Why are Creative Zens out to get me?

fh041205

I'm not going on a huge rant here but I have a genuine question for everyone out there who has ever owned a creative of any kind (I've had a micro and two vision:m). Are these the most troublesome mp3 players ever devised by man?

Like I say, I've had 3 and they've all caused me nothing but hassle. I would consider myself to have a fairly decent understanding of computers but I still found the zens very awkward to work with. Anyway I've finally given up and I'm getting a ipod this christmas.

From trawling around on the internet there seems to be an awful lot of people who have just had enough trouble with creative products and are switching to ipods. What are other peoples experiences with zens?

ixoy

On a couple of occasions my player (Vision: M) froze, but a simple reset fixed it. Other than that it's worked smoothly all the time for me and I've recommended the player to others who have also had only good experiences with the Creative mp3-player products. I've heard far more people giving out about Apple products to be honest.

SeekUp

^^ Ditto . . . my Vision:M occasionally freezes, but I reset and it's fine.

In fact, I recommend it to anyone who's looking because I can use whatever music formats and programs I want . . . And -- I feel quite happy that I spent a lot less than I would've spent on a comparable ipod.

fh041205

Up till a month ago I would have agreed with both of you. I really liked zens, infact I still like them. When the first one stopped working properly I would have said ah well, it was never going to last forever now was it. The second one, I was annoyed at how quickly it broke (less than 5 months use) and even more annoyed at how expensive it would have been to fix it. And now, I've just had my fill of them. Two mates of mine bought 60 gig Ipod at the same time I got the first zen. They're Ipods are still going strong whereas I'm moving on to my fourth player now.

Even aside from that, The software is not anywhere near as user friendly as Itunes (I use both because my sisters have ipods). I'm a big fan of the pogues and as such I have a lot of songs by them that have the same title but are off different albums. I hate having to organise the albums into different folders just to get them onto the player. Also, the Itunes store is a huge bonus.

I've really persisted with zens but ipods are just so much easier to use.

projectmayhem

Yeah I loved my Vision: M despite the lock ups, shoddy software and general nuissance. Then I went and blew it up with a new PC build (did some bad work with the USB connections )... and the VisionM was no longer in production, so I went and got an iPod. I now own an iPod, iPhone and Macbook Pro because of the experience.

Allison91

I have a creative zen v plus and never had any problems with it, but I am getting a ipod because I need more space.

getoffthepot

I have a Zen 80gb, freezes odd time and able to reset it no problem.
FM radio only worked for while, bought it on ebay end hand so no warranty.
Great for the divx movies as I connect it to tv and bring it with me when I travel and can connect it to most tvs in hotels or other.

Overall a good unit easier to use than the itunes / Ipod

Bakharwaldog

I have a Zen vision:m...works grand freezes the odd time..its a lot easier to use it between a few computers compared to the ipod.

I had an ipod before my zen and tbh my next mp3 player will be an ipod aswel...just for the sake of bein able to use iTunes...its so handy, i use it on my laptop and its a pain transferin files over to my Zen...if i had an ipod it would be perfect.

That said zens r decent enough got some cool features like bein able to make playlists without the coputer and the radio. Battery is grand aswell and mine loked class back in the day, kind of looks ugly compared to modern ipod tho..

Jor

I also have had a Vision M player for almost three years.

The radio must be very fragile because there seems to be lots of people who have lost that function on their player. That said, I don't think any I-pod has a radio at all, and mine only stopped after I dropped the player onto a hard surface.

As for the software, it is a bit messy but not too bad, and you don't have to worry about all that synch nonsense (where you lose any music on your i-pod not also saved on your computer).

Fighting Irish

I have a zen vision m, and it never gives me trouble but there was one song i had on it before and it kept causing the p[layer to freeze

Soundman

I first got an MP3 player about 6 years ago, a Creative Zen. It lasted me about 3-4 years. Unfortunately the HDD died on me and I didn't realise it was replaceable. I then bought a Creative Zen: Vision M and it hasn't given me any trouble other than the occasional lock up which was sorted by a reset. Touch wood it lasts a fair bit longer.

fh041205

IMO the biggest advantage the zens have over ipods is the recorder. It was the orginal reason I chose it. I used the recorder quite a lot and the quality of the recordings were great, despite the fact that you could hear the player 'revving up' for a few seconds at the start of each recording.

Full_Circle

I used to be a stalwart supporter of Creative up until my cute lil Zen V up and died on me. No amount of resetting would bring it back to life. From there I moved onto an iRiver and haven't had a problem with it since. I wouldn't touch iPods as they still refuse to have the simplest and most essential of my requirements: a RADIO.

ronano

I've given up on creative as well

creative zen v+ = screen went black
old creativen zen refurb = screen went as well but cos refurb not too pushed
creative zen stone (one with screen dunno full title) - again screen went

I'm unsure who else to try

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

caspermccormack

I have a vision m the last 3 years and its great (some resets now and then) but dead handy 60 gig player, only problem is after market connectivty which seems non existing, apart form the line in option.