Slim new Creative ZEN shows up on Amazon

While Creative still seems to be holding out until IFA to get official with its latest ZEN PMP, Amazon appears to be under no such restrictions, with it already accepting pre-orders for the slim new player. Looking a fair bit more enticing than many of Creative's recent players, this one is available in 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB varieties, and boasts a 2.5-inch display, along with a built-in FM tuner and voice recorder, and a standard SD slot for expansion. As far as format support goes, you'll be able to load the device up with your choice of MP3, WMA (w/ DRM), AAC, or Audible audio, along with WMV, DivX, Xvid, MJPEG, or TiVo to Go video files. If that's enough to sway you into the Creative camp, you can look for the 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB players to set you back $149, $199, and $299, respectively, with them each apparently set to ship sometime next month. Click on through for a few more pics.

[Via epiZENter.net]

[PG @ Aug 28th 2007 12:26PM]

Gorgeous. Slick design + awsome UI + boatload of features + competitive price = winner! I will be replacing my Sleek with one of these babies as soon as it's available.

[Derry Quinn @ Aug 28th 2007 5:08PM]

I know! Also, it's been removed from amazon now :-(

[GunForHire @ Aug 28th 2007 12:26PM]

Nice.

[Homeboy @ Aug 28th 2007 12:28PM]

Sweet. I guess that's the device the iPod Mini(fat nano) will be fighting against. A compact and light PMP.

[Kyle @ Aug 28th 2007 10:50PM]

Is the 16 GB flash?

[cyo @ Aug 29th 2007 1:15AM]

Yes it is 16gb flash memory.

[greyscale @ Aug 28th 2007 12:31PM]

16GB! If only it wasn't so janky and have some better file support.

[greyscale @ Aug 28th 2007 12:32PM]

had*

[Blah @ Aug 28th 2007 4:10PM]

Its no Cowon, but it is pretty standard fare and has what the majority of users use. Plus, divx support is always a plus, even though everything is moving to VC-1 and H.264. But none the less, recoding isnt too much of a hassle.

The Cowon will always sound nicer though, because Creative DAP's are good when it comes to sound quality, not great.

I agree with another comment, SDHC support or its not getting my money. Come on 32Gigs of storage!! Considering its size, this should be packing a HD. Too big to just be flash. This would be perfect a year from now when DAP's carry 32 or 64 gigs of flash (not including SD), but not now. Too soon IMO.

[Benchwarmer @ Aug 28th 2007 12:33PM]

Wow, looks great... I wonder if it still needs software to transfer files like the old Zen models did? I was holding off on my next PMP purchase until the iriver clix2 came out with a 16GB model but with this baby supporting both xvid/divx AND Tivo2go I may not have to wait so long after all :D

[McGinley @ Aug 28th 2007 1:09PM]

I have a Zen sleek and i didnt actually need to use the software.I just use winamp for it.

But why oh why do they not make them bigger than 16GB?I have 230 Gigs of music!!

[Carl Pei @ Aug 28th 2007 12:36PM]

Creative goes noname China DAP style. Nice!

[Matt @ Aug 28th 2007 12:48PM]

benchwarmer, creative daps have always had drag and drop. i admit the software that comes with them is pants but you can use wmp, mediamonkey, windows explorer etc to load files on a zen

[carl @ Aug 28th 2007 12:56PM]

actually, their vision:w has had the same styling for quite a while.

[TIMMAH! @ Aug 28th 2007 12:53PM]

Does it really play standard off-the-internet Divx/Xvid files or do they have to be transcoded to play on this device? Having to transcode is a pain!

[Aneesh @ Aug 28th 2007 1:16PM]

it plays regular DivX files from what I've done, I've ripped things straight from YouTube on Vixy.net and it works - if that counts.

[AndrewNeo @ Aug 28th 2007 1:12PM]

If the support is the same as the ZEN Vision:M, I can watch most DivX/XviD straight off the net (usually anime, as an example).

[carl @ Aug 28th 2007 12:54PM]

SDHC or bust!

[Alex Rrrrrrr @ Aug 28th 2007 12:59PM]

I don't like it. But it is a million times better than the iPod. I have never liked Creative Products since they murdered my computer last time I bought a Zen...

[A.R. @ Aug 29th 2007 11:38AM]

I'll stick with my Zen Xtra.

Chye!

[Javaflash @ Aug 28th 2007 1:13PM]

Creative is a company with tremendous assets. But its CEO is all guts, no brain. There is nothing to gain in PMP market while Apple is around. Get out of this space. Get into something else.

[riggs @ Aug 28th 2007 2:08PM]

like the apple womb youre currently residing inside of?

[Hamburglar @ Aug 28th 2007 3:01PM]

You seem suitable to be the next CEO of Creative.

[John @ Aug 28th 2007 1:15PM]

What a disgusting typeface. I'm not a fan of Apple's Myriad, either, but at least it's more readable and versatile than Century Gothic.

[Rob @ Aug 28th 2007 1:21PM]

I guess Amazon took it down. The link doesn't work.
However, the player does look nice.

[block1of4 @ Aug 28th 2007 1:53PM]

i hope the divx/xvid support has been upgraded from the previous zen pmps. the older/current ones like the zen vision m and zen vision w couldn't handle divx/xvid encoded w/ ac5.1 audio, which account for a good percentage of movie/tv rips out there.

[PenaltyKillah @ Aug 30th 2007 2:24AM]

*sigh* If the screen and the player's size, in general, is aroung the size of a Cowon D2, iriver clix, or Meizu M6, then shouldn't the latter players have a hard drive, and 30/32GB of storage?

[PenaltyKillah @ Aug 30th 2007 2:24AM]

*sigh* If the screen and the player's size, in general, is around the size of a Cowon D2, iriver clix, or Meizu M6, then shouldn't the latter players have a hard drive, and 30/32GB of storage?

[Blah @ Aug 30th 2007 9:13AM]

It just seemed bigger than it actually is. I stand corrected.

And yes, they should all have HD's, or at least more internal storage (which right now, is not possible using flash without having it over $400). Its a mid sized player which should have more storage than much smaller players. Im aware that this is for the large screen, which makes sense. Its just that this form factor needs more internal storage to be worth it, saving the large amounts of storage for the larger players. I would directly correspond size of player to the amount of storage it should be capable of having, but thats just my preference.

It is, however, a nice form factor (in terms of screen size and button placement), and look forward to this hitting 32 gigs internal in the near future.

[G @ Aug 28th 2007 2:14PM]

Its up on Creatives website now with a video of the player.

http://www.creative.com/products/mp3/zen/

i've owned two zens already and have had issues with them. i'm hoping that 3rd times a charm. i'll wait till the new ipod's are announced and then make my choice. As well using the $40 off $200 or more at Circuit City makes it only $10 bucks more to double the capacity makes for a nice price.

[ProfessionalGun @ Aug 28th 2007 2:28PM]

16gb WITH a standard SD card slot? That's just golden. SDHC or not, you're looking at AT LEAST 20gb in flash player. I'll TAKE it.

[bobartig @ Aug 28th 2007 2:50PM]

So this is what the iPod nano fatty is going up against? Ugh, Apple, please don't release that awful looking thing.

It's interesting that Creative's product is right handed. It's just another way the man keeps us leftys down.

I'll just stick to my iPhone which does all this stuff, and I hear it can even make calls. As if anyone had time to take a call while waiting for web pages to load over edge.

[dextro @ Aug 28th 2007 3:01PM]

Actually if it's anything like the Zen V (and I bet it is) you can just rotate the screen into any position you like :)

I'm loving the new Zen Line:
Zen v, Zen Stone and now this, great mp3 players with tons of features and relatively cheap prices... If they had the same kind of advertising the iPods got when they launched Apple would most likely feel a drop in sales... but it doesn't have that amount of advertising.

[sbrown @ Aug 28th 2007 3:01PM]

I've been looking for a new PMP. I wish was about 30/32gb though. Apart from that it looks pretty good.

[PenaltyKillah @ Aug 28th 2007 4:18PM]

The size is comparable to the iriver clix, Cowon D2, Meizu M6, or the iPhone. If you want a 3032GB, get the ZEN Vision W, a proper PMP, or wait another few years when flash memory bumps up to 32 GB (if you really want a high-capacity, 2.5"-ish screen player.)

[ignacio @ Aug 28th 2007 3:33PM]

omg a pmp that makes (some) sense! if it doesn't use MTP to load stuff to it i would buy it in a heartbeat. How can it be that being such a huge market, most PMPs do stuff/look wrong? (iPod included)

[Wwhat @ Aug 28th 2007 4:54PM]

Simple, you cannot use the portable storage profile with DRM formats because apparently DRM won't work then, so it's always a choice until DRM died the death it deserves.
It's a good thing though because it's a handy reminder how awful DRM really is and how it messes up everything it touches, and people seem to really need to be reminded again and again.

[Constable Odo @ Aug 28th 2007 4:11PM]

That's a nice player. I'd still prefer a hard drive model or maybe one that supports a SDHC slot (which is an excellent format from my experience). Somebody said they have 230 GB of audio files, but I have 1 TB+ of DivX and Xvid movie files, but I doubt if they're gonna make devices as large as some people's overly large media libraries.

Since the wide-screen iPod Touch is going to be introduced, I'll probably go with that, but the XviD and Divx support the Zen offers is very tempting.

[PenaltyKillah @ Aug 28th 2007 4:19PM]

Finally, a competitor to the iriver clix and Cowon D2! Flash biggy screens! The first 2 16GB players from Creative! What's this gonna be called, ZEN Vision Micro?

[Dan @ Aug 28th 2007 10:15PM]

No... it's called the ZEN. The Zen Vision:M is already named what you suggested (Zen Vision: Mini).

[kbb @ Aug 28th 2007 6:29PM]

Hm. I would like to replace my Zen Sleek 20GB with a 60GB player so this announcement was a bit of a disappointment for me. Maybe I will check out the W. OTOH i am not thrilled with the Sleek's tendency to crash randomly, so flash +SD does have some appeal... just wish they could get in the 32-64 range sooner rather than a "another few years"!

[PenaltyKillah @ Aug 28th 2007 4:18PM]

Oh wait a minute.... this player is simply called... the ZEN? No ZEN Vision Micro, no ZEN V Wide, no ZEN [insert sub-series product name here]? I actually owned the original ZEN, which was the larger hard drive version of the ZEN Micro. But those guys at 31 International Business Park, Singapore, should know dang well that they need to risk a little more funding for international marketing and ads... or the iPod's still King.

[Kev @ Aug 28th 2007 4:49PM]

If it doesn't scratch like the Zen Vision:M and doesn't have that piece of crap MTP support i'd get one

[PenaltyKillah @ Aug 29th 2007 12:46AM]

It's actually a miracle that flash memory gets bumped to 16gb. For me, I don't care if my high-capacity player is served in hard drive (a little slower) or flash (videos start playing with

[John A. @ Aug 28th 2007 6:38PM]

A 16GB Creative PMP that doesn't look like ass.

Yes, please.

[PenaltyKillah @ Aug 29th 2007 12:49AM]

I actually replied this before I looked into Creative.com, and somehow, my later reply's confirmation email came earlier than this one...

[Matt @ Sep 1st 2007 11:51AM]

For UK buyers play.com has the 8gb version for just 119.99 as opposed to amaazon UK's 139.99 price tag. Similar price difference on the 4gigger.

[vijay @ Sep 13th 2007 12:02PM]

any idea when it is releasing in india

[leeyiwei1992 @ Dec 3rd 2007 1:03AM]

THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN ipod! i wonder wad so gd abt ipod in the first place. The features of the new Zen is like so much better... Fm radio, microphone, better audio quality and interface, that ipod all lacks.