http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/ Engadget Comments for The scoop on the Creative Zen Neeon http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/FWIW, the zen looks/sounds pretty sweet.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/
Then again there are people who are reflexible anti-Sony, so maybe he just had to take a nonsensical dig against the PSP on a totally unrelated topic.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/
But hey, Creative will grab some market share this year right? I mean, they keep wasting money on more products, they have to be doing well right? Well, Apple is selling more iPods each month then they did during the holiday season, so they can keep coming out with more products, it won't matter.

Personally, here is what I would do if I were Creative. I'd cut down the colors of the Creative Zens to only the most popular ones. Making that many versions of it is expensive, and considering most people chose the least popular because they are probably out of the more popular colors, it may lead to increased sales.

Then I'd start an advertising campaign where comparisons aren't directly made between the Zen and the iPod, but rather tries to push the Zen as a product for people who are free thinkers, and independent. Stop trying to push features out that hardly anyone uses, and start working on ways to simplify the current user interface, and maybe start working on things that the user would want, that the iPod doesn't have.

Maybe strike up a deal with XM or Sirius, and see if maybe offering a Zen with satellite radio maybe the killer feature that sets it off.

This Creative Zen Neeon thing doesn't sound great. It sounds like the same old thing that sucked before. At least the Creative Zen Micro made some improvements. It's a shame that will all seem to be gone in vein.
]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/
The new Creative Zen Neeeeeeon.

(Marketing...)]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/
I replaced my Xtra with a 6GB IPod. I had resisted buying an IPod for a while because I thought they were overpriced - but the interface is quite a bit better than that of the the Creative Xtra. IMO other players will have to work extra hard to capture market share in this space - Apple has assembled quite a full featured solution.

Just my two cents...

]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/
]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/
This is a better name than the Creative Zen Neeeeeeeon. What does it tell you when a typo on a blog ends up being a better name than a room full of Creative executives could come up with?

It looks to me from that (admittedly crappy) pic that this thing has, at most, a three line display. It may even be a *two* line display with a persistent info bar at the top. There seems to be a lot of dead space on the rest of the unit, so I don't really understand why the screen is so small.

It also, to me, looks like there are buttons on the side of this thing. Are we actually going *backwards* in navigation? Have people learned *nothing* from Apple? It really doesn't matter if you personally think Apple's approach is right or not - this is a company with 92% market share in hard drive based players. The market has spoken, and the market likes Apple's approach. You ignore that at your peril.

I really think that if any company is going to have any success against the iPod, they are going to have to look at what Apple does and try to do it better. Doing things *differently* is not going to accomplish anything - line-in recording, FM recording, voice recording, I mean these are not new features in a portable player and they have never done anything to increase sales.

I think the problem is that doing what really needs to be done is *hard*. Just adding features and saying "our approach is different from the iPod" is easy. But it doesn't matter, because nobody cares. The iPod is the player to beat, whether or not you can understand why - people like the iPod and people buy tons of them. So, figure out why and then do those same things better.

It is not easy to do that, obviously; if it was, somebody would have done it already. But I don't see that just adding another little player to Creative's lineup is really going to help their situation; this may very well be a perfectly decent player, but it's just going to take so much more than that to make a dent in this market.

It really is like the Walkman situation in the early 1980's... I don't know if a lot of you even remember that, but I was around and I do. It wasn't that there weren't any other portable cassette players on the market - there sure were, a lot of them, and some of them were actually really cool (I actually had my heart set on this tiny little $300 Aiwa player; this was back before Sony bought them). But in the end these players were all just riding on Sony's Walkman coattails, and none of them really had a prayer. Of course, we all know what happened to Sony 20 years later, though, so nothing is totally permanent in this business.
]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/
And shrink it will.... someday.

An fm tuner is not a useless feature. People do still listen to the radio believe it or not. Even though you probably don't think it's cool to listen to anymore doesn't mean everyone feels the same way. I would venture that many of the ipod alternative sales are driven by the fm tuner.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/
Ah Well. Who needs intelligent statements when morons are going on and on about how coming out with the stupid Neeon will help Creatives marketshare. "Wow, it has NO visible controls, and looks like something I left in the toilet! Where can I buy one?!?"

It's easy to say that Apple will lose their marketshare because they lost the computer market share, but I'd like to see something more then "well it doesn't have an FM tuner". I personally don't remember seeing many FM Tuners on portable CD players, yet some how, they sold well. I went to Fry's the other day, and messed with the a Creative Zen Micro, and I definately didn't think the "The interface is so much more feature rich than the ipod" as Joey Geraci said. It was actually a copy of the iPod interface. Not really all that surprised. Can't expect Creative to actually be CREATIVE can we? Creative will need more then a smaller version of their crap player from a year or two ago.

The Creative Zen Micro isn't a bad player. It is good for what it is. But, it takes more then just slapping colors on a product. The end to end solution needs to be there. Last I heard, from someone I know that works at Napster, the Napster To Go thing has had a lot of trouble. Their boards are filled with people that can't get Napster To Go to work on the Creative Zen Micro, and the iRiver H10, which are the two most popular devices. Having read several topics filled with angry customers, I can tell ya that most of these people are wondering why the whole campaign is called "Plays for Sure", because it doesn't seem to be.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/
Never again will I buy a creative anything.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/
Also, did some comment along the way get deleted? The numbering is off from before.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/
As far as the Neeon, well, I think Creative could learn from the Apple KISS principle. Most of Creative's product lines are bloated (just look at the 70 or so different speaker sets they make) and should be slimmed down. Apple definately has the right sized product line.

I have both an iPod 3G and a Zen Micro, and I think the iPods controls are better, but I've never had a problem with the Micro. I've personally enjoyed both players a lot.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/
Give something else a chance. The i-pod's at the top and it won't fall easily, so let the underdogs breath before you kick them down.
I sound like a bit of a tosser (agreed, before anyone says it) :D]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/(whew I feel much better now)]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/ kool, simple interface
reasonably priced
compatible with media player
but..Neeon sux..not tht gud a design, n creative going bak to the scroll wheels present in the zen nx n xtras....

Apple......stupid, ghostly, unattractive design
overpriced
jst a status symbol
appalling sound quality
uncompatible wth media player
although, design of U2 iPod grr8..an iPod afterall.:S..

to sum up...creative may not be leading the sales figures, its on my list at no1...Apple may be selling those caspers like hot cakes, but the only reason fer tht is teenagers have become more conscious socially, they want to own an iPod just to show it off to their mates, or compete if another has one one...and many other reasons, kind of based on the same assumption above...

all im trying to say is apple is rubbish....creative rules....i would be waiting fer replies!!!...
]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/I believe, for any gadget, power supply is very important. i warn anyone who plans to buy this, will end up in frustration, only because of this power problem.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/
As far as the zen extra goes, it was a rather outdated system rereleased to take advantage of the mp3 market's sudden growth, and the players they've produced more recently have been better thought out. The colors are actually pretty cheap, especially on the older Muvos, where they were making a killing on battery cases.

I don't like the Neeon's non-replaceable battery, but the interface is the first recent thing not trying to emulate the ipod: on the flip side, the lack of a touch pad ought to make it cheaper, but I think the multicolor backlight was used to raise the cost with a usless but attractive feature.

What Creative should be doing is using their leverage as a sound card manufacturer. I'm sure they could come up with some intresting platform integration technology that would put them ahead of Apple and the others by default. For example, a device that uses Firewire to hook into their soundcards and automaticly changes formats through the card's hardware encoding (far less delay while still getting desired advantages), and I'm sure they could come up with something more creative!

Personally, if I were to design an iPod killer, it would look nothing like its bretheren, jet black and an appalingly standout interface (assuming brain wire-in is not exceptable :) ) I always thought It would be cool to integrate network sharing like iTunes has into players themselves through Wifi or bluetooth, bringing the biggest copyright protection headache ever.

Satelite radio is tricky as I understand it because it consumes alot of power on its own, and various equipment manufacturers already have the contracts (no idea of how exclusive they are).

Oh well, covered all sorts of other posts, got rather off-topic.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/lol lmao!!! i dont care what u guys say im getting 1 of these they r cool, not so sure about the stick ons though they r pretty tacky!]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/What can i Say, excellent. They look gorgeous, feel gorgeous and you know...are. The changeable LED colour is more useful than you would think. The Neeon boasts many features that technically would OWN the ipod (better signal to noise ratio, cheaper, more attractive, lighter, smaller, better colours, etc). Their is the major, major flaw however. Music organisation. Basically, it is an extra drive. You can put anything you want you, anywhere you want. Which means you use the wheel on the side, and click browse, and Alphabetically scroll through each folder/subfolder youmade looking for your mp3 you want. It has shuffle or normal modes of play, so if you like everything on it, it should be fine. Havent tried the stik-on yet, which came with it. I can say i doubt I will buy accessories, I imported it from Singapore (www.teamdigital.net) and that took 20 days from ordering to arrive, so I dont think i can be bothered ordering more. Compared to my brothers iPod mini (6GB), I can say I would rather have the Neeon, for many reasons... although i will always be jealous of the navigation on iPod...

NB: The neeon has line in, microphone and FM radio, each of which it can record and encode.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/i've followed the ipod..ipod mini..ipod shuffle.. ipod nano.. and haven't got any of them.. it's not that i don;'t have the money, it's just that i kno there's gonna be something that's gonna bother me. My goal is basically to spend minimal money here, and if i get an ipod i'm basically spending 50 more on a charger (u have to charge over USB, but wut about going on a trip?), then the battery isn't replacable so basically u buy a new ipod or pay extra... blah blah blah
so now i've seen the iriver h10 and the creative zen and my friend just showed my the zen neeeeeeeon... however many e's there are..
well yeah the iriver h10 is a bit pricy, but other than that it's pretty great, the creative zen looks great, and the neeon looks even better cuz it's cheaper and has a smaller model and i'm looking to have like 500-700 songs on my drive. I've heard some bad things about the zen.. but i forget them..i think it was something like it breaks to easy? no that was the nano... anyways i'll just wait for a response cuz i don't wana write out a life story here so..
c y'all wen i c y'all n stay in school kids!]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/What I can find is 2GB Ipod $200 and tomorrow I am buying a 6GB Neeon for $150.]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/
My sister had an Ipod shuffle and it burnt out after a month. I'm hoping this is a little more reliable.

The only thing that annoys me about the Neeon is that I'm finding it can take up to 30 seconds (and sometimes ends up looking like it has "frozen) when changing songs.

I don't know if it's due to the fact I have 496 song on there, but it reckons it can hold up to 5000 songs or something so it can't be that.

I'm MANUALLY scrolling through each song now. It seems to be happening around the R section mostly. And that's where my favourite band is. ;_; Typical.

Does this happen with anyone elses? Or just my luck? (The LED colour changes rule. I find them more entertaining than the music I've put on.) ^_^]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/
Neeon: unique, new, sleek design and I still listen to the radio a lot so that feature appeals to me.

Ipod Mini: Fast, Classic, trustworthy design.

But they both have their flaws, too.

Neeon: Doesn't come with a power adapter, can't use itunes, has a BAD rep for being slow. (7-8 seconds to switch songs is ridiculous.)

Mini: Most of my friends hadn't had their ipods for even a couple of months before the battery pooped out, and apple is so popular right now that everybody seems to have one. I want something cool, new, and unique (an added bonus is that the neeon is cheaper)

So... I think I'm going to go with the zen neeon. I would probably hate myself for not trying something new anyways if i got the ipod. And i'm not so desperate that waiting a couple extra seconds for a higher sound quality would kill me, anyways.

Thanks again to all who have posted, this really helped me reach a decision :)]]>Dec 19th 2005 12:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 23rd 2005 5:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/28/the-scoop-on-the-creative-zen-neeon/Dec 28th 2005 1:25PM