Creative's 32GB Zen now only $299

Digging the 32GB of NAND, but not so hot about the $499 pricetag on Apple's latest iPod touch? Creative would like to remind you that it got there first, for less, with the Zen, and has slashed the price to $299 from the original $349 to keep that margin healthy. Sure, the 2.5-inch screen is a bit smaller, and we've given Creative a bit of a hard time over the years for an occasional failure to innovate, but reviewers seemed to love on the Zen, and it's hard to argue with this deal.

[Via DailyTech]

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 8th 2008 8:24PM]

oh, you're one of those people who thinks voice memos on a feature spec sheet make a player better.

i know your kind.

:P

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 8th 2008 3:29PM]

It actually competes with the nano, and kicks its ass at that... You need to see it and hold it, it feels really robust and high quality. Also the option to expand the memory makes it very future proof.

The only thing holding me back, is the screen size for video...

[Pete C Posted Feb 8th 2008 3:36PM]

The new Zune is a worthy alternative as well. The menu navigation is awesome with the touch sensitive pad.

I guess I could re-download stuff, but what a pain. I seriously can't believe DRM hasn't been soundly cracked by now with an easy program you can run on encrypted files to simply remove it. Hackers have cracked everything else! Maybe I just don't know about something yet?

[Pete C Posted Feb 8th 2008 3:42PM]

Got the reply I was looking for in my post above...

[jntaylor1701 Posted Feb 8th 2008 3:53PM]

Still loving my PSP:

4.3 Screen, great battery life, user replaceable battery and open source. (No Itunes or Zune)
Video format is a little limited, but no big loss. Plays MP3 (With full tags and album art), WMA and AAC.

And it plays game too!

[Peter F Posted Feb 8th 2008 4:02PM]

The PSP is one huge thing to use an a music player, also limited by the insane memory stick prices. If only it used SD, but Sony is all for their proprietary formats.

[Galley Posted Feb 8th 2008 4:36PM]

I love all things Apple, but there's no way in hell I'm gonna pay $500 for an iPod touch!

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 8th 2008 7:06PM]

in my opionion creative make a great deal of brilliant products. i own a zen 8GB with another 8GB SD card in its expansion slot which works fine for putting the videos on. i also have a zen vision W which is great for longer trips due to the 4.3 screen. the killer for me is the wide range of formats supported. plus most other formats can be converted using supplied software

never really seen the attraction of the ipods due to the formats supported, the fact you really have to use itunes and their cost (especially the touch. seeing as most moderm mobile phones can do what the ipod touch does why do u need the same features in your mp3 player?

[derspiess Posted Feb 8th 2008 5:06PM]

Anyone know if Creative plans to add native Divx/Xvid support to this line of players?

I had a Zen Vision 30gb (the kind with the 3.7" screen, not the M) and the Zen seemed to initially be a logical evolution of it. Then I realized how small the Zen's screen is & how it lacked native support for Divx & Xvid. Seems like a couple big steps back, to me.

Oh well, no need to replace my clunky Zen Vision W for now.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 8th 2008 10:22PM]

It does, just only in the 320x240 size.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 8th 2008 6:13PM]

I just bought an iPod Touch last week ... i have been having too many reset issues with my 1st gen Zune ... i found i am using my Touch as a PDA first and a MP3 player second. Something i didn't expect. I'm sure i'll go to a high capacity player at some point.

I bought a Zen the week they were released ... it's a great music player ... but only a so so video player. I ended up selling it because the SD card doesn't integrate and the video was just so so.

[autobulb Posted Feb 8th 2008 7:00PM]

I've been keeping tabs on the rockbox forums for the port to this player. Progress seems to be going well for how new this device is. Apparently in some ways it's similiar to the e200 series which ran wonderfully with rockbox. If rockbox ever goes live for this player I'd pick up a 32GB version with no hesitation.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 8th 2008 7:20PM]

Ah, and still $500 in the UK. For a product made in the East, is there really $200 difference in shipping to the US vs to the UK? Or are we being ripped off *again*...

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 8th 2008 7:34PM]

Well, damn.
I bought one when it was still $350.
For the record, it blew the iPod classic I thought I would like way, WAY out of the water.
32GB, FM radio, mic for recording lectures as I sleep through them.. You can't beat that.

Cheers,
Darius

[jbond Posted Feb 9th 2008 3:28AM]

Are they still tied to MTP-PFS?
Come on Creative, where's the 160Gb Classic competitor?

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 27th 2008 9:25PM]

I actually got mine from buy.com and using a few deals they had running, it cost me $260 (including s&h). I'm totally in love with it.

Although, I wish it supported avi :(
BUT there's programs for that :D