Creative Zen Sleek 20gb

The General

Just bought the Sleek this week, and i think anyone getting a 20gb mp3 player should get this one, its cheap enough, FM radio, FM recording, you can partition the 20gb and use say 8gb for storage and the rest for music, once you have it partitioned you can use it as a removable harddrive anyways just taught id give you guys the heads up since i didn't see any Sleek threads on here

Oriel

There have been threads, you just haven't seen them, but I appreciate the search is disabled.
Also, you don't have to partition anything, just copy the files over, let the Zen do the maths.

S.

The General

sinecurea wrote:

There have been threads, you just haven't seen them, but I appreciate the search is disabled.
Also, you don't have to partition anything, just copy the files over, let the Zen do the maths.

S.

link to said threads

Oriel

sinecurea wrote:

but I appreciate the search is disabled.S.

.

Dave!

I'm thinking of getting one of these

I've never used one, are they hard to navigate with? I see big bulky horrible buttons on pictures, do you have to use them to go through songs? Seems very awkward compared with the iPod or something. Are you able to record off the radio, too?

Got any comments on this player, anyone?

Thanks

The General

DaveMcG wrote:

I'm thinking of getting one of these

I've never used one, are they hard to navigate with? I see big bulky horrible buttons on pictures, do you have to use them to go through songs? Seems very awkward compared with the iPod or something. Are you able to record off the radio, too?

Got any comments on this player, anyone?

Thanks

wicked player imo, its nearly the exact same size as the 15-20 gig ipod, it can record straight off the radio, it charges when its connected to the PC via USB you also get a normal charger aswell. i got mine in xtra vision for 289 i think they are on komplett for 269, let me know if u have any other questions

The General

The General wrote:

wicked player imo, its nearly the exact same size as the 15-20 gig ipod, it can record straight off the radio, it charges when its connected to the PC via USB you also get a normal charger aswell. i got mine in xtra vision for 289 i think they are on komplett for 269, let me know if u have any other questions

sorry forgot some things, its easy to use you figure everything out in about 10 minutes of playing around with it, the buttons are used ocassionly, it the touch pad in the centre thats used to go through songs and select them, its a bit like the little pad that laptops have but its more sensitive

Dave!

Thanks for that

Do you or anyone know any secret places that are doing them dead cheap, by any chance? I ask because I made a thread about the Zen 40GB and some bloke posted telling me that his shop just had a sale and let them go for €200

Thanks

SteM

Can you just drag/drop files to the Sleek using Windows Explorer or do you need transferring software like the you do with the Zen Touch? I need to get one for a present for Christmas but it has to be true plug & play.

The General

SteM wrote:

Can you just drag/drop files to the Sleek using Windows Explorer or do you need transferring software like the you do with the Zen Touch? I need to get one for a present for Christmas but it has to be true plug & play.

When you get the Sleek you can partition the harddisk, i have mine split into two one is 12gb and thats for mp3s and 8gb to use as a removable hardrive. If you just want to store files on it, you just select "Removable Hardrive" from the "extras" menu and it acts as a removable harddrive(you can just drag and drop)

The General

I charged my player the night i got it and haven't had to charge it since(2 weeks) because it charges when you have it hooked up to the PC through USB

SteM

The General wrote:

When you get the Sleek you can partition the harddisk, i have mine split into two one is 12gb and thats for mp3s and 8gb to use as a removable hardrive. If you just want to store files on it, you just select "Removable Hardrive" from the "extras" menu and it acts as a removable harddrive(you can just drag and drop)

But you need software on every PC you want to access the player from, yeah? So it's not true plug/play like the irivers?

This would be important to the person I'm getting it for.

Explosive_Cornflake

Cowan or iriver(only the old ones, ala h1x0's, and h3x0's will do, AFAIK, the H10's are gone all software like) is what you'll need so. The sleek defo needs software.

The General

SteM wrote:

But you need software on every PC you want to access the player from, yeah? So it's not true plug/play like the irivers?

This would be important to the person I'm getting it for.

yes but when you partition the drive, you can use it as a removable harddrive! you will need the software to put music onto it, but if you wanna just transfer files from a mates pc to yours you just select "Removable Hardrive" plug it in and it appears like so: http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/6260/image10dw.jpg


When partitioning the player it lets you select different partitions, i have mine set up as 8gb-12gb

Bard

Why would you want to partition the drive? Why would you want to use special software on every PC you use it on? This isn't the dark ages! Get a Cowon IAudio X5L. Nothing beats them.

The Zen Sleek is being deleted anyway and replaced with the Zen Sleek Photo (same thing only with a colour screen and photo gallery section).

They stack up like this:

Zen Sleek Photo - Radio with recorder, voice recorder, preset equaliser settings, Supports MP3, WMA, and WAV, 20GB HDD holds up to 10,000 tracks, requires special software to transfer files, hard drive must be partitioned to use as a removable hard drive on your PC - only a portion of the drive can be used for this, photo viewer section. Comes with Creative Mediasource software, €319.99

Cowon IAudio X5/X5L - Radio with recorder, line-in with direct MP3 encoding, line-out, voice recorder with ultra sensitive mic and adjustable quality setting, enhanced sound quality using MPEnhance and Bass booster, fully customisable graphic equaliser with optional presets, 20GB HDD holds up to 10,000 tracks, hard drive does not need to be partitioned to use as an external HDD on a computer - the full capacity is usable as an external USB2 drive out of the box, No special software required for copying files (file & directory driven, not database driven), Available in standard (14 hour battery) or long life (35 hour battery) version, Supports MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, WAV and MP4 video, Displays JPG photos and TXT documents, Comes with the excellent JetAudio software package, €329.99 (or €349.99 for long life version)

I think that's a no-brainer really...

By the way, the prices I'm quoting are retail prices from Harvey Norman, Dundalk, where I run the MP3 section. I've been informed that our iAudio range is actually cheaper than online retailers such as Komplett.ie, who sell the 30GB X5 for €379 and the 30GB X5L (long life) for €399 (- I sell them for 369 and 389) and sell the leather pouch and docking station for €25 and €30 respectively (- I sell them each for €19.99). It clearly pays to shop around..

SteM

Explosive_Cornflake wrote:

Cowan or iriver(only the old ones, ala h1x0's, and h3x0's will do, AFAIK, the H10's are gone all software like) is what you'll need so. The sleek defo needs software.

Bugger, the H10 was going to be my backup machine - I just assumed it would be drag/drop like my IHP140. Thanks for the info.

Bard wrote:

Why would you want to partition the drive? Why would you want to use special software on every PC you use it on? This isn't the dark ages! Get a Cowon IAudio X5L. Nothing beats them.

The Zen Sleek is being deleted anyway and replaced with the Zen Sleek Photo (same thing only with a colour screen and photo gallery section).

They stack up like this:

Zen Sleek Photo - Radio with recorder, voice recorder, preset equaliser settings, Supports MP3, WMA, and WAV, 20GB HDD holds up to 10,000 tracks, requires special software to transfer files, hard drive must be partitioned to use as a removable hard drive on your PC - only a portion of the drive can be used for this, photo viewer section. Comes with Creative Mediasource software, €319.99

Cowon IAudio X5/X5L - Radio with recorder, line-in with direct MP3 encoding, line-out, voice recorder with ultra sensitive mic and adjustable quality setting, enhanced sound quality using MPEnhance and Bass booster, fully customisable graphic equaliser with optional presets, 20GB HDD holds up to 10,000 tracks, hard drive does not need to be partitioned to use as an external HDD on a computer - the full capacity is usable as an external USB2 drive out of the box, No special software required for copying files (file & directory driven, not database driven), Available in standard (14 hour battery) or long life (35 hour battery) version, Supports MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, WAV and MP4 video, Displays JPG photos and TXT documents, Comes with the excellent JetAudio software package, €329.99 (or €349.99 for long life version)

I think that's a no-brainer really...

By the way, the prices I'm quoting are retail prices from Harvey Norman, Dundalk, where I run the MP3 section. I've been informed that our iAudio range is actually cheaper than online retailers such as Komplett.ie, who sell the 30GB X5 for €379 and the 30GB X5L (long life) for €399 (- I sell them for 369 and 389) and sell the leather pouch and docking station for €25 and €30 respectively (- I sell them each for €19.99). It clearly pays to shop around..

Harvey Norman in low price shocker! Thanks for that Bard, hadn't considered a Cowon but will look into it. Now stop hawking your wares on Boards!

Bard

SteM wrote:

Harvey Norman in low price shocker! Thanks for that Bard, hadn't considered a Cowon but will look into it. Now stop hawking your wares on Boards!

Heh, no problem. Just a word of caution - if you're looking to buy it from Harvey Norman, ONLY the Dundalk branch has them (I insisted we stock them, the other branches - Swords and Cork - didn't include them in their Christmas ordering predictions) and stocks are very limited (I expect them to be sold out by this weekend and for us not to get any more in before Christmas).

jonathanbowers

Hey anyone know where i can get a leather case for the zen sleek, in dublin city coz i looked everywhere and i can't find them

Fighting Irish

sinecurea wrote:

There have been threads, you just haven't seen them, but I appreciate the search is disabled.
Also, you don't have to partition anything, just copy the files over, let the Zen do the maths.

S.

unless you want to put something on the sleek and put it onto another PC that hasn't got the zen software installed


I agree with the OP if you want a basic 20Gb mp3 player the sleek is the best out there

Fighting Irish

jonathanbowers wrote:

Hey anyone know where i can get a leather case for the zen sleek, in dublin city coz i looked everywhere and i can't find them

i've only seen them on the net, i have my sleek about a year though and i've dropped it off my bed couch plenty of times and its still in perfect nic, it doesn't scratch/break easy

Tchocky

I have the Sleek Photo, and I'm very satisfied. I don't use th photo storage except maybe a few folders for album art/wallpaper. Paid just over €200 for it on amazon