Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox Zen NX 20 GB Digital Audio Player

Average customer rating:

Five years and counting....

the biggest let down

Not a fan of harddrive based players

Excellent sound, does what it's supposed to do

Too heavy and difficult to operate

Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox Zen NX 20 GB Digital Audio Player

Manufacturer: Creative Labs
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

MP3 Players & Accessories | Creative Labs | Custom Brands | Custom Stores | Specialty Stores | Electronics Features | Electronics
MP3 Players | Portable Audio & Video | Refurbished & Used | Special Features | Electronics Features | Electronics
20 GB | Hard Drive-Based | MP3 Players | Audio & Video | Categories | Electronics
Accessories:

Viking 64 MB MultiMedia Card

Linksys USBHUB4C ProConnect Compact USB 4-Port Hub

Product Features:

Stores approximately 6,000 high fidelity MP3 or 6,000 WMA encoded songs

Music is automatically indexed by ID-tag so you can quickly find any song, album or artist

Create playback lists and edit songs easily

Also stores data and uncompressed WAV files

Creative's EAX technology provides Smart Volume Management, Advanced EQ (with presets and customized EQ), Time-Scaling (adjustable playback speed) and environmental effects

ASIN: B0000BVUYQ

Product Description

Carry all your favorite digital music in NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX with total style! With ultra-fast USB 2.0 connection, you just transfer all your music into the player with Creative MediaSource, hit the play button and you're all set to enjoy high fidelity music. NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX also comes with advanced features like the integrated clock feature, powerful navigation tools and EAX audio technologies to elevate your digital music experience. More than a digital music player, NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX is also an external hard drive for storing all your photos, documents and other data files. Cased in anodized Aluminum with a choice of storage capacity, the feature-packed NOMAD Jukebox Zen NX is not to be missed.

Customer Reviews:

Five years and counting...........2006-05-09

Don't know what all the negative reviews are about. I've had my Nomad mp3 player for five years now, and it's NEVER quit on me. I've never had a problem with it, period.
I love the fact that I can plug it into my computer and transfer song files, create playlists, and fix it up just for my use. Since it's got a huge memory, I use it as a backup for the songs on my computer's hard drive, just in case the computer conks, which it has! Got a new computer, and since I had all my songs on the Nomad, I just did a quick transfer, and voila!
I wouldn't give up my Nomad for an Ipod ever.

the biggest let down.......2005-08-21

When i got this mp3 I thought i was getting a great substitute for an I pod because I pods are kind of expensive. Also I wanted to get an mp3 I would have for at least 2 years (that was cut short). When I was riding my bike 8/20/05 (3 months after i bought it) the mp3 all of a sudden stoped working. When the battery gets low a screen pops up that says that it has a low battery. That is what I thought happend but, if the screen popped up the player wouldn't have shut off. About 3 hours later I brought the mp3 home to see what went wrong. When i turned it on the screen fizzled out. Well tech support said to put a paperclip in the reset button. After putting the paper clip in the reset button 10 times the mp3 would not return to normal. So I took it as a loss and now I am getting an I pod. DON'T GET THIS MP3 YOU WILL HAVE IT FOR 3 OR 4 MONTHS AT BEST.

Not a fan of harddrive based players.......2005-02-18

I've had a couple of nomads and they've all died
on me. The last one was the NX. It only lasted
a couple of days and croaked.

Excellent sound, does what it's supposed to do.......2004-12-10

I bought a refurbished one of these off of eBay directly from Creative Labs. It only had a 30 day warranty, so once it ran out, I took out the 20GB hard drive that came with it and put in a 40GB one. I also got a second LiIon battery for it for under $20 on ebay.

The player does what it's supposed to do -- play back MP3 files in high fidelity sound. The Zen NX has a nice headphone amp and drives studio-style headphones without problem. The EAX DSP settings do a nice job with EQ'ing sound and also normalizing volume when you have it on shuffle. It also has virtually gapless playback -- this is, for me, a must. The included software is actually halfway decent. I use Red Chair Software's Notmad Explorer -- far better.

Complaints: no included car adapter, job dial feels a bit flimsy, no firmware support for Audible files (although you can get around it -- do a search on www.nomadness.net), making playlists without the computer is bothersome. The included earbuds are low-fi, get a set of Koss PortaPros or something similar.

Now, this being said, this player is good enough that the complaints are not enough to drop the rating below 4 stars. YMMV.

Too heavy and difficult to operate.......2004-10-07

I bought one in September 2003, it worked fine for a while, then I had to throw it away. It froze, and there was no way to bring it back to life, couldn't use it even as a storage device. It's heavy, the buttons are placed in awkward places and the menu is really hard to read. The aluminium face plate also breaks loose easily. The software can be a bit cumbersome. I wouldn't buy one again. And I hate to say that i bought an G4 iPod 20GB, and it works perfectly, the firmware is easy to use and the device is light and easy to operate. I am happy with mu iPod.

Creative Labs NOMAD Jukebox Zen 20 GB MP3 Player (1394 Firewire)

Average customer rating:

stopped working after 4 months use....
lots of space, heavy to drag around.
one year and (knock wood) no problems
Creative "Engineering"
The Zen Jukebox 2.0

Creative Labs NOMAD Jukebox Zen 20 GB MP3 Player (1394 Firewire)

Manufacturer: Creative Labs
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

Audio & Video | Refurbished & Used | Special Features | Electronics Features | Electronics

Product Features:

Bring over 8,000 songs (in WMA at 80 kbps) or 5,000 songs (in MP3 at 128 kbps) everywhere you go
Sleek, stylish, anodized-aluminum body fits in your pocket or can be clipped to your belt in the included travel pouch
Transfer your songs and other files in a flash with SB-1394/FireWire--10 times faster than USB
Use AudioSync to synchronize the music on your player with your PC at work, school, and home
USB port provided for file transfer with most PCs (includes USB battery charging)

ASIN: B00006LHO7
Release Date: 2002-11-01

Product Description

NOMAD Jukebox Zen supports Windows Media Audio (WMA) 9, enabling users to enjoy the highest quality audio in the smallest file sizes. Now you can carry more high-quality music with you right in your pockets. The pocket-sized NOMAD Jukebox Zen is the smallest hard-drive based digital music player that offers both USB 1.1 and SB1394 (iEEE 1394 compatible) connectivity. With its 20GB hard drive, the NOMAD Jukebox Zen holds about 8, 000 songs using WMA or about 4, 000 songs using MP3. In addition, NOMAD Jukebox Zen features a high-quality sophisticated metal casing, outstanding audio quality at up to 98dB, on-the-fly music management with easy Scroller navigation, and over 12 hours of continuous portable playback powered by a built-in quick-charge LiON battery.

Amazon.com Product Description

If you've been searching for a compact player with massive MP3 storage, your search is over. Get up to 20 GB of music on the Nomad Jukebox Zen, and then listen to it anywhere for up to 12 hours at a stretch using the quick-charge battery. Want to create a playlist on the go? No need to be at a computer--just select songs, create and save the playlist, and you're ready to tune in.

The Nomad Jukebox Zen offers the same powerful features and flexibility found in a large-capacity MP3 player, but delivered in a smaller and sleeker package. Use the fast, 10x transfer rate anywhere via SB1394/FireWire or use a USB plug-in for basic transfers. Load an entire music collection and your data files onto the stylish Zen in a flash--up to 20 GB--then pop it into your pocket or bag, and share information easily between computers. When traveling between home and work or school, the Zen becomes a portable hard drive. Its sleek aluminum body makes carrying music even more fun.

The included Creative PlayCenter 3 lets you rip CDs and transfer tracks between player and PC. Now you can quickly create or edit playlists, or organize music, either at or away from your PC (the first player to offer this flexibility). The unit uses a simple but powerful icon-driven interface with Creative's Quick Scroller navigation.

Customer Reviews:

stopped working after 4 months use...........2007-08-02

This is how I found out about their 3 month warranty, and how Creative has such little faith in their products that they dare not warrant their products for more than 3 months.

Defective product from a defective company.

lots of space, heavy to drag around........2007-05-22

I bought this off amazon for under 100 dollars including shipping, which is a great deal for 20GB of space. However, the software is terrible. You're better off installing the drivers off a freeware site and using mediamonkey to move files onto it.

It's a harddrive disk, not a flash drive like newer players. It also has a hard and heavy aluminum casing.

It breaks down and you have to stick a pin in the side to reset it constantly. I feel like every time I turn it on, it's busted again. Sometimes it just shows random lines on the screen, other times it just locks up on the shut down screen. When you reset it, you don't lose the music you already loaded, but I'm sure it wears on the hard drive to constantly be rebooting.

PROs
The sound quality is great
Lots of space for the price

CONs
Heavy.
Locks up and needs to be reset.
Takes hours for music to load onto the player.
Can't go jogging with it - take your flash drive player instead.

Overall, I'd say you should get a flash drive based player so it's more portable. But at this price, the amount of space is hard to beat.

one year and (knock wood) no problems.......2006-12-14

Any headphone jack or cheap headphone issues must have been resolved by the end of 2005, I've seen no signs of jack trouble and the 'phones included were made by Sennheiser (I've worked in radio & recording studios for 30+ yrs and Sennheiser is the industry standard).

The Software complaint is still legitimate, By all means save yourself the trouble and download Red Chair's Notmad, it's a user-friendly dream. (the only thing Creative's software is good for is overwriting a previously loaded but corrupt track with a fresh copy).

If you want cover art jpgs or video, you're not serious about the music, so buy something else. If you want a handy palm-sized box that'll hold as much music as you can cram into it, you'll have a hard time filling the 60gig model to it's capacity, especially if you convert 128kbps MP3s to 81kbps WMAs. The quality difference is negligible to most human ears and so far I'm right at ten thousand songs and only one third of the way to full.

The fact that Stop and Power on/off are the same button is a bit of an odd design choice, but it hasn't created any operational troubles. If you dont want to hear a track, just toggle the forward key and jump past it.

As for breakdown issues, I'll cross my fingers and report after one year not problem one. I did buy a two year full replacement warranty just in case and everything is backed up twice in both MP3 and WMA form, but so far that's just assuaging my personal paranoia. I use this beautiful toy every day and often sleep with it playing and for my money, it's the coolest and handiest gadget since the internet itself.

Now I'm wondering how long I should wait before I buy a replacement battery as an emergency backup.

This unit is a nice pairing with JBL's 'On Tour' external speaker set as well, (unless you have an unhealthy need for earsplitting volume over crystal clarity).

Creative "Engineering".......2005-05-23

I bought a Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox Zen 20 GB Digital Audio Player in November 2002 and loved it up until April 2005 when it simply decided to stop working. I had taken great care of it over the 2+ years I owned the player with no bumps, spills, or other jolts. So there was nothing that would have caused it to self-destruct other than poor Creative Labs "engineering". To make matters worse, despite having been very disciplined for the 2+ years in terms of backing up my 700 songs that I had on the player, I bought a new laptop last month and gave my old one to my father. In doing so, I decided to delete the 700 songs backed-up on the old notebook and recopy them to my new notebook later. Nice timing! Two weeks later when I went to turn on my Zen...nada!! Creative said the power unit was gone and there was nothing they could do about it. They said that they could return the paper weight to me for $40 or I could dive deeper into the abyss and buy a refurbished one for $115. I couldn't help but laugh at their gall. They are pathetic.

It was my fault for not having a 24/7 backup of my songs! The iPod god must be in the air! Bottom line, I will never buy anything from Creative Labs again!

The Zen Jukebox 2.0.......2004-11-25

The Zen Jukebox 2.0 is a must have for the average consumer. This player fits value with an affordable price. With its small price tag and great features I recommend. I recently bought one and have had no problems! Heres Pros, and cons.
PROS
> Great price!
> 20 GB Storage
> Small enough to fit in most pockets
> Sound quality is amazing!

CONS
> Software is horrible
> Headphones included are bad

Average customer rating:

They should still make this unit
Good idea, no polish.
Disappointment
very useful
A large capacity, well made unit

Creative Labs 20 GB Nomad Jukebox

Manufacturer: Creative Labs
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

Hold up to 340 hours of digital music
Available line-in jack for recording anywhere with an add-on microphone
Manually adjust the amount of bass, treble, and mid ranges with onboard Digital Signal Processing
Large 132 x 64 pixel backlit LCD display
USB connection to your computer for quick transfer of digital music

ASIN: B00005QCU3

Amazon.com Product Description

The Creative 20 GB NOMAD Jukebox lets you carry up to 340 hours of CD-quality audio with you. Using equipment roughly the size of a standard portable CD player, you can back up your entire CD collection to an MP3 or WMA format and never worry about hefting a bulky CD carrying case again.

Designed to give you the most sound options for your money, the NOMAD Jukebox comes with built-in EAX audio technology, which gives you the capabilities of adjustable playback speed and FourPointSurround speaker support. You can listen to your music through headphones, hook up to a home stereo, or connect the NOMAD directly to a FourPointSurround for 3-D positional audio.

An advanced onboard Digital Signal Processor provides headphone spatialization effects and environmental effects, and you can adjust bass, treble, and midfrequency ranges on the fly.

A line-in jack allows you to record from external devices at up to 48 KHz. Hook up to a microphone and record lectures and seminars or your latest karaoke session. Your recordings can be easily ported back to the PC with the bundled Creative PlayCenter 2 software.

A large backlit LCD display makes it easy to navigate through your music. Continue to use your NOMAD into the future with free firmware upgrades to support new audio codes from Creative Lab's NOMAD Web site.

Customer Reviews:

They should still make this unit.......2006-10-10

I have (had) the 20G version. What a neat machine. I had loaded approx 450 CDs worth of music on mine and used it sometimes daily and often 3 or more times weekly. I will admit battery life when portable was only 4 hrs or so, but I mostly used mine plugged in so battery life was not critical. I hooked mine a set of Altec Lansing amplified speakers and presto....instant HQ stereo. I never had a real problem The PlayCenter software did exactly what it was supposed to. Mine had approx 19G of music on it so the only real drawback was it took about 5 minutes to load itself up.....after that....would run forever. Only a few times would it lock up for any reason (usually because I was impatient and would press too many buttons)....then simply remove a battery, reset and start over.

I made the mistake of mixing different NiMH batteries.......2100 and 2500 and it fried the power circuitry. The sticker on the bottom warns not to do this, but the warning is not really emboldened...easy to overlook. Please take it seriously. I miss it already and am currently looking for a replacement. I removed the 20G hard drive from inside and am hoping I can find a reasonably priced replacement and swap out the drive.

Sure it is larger than an IPod, and especially more than my 1G Sansa with a 2G SD card.....but for the flexibility and just cool looks it could not be beat.

If you have one lying around needing a new home...let me know. Wish they still made this baby.

Good idea, no polish........2005-02-12

I've used this item both before and after the iPod. It's a nice product. It seems somewhat well made. As one of the first hard drive-based players, it's not fair to judge it against newer products, so here are some issues that Creative should have gotten right, but failed to.

First, the UI is very, very slow when used while playing a song. The menus are otherwise easy to navigate. It seems like the same processor is being used to decode the MP3 music and to run the UI - and that processor isn't up to the task.

Second, the UI has some minor glitches that keep it from being as smooth as I'd like. It's designed well for someone that has time to think, but a player that will be used in the car or while running or working shouldn't assume it will have the user's attention.

Creative Playcenter is actually decent software. Not great, mind you, but decent. It would be nice if the software were downloadable from Creative's site - I've never found it. It would also be nice if I could get some sort of drive letter access to the drive for data storage.

Other applications work with the Nomad Jukebox. I've used Windows Media Player on Windows and iTunes on the Mac. RealPlayer is supposed to support it as well, but I've not tried it. None of the third party applications I've used seem to support data and transfering music from the player to the computer. For that, you must use the Creative Playcenter application.

Disappointment.......2003-07-30

For me, it's all about the sound quality. I have an MP3 CD player, and am very happy with it, but I wanted to try something with a little more storage. And don't get me wrong, this is a great piece of equipment in every regard but one: sound quality. I was shocked at how bad it was. It has almost no bass, and when you turn it up it immediately distorts badly. Over half of the EQ presets were unuseable due to high distortion, crackling, and so on. Turning up the volume past about three-fourths produced distortion on almost every EQ setting. I returned it to the store and went back to my excellent sounding MP3 CD player within a week.

very useful.......2003-05-01

the nomad jukebox is not perfect. the main flaw's i've seen have been 1. crazy battery gauge. it goes to almost empty as soon as i turn on the device. however the EAX menu tells you the exact percent of battery you have left, which is accurate
2 it has frozen once or twice, but that only happens if i push too many buttons while it is switching songs
3 unpredictable battery use. i have managed to suck 5 or more hours out of the batteries, but dont count on it. expect 4, cause thats what you'll get. for your information, turning the device on uses 20-30% of the battery sometimes. if you can, leave it on when its on.
however these dissadvantages are minor compared to the advantages. my computer cannot handle more than 150 songs. but by storing music on my mp3 player, i can still have realtivly quick access to all my music. i dont have to carry around cds, and it is create to have such a flexible playlist. i usually put all my favorite and play them in random. i'll admit my nomad has some scratchs, but it still works great. the backlit screen is easy to see in pitch black, and the most important feature is the size i dont think i'll every come close to filling it.

A large capacity, well made unit.......2002-06-03

i've had my jukebox for about 6 months.

The Good: well made, solid unit. lcd is legible and concise. controlling the unit takes some getting used to, but the controls are flexible enough to select individual songs or albums to play. you start by making a playlist which you may save or discard after playing. firmware upgradable means you can add upgrades easily after they become available. sound is clear. full volume output for line out, volume controlled output for headphones. goes about 4 hours on 1800 rechargable NiMH AA. the 20gb capacity is a winner. you load the jukebox via a usb cable. this is a slow process since this unit is only at usb 1.1, but you can cue up your uploads, and do dinner. if you don't eat too fast, they'll be done when you return. Navagation is good.

The Bad: loudest volume is not quite enough. for example, when listening with headphones on an airplane, you can just about hear. when using the unit to drive an amplied device such as a stereo, the stereo volume bust be boosted quiite a bit for volume equivalent to that from other sources. boot times, down to 30 sec with new firmware, still too long.

Recommended: it is highly recommended that you purchase additional sets of batteries and a battery charger. A cover (skin) is a nice extra.

Average customer rating:

Still love the Nomad 3 jukebox over the Ipod

This Player Made it Through the War!

Took it all over the world, and it still works

Everything I expected

for the love of god, don't buy it

Creative Labs NOMAD Jukebox 3 20 GB MP3 Player

Manufacturer: Creative Labs
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

MP3 Players | Audio & Video | Apple | Custom Brands | Custom Stores | Specialty Stores | Electronics Features | Electronics
MP3 Players & Accessories | Creative Labs | Custom Brands | Custom Stores | Specialty Stores | Electronics Features | Electronics
MP3 Players | Portable Audio & Video | Refurbished & Used | Special Features | Electronics Features | Electronics
Audio & Video | Refurbished & Used | Special Features | Electronics Features | Electronics
20 GB | Hard Drive-Based | MP3 Players | Audio & Video | Categories | Electronics
Accessories:

NETGEAR Wireless Digital Music Player

Creative Labs JB3ACC04 Nomad Jukebox 3 Home Kit

Product Features:

20 GB storage space holds up to 8,000 songs encoded in WMA at 80 kbps or 5,000 MP3s encoded at 128 kbps

High audio quality (relative to other MP3 devices): 98 dB signal-to-noise ratio playback, frequency response of 20 to 20,000 Hz

Analog and optical digital line inputs for direct high-quality recording from external audio devices

Super fast SB-1394/FireWire (IEEE-1394 compliant) and USB 1.1 file transfers from your PC

Up to 22 hours of uninterrupted playback with two lithium-ion rechargeable batteries

ASIN: B000068OJM

Product Description

With more than 3 times the storage of any other Jukebox, the NOMAD Jukebox 20GB takes portable audio to a whole new level. Finally, you can take your entire digital music collection with you wherever you go. Store up to 340 hours of music in WMA format; that's like having a 250+ disc CD changer with you all the time! Create custom playlists for your commute, the gym, parties, presentations, your life. Never swap another CD again. The NOMAD Jukebox supports standard MP3, WMA, and WAV formats and is geared for access to future audio formats, too. Upgradeable technology allows new features and enhancements to be downloaded to it when available. With NOMAD Jukebox, you can keep up with the ever-evolving world of digital music and be on the cutting edge of digital audio technology.

Amazon.com Product Description

If you're looking for MP3 player innovation that delivers feature-rich functionality and unsurpassed audiophile quality, the Nomad Jukebox 3 is the player for you. The Jukebox 3 offers audio quality that makes other players sound pale and lifeless by comparison. With the leading audio specifications in its category, even the toughest critic will be delighted by its crystalline clarity. Add to this a suite of powerful music-management and audio functions, and you're set to tailor your musical experience through an easy-to-use interface with intuitive scrolling file navigation.

The Nomad Jukebox 3 connects to everything audio: it works with PCs and stereos and other devices to let you transfer, store, and even record at will--analog and optical digital line inputs allow direct high-quality recording from external audio devices. Top it off with a massive 20 GB storage with both USB and SB1394/FireWire connectivity, and you can listen to your favorite music anytime, anywhere. The unit holds up to 333 hours of MP3s encoded at 128 Kbps, or an incredible 8,000 songs encoded in WMA at 80 Kbps. Store your entire music library (and other files) in a compact package that's completely portable.

The unit's second battery bay gives you up to 22 hours of uninterrupted playback with two lithium-ion rechargeable batteries (or 11 hours using only one). Smart Volume Management (SVM) normalizes audio output to compensate for different mastering levels between songs, while time scaling lets you speed up or slow down playback without distortion. Finally, anti-skip protection extends to seven minutes of buffering for smooth listening.

Customer Reviews:

Still love the Nomad 3 jukebox over the Ipod.......2006-10-26

I just took out my Nomad jukebox 3 from retirement. Started using it again and let me just say I still love it. The sound quality is just so much better over the Ipod. It truly is audiophile quality. This sucker is just built tough. I am not so easy on my electronics and this thing can take a beating and keep on ticking. I still like the OS better then the Ipod. It's just easier to maneuver around in my opinion (and my wife's) If you have a chance to get one (available on EBay) I really love how you can record to it. I have recorded some of my old albums (yes albums remember those!?) to the Jukebox and it comes out great. In the era of needing everything smaller you loose allot of features in the process.

This Player Made it Through the War!.......2005-01-18

So, I got a Jukebox 3 for Christmas two years ago. Since then, I took it with me backpacking for six months around the world, use it daily at work, take it with me whenever I travel, use it as my home stereo, and generally beat the hell out of it. I've dropped it multiple times on hard surfaces, and exposed it to heat, cold, and almost anything you can think of. I am so impressed with this product and its durability.

Sure, there are some drawbacks to the Jukebox 3. It does not have the stylish look of the Jukebox Zen or an iPod. It is bigger and bulkier than either of these devices. However, in some ways I think that actually works in the Jukebox 3's favor: I feel totally comfortable leaving it sitting around at work, because it basically looks like a cheap CD player. I think of it like inadvertant theft-prevention.

Here are a couple things I dislike. The power button has a stick to it, so I need to wiggle it to make it pop back out again. Not a very well-designed button, but it's a pretty easy thing to deal with. The syncing software freezes up when I try to back up my whole music library. I havn't really figured this one out yet. Those are the only two things keeping me from giving it five stars.

So, I would highly recommend buying this product. For less money than an iPod I feel that I got much more. I have a friend who has an iPod, and the one-way nature of it plus the fact that it does not record drives him absolutely nuts. He is actually jealous of my player!

Took it all over the world, and it still works.......2004-09-19

I have read a lot of negative reviews on this system and would just like to add my own Imput. I bought my NJ3 in SEP 02. I took it with me to Afghanistan for 7 months. Afghanistan happens to be the worse place for Electronics in the worlds. Dust and filth... Just Awful. I dropped my player quite a few times. Took it with me on missions. Used it every single day. After 2 years my player still works perfectly. Its worn beyond belief but still works fine. Just letting all of you know these units are as tough as them make them....

Everything I expected.......2004-06-11

I've owned my Nomad Jukebox for about 2 years now, and it has served me very well. Whereas the Jukebox 2.0 version was unstable, this unit has caused me no problems whatsoever. The sound quality is good, the interface is intuitive, and the thing just keeps working without a hitch. The battery life is pretty good, as well, which is always a point of contention with portables. Overall, I'd really recommend this unit.

for the love of god, don't buy it.......2004-04-13

Having had my jukebox for 5 months until it absoutely died, leaving me with a large space in my pocket and the loss of music I'd spent hours transferring, I have to say that the fragility of this player absolutely negates any enjoyment you might have while it works. My player was very gently used, it now only boots in Rescue Mode and gives me a 'hard disk problem' message for all functions on that menu. Creative technical support insists that the player must have been dropped (which is apparently enough to completely destroy the hundred-dollar hard drive) and the warranty does not apply - you have to pay for all repair - over two months after the date of purchase. In a case like mine this probably means paying about half the original cost of the jukebox to replace the hard drive with a new one under a similarly scanty warranty. For the investment value of an mp3 player, my jukebox leads me to believe that you'd be better off with an I-Pod. Don't buy it.

Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 - Digital player - HDD 20 GB - WMA, MP3 - silver

Average customer rating:

Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 - Digital player - HDD 20 GB - WMA, MP3 - silver

Manufacturer: Creative Labs
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

Product Description

The NOMAD Jukebox 3 has it all! It starts with audio quality that makes other players sound pale and lifeless by comparison. With the leading audio specifications in its category, even the toughest critic will be delighted by its crystal clarity. The NOMAD Jukebox 3 delivers unrivaled audio features to give you the best digital listening experience! Add to this a suite of powerful music management and audio functions and you can quickly tailor your musical experience through an easy-to-use interface - an intuitive Scroller navigation! The NOMAD Jukebox 3 connects to everything audio, anywhere! It works with PCs and stereos and other devices to transfer, store and record at will. With 20GB of storage you can keep up to 340 hours of music in WMA format, that's like having a 250+ disc CD changer with you all the time. Imagine 8, 000 songs in the palm of your hand! It can carry an entire music library and other files in a compact package that's completely portable. So much power with so little effort: grab it, load it, and go!

Average customer rating:

Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 - Digital player - HDD 20 GB - WMA, MP3 - silver

Manufacturer: Creative Labs
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

Product Description

Product Description

Now you can make instant memories with Philips Digital Camera Key Ring. Wherever, whenever - whatever! Just slide over the protective lens cover, point and shoot - it's that easy. A 64 MB flash memory lets you take hundreds of pictures, which can be shared and exchanged on any PC. In fact, go right ahead and store or transfer any digital file on your PC with this nifty Key Ring! The direct USB plug-in speedily and easily transfer any digital file between your camera and PC via the direct USB connection. The direct battery recharging via USB offers ultra convenience when recharging your Key Ring. No need to bother with separate chargers or cables, simply plug and recharge your Key Ring directly on your PC. The camera's durable body is made from ultra lightweight and sturdy magnesium for ultimate product protection - no unexpected dents and chips! The Photo Manager software allows you to easily enhance your picture quality up to 1.3 Megapixel as well as edit and organize them into albums.

Customer Reviews:

Perfect for what it's intended to do.......2004-09-24

This camera is obviously not designed to be used for professional studio shots. There's no flash, and the resolution is comparable to that of an average cell phone camera. That being said, I highly recommend it if you want a VERY small camera for capturing serendipitous moments throughout the day. With 64 MB of flash RAM, you can snap at least 500 photos - weighing in at about 100 KB or less each - before you have to empty it out onto your computer. The built in lithium ion rechargeable battery does a great job as well, and the camera merely has to be connected to your USB port to recharge - no wall adapters to lose! And as if all of this isn't enough, it doubles as a perfectly competent USB flash drive. Plug it into your computer, and start copying.

Overall, I'd give this little beast 4 stars. The only thing holding it back from a perfect 5 is its susceptibility to pocket lint. The view finder can become a bit cloudy after a few months in your back pocket. But don't worry about the camera CCD - it's quite safely sealed off behind the lens assembly.

A lot of fun if you remember it's a novelty camera.......2004-05-25

If you are looking for a hi-rez digital camera with lots of bells and whistles and beautiful photos, then you're going to be pretty sore if you purchase the Philips 007 Keyring Camera. If, however, you're looking for something that truly is pocket-size, portable, and a lot of fun to use, then you should be delighted. I was. Claims that this camera can take (or convert to) 1.3 megapixel quality photos are misleading and should simply be disregarded. Pictures are taken at 640x480 vga, which is most definitely low quality but still quite useful for outdoor and close-up photography that you plan to use primarily online. Foreground focus is fairly sharp, although you have to figure out the quirks to the tiny viewfinder, the curvature of which can cause you to shoot higher and more to the left than you might think you are. You also have to watch where you put your thumb. On a toy this small, blotting out half your shot with a finger can happen easily. All in all, as a novelty camera, the Philips is a load of fun, and fans of funky, quirky cameras should be overjoyed.

Fantastic, mini portable and wearable camera........2004-04-22

I bought this camera about a month ago and have taken several hundred photographs for my website at http://www.gift-ideas-for-women. So long as I take the photos in bright sunlight they turn out fine. The pictures have turned out so well that I have not even had to use the included software to enhance them. If you are looking for an inexpensive, easy to use camera that recharges while plugged into your PC then this is the camera you want.

The on the go point and shoot.......2004-04-03

It's small, sleek, and cool. You can take it with you where ever you go. No more wishing you had a camera with you when your kid makes a funny face or you get in to an accident. No batteries or memory card to buy. Just plug it in to your usb port to charge and view your PICS. The picture quality is not to bad for the size of the camera. people I've shown it to are actually surprised that pictures that good come from a camera that small. This camera is mainly for outdoor use, as the indoor lighting just doesn't cut it. Pictures taken indoors are very dark and just don't turn out. Even in well lit rooms. I like that the PICS are stored in JPEG format on the camera. They are a small file size and I don't have to convert them. It can hold 400 640x480 PICS at a time on its 64mb of space. You can view the PICS using the software or using windows explorer window. It shows up as a removable drive like a zip drive. I am having some trouble getting the camera to work with Win98, however. It probably works better with WinXP but I have not tried it yet. The camera can be used on a key chain or a connectable necklace. however the connector on the necklace is not durable and leaves you constantly worrying about the camera falling off. The Camera has a nice magnesium case. Unfortunately the plastic usb cover is not connected to the body via a string or something, and can be easily lost when taken off. The camera has three led lights for memory, power, and light sensitivity. The eye piece is a little small and kind of hard to look through. This camera has room for improvement. I think the new usb 2.0 version will be better. This stile of camera has a future with today's on the go life style. This is a small portable point and shoot camera to take with you and capture those unexpected or forgettable moments.

Took Ten Pictures Before It Stopped Working.......2004-03-06

I managed to get about ten pictures out of the thing before it stopped working. Probably still works as a memory key, but [$$$] for a 64meg memory key is about 3-4x too much. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

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Electronics

Electronics