Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I have had this player for a couple of weeks, so I feel I've used it and familiarized myself with the controls enough to write a review. This is my second MP3 player. I already own a CD based player made by IRiver that is excellent. I bought that player in 2002 and I have not had any problems whatsoever. By 2006 with the market saturated by the more portable hard drive and flash memory based players, I decided to make the switch to something more portable that could also hold a substantial amount of music.
I've always been of the line of thinking that it is a ridiculous thing to carry ones entire record collection with them. My collection however, is quite large. The 20-gigabyte hard drive the Zen Sleek Photo is equipped with was surprisingly a comfortable fit. I used to carry a CD wallet full of Data CDs formatted for my old player but now I've transferred most of the songs on those discs to the Zen player. The portability of this player is one of its best features. It is small, light and well designed. All of the hard drive based MP3 players currently on the market are made for casual use, but it does seem that this player can stand up to constant use better than it's counterpart the Ipod.
The Zen's controls are awkward at first, but it does not take long to get used to the vertical touchpad. The touchpad's sensitivity can be modified by accessing the player options through the main menu. Once songs, albums and playlist have been loaded, it's a breeze scrolling through the various names to access any song (or group of songs) that's wanted. One of the drawbacks of it's scaled down simplistic control system is the inability to make playlists, edit or change the order of songs directly from the player. If you want to make any revisions to track information or even change the sequence of a playlist, you must rely on the software that comes bundled.
The software, while it's easy to use, is a taxing application when it's loaded onto a computer. If you have a newer system with a processor in the 1.5 to 2-gig category you should be fine. If you are like me however (with a processor of less than 1 gig), then it can be a little sluggish. Running this program is similar to starting Musicmatch's jukebox application. Once the program is running, navigating through it is simple. Even those who are novices to this type of technology will find a user friendly environment that makes it easy to access the content on the computer hard drive, load the player and put it to use.
Another one of the player's best features is it's battery. This is the thing that is the most dramatic improvement compared to my last player. A 2 hour charge will last at least 12 hours (it lists as 15-20). When I put this in contrast with my other player's 4 hour battery time it is significant because once I charge the new player, I generally don't have to charge it again until the next day. The feature that turns the backlight off when it is not in use probably contributes to the long battery life. File types also factor into the equation. MP3's are the easiest to play, while WMA and WAV files are a little more demanding on the battery.
The sound quality is superb. The player has an extensive EQ system that allows users to choose a preset (ranging from hip hop to classical) or customize their own settings. The smart sound feature will take all of the distortion out of songs encoded at high ranges and keeps the songs at a general levelness as far as loudness is concerned. This feature does affect the sound quality a little bit, but it can be side stepped almost entirely by turning the volume up a few notches. The headphones included are of average quality. The phones get the job done nicely and are a comfortable fit. I do wish that the padding that covers the ear buds were of a little more quality. I'll probably be in need of new padding (or new headphones) in a month or two.
The photo viewer shows crisp (miniature) replications of the photos loaded onto it. The quality drop when loaded onto the player is noticeable but not drastic. As a portable viewer, it is a good feature to have and it is the main reason for the player's color display. The ability to partition a section of the hard drive for storage is also a useful tool. At the moment I just have 512 megabytes set aside to use for school work but you have the option of up to 16 gigabytes.
Overall, the ZEN Sleek Photo is an excellent MP3 player, with great features (microphone, FM radio, limited organizer, photo viewer, drive storage). It does have a few functionality issues but these don't warrant any great complaints and usually just require a tad more patience. I've enjoyed using this player and I would recommend the Zen Sleek Photo to anyone looking to buy a quality player of this class.
Design * * * *1/2 stars
Functionality/ease of use * * *1/2 stars
Sound quality * * * * stars
Features * * * * stars
Portability * * * * * stars
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Product Description:
Living up to its name, the svelte and elegantly designed Creative Zen Sleek Photo Multimedia Player can carry thousands of MP3 and WMA music files as well as your favorite snapshots. It is compatible with secure PlaysForSure WMA files downloaded from online music stores and subscription services (like MTV's Urge, Napster, and Rhapsody).
View the stunning, high-intensity 1.7-inch OLED screen from any angle.
The Sleek Photo 20 GB player holds up to 10,000 WMA or 5,000 MP3 songs. View larger.
This 20 GB digital audio player will store up to 10,000 WMA (encoded at 64 Kbps) or 5,000 MP3 (128 KBps) CD-quality songs. The internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery offers up to 19 hours of continuous play. The cutting edge, 1.7-inch OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) screen looks terrific from every angle and it draws less power than conventional LCD displays. It displays 262,144 vivid colors, ensuring every picture is sharply detailed and extraordinarily clear. In addition to standard slideshows, you can also set up custom slideshows complete with music.
Tune in to the built-in FM radio (which features 32 station presets) and listen live or record programming for listening when you're ready. Use the built-in microphone to record your voice--dictate memos, record meetings, hours of notes, lectures and reminders. Sync with Microsoft Outlook to transfer your calendar, contacts and task list so you'll never forget important anniversaries and appointments. You can also use the Zen Sleek Photo as an external hard drive for saving and transferring your most important files.
The equalization feature offers nine acoustic environments, such as "rock" and "jazz," enabling you to customize your listening environment. Other features include a 5-band graphic equalizer, easy-to-use touch pad control buttons, and upgradeable firmware. It connects to PCs via a USB 2.0 connection (cable included)--which features download speeds of up to one second per song--and it's compatible with Windows XP SP1/SP2 systems with Windows Media Player 10 software.
The Zen Sleek Photo Multimedia Player uses PlaysForSure technology. Look for the PlaysForSure logo if you're shopping for a portable music or video device and you want to make sure the digital music and video you purchase will play back on it every time. Match the PlaysForSure logo on a large selection of leading devices and online music stores. If you see the logo, you'll know your digital music will play for sure. Choose from a large number of digital music and video stores, including MTV's Urge, Rhapsody, Yahoo!, MSN Music, MusicMatch, MusicNow, Napster, Wal-Mart Music Downloads, and many more.
What's in the Box
Zen Sleek Photo digital audio player, earphones, power adapter, USB cable, pouch, CD-ROM with software and user guide, and printed Quick Start guide.
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