Creative Labs Zen Touch - Great Value, Great function, Awesome battery life

Author's Rating:

Pros: Battery Life, Price, 40gb - this is huge

Cons: touch pad a little sensitive

The Bottom Line: 
This is a great product. I've used mine for a year now. The battery still lasts for over two weeks without a charge. I would be lost without it.

Author's Review
The following is a review that I completed for the zen touch 20gb player. The two products are exactly the same except for the capacity. 20 vs. 40 gigabites

The Creative Zen Touch is the first hard disk Mp3 player that I have purchased. I have been nothing but satisfied with it. I chose the Zen Touch over the iPod for 3 reasons:
1. The 24hr. battery life (double that of the iPod)
2. The price (almost $100 less than the iPod)
3. The similarities to the iPod
I wanted an Mp3 player with the capabilities and interface of an iPod without having to pay for the "apple" name. This player offers all that and more with the extended battery life. It has never malfunctioned or skipped on me. (It's not meant to go jogging with you as it is hard disk based)

THE ZEN TOUCH IS NOT AN iPOD REPLICA. If you have owned an iPod previously, you will probably not be satisfied by the zen touch. Not because the iPod is better, but just because it is different.
There are basic similarities between the two that people find attractive: the look, the capacity, the ability to browse music by artist, album, song title etc. But they are not exactly the same. I have the luxury of never having owned an iPod before so I don't know any different. I've used an iPod briefly but never became attached to it's specific features. Not having any bias, I can say that I am completely satisfied with the Zen Touch. It has pros and cons like any product and I will try to outline what I have noticed in my first two months with the zen.

Size: Although slightly wider and thicker than the iPod, the Zen Touch fits comfortably in the palm of my hand. I can easily operate the player with one hand much like I would an iPod. (exact dimensions can be found on the creative website) The player feels very sturdy and durable. Heavier than the iPod, it feels solid.

Battery Life: Rated for 24hr. I haven't timed it, but I can say that I have an hour commute every day and I have gone two weeks without charging. It's amazing.

Sound Quality: The signal to noise ratio of the Zen Touch is better than any other Mp3 player on the market, less than 97dB. (apple has not released the signal to noise ratio of the iPod). I found the sound quality to be great. The custom equalizer allows you to tweak it to your liking.

Interface: Overall, the interface is good. I can search by artist, song title, album title, etc. It is simple enough for anyone to just pick it up and begin searching and playing music without any instruction. My main complaint in this area is the touch pad. It is very sensitive at first and it takes some getting used to, but I like it better than just using an arrow button to scroll.

Price: I paid $220 in Dec. of 2004.

Included Accessories: The case is plain, black, attractive, and as protection for the player, it is great. However, you cannot control the player while it is in the case as there are no cutouts for the buttons. The headphones are cheap and lousy. If you plan on listening to your player with headphones alot, you should probably invest in some better headphones. I rarely use my player with headphones. I plug the player directly into my car stereo for commutes so this isn't an issue for me.

Software: Of all the included software, I am using creative media source organizer to import and organize tracks on my player. It is very easy to use. All you have to do is click on a track and you can edit the artist name, title, album, etc.. I am using another included program called Nomad explorer to use the Zen Touch as an external hard drive. This is also easy to use. There is other software included to manage your music on your desktop and to rip your music from cd. I haven't tried it because I already use Musicmatch Jukebox for that and it works great(free download). Overall, it's very easy to add your music and organize it on the player once you learn how. Using it the first time can be frustrating if you do not know what you are doing.

Capacity: 20gb!!!!! I have 3000 tracks on my player (128 bit rate) and 7.5gb remaining on the player.

Overall, I am satisfied with my purchase. The Zen Touch does everything that I bought it to do with ease.