Creative Zen

The funny thing about the Creative Zen is that it allows playback of MJPEG, WMV9, MPEG4-SP, DivX 4/5 and XviD formats, but almost every file I tried transferring to the device required to be converted. And conversion is a loooong process. The processed file and playback is great though. It’s easy on the eyes and very comfortable to watch. To bookmark your last frame while in the middle of a video you simply press the center of the nav-pad. You can even watch ZENcasts by downloading them and transferring them to the player via the Media Explorer PC application.

Battery
The battery on this small player is really remarkable. I was able to watch two full movies back to back, and still had enough battery life to watch almost three-fourths of a 20-minute TV show. That’s brilliant. Music playback clocked in at around 24 hours, which is not bad at all. The battery charges though USB via the PC.

The Bottomline
I like everything about the Zen except the earphones, a few minor issues with navigation, and the problem with reading video file formats. The battery is great, the fact that you can extend the memory is a plus, and the extra features and music quality of the player were all good. The Creative Zen is priced at Rs 8,500 for 4GB and Rs 13,000 for 8GB, which is a steal. Definitely worth the price.