Creative Zen X-Fi with Wireless LAN
Creative Zen X-Fi with Wireless LAN
Rating: 90%
Review Title: Zen X-Fi 32Gb
Comment by andymclean at 11:29pm 5th October 2008
Verdict: Generally Excellent, But a few areas in which I'd expect more from a flagship product.
Just got rid of my 8Gb iPod Touch in favour of this. My previous play was a HDD based Creative Zen Sleek 20Gb.
I'll start by disagreeing with the CPC review on this.
1) The menu system isn't as unintuitive as portrayed here in my opinion - its also customisable in that you can remove menus that you do not use.
2) It isn't "Slow" - tracks copy quickly and load quickly from the player.
3) It works perfectly on my Vista 64 Bit Based machine. There are already updates on Creative's site for the software AND a firmware update.
4) The speaker can be disabled in the settings menu and DOES stay off when you do this.
5) The FM radio works perfectly wherever I have used it.
6) "It BULGES in your pocket" ??? Cmon, this thing is tiny and light.
My biggest disappointments are that it doesn't have the feel of weight and quality like my previous Zen Sleek or iPod touch. I would have liked to have seen it in metal as the plastic back does feel quite cheap.
Separate volume up/down buttons would also have been preferable to feeling around the keypad, and this was one of the main reasons I ditched the iPod Touch - you had to remove it from your pocket and unlock the touchscreen to skip tracks or adjust the volume.
The screen on the X-Fi is very good indeed and the sound quality is outstanding. This was the main reason for ditching the ipod. Frankly, the iPod Touch was the worst sound quality imaginable, especially for someone as serious about music and high end Hi-Fi (I own a LINN system) as I am.
BUT, whuilst the crystaliser function works as well as you'd expect an X-Fi product to, the "Expander" feature is nothing short of absolute crap. Completely ruins all clarity in the upper and lower areas of the sound and simply puts the bass to a dull echo and the midrange through the roof.
The 3 X 3 button array is quite intuitive once you get used to it. Think of it as a "D-Pad" on a playstation controller and you'll get along just fine with it.
Final opinion:
Pro's:
- Simply unbeatable for sound quality - destroys all ipods without doubt.
- Great screen
- Excellent headphones bundles.
- Cheaper per GB than ipod touch
- Works WITHOUT having to install iTunes or any other bloated nonsense.
Cons:
- Feels cheaper than it looks
- Some functions far too superfluous in a product that is aimed at audiophiles demanding simply great sound quality - doe we really need messenger? Please save the gimiks for the playground kids Creative.
In summary, if i could have squeezed this screen and sound quality from my old 20Gb Zen Sleek, there is no way I'd have changed it :)
Andy McLean
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