Creative's 32GB Zen finally on sale

It may be too late to snag one, get it delivered and wrap it with heaps of love before next Tuesday (or not), but if an IOU will do, we've found a stunning candidate for a last minute gift. Creative's long awaited 32GB Zen has finally moved beyond the pre-order stage, which means anxious to-be owners can at long last place an order and expect shipment shortly thereafter. $349.99 and it's yours, all yours.

[Fred @ Dec 19th 2007 12:39AM]

first.

go creative! amazing!

[mushrooshi @ Dec 19th 2007 2:10AM]

HAHA I am seventh look at me I am so special I am superior to anyone lower than seventh ha.

[9bit @ Dec 19th 2007 10:41AM]

The first refers to Creative being the first to 32GB of flash.
...I Hope.

[Blacksheep @ Dec 19th 2007 12:39AM]

Sweet, I'm glad I waited on this one. I thought about the 16gb for a while, but worried about that SD expansion slot not syncing up with the SSD properly. With 32gb, the problem is solved.

[JohnTitor @ Dec 19th 2007 1:00AM]

$349? wasn't it supposed to be $330? aka the same price as the Vision M 30GB when it launched, it would have been cooler

[Almadi @ Dec 19th 2007 6:06AM]

Yeah, the extra $20 is for the extra 2GB. If this had TV-Out and an assurance that it wouldn't constantly freeze up and require resetting I'd buy it in an instant.
Oh and how about some games (Sonic on the iPod).

[Nash @ Dec 19th 2007 1:08AM]

This is being sold for atleast 10 days.....damn I even sent you guyz an alert......

[reid_sartin @ Dec 19th 2007 1:13AM]

LOVE Creative's Zen line. Had the 30g Vision:M then the 60. Now that this one is 32g I'm in!

[apatity @ Apr 4th 2008 7:37AM]

I got this one from Play.com 3 days ago. Was looking for mp3 player to use in my car, plugged to AUX socket of standard SONY system (Ford Mondeo Ghia).
Facts from the box:

When I connected ZEN to my desktop PC with XP - no additional software required to manage the files on ZEN.
Then, when connected to my laptop with XP - no such luck, had to istall software from CD supplied with ZEN.
Guess it really depends on the vintage of your XP (namely, drivers library).

ZEN menue and buttons configuration is as easy as mobile phone-which is good on the move.

Buttons are responsive, except the one in the middle: when that one clicks - it means nothing, you still have to press harder to get the result. However, if you push too hard it will trigger twice and you overshoot the target. This is espesially destructive when you are on the move.

After buttons are pressed, there is no lag you would normally see on your mobiles here and there - ZEN updates momentarilly (but note - I did not try it with full 32GB load).

The best discovery: It has searching capability where I could find a track/artist/album/... using a keyword. Although, to type the keyword you have to navigate an on-screen keyboard (on mobile phones you can type whole message without even looking on screen!).
And, it seems to me that you can not search tracks and artists and albums in one go, like you do it in Windows Media Player, it only allows you to search withing a separate category. The manual on the CD says nothing about.

NOW THE MOST IMPORTANT (for me) - The quality of sound.
Before buying ZEN I was reading 'professional' reviewers, who proclaimed ZEN sound as excellent. Those guys were talking about clarity etc.
They did not mention how they tested the sound, except the names of the songs they tried on ZEN (probably through the earphones). Well, when I plugged ZEN to my in car system MONDEO Ghia SONY, the three things became obvious:
1. Sound quality is far inferiour to even my Toshiba laptop that has only onboard (cheap version) sound card: when I plugged ZEN the subwoofer had nothing to play - no bass signal, then I plugged my laptop (headphones output) - and here subwoofer comes!

2. ZEN has equalizer and the bass boost options which I thought might deal with the problem of the bass sound. The bass boost was almost not perceptable. The same with the Equalizer, except the DISCO option, which makes bass richer, but not enough to compare with my (same cost) laptop, not enough to hear the subwoofer. Plus, with the DISCO filter you get perceptable bad distortions in the upper bands, which altogether, on high volumes (car system volume) sound like old radio (girls will kindly ask you to switch it off). This never happened with my laptop plugged in.

3. 'Profi' said ZEN is loud enough. They ment enough for earphones. When I plug it into my car stereo it is not enough. The laptop has 3 times volume of ZEN. So with ZEN i have to put my in car stereo volume 100% - and it was not that loud. Now, if you use it in your car, be careful to switch off you traffic alerts off, cause if you listening to ZEN at 100% volume then the traffic alert comes in at 100% loud, when you didn't expect it - you may want to jump out of the car right then.

Overall, I liked it a lot as a earphones player, but I hated it as my in-car music. For that reason, ZEN, you are fired.
I wish I could return it to Play.com, but I have it unpacked. If anybody interested, I would give it up for 20 pounds less(£180).

[carl @ Dec 19th 2007 1:20AM]

OMG, forth!, er fourth!

Wait a few weeks, and like a lot of creative players (and unlike some others), the price will start to head south. 32GB on board + 16SDHC? very nice.

[jakfoood @ Dec 19th 2007 2:40AM]

Is the music that appears on the memory card treated like the files directly on it? Can I view/edit playlists, browse through songs etc? In other words, are the songs on the mem card fully integrated as the songs on the drive?

I'm just hoping for a review..

[bugmat @ Dec 19th 2007 6:07AM]

How about googling "creative zen review"? That MIGHT work!

[bugmat @ Dec 19th 2007 6:11AM]

P.S. If you check one of the above comments (and google) you'll see it does treats them separately and that's why 32 GB would be good.

[XiozTzu @ Dec 19th 2007 7:45AM]

How about more Zen and Sansa news. I hear more about the MS Zune, which has the smallest market share.

[Ruben @ Dec 19th 2007 8:54AM]

While i agree, the Zune has done quite well being that it is its second year of existence.

While this is a great sign (creative being one of, if not the first with such a large flash device), i wasnt overly impressed with the device itself. A touch strip like the one that existed in the vision would make this thing fantastic. I just dont like the stiffness of the pad. Oh, and the fact the SD files dont merge with your on board files.

[Constable Odo @ Dec 19th 2007 8:17AM]

How the heck did they manage to beat Apple to the punch on this one? I've been waiting for a 32 GB iPod touch and Creative has the audacity to come out with a 32 GB PMP before Apple. Well good for them. Let them enjoy the sales while it lasts.

[Speddy @ Dec 19th 2007 10:37AM]

They beat Apple to the 32GB punch because iGod (Jobs & Co.) is a meglomaniac that needs to says "Oh and one more thing..."

[Zoesch @ Dec 19th 2007 2:38PM]

That's the beauty of free markets (And the fact that fanboys don't get to make most business decisions, thank god).

And thank goodness that Creative didn't try to turn the player into a mess of half-assed features and concentrated on the important part, a high capacity flash player.

[Kris @ Dec 19th 2007 9:16AM]

I hope this means...silver anodized aluminum ipod touch 32gb in January. I just can't stand the fact that they brought back that stupid mirror finish. They seem to go back and forth though.

[kuthippie @ Dec 19th 2007 9:42AM]

now you beat apple in the race, time to inprove your shit...

make a scroll something on it and intergrate the files on the sd-card in the library and you'll sell butloads...I think...

[SteveMB @ Dec 19th 2007 2:07PM]

How hard is it to go to a different menu?

[AlexNC @ Dec 19th 2007 10:05AM]

Once they add TV out with DVD resolution I will buy one. This is almost the perfect player. Great job Creative!

[RobertTN @ Dec 19th 2007 11:27AM]

Received mine Monday - 32GB! Also have the 16GB one - giving it to my wife. I agree - add SD card integration in library lists and video-out and voila!

[Darius @ Dec 19th 2007 11:47AM]

Got one on the way...
Yeah, Apple may come out with a 32 GB touch in January.
But they'll probably charge you $450, which I just can't swallow.
My little Zen Micro is still alive and kicking after 3 years of serious abuse, and it still sounds great. Here's to hoping the new one will hold up just as well.

Cheers,
Darius

[Jeebus @ Dec 19th 2007 12:58PM]

FLAC?

[Victor (Mister A) @ Dec 19th 2007 1:25PM]

I tried posting earlier but if it doubles up sorry.
My main concern is that it doesn't offer a real good podcast intergration. I hate having to go to video to listen to my podcast. This might not matter to many of you but it drive me insane when I only listen to a few podcast (2-3) and my bat is alredy half-way. I haven't tried using the audio option since it would place them on the player as audio tracks and that isn't even worth doing. Any suggestions on fixing that? Any hints? Oh and I have the ZVM if you want to know.

[mynameisohyeah @ Dec 20th 2007 3:55PM]

You could probably just use a podcast client other than ZENcast that downloads the audio version then find out where the actual music file is on your hard drive and transfer the podcast as an mp3 each time. It shouldn't be that hard granted it's not as easy as hitting a sync button.

[Mister A @ Dec 20th 2007 5:14PM]

I tried but its just too annoying. I am just surprised that wasn't an issue in the newer versions. The biggest issue (which I forgot to mention) is the battery consumption that having them play as video has on the player. In the end you end up with a pretty lame bat life.

[Faz @ Dec 19th 2007 1:53PM]

Too bad they could not sell this bad boy for $250.
If so I would of snagged one. 80gb from a Zune or iPod Classic for $250 vs. $350 for only 32gb from the ZEN. It's going to be a tough sell.

[SteveMB @ Dec 19th 2007 2:08PM]

Except that this does not have a hard drive disk, which are much, much cheaper. And besides, they are in two different categories.

[Faz @ Dec 19th 2007 2:14PM]

I disagree that they are in two different categories.
Just because one is flash and one is hard drive does not put them in different categories.
I agree flash is a plus and so is the size factor.
But they are both marketed as music AND video players with features such as FM radio. Flash is still a bit pricey to compete in the high capacity market but in a year from now I am sure the prices will be more in line and hard drives could fade away. Trust me I love Creative products, I just replaced my ZEN Micro 5gb after 4 years with a Zune (I almost bought the 16GB ZEN but could not justify the capacity difference)

[SteveMB @ Dec 19th 2007 6:55PM]

I think they're in two different categories because of their size and the fact that one has a hard drive, so it should be cheaper. I mean this is the first 32GB MP3 player we've seen,

[Garst @ Dec 19th 2007 3:09PM]

They waited way to long, plus it's out of stock. I know have the Zune and have no regrets!

[Ash @ Dec 20th 2007 10:06AM]

Aargh! Out Of stock :(

[gmgfarrand @ Feb 7th 2008 9:39AM]

Got one for Xmas..
Creative has another winner on their hands.

I have had ZENS and IPODs in the past. When my NANO died, I considered the IPOD Touch for a brief second, until I heard and witnessed the lousy audio quality.

The Creative brand players have always been better than IPODs in terms of sound quality. Probably always will.

IPODs are popular because of marketing and it's chic to have one. If you need a second rate IPOD to be cool, then you are beyond help.

[Michelle @ Feb 26th 2008 9:18AM]

I just purchased the 32gb Zen yesterday online. Can't wait to get this! It was in stock and the price went down to $299. I used the money I got back when I returned my Zune!