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Creative Zen Mozaic PMP
I believe that in the spirit of deviating from the mundane and adding a little pizazz to the portable media market, Creative designed this, the Mozaic. Its feature set will reveal that it has quite a lot to offer and I can honestly say it does. But is it worth your money? Here’s my take on that.
Form Factor
The Mozaic is a lightweight player that definitely has a certain cuteness quotient that one has to factor in. The display size is 1.8-inches with a 238 x 160 pixel resolution and 64k color. The keypad is why the player gets its name. It’s designed with a checkered patter with five a five way nav-pad and a set of function buttons around it. It will take a little while to figure out the keys as the icons don’t quite stand out. A mini USB port for PC connectivity/charging is located at the bottom right beside the 3.5mm earphone socket.
On the whole the Mozaic is a net looking device that’s easy to tote around and not weigh your down.
Features and Performance
Interface
Music
The music player has all the standard option of selecting tracks according to genre, artist, album etc. The DJ option is absolutely, one hundred percent not what you’re thinking unless you’ve used other Creative players with the same setting. All it offers are selections for Album of the day, playing tracks that you’ve Rarely Heard, rated highly or not yet rated. It does not let you mix tracks or alter them like you would be able to were you a DJ. I can’t say it’s a very helpful feature but it’s there for those who want to use it.
Music quality is good; really good! While the bundled earphones are comfortable to wear and offer decent sound quality, audio does tend to sound a little hollowed out. I recommend investing a better pair. With my test set, I had a far better audio experience. The customizable 5 band graphic EQ and Bass Booster options give you a serious thump. The highs are a bit on the shrill side but with the customizable EQ you can adjust it and keep it in check. Using the bundled software (setup file is stored in the players drive) Creative Centrale, you can transfer files onto the players drive, create playlists etc. It’s a little tricky to figure out initially but you’ll get the hang of it. However the software takes a little longer to transfer files so copy pasting them directly is a better idea.
Radio
The FM radio took quite awhile to locate and save all the nine stations that are available in Mumbai. Reception was pretty good on an average. The lack of a recording feature is something to think about but it honestly isn’t that big a deal.
Video
Using Creative Centrale you can convert videos to the players specifications. It takes awhile depending on how big the file is. Playback, while smooth doesn’t look too appealing. But what can you expect considering the display’s resolution. I really don’t recommend using the Mozaic for video playback. The screen is too small for one thing and the resolution is too low to enjoy even a short video clip. But if this is the only option for video you have then go for it.
Images etc.
JPEGs don’t look too bad. They can be copy pasted onto the drive directly and in folders if you wish. Since the player doesn’t have an accelerometer something that most of us have gotten used to, you’ll have to rotate each image at a time to landscape if that’s the format the file is in. You can also opt to use any image stored, as a wallpaper.
There are a few other interesting features on board as well like a voice recorder that has decent range, A calendar and tasks option that can be synced with your desktop’s. A contacts feature is also available and functions the same way and there's even an Alarm clock. Creative Centrale can be used to sync the information from your PC onto the device.
Battery
the most remarkable feature is the devices battery life. It raked in over 20 hours of non-stop audio playback which is absolutely brilliant. You’ll be able to watch a little over 2 full length movies as well though you’re head would hurt after.
The Bottom Line
The Creative Zen Mozaic is priced at Rs. 4,999 for the 4GB model and Rs. 6,499 for 8GB. That’s not too steep all things considered. There’s not much to complain about with regards to audio quality except for maybe the display’s resolution for video playback. But the audio quality is good, battery life is excellent and it has plenty of relevant features which makes it a good device in my book.
Form Factor
The Mozaic is a lightweight player that definitely has a certain cuteness quotient that one has to factor in. The display size is 1.8-inches with a 238 x 160 pixel resolution and 64k color. The keypad is why the player gets its name. It’s designed with a checkered patter with five a five way nav-pad and a set of function buttons around it. It will take a little while to figure out the keys as the icons don’t quite stand out. A mini USB port for PC connectivity/charging is located at the bottom right beside the 3.5mm earphone socket.
On the whole the Mozaic is a net looking device that’s easy to tote around and not weigh your down.
Features and Performance
Interface
The UI is easy to navigate but seemed a little cluttered. There are quite a few options for each feature but there are still those annoying instances especially with the music player that require you to go all the way to the settings menu just to change the EQ settings. One of the keys on the keypad is dedicated to activate the built-in speaker, yet there seems to be an option in individual settings of each function to activate speaker. I could have done without that and gone with an EQ option instead.
Music
The music player has all the standard option of selecting tracks according to genre, artist, album etc. The DJ option is absolutely, one hundred percent not what you’re thinking unless you’ve used other Creative players with the same setting. All it offers are selections for Album of the day, playing tracks that you’ve Rarely Heard, rated highly or not yet rated. It does not let you mix tracks or alter them like you would be able to were you a DJ. I can’t say it’s a very helpful feature but it’s there for those who want to use it.
Music quality is good; really good! While the bundled earphones are comfortable to wear and offer decent sound quality, audio does tend to sound a little hollowed out. I recommend investing a better pair. With my test set, I had a far better audio experience. The customizable 5 band graphic EQ and Bass Booster options give you a serious thump. The highs are a bit on the shrill side but with the customizable EQ you can adjust it and keep it in check. Using the bundled software (setup file is stored in the players drive) Creative Centrale, you can transfer files onto the players drive, create playlists etc. It’s a little tricky to figure out initially but you’ll get the hang of it. However the software takes a little longer to transfer files so copy pasting them directly is a better idea.
Radio
The FM radio took quite awhile to locate and save all the nine stations that are available in Mumbai. Reception was pretty good on an average. The lack of a recording feature is something to think about but it honestly isn’t that big a deal.
Video
Using Creative Centrale you can convert videos to the players specifications. It takes awhile depending on how big the file is. Playback, while smooth doesn’t look too appealing. But what can you expect considering the display’s resolution. I really don’t recommend using the Mozaic for video playback. The screen is too small for one thing and the resolution is too low to enjoy even a short video clip. But if this is the only option for video you have then go for it.
Images etc.
JPEGs don’t look too bad. They can be copy pasted onto the drive directly and in folders if you wish. Since the player doesn’t have an accelerometer something that most of us have gotten used to, you’ll have to rotate each image at a time to landscape if that’s the format the file is in. You can also opt to use any image stored, as a wallpaper.
There are a few other interesting features on board as well like a voice recorder that has decent range, A calendar and tasks option that can be synced with your desktop’s. A contacts feature is also available and functions the same way and there's even an Alarm clock. Creative Centrale can be used to sync the information from your PC onto the device.
Battery
the most remarkable feature is the devices battery life. It raked in over 20 hours of non-stop audio playback which is absolutely brilliant. You’ll be able to watch a little over 2 full length movies as well though you’re head would hurt after.
The Bottom Line
The Creative Zen Mozaic is priced at Rs. 4,999 for the 4GB model and Rs. 6,499 for 8GB. That’s not too steep all things considered. There’s not much to complain about with regards to audio quality except for maybe the display’s resolution for video playback. But the audio quality is good, battery life is excellent and it has plenty of relevant features which makes it a good device in my book.