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About this siteFor six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul Thursday, August 28, 2003Triage: Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen NXMy Creative Zen NX finally arrived this week, while I was in Austin, so I'm just now getting to it. Frankly, I'm not convinced it's excellent and will try it out during my CEDIA trip in Indianapolis next week. If I don't like it, it's going back. So far, I can easily identify some definite pros and cons when compared to the iPod (My iPod is an original 5 GB model, which I prefer to the new ones in a huge way). Pros: Price: NX kicks ass: $300 for 30 GB? With Apple, $300 gets you only 10 GB. Yawn. Compatibility: USB 2.0 and WMA support are much more important to me than Firewire and MP3-only, as with the iPod. Storage capacity: Again, 30 GB for $300. Awesome. Battery life: I'm told this thing gets much better battery life than the iPod (14 hours vs. 8 hours, both claimed by manufacturer). I've never needed more battery life than I got with the iPod, however. Replaceable battery: Neat. Assuming a spare is cheap, which it won't be. Or that I'll need it, which I might not. Headphones: The NX's bundled headphones are much nicer than the crap Apple gives you. I even bought Apple's newer models and they still stink (another $30). Extras: Creative gives you a wrap-around leatherette holder for the thing, which is nice. Apple charges you $40 for a comparable holder, and arguably you need it more with the iPod, which scratches when you look at it. Cons. Size: It's significantly bigger than my iPod. I will take a picture to demonstrate this, and it's kind of surprising. It's still pocket-sized, of course and very portable. Elegance: The NX software blows, the way the thing works blows. The interface/screen on the device blows. Even the packaging blows. Complexity: There are about 25 buttons on this thing. The iPod just works. I missed the iPod's ease of use instantly, but we'll see if I can migrate to the NX. Cords: You need USB 2.0 for file transfer, but you can't charge the device over it as you can with Firewire. So there's a separate power cord. That's one more thing to carry/lose/forget on a trip. That's about it so far. The sound quality is fantastic on the bundled headphones. I just called Creative to see what my return rights are and I have 30 days/no questions asked. So I'll bring it on the trip next week and see how it fares. So far, I'm really mixed on it, but the NX has no class at all, and I'm actually struck by that after using an iPod for long. [ Posted at 11:20 AM | Permalink ]
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