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1,492 of 1,505 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally, a credible alternative to the iPod!, 28 Aug 2004
I'd been trying to choose an MP3 player for a while, and, like most, was strongly drawn towards the 20GB iPod - which I've used and liked. In the end though I bought this, and I think I made the right choice. I'll do a summary of the pros and cons:Pros: 1 - 24 hrs battery life (and it does actually achieve this, under the right conditions, which are basically not changing song orders, fast forwarding or rewinding or skipping. Any of these will take the time down a bit, so 18 hours or so is realisitic for normal use). It has the same charge time as the ipod. OK, so you're rarely going to listen to it for that long in one go, but it's nice to think you could. (Also, the problems with the ipod battery (read the reviews if you don't know about them) are caused by large numbers of charge cycles - basically a full charge which then runs out and is recharged. As this has longer battery life, it won't need charging as often, and so the battery should survive longer than the 18 months sometimes claimed for the ipod's.) 2 - Ability to play .wma files - I'd recorded all my CDs into this format, and didn't really want to have to convert them all to mp3 or aac in order to play them, as I would have had to if I had bought an iPod. 3 - The cool touch sensitive bit is ingenious, and works wonderfully. The 'random' button on the front is useful too - surprisingly, it just plays random tracks. 4 - It's a bit cheaper than the comparable ipod. Not that much - about £15 at the time of writing. 5 - Doesn't come cluttered with games and calendar etc. Yes, I'm putting this as a pro, 'cos the games and notes on ipod frankly just annoy me - it's a music player, not a pda. And if you want to write something, use pen and paper, rather than a fiddly input device. The games are fairly dire anyway. From that point of view the Zen Touch is much neater - it knows its job and it does it. 6 - Some people have complained about the earphones, and said that they're uncomfortable, but I've found them fine. If you're a true audiophile, you might want to get some really good ones, but if you just want to listen to music, the ones supplied will do the job. The bass is a bit weak, but then it is in most sub £50 'phones available. Cons: 1 - Slightly heavier and chunkier than ipod, but still small enough to fit into your pocket comfortably. 2 - Software supplied with the player is a bit cumbersome and buggy, but it does the job. Alternatively, you can use Windows Media Player to transfer files across. 3 - Doesn't appear as a separate hard drive on your computer, which the ipod does. You can store non media files on it, but you have to go through Creative's software and it's more complicated. 4 - In order to be able to record voice and listen to the radio you need to buy the remote - dunno if Amazon sell it, but the creative website does - which costs around £30 more. 5 - Putting it in its case can sometimes change your track, unless you lock it beforehand. You can't see where the buttons are when it's in the case, but once you've learned where the buttons are, you can skip & pause etc by pushing the buttons through the case. ---------------------- Realistically, though, both the ipod AND the Zen Touch are very good mp3 players. I chose this, and am pleased with it, but then again loads of people love their ipods. If you can't decide, go for this one, and use the £15 you saved to buy a new CD or two to put on it. Please don't forget to rate this review if you found it helpful. Thanks.
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