where you paused it in all situations.

Transferring Files from Overdrive (Mosaic wins)When I transfer audiobooks to the Mosaic using Overdrive, it creates a new folder in the music directory with the author's name.If you transfer multiple books from the same author, the books are created in separate folder within the author's folder.Pretty slick!The only irritant is that the folders are sorted in the authors FIRST name.With the Style, it dumps the individual tracks into the root directory.I then get an error that the license is not valid and the book will not play.I must manually move the files into the music subdirectory.Even then, you end up with hundreds of individual track files to sort through when deleting a book I am finished using.I contacted Creative support about this problem.Since they make both the Mosaic and the Style 300 and the latter model is supposed to be an upgrade of the former model, I thought that someone at Creative had solved the Overdrive issue on the Mosaic and could also fix it on the Style.(another run-on sentence) No luck.Despite several email exchanges, they had no clue what I was talking about and their final solution involved me manipulating ID3 tags and such.

Final analysis.I like the radio and speaker on the style, which isn't on the Mosaic.For functionality listening to audiobooks though, the Mosaic wins.Hopefully these will be fixed in future firmware upgrades, but for now, I'm sticking to my Mosaic.

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Product Description:
Experience pure music and start your own fashion trend with the ZEN Style 300 - available in three capacities: 4GB, 8GB and 16GB. Featuring a sleek and bold design with minimal buttons, this tiny wonder will never go out of style. Playback your precious memories in detail and clarity on its 1.8" screen while enjoying your favorite tracks. Features include plug and play, a built-in speaker and even a FM radio! You are able to share and influence others or be the live wire of any party with your tasteful sense of fashion and truly stand out of the crowd.There's more! The ZEN Style 300 is so lightweight you won't even know you have it on you and you would still be able to update yourself on the latest trendy spots and fashion wear. With such distinctive and dynamic features, there is no other worthy of comparison. Have a personal sense of fashion and style with the ZEN Style 300. Relish in one now.