Nomad Jukebox Zen

[jwhairybob]

What are your opinions? Would you get one? Should I? Good things and bad things about them.

[jwhairybob]

so, there's been 8 views, and no replies. Please say something if you know anything

[IronSerif]

I've never "seen" one in person, just read some reviews about it, and I think there was a previous thread on here about it as well. I really like it from what I've read. I'm glad Apple has some competition now against their iPod.
That's all I really have to say about it though :(

[jwhairybob]

so, have you seen any prices for the zen under 350?

[Ioman]

I would like to see how this thing compared to the Apple iPod in a comparison.

[dang]

how big is it?
dimensions are important to me, not sure if they are to you. the iPod is pretty small and fits neatly in a shirt front pocket or jacket.

It can also run other software, which is cool, and act as a normal drive so you can transfer other files between comps.

[llbbl]

http://www.designtechnica.com/article.php?sid=2267

Here is our news thread about one. Can someone find an image of what it looks like. That would be helpful. It sounds like it is comprable to iPod, which is a good thing. Those things are expensive!

[jwhairybob]

here's a pic: http://www.nomadworld.com/products/jukebox_zen/images/Jukebox_Zenpix2.jpg

[Ioman]

Originally posted by jwhairybob
here's a pic: http://www.nomadworld.com/products/jukebox_zen/images/Jukebox_Zenpix2.jpg

Looks like an iMac

[jwhairybob]

what do you mean? Do you have a msn account, we could chat sometime about it.

[llbbl]

Originally posted by jwhairybob
what do you mean? Do you have a msn account, we could chat sometime about it.

Edit your profile to include your chat nick names. That way people on here can chat with you if they need too.

[llbbl]

Originally posted by dang
how big is it?
dimensions are important to me, not sure if they are to you. the iPod is pretty small and fits neatly in a shirt front pocket or jacket.

It can also run other software, which is cool, and act as a normal drive so you can transfer other files between comps.

Size W x H x D (mm)
75.9 x 112.6 x 24.5 mm

Weight 9.5 oz (268g) with built-in Li-ion battery

http://www.nomadworld.com/products/Jukebox_Zen/specs.asp

Now someone find the spec's on iPod.

[IronSerif]

Size(inches):
2.4 x 4.0 x .78
Weight:
6.5 ounces

http://electronics.cnet.com/electronics/0-6342420-1317-20155078.html?tag=subnav

[llbbl]

Ok now someone else has to convert mm into inches or visa versa to make any sense of these measurements. Slowly, but surely things get accomplished.

[jwhairybob]

so, do you know of anyone who has one? and how do they like it?

[llbbl]

I would get one of those CD players that played burned mp3 cd's before I got this thing. They are much cheaper. I don't mind carrying around a couple CD's. People are going to want an item for a multitude of different reasons, I wouldn't buy an item solely based on one persons's description unless it was inline with my own expected use of the item.

You might check Amazon or eopinons or Half.com for reviews of this product. Then get back to us with links and an over all rating for the product.

[Unregistered]

Having recently purchased the 20 GB version of the Jukebox Zen I must say I wish I had the money for the iPod. RIght now I just couldn't justify the extra 200 dollars for the same storage space. Having said that, the Zen is not as bad as one might think. It's the aesthetics and greater portability that the Toshiba 1.8" drive, used in the iPod as opposed to the 2.5" drive in the Zen, that really make it[the iPod] sexy. My one MAJOR gripe about the Zen is the crapass software it ships with. For 300+, at least you should not have to buy any additional software to be able to use the damn thing reliably. Thankfully Red Chair software has produced Notmad Explorer and even sells it in pared down version specific to each player to minimize the cost impact of the extra software. The Creative Play Center crap is just totally unusable, between crashing and botching file uploads I spent < 10 minutes toying with it and immediately went in search of a replacement. I downloaded a trial copy of notmad explorer and in less than 15 minutes was back at www.redchairsoftware.com to purchase the full copy!! Overall, I must say I'm glad I picked up the Zen, but YMMV and as I stated above, there are definite drawbacks to this player. Oh and one last note, my player is the USB2.0 version not the 1.1/1394 version. I'm curious to know, from anyone with the latter, what transfer rates are like?? I usually get a respectable 25-30 Mb/s which when transferring 4 or 5 GB at a clip is not 'quite' what I was hoping for, but still a far cry from usb 1.1.

[Ioman]

Originally posted by Unregistered
Having recently purchased the 20 GB version of the Jukebox Zen I must say I wish I had the money for the iPod. RIght now I just couldn't justify the extra 200 dollars for the same storage space. Having said that, the Zen is not as bad as one might think. It's the aesthetics and greater portability that the Toshiba 1.8" drive, used in the iPod as opposed to the 2.5" drive in the Zen, that really make it[the iPod] sexy. My one MAJOR gripe about the Zen is the crapass software it ships with. For 300+, at least you should not have to buy any additional software to be able to use the damn thing reliably. Thankfully Red Chair software has produced Notmad Explorer and even sells it in pared down version specific to each player to minimize the cost impact of the extra software. The Creative Play Center crap is just totally unusable, between crashing and botching file uploads I spent < 10 minutes toying with it and immediately went in search of a replacement. I downloaded a trial copy of notmad explorer and in less than 15 minutes was back at www.redchairsoftware.com to purchase the full copy!! Overall, I must say I'm glad I picked up the Zen, but YMMV and as I stated above, there are definite drawbacks to this player. Oh and one last note, my player is the USB2.0 version not the 1.1/1394 version. I'm curious to know, from anyone with the latter, what transfer rates are like?? I usually get a respectable 25-30 Mb/s which when transferring 4 or 5 GB at a clip is not 'quite' what I was hoping for, but still a far cry from usb 1.1.

Thanks for the info bro, why don't you register so we can chat some more!:D

[Archon]

I'd rather get an MZN10 ;)

[finchie]

Last month, I was looking for a new MP3 player because I got sick of my MP3-cd player skipping. Basically, my choices were between the Zen and Jukebox 3. I ended up going with the Jukebox 3 because it was cheaper - I got it for $200 because of a $50 rebate promo going on at the time. It works great, but my one main gripe is that it doesn't work with my firewire card, so I'm stuck using USB 1.1 (I don't have 2.0). I emailed Creative Tech Support (which is horrible) and got an automated reply which was of no help. I browsed the Cnet.com message boards and I found that other users also had the same problem. Apparently, the player is picky about the type of firewire cards it uses and mainly supports Creative's own Audigy - which comes with firewire. So if you plan on using firewire to transfer your files, I suggest that you make sure that it's compatible with the Zen. I know that they're different products, but they're made by the same company, so be careful.
And one more thing...while I was reading comments about the Zen, I noticed a few saying that the Zen didn't have a removable battery, so after a few years, the battery would fail, and Creative won't replace it, but make you buy a new player. I'm not sure whether or not this is true, but try to make sure.
Hope I've helped.

[Ioman]

Originally posted by finchie
Last month, I was looking for a new MP3 player because I got sick of my MP3-cd player skipping. Basically, my choices were between the Zen and Jukebox 3. I ended up going with the Jukebox 3 because it was cheaper - I got it for $200 because of a $50 rebate promo going on at the time. It works great, but my one main gripe is that it doesn't work with my firewire card, so I'm stuck using USB 1.1 (I don't have 2.0). I emailed Creative Tech Support (which is horrible) and got an automated reply which was of no help. I browsed the Cnet.com message boards and I found that other users also had the same problem. Apparently, the player is picky about the type of firewire cards it uses and mainly supports Creative's own Audigy - which comes with firewire. So if you plan on using firewire to transfer your files, I suggest that you make sure that it's compatible with the Zen. I know that they're different products, but they're made by the same company, so be careful.
And one more thing...while I was reading comments about the Zen, I noticed a few saying that the Zen didn't have a removable battery, so after a few years, the battery would fail, and Creative won't replace it, but make you buy a new player. I'm not sure whether or not this is true, but try to make sure.
Hope I've helped.

Thanks for the helpful insight. Personally I am not a big fan of Creative, I think they are getting rather full of themselves in the same way Nvidia has and as a result the consumer is getting screwed. The fact that it primarily works with their own Audigy card proves that they are thinking primarily of themselves first.

I used to have a problem with the firewire port on my audigy not recognizing other Firewire products specifically my CD burner and my external pocket drive. Only after getting a new motherboard with firewire integrated did I realize it was the Audigy and not the burner/pocket drive. Their tech support is terrible I noticed too. They probably outsource to some other company in another country to keep costs low ALA Netgear.

If I had to buy a portable player, I would personally get the iPod from Apple.

[jvaletin]

I have a Jukebox Zen the Firewire / USB version.

I for one have been enjoying my Zen for over 2 months. Works perfect with any firewire card. I bought a cheap $5 firewire card at a computer show and I have no problems with it.

You can use it of up to 14 hours before recharging (Technically 12 hours in constant use) at least 2 hours longer than the iPod standard 10 hours.

Although I like the interface of the ipod with calendar and clock as well as some games is a great feature but the Jukebok Zen came out to $299 with rebate to the iPod $499 price tag. A $200 difference was my deciding factor.

It's interface is pretty good. I like the ease of use in navigating thru the menu and such.

I only have one gripe with it. The Play list seems to build up. Meaning everytime I play a tune it goes to a playing list which grows and I can't erase. I might be doing something wrong. Hell it was just the other day I discovered the EQ adjustments. Which were not described in the user guide. Need better explanation of each feature instead of a quick mention.

But all in all I love it. I get alot of bang for my buck. I'm sure you can replace the Lithium batter if need be. I haven't used it to transfer files from PC to PC but I will soon venture in that area soon.

Later

[vladmin]

I got the USB 2.0 version off amazon for $254. I must say that I'm very pleased with it. It does everything you'd expect it to do. Although not as sexy as the IPOD definately worth it. USB 2.0 is very fast. The sound quality through a decent pair of headphones (not the stock ones) is f@#$ing unbeleivable, that's what totally blows me away about it every time. Interface took about an hour to learn but it's been smooth sailing ever since. I've also heard that Creative will replace the battery when it dies free of charge.

Well worth the money spent... but here comes the cool part. Because it uses a 2.5" hard drive, the same as in my Dell laptop and many others, you can upgrade the player to whatever the biggest 2.5" drive is on the market (60GB right now I think). The only caveat being that you need to ghost the original drive as it stores some critcal OS files. This upgrade/mod ability makes it inifinately cooler than the IPOD to me.

[Ioman]

Originally posted by vladmin
I got the USB 2.0 version off amazon for $254. I must say that I'm very pleased with it. It does everything you'd expect it to do. Although not as sexy as the IPOD definately worth it. USB 2.0 is very fast. The sound quality through a decent pair of headphones (not the stock ones) is f@#$ing unbeleivable, that's what totally blows me away about it every time. Interface took about an hour to learn but it's been smooth sailing ever since. I've also heard that Creative will replace the battery when it dies free of charge.

Well worth the money spent... but here comes the cool part. Because it uses a 2.5" hard drive, the same as in my Dell laptop and many others, you can upgrade the player to whatever the biggest 2.5" drive is on the market (60GB right now I think). The only caveat being that you need to ghost the original drive as it stores some critcal OS files. This upgrade/mod ability makes it inifinately cooler than the IPOD to me.

I like how you can replace the hard drive. How hard is it to get into the player to do that?

[vladmin]

Small philips head screw driver and four screws.

[IronSerif]

I still have yet to see one anywhere up at my school...and most of the time someone up there is rocking some sort of new tech.

[jwhairybob]

hey guys, it's me, the thread starter.... and i got my jukebox zen 2.0 version about 3 months ago... it rocks!! so far it's been nothin but good things... by the way, whoever was having problems removing songs from the playlist.. just do the click wheel button thingy on the song, and scroll down to remove, then click again...... anyone of you guys who bought one made a good choice.. i love it!!

[Ioman]

Originally posted by jwhairybob
hey guys, it's me, the thread starter.... and i got my jukebox zen 2.0 version about 3 months ago... it rocks!! so far it's been nothin but good things... by the way, whoever was having problems removing songs from the playlist.. just do the click wheel button thingy on the song, and scroll down to remove, then click again...... anyone of you guys who bought one made a good choice.. i love it!!

Welcome back to the forums bob, where did you? We all missed you!

Well I did anyways!;)

[IronSerif]

I think we're having a DT sentimental moment here :)

[vladmin]

Originally posted by Ioman
I like how you can replace the hard drive. How hard is it to get into the player to do that?

Rehashing an old thread to let you guys know of my progress. I recently upgraded the HD in my Zen. I first tried using a 40 GB IBM travelstar but the player did not like it (MP3's would not play). I then used a 30 GB Fujitsu and it could not have been any easier. Here's how simple it is:

Open player (4 screws)
Remove HD
Insert new HD
close player
*Recovery Menu loads* - Format HD (1 minute)
plug player in and reload Firmware (not sure if this step is still necessary)

That's it.