Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox Zen NX 20 GB Digital Audio Player Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)My 2 cents..
If you want a stylish player, get the iPod.
If you want a player that provides twice the hard drive capacity for half the price, get the Nomad Zen Nx.
If you want a white (blah) player that will show every sign of dirt and dust, get an iPod.
If you want a silver player that looks utilitarian, and like it can take a beating, get the Zen Nx.
I really do not mind the Mediasource software, except that I prefer not to use its CD ripping function, because it doesn't allow you to include the Track # in the filename.There's plenty of freeware CD to MP3 rippers out there that don't hog resources like Mediasource does.
Other than that, the software functions just fine although a little slow for a P3 700Mhz PC..If you look around the Internet, you can find a piece of software called Nomad Explorer, an official release written by Creative Labs, that will integrate with Windows Explorer and allows you to drag and drop your MP3s right from within Windows Explorer!Niiice.
The thing I love about this player the best, and what matters most to most people, is that it sounds absolutely GREAT.I encode most of my MP3/WMA's at 128-160kbps and both bitrates sound great..My 192kbps sound even better, but 160kbps is pretty much all I need with this player.
EAX allows you to set preset EQ settings like Rock, Pop, Jazz, etc, or environmental settings like Auditorium, Concert Hall, Garage (most environmental settings make it sound like you're in a big restroom, in my opinion).. I use the custom 4 band equalizer, and it works great..Beware though, with EAX enabled, your battery life will be cut in half!Luckily the battery charges in just two hours.
If you want a good pair of earclip headphones to go with this, pick up some Koss KSC-50 headphones.. They are full open air size headphones that clip to your ears, and they're a LOT better than the ones that come with the Zen Nx.
One minor complaint about the Zen Nx, and that is, Creative seems to be pushing their Zen Xtra, even though they just released the Zen Nx in August!As great of a player as this model is, I hope they aren't pushing it under the rug, in favor of a newer model with a bigger screen.
Another minor beef I have is the lack of FM tuner.True, I can buy a decent portable FM radio for under $20, but it surely would have been easy for Creative to have on built in, wouldn't it have?
The scroll wheel takes some getting used to.I can't say I like it for menu scrolling, but it does come in handy when scrolling thru 100+ artist/album names.It just does not feel precise, that's all.
If you want a great HD based player at a great price and don't mind slightly clunky included software, get this- it's a steal.

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Product Description:
Carry all your favorite digital music in NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX with total style! With ultra-fast USB 2.0 connection, you just transfer all your music into the player with Creative MediaSource, hit the play button and you're all set to enjoy high fidelity music. NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX also comes with advanced features like the integrated clock feature, powerful navigation tools and EAX audio technologies to elevate your digital music experience.More than a digital music player, NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX is also an external hard drive for storing all your photos, documents and other data files. Cased in anodized Aluminum with a choice of storage capacity, the feature-packed NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX is not to be missed.