Creative Zen NX or Xtra?

[Bottled]

I'm planning on getting an MP3 player that can store all of my music in one device, since I converted my Xbox into a media center, all of my music is now in digital format, and so it makes sense, plus I'm a techie who wants Shiny New Things, and has some excess cash at the mo :)

I first took a peek at the iPod, then saw the price O_O

Now I'm looking at the Creative Nomad Zen 30GB digital players; cheaper than the iPod, most, if not all of the features, better sound, and the ability to upgrade the HDD inside it in the future, should I ever need it (with 30GB though, I doubt it!).

But now I'm faced with a problem; there are two Zen 30GB players at similar prices; the NX and the Xtra. Which one's better? The Xtra looks more aesthetically pleasing with it's nice blue backlit screen, but I thought I'd best ask the experts first ;)

EDIT - Changed the topic to suit the new subject :)

[ECA]

WELL,
You could just set up a small comp on a network, with access to the stereo, that is ALL audio and video.

You didnt say you wanted portable.

300 gig drive is ALOT more data.

forget that,
What uses do you have in mind?? Portable, Car stereo plugin, what?

[Ioman]

I would stay away from Creative at all costs, I think their stuff is terrible. Have you thought about going with iRiver?

[Bottled]

Ah, well, I do want portable; my Xbox ha been modded, and o lay all my vids and music at home, but all I've got is an old minidisc player/recorder for portable music. Whilst I love MDs, it's time to give up my physical media and enter the portable digital music realm ;)

Portable use basically includes listening to music whilst on the move, walking, sitting down on the bus, etc.

I've just taken a peek at iRiver products in the UK, and they're more expensive than Creative's offerings, for 10GB less space and a non-replacable battery. However, there nice extras are recording capability and an FM tuner :S

If I coudl find a price closer to £200, I'd really be tempted; now you've torn me :'(

[Bottled]

By the by, what's your opinion on this player/recorder/radio?

Xclef HD500 - http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shopping/pages/buyhd500.html

MP3s, WMA's, no OGGs, but that's forgivable. FM tuner, FM recording (userful? :)), voice recording, 40GB storage, ability to hold data as an external HDD, EL backlight (I hate crappy LED backlights :P), decent display, rechargable Lith-Ion battery, and playlists :)

Of course, I don't knw how good the sound quality is, so, opinions, anyone?

[ECA]

We did a report awhile back, to compare sound quality.
We used the same head phones on EACh unit, insted of those that came with it.
Stock headphones are either Crap, or designed ONLy for that unit, and hard to get.

IO, any way to post a link on the front to this??

as for recorder, and FM, they are nice features.
FM will generally work even with WEAK batteries.
Also, none of these are recomended for Jogging.. For that you want a RAM drive, Cf ,SD card.

[Bottled]

LOL, probably won't be jogging, a walk is generally the quickest I'll be going with the player turned on ;)

[Bottled]

By the way, got an URL to this report, and was the HD-500 included?