Creative Zen

I've made numerous attempts at purchasing MP3 players. Even went out and purchased a portable DVR unit which I promptly returned the next morning. Well, finally made my way to some comparison shopping between the Zune and the Zen. Gotta tell ya that the Creative Zen absolutely positively ROCKS! In the end, it was the compact flash slot that pushed me in this direction as my digital camera uses this media and I can upload directly from the card. I'm in LOVE with the easily accessible playlists, access to ratings, the fact that it displays album art and the quality of sound when sent through my car audio... WHOAH, I get chills! But it even has it's own built in speaker. Ya just gotta love that! It even has FM radio and 32 presets.

Moving on to photos, they are crisp and bright and WONDERFUL! Of course it helps that it's displayed on a 4.3" TFT screen. I've yet to download any videos but the quality of the ad based content on the player is - IMPRESSIVE! You can even plug it right up to your tv with the included RCA cables and view videos or songs or even photos right from the tv. It has a large rechargable battery and the option to buy a back up (which I may do) and an optional remote... WOW! FINALLY an MP3 with everything that I'd been searching for and more!

The only negative I've found is that it automatically syncs from Windows Media Player despite selected sync content. I installed the Zen software for transferring files, it isn't as easy to gain access to my playlists and the style I've grown accustom to in WMP. Although, it's just personal preference. The capabilities and straight forward nature are easily navigated in its own right. It does offer Outlook and Calendar data syncs as well. Pretty neat option if you ask me.