Customer Reviews

Creative ZEN Style 100 8GB MP3 and Video Player with 1.8 inch Screen - Black

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have had this mp3 player for a few weeks now and I am very happy with it. I was very sad to part with my old creative ZEN micro as I loved it and it had served me well, I thought a replacement would never quite be up to scratch, but I was wrong!

Music sounds great on this cute little thing, the battery is lasting well (I've not had to recharge, and it's still on green after about 3hrs total playtime) and it's very easy to put music, pictures etc onto- just drag and drop the files into the right folder, no annoying pointless software to install.

One thing it is lacking is a 'hold' switch that the creative ZEN had. However this has not been too much of a problem, you just go to the menu and select 'lock'.

A big thing for me was the price- I thought for £50 I'd not be getting anything special as it IS Creative after all, but to be honest this player is just as good as my creative ZEN which cost about £100. Very good value!

Only had the player a few days so this review is based on first impressions. Needed a replacement when my Sony A series packed in after being dropped one too many times.

The player is plastic,so doesn't feel as substantial as some other players, but it is small and light and the plastic is decent quality. Being so light, when it's dropped it doesn't pull itself off the headphone jack so it's less likely to hit the floor.

The interface is awkward but there are some customisation options so it gets better if you are willing to play a little. The screen is clear but being so small it isn't the kind you'd watch anything substantial on - it does the job.

There is a graphic equaliser with custom settings though it is fairly basic. The player doesn't have the "fill in" effects that players from Sony and Cowon have, but the basic sound is very impressive. It has excellent separation and and really dynamic feel, not overly warm like an ipod. The bundled earphones are garbage of course but that's par for the course

Other pluses - it uses a standard small USB connector, so you'll never need to buy a spare lead (unlike Sony), it has a voice recorder for memos, and the calendar is useful, mostly to give you a backup for your contacts in case your phone gets nicked. For an extra £15 you can get an FM radio and a speaker but reception on these MP3 players is never up to much.

Overall, for the price this is an excellent little player.

Very pleased with it. Easy to use interface and the battery life is fantastic (although I am using ear buds, which aren't very power intensive). Has some handy little functions that all mp3 players should have as standard (but some don't) such as being able to change how long before it will switch itself off, how long before it locks buttons, how much intensity to have it lit at (i have it set at 10%, saves a good bit of power and is still clear) and various other things. Brilliant little mp3 player, especially for the price.

I have had this mp3 player for afew months now, and it is the best one i have had, i have had the top brands before, and i like this one better then them, if i have to find a fault with it, the cable that comes with it is not long enough,and if you have fat fingers as the buttons can be a bit fiddley.Creative ZEN Style 100 8GB MP3 and Video Player with 1.8 inch Screen - Black

In principle this could be an OK mp3 player. For example, it does not have the poor user-interface most low-costs mp3-players have.

However, when just buying a new product I was rather surprised that the software was already outdated. The real problem was that the battery was just awful. I bought one and when charging it, for no apparent reason, half of the time the battery turned out to be empty at the time I wanted to use the device. After a week or so the battery was more consistent in the sense that it stopped charging altogether. A friend of mine also bought this device, and experienced the similar problems.

If it does not work it makes this a kind of useless device. At least I did learn that a good brand name, as far as Creative is concerned, does not always guarantee quality. It's a shame that Creative puts such poor quality products on the market.

I bought this as a nearly new item - my guess was the previous owner loaded his music collection (all 2Gb of it) and then could not work out how to manage it (playlists etc). The instructions that come with the unit are next to useless and it is not until you realise that Creative Centrale (on your PC) is essential if you are to make the most of your purchase. Then comes to next challenge - loading the software - you would think Creative would make this an easy task but it isn't.

Having jumped through these hoops the rest is a breeze. Loading music onto the unit with or without Creative Centrale is quick and easy but you will want to use the software to manage your collection - in my experience, better than iTunes which many will regard as the yardstick.

Using the player is easy too without the need for endless menus and sub-menus.

Overall, great value and quality after the initial frustrations are overcome.

I bought the ZEN Style 100 as a present. On receiving the ZEN I thought it best to check it out and charge the battery using my computer. On connecting it, I loaded the Creative software and user manual so that I could have a preview of what would happen when the recipient got it and to be able to give them guidance if needed. The Creative software, without any by-your-leave started to get all the music and photos on my computer and began to load them onto the ZEN. There appeared to be no way of stopping the multi-gigabyte transfer until I found a small cross in the BOTTOM right of the window. By then there were many many files transferred. It is not good practice for any software to just take control of a computer without asking - it is what viruses do and not what you would expect from a 'clean' application.

Next I checked to see if there were any updates to the software which had been loaded on the PC. I found that there were some, but when I attempted to load them I was faced with a message saying that as I had not restarted my computer since the installation of the Creative software the installation of the update would cause problems. That is where the message stopped and I was faced with two click boxes, one marked Yes and the other No. But there was no question; what was I answering - Do you want to continue 'Yes' or 'No' - Do you want to restart your computer now 'Yes' or 'No' - Do you want to abort the task 'Yes' or 'No'

Whilst I am not familiar with all the jargon of downloading mp3 files, I am an IT professional. Not only did I find the two flaws in the software, I found the PC software application to be extremely difficult to understand and I have yet to be able to work out much of what it may or may not be able to do.

I have never had a Christmas present returned to me as being useless, but it did happen with the ZEN. - So I was not alone in finding the package difficult beyond belief. However, the recipient is now much happier with it once I copied some files across and they were able to use it.

The battery life is quite exceptional. Hours and hours of audio from the remarkably small device. The audio quality is very good.

So my marks are 1 out of 10 for the PC software package and 9 out of 10 for the ZEN itself.

I recently bought this MP3 Player in the summer and I have been very happy with it overall.

Positives:
1. Good battery life - it is advertised at 32 hours, mine does last a little less, but it depends on how you use it (e.g.video)
2. One of the reasons I wanted to get a new MP3 was to get more space for my music. Having owned a 1gb for 3 years, and feeling utterly frustrated at not being to put everything I wanted on it, it was a nice change to get an 8GB player - I have a lot of music and podcasts, and now I can store most of it on and listen to it whenever and whereever I want. Also for the price, 8GB is good vale, when you compare it to other brands such as Apple and Sony.
3. It looks great - the screen is a good size, and the player is small and light.
4. I like the features, such as the ability to create playlists and put album artwork, as well as creating wallpapers and the bookmark feature, which is useful when I listen to podcasts. On my last MP3, I had to remember roughly where I left off and fast forward, with the Zen, i just select the bookmark and listen to it. It also switches on at the point when you stopped listening to a song or podcast, so even if you don't bookmark it, you can just carry on and listen where you left off.

Negatives:
1. The software included with the Zen is a bit tricky to use as well as limited. However you can transfer using Windows Media Player or just drag and drop. However, with videos, it is best to use the software with the Zen as it converts it into a format that can be played back on the player. MP4 files can't be played on the ZEN.
2. One thing I like about the ZEN is that it has real buttons, touchscreen technology is not really my thing and I feel more comfortable with the real buttons. However at first, it can be a bit fiddly to use but you soon get used to it. Also the buttons are quite loud when you press them, but this is only a minor negative.
3. Sometimes the player does crash a bit, but this happens infrequently.

It does has its minor quibbles but I am still happy with my purchase, and I can't imagine owning my old one! The Zen is a great player, and I would recommend it!

A nice little player, easy to use (unless you have fat fingers !! ) and does the job. Read the instructions thoroughly before you use this item.

Bought this product for it's compact yet functional size. I have to say thus far I am more than impressed with both the practicality and ease of use. I don't understand the problems some suggest they have with transferring music, video, photos etc onto the Zen. I am a relative novice, and have relied totally on "drag and drop" with no problems whatsoever. Navigating through the Zen menus is a doddle as well.

The only cautionary note I would add is the earphones that come as standard. The Zen has a fantastic sound, but this is totally compromised by the earphones that come in the package. A strange choice by Creative, as it can only detract from the buyers opinion of the product. I had heard that the earphones were not up to much so I did a bit of research and ordered some average priced better "in ear" earphones at the same time as ordering the Zen. I'd urge others to do the same. You won't be disappointed.