Jukebox Zen

[ruri]

Creative has just announced their answer to the iPOD, the Jukebox Zen.

The PR is here:
http://www.nomadworld.com/products/Jukebox_Zen/

Here's the Cut-n-Paste specs:

FM Tuner
Applicable only via FM Wired Remote

EAX
Smart Volume Management, Environmental Effects, Advanced EQ presets, 4-band Custom Equaliser, Headphone Spatialization, Time Scaling

Adjustable Play Speed
Yes. +/- 50%

LCD Display
132 x 64 pixel resolution blue LED backlit display

Recording
Yes, via optional wired remote control

Interface
USB, SB1394 FireWire*

Colors Available
Silver w/Green Band

Audio Codec Support
MPEG Audio Layer 3 (MP3), Windows Media™ Audio (WMA) and WAV

Hardware Specifications

Memory
16MB SDRAM
20GB hard drive (667 hours of 64 kbps WMA encoding; 333 hours of 128kbps MP3 encoding)

Signal to Noise Ratio
up to 98dB

Frequency Response
20Hz – 20kHz

In another word, it's a 20GB portable HD device that happens to play MP3 :)

The MSRP is $349 (before $50 MIR)

For $299, it's one great Christmas gift < /droll >

[Ioman]

I have e-mailed Creative and asked for a unit to review. Apple sure has stirred up quite a market for these new MP3 players. Sure Archos has had one on the market for a while, but nothing of this size and quality. I think that Apple should have a tough time competing with their PC version of the iPod. The reason why I say this is that PC users are not as loyal as Apple users (in my opinion) and will be more affected by price point and features than anything.

Another great product if it ever comes to the US is Toshibas Gigbeat which actually has removable hard drive storage space.

http://www.designtechnica.com/article.php?sid=1904



http://www.designtechnica.com/images/firstlook/toshiba/gigabeat/gigabeat.gif

[IronSerif]

Very very sweet!!!
I'm glad I held off on an Archos....cause this definately might suite my tastes. ..I'm all about portable storage, especially if it can play MP3's :)
When was it launched?

[Ioman]

Originally posted by IronSerif
Very very sweet!!!
I'm glad I held off on an Archos....cause this definately might suite my tastes. ..I'm all about portable storage, especially if it can play MP3's :)
When was it launched?

Which one are you reffering too? The Toshiba is available only in Japan as far as I can tell and the Jukebox Zen was just released.

[IronSerif]

Originally posted by Ioman


Which one are you reffering too? The Toshiba is available only in Japan as far as I can tell and the Jukebox Zen was just released.

I've been always thinking (on and off) of getting an Archos Jukebox...never got around to getting one though..oh well :)