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- Creative Zen Sleek
- Sarah D's review
Picture courtesy of Fat Joe.
| Sound Quality | 9.3/10  |
|---|---|
| Battery Life | 8.5/10 |
| Features | 9.1/10 |
| Value for Money | 8.7/10 |
| Reviewer Rating | 8.9/10 |
| Overall Rating | 8.3/10  |
By Sarah D on 14th Apr 2006
| Time MP3 Player Owned | 6 - 12 Months |
|---|---|
| Sound Quality | 10/10 |
| Battery Life | 9/10 |
| Features | 10/10 |
| Memory | 20 GB |
| Value for money | 10/10 |
| Overall value | 10/10 |
 Sarah D's recommendation | |
Great sound quality
FM radio
Not an I-pod
Headphone cable can get damaged through regular use
Charger a bit clunky
I-pods may be great (not having tried one), but I really dislike them for no apparent reason other than the fact Apple (and seemingly the entire media) are trying to make the word "i-pod" synonymous with "mp3" player. However, when buying my MP3 player I was wary that Creative, not being a household name, might be inferior. Seven months on, I can happily report that I now love my Creative Zen Sleek with something approaching obsession.
The sound quality is excellent - very full, rounded and deep. when you first buy it the bass boost is not automatically switched on, so you need to fiddle with the settings to get the best sound.
It is extremely easy downloading songs off the internet (you don't get i-tunes I think, but you do get Napster, which is very extensive) and ripping songs from CD - it's about 2 minutes I think for a full length CD as long as you don't listen to it at the same time. Which If you've got 300+ CDs to rip is pretty important. The bundled "power cinema" package is a bit irritating though as I haven't yet worked out a way of removing it from my computer and it pops up automatically whenever I insert a new CD to rip.
Navigation is good, although perhaps a little too sensitive at times.
Design is good. Well, it doesn't look like an I-pod, which is definitely a bonus. Battery life is longer as well.
Main quibble is that the charger is a bit clunky, as it is connected to the USB connector device which you don't really need in your suitcase so it can be a bit annoying and cluttered.
Nice little features include "least played", and my personal favourite, putting "all tracks" on shuffle. Like an i-pod shuffle, but with your entire record collection. Or do what I have been known to do, and listen to your tracks in alphabetical order. Hours of fun (I'm easily pleased...)
If you are looking for a well-rounded player, with easy connectivity and you are a little bit more original than to default to an I-pod, then you should absolutely go for the Creative Zen Sleek.
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