Creative 20 GB Jukebox Zen for $212.46 at Dell Home

[sheltem]

15% ends the 24th.

 

[MontyBurns]

Just a qucik review:

I have (or I guess, had) a Zen, and completely loved it. The sound quality is incredible (and, yes, better than the iPod I have now). I really liked the navigation system and the ability to manipulate playlists on the device (which the iPod can't do). All in all, I was incredibly happy with it.

That is, until the hard drive died about two weeks after the warranty expired. Though it seems like the fact that the warranty had expired didn't make much difference: I sent nine e-mails to Creative's tech support department. Only one was ever answered, and that was answered with a form letter that had little to do with what I had written them about. When I was able to reach someone at one of their phone #'s, which wasn't often, I was repeatedly told that tech support for the zen was handled only by e-mail and they couldn't help me. I sent them a letter U.S. mail, but three months later, still no response.

I by no means suggest that if you buy a Zen, yours is going to stop working just because mine did. All products have a percentage that fail before their time. However, their customer service is clearly a joke, so IF you have problems, you're likely going to have a lot of trouble getting them fixed.

I was so mad after the Zen failed that I bought an iPod. (By that time I had become too hooked on having my mp3's with me to go without.) It's just as awesome as everyone says it is, but the price is difficult to swallow. And I can't in fairness say that the 10 gig iPod is worth nearly double the cost of the 20 gig Zen.


Good luck.

 

[airduct]

can the zen playback *.ape / lossless files? anyway to hack it for this purpose? I would like to hook up the zen to the stereo system and my mp3s crackle and pop too much. thanks

 

[Doomer]

I'm really surprised that the big boys like Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, etc. haven't jumped into this market. Any one of them could send Apple and Creative to the showers over night and make a killing to boot.

When you have as little competition as there is in these types of player the end user is bound to get royally screwed by marketing decisions like a non replaceable battery. With healthy competition both Creative and Apple would be driven completely out of the market because of stupid things like this battery issue.

 

[VaG]

Originally posted by: MontyBurns
Just a qucik review:

I have (or I guess, had) a Zen, and completely loved it. The sound quality is incredible (and, yes, better than the iPod I have now). I really liked the navigation system and the ability to manipulate playlists on the device (which the iPod can't do). All in all, I was incredibly happy with it.

That is, until the hard drive died about two weeks after the warranty expired. Though it seems like the fact that the warranty had expired didn't make much difference: I sent nine e-mails to Creative's tech support department. Only one was ever answered, and that was answered with a form letter that had little to do with what I had written them about. When I was able to reach someone at one of their phone #'s, which wasn't often, I was repeatedly told that tech support for the zen was handled only by e-mail and they couldn't help me. I sent them a letter U.S. mail, but three months later, still no response.

I by no means suggest that if you buy a Zen, yours is going to stop working just because mine did. All products have a percentage that fail before their time. However, their customer service is clearly a joke, so IF you have problems, you're likely going to have a lot of trouble getting them fixed.

I was so mad after the Zen failed that I bought an iPod. (By that time I had become too hooked on having my mp3's with me to go without.) It's just as awesome as everyone says it is, but the price is difficult to swallow. And I can't in fairness say that the 10 gig iPod is worth nearly double the cost of the 20 gig Zen.


Good luck.

Anybody who has ever sent in a rebate to Creative should have already learned a valuable lesson about their customer service. 4-5 month to recieve a rebate through them.

 

[mra]

Originally posted by: airduct
I would like to hook up the zen to the stereo system and my mp3s crackle and pop too much. thanks

Don't encode your MP3s in a crappy bitrate and that wouldn't be a problem.

 

[toant103]

pretty nice deal.

 

[murphy55d]

must..hold..out...for...ipod

 

[Outrager]

DAMN IT! I couldn't hold out. Damn my spending ways. Well, now to scrounge up $212+ worth of stuff to sell. :-D

 

[TheeeChosenOne]

Originally posted by: Doomer
I'm really surprised that the big boys like Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, etc. haven't jumped into this market. Any one of them could send Apple and Creative to the showers over night and make a killing to boot.

When you have as little competition as there is in these types of player the end user is bound to get royally screwed by marketing decisions like a non replaceable battery. With healthy competition both Creative and Apple would be driven completely out of the market because of stupid things like this battery issue.

I COMPLETELY AGREE!!! Dag nabit! We need some serious competition to drive these losers awaaaaaaay!!!

 

[JasonK]

Damit, i ordered this like the other guy during the 10% off 4/4/03 . Well i cancelled and reordered on friday. The thing still hasnt shipped from 4/4, because its been backordered. In fact my cancelled ordered has been pushed back to the same exact date the new order is. Really retarded =P Oh well, still a good deal, hope they ship soon cuz ive waited almost one month for this thing.

Another thing is that Dell pulled zen's and ipod's for about 2 days for some reason. Real odd. The zen was posted back on friday, but the ipod is no longer to be seen on their site.

 

[Kerouactivist]

How long is the warranty on the player?

 

[scorched03]

Originally posted by: bthorny
How long is the warranty on the player?

i think 3 months. that's very very short.... suspicious

 

[Kwad Guy]

As soon as you see a comment like "LiIon batteries go dead after two years", you know you're reading the equivalent of mouse droppings...The issues that determine battery life are a LOT more complex than number of years...Things like: Did you let the battery drain to zero every time before you recharged? Did you run the thing on a charger all the time? Is the charger included with the device smart enough to go to trickle mode when fully charged? Does the device go to bypass mode when run on AC? Etc. etc. etc.

I guarantee you that LiIon batteries don't just "go dead after two years" no questions asked.

(In fact, LiIon batteries do best if you keep them continually charged...Their lifetime is usually reported as number of full "dead-to-full" charges they can take...However, if you keep them from going fully dead before recharging, they will last a greater total number of hours...But it's a pretty complex system...)

Kwad

 

[pennylane]

is this thing compatible with usb 1.1?

 

[dew042]

Originally posted by: heyzeus
is this thing compatible with usb 1.1?

yes. both versions will do usb 1.1

for those scared about battery issues - you can always pay more and get one from bb b&m with a three year extended service plan.... almost assured a new one in that time....

dew.

 

[Peteyest]

Or you can wait for a different player if you have patience.

There's a lot of companies that are in this business, but they haven't really shown up much. Companies like eDigital (their Odyssey 1000 supposedly has somewhat of a fix for battery issues, I forget what they're doing for that issue though), Now Evolution, Archos, RCA, and even a bunch of weird small companies.

I'm hoping there will be an ideal player coming out soon from one of these companies. The MP3-only players are bound to get cheaper as portable video/music players become more mainstream (as shown by Archos' and RCA's efforts in developing them).

The future is going to get interesting. The only question is the expenses.

 

[Kerouactivist]

I'm waiting for a different player because at this price I (personally) can't afford to buy something that is this expensive.
For those of you that can, I'm happy for you this MP3 player looks great.
I just may have to wait until MP3 players com down in price and gain more reliability before I invest in one.

 

[soltrain]

philips is coming out with a new one, which i believe is running in beta test.
$212 is a great price.

 

[MagicSalsa]

i would buy this but i'm cheap

 

[Kuhlman]

By the way just for comparison sake the Ipod battery CAN be replaced. The replacement batteries cost $49.

Replace Ipod Battery

 

[Daniel]

Originally posted by: Kuhlman
By the way just for comparison sake the Ipod battery CAN be replaced. The replacement batteries cost $49.

Replace Ipod Battery

Nice to see... in a gross stroke of luck I got a free iPod from a friend awhile ago and the thought of having it useless with a bad battery bothers me greatly.

 

[Outrager]

Originally posted by: Daniel

Originally posted by: Kuhlman
By the way just for comparison sake the Ipod battery CAN be replaced. The replacement batteries cost $49.

Replace Ipod Battery

Nice to see... in a gross stroke of luck I got a free iPod from a friend awhile ago and the thought of having it useless with a bad battery bothers me greatly.

That would mean people who actually paid for it would be even more bothered :-D

 

[LotusNotesGuy]

I just now today, 5/23 got my 20gb Zen ordered on 4/20/2003. I might add,I had to call Dell 3 times after receiving email notices they were going to cancel the order if I did not call soon. I did notice Dell has had alot of home and business division sales and coupons since I ordered it.

Was there ever a better price than this 212$ I should be asking for a price match on?

 

[Outrager]

I received mine May 8th even though I cancelled my order because I bought an iPod instead. I sold the Zen for the price I paid for it, though, instead of returning it.