Creative Zen Touch 20 GB MP3 Player

Creative Zen Touch 20 GB MP3 Player

Product Description
From the Manufacturer
Amp up your music with the sleek Zen Touch. The Zen Touch breaks new ground, introducing the first linear touch-sensitive pad controller in a digital music player. Navigate your music collection with astonishing ease and speed. Play all day and all night nonstop with incredible 24 hour battery life--up to three times what's offered by other players. Combine this with a 20 GB capacity to hold up to 16,000 songs, and your musical journey will never be cut short.

Features

Touch pad control for fast scrolling

Up to 24 hours of continuous playback

Up to 97dB Signal-to-Noise Ratio--as good as expensive hi-fi systems!

20 GB hard drive holds up to 16,000 WMA or 10,000 MP3 songs

Create and customize playlists on the go

Unique search function locates any song, album, or artist

USB 2.0 for faster transfer

4-band custom equalizer and advanced EQ presets let you customize your music playback

AudioSync lets you seamlessly update your Creative Zen Touch with your latest music on your PC at the touch of a button

FM radio, voice, and FM recording via optional wired remote control (available separately)

New to Digital Music?
Creative MediaSource (included) converts your CDs to MP3s or WMAs at the touch of a button.

Store Data Files
Included software lets you drag and drop data and music files to and from your Creative Zen Touch inside Windows Explorer.

Music Service Support
Creative's support for WMA and Windows Media Player 10 Series offers you access to the widest selection of music download services on the Internet.

Product Description:
The Zen Touch music player from Creative makes a great first impression. Introducing the revolutionary linear touch-sensitive pad controller that lets you navigate your music collection with astonishing ease and speed. Jam all day and all night, nonstop, with incredible 24-hr. battery life, far more than most players can offer. Combine that with 20GB capacity to hold up to 10,000 songs and it's close to love at first sight. AudioSync lets you seamlessly update your player with new music from your PC at the touch of a button and the 4-band custom equalizer and advanced EQ presets let you customize playback. Now it's love at first listen. Available storage capacity may vary. 1Hx2-7/10Wx4-1/10D".

Creative Zen Touch 20 GB MP3 Player
Average customer rating:

Great little player

One of the lucky ones, I suppose

4 star performance, 2 star quality

Just what you'd expect from the country that brought us Daewoo automobiles

Good player, but...

Creative Zen Touch 20 GB MP3 Player

Manufacturer: Creative Labs
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

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Accessories & Supplies | Refurbished & Used | Special Features | Electronics Features | Electronics
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Product Features:

Holds up to 10,000 WMA or 5,000 MP3 songs

Up to 24 hour battery life at 128 kbps MP3 or 32 hours at 48 kbps MP3 continuous playback

Features FM radio, voice and FM recording via optional wired remote control

Features 4-band custom equalizer and advanced EQ presets for playback customization

Up to 97dB signal-to-noise ratio -- as good as high-end hi-fi systems

ASIN: B0006V74G6

Product Description

Creative Zen Touch - style, size, capacity and an extra long battery life make it the ideal digital audio player for music fans. Its innovative Touch Pad supports easy, fingertip navigation through the songs, while the hard disk can also store other file types for convenient data sharing and transfer. Super-Fast USB 2.0 connectivity ensures high speed downloads, while Creative MediaSource software makes ripping simple. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery offers up to 24 hours playtime per charge and the large backlit display with multilingual interface completes the experience.

Customer Reviews:

Great little player.......2007-05-31

Two years ago my wife asked for an ipod for her birthday. I thumbed through the Consumer Reports article on MP3 players and found that the Zen Touch outperformed the ipod in every way. Amazon had the best price, so we bought it here.

Two years later, she's still using it. She has loaded over 5,000 songs on it, and the software transfers the songs from the computer to the Zen Touch with ease. She listens to her player for five hours a day at work, and she only needs to bring it home for a weekend battery recharge. It runs 25 hours between charges!

Yeah, there aren't many good accessories for the player. They're all made for the ipod. You can't run your audio through a throw pillow. Aw.

But for personal audio, the thing the Zen Touch is supposed to do, it's a great little unit. My dad bought one on my recommendation, and he has loved it. My wife has enjoyed hers so much that I picked up a factory refurbished Zen Touch straight from Creative. Just like my wife's, my unit and my father's unit run smoothly and play for a long time on each charge.

I've read all the other reviews here, and I am suprised that so many people think this is a piece of junk. Consumer Reports tested this model and found it more reliable than any other. Between me, my father, and my wife, we own three of these, and they all work great. The software that comes with the player is so easy to use, my aging baby-boomer father has mastered it. If you can still find a Zen Touch, buy it.

One of the lucky ones, I suppose.......2007-04-25

Reading the other reviews here, I guess I must have lucked out and gotten a bug-free and malfunction-free individual-- it plays like a dream, the organising software is easy to use and organising my 5+ gb of music is a breeze. I bought my Zen over two years ago and really haven't regretted it. The thing is built like a little tank, too. I've gone jogging with it, even dropped it on asphalt several times, and other than a lot of scuffing and a dent in the back casing, it's unharmed and still plays like new.

A few minor quibbles-- the scroll wheel is wonky and I don't like using it-- by turns oversensitive and insensitive. Usually I just have it on random anyway, and unless I'm in the mood for a certain artist or album I don't bother. The buttons are also a bit of a problem-- sometimes it takes several pushes to get it to register, or I'll push the pause button and it will start the song over/not pause at all/go to the next song or something. I don't mind the size of the unit either, but it makes it hard to find cases-- the one that comes with it fully encases the player (no windows or access to the buttons) and is hard to dig the player out if you want to push a button.

Overall I'm mostly happy with it. Mostly I got it because it was cheaper than a comparable ipod at the time, and it had enough space for a growing music collection. I have a feeling it's nearing the end of its days, though, and will be looking around for another 20+ gb player soon. I'm not sure if it will be another Creative or an ipod.

4 star performance, 2 star quality.......2007-02-11

Like other reviewers, I wanted a non-iPod music player. I got this one about two years ago and it was fine for what I needed--basically, music while commuting on the subway. The touch wheel was kind of spastic, but I never had problems with the unit freezing.

One day with no warning, the rechargeable battery gave out, and that's where the problems began. I tried e-mailing and calling Creative to see if they could replace the battery for me. Nope, I was way out of warranty. Could they send me a new battery? No. Could they sell me a new battery? No. I was on my own to figure out how to get my player to work, at least long enough to get at the 20 GBs of music I had spent two years putting on it.

Luckily, there are plenty of vendors on the internet that do sell Creative batteries, so I bought one and dug up the instructions on the internet (which also were not provided by Creative). And then I discovered that Creative had used the cheapest materials possible in making the player; I waved the screwdriver over the case and immediately stripped all four screws, because the heads were so soft. When I did get the case off, the thin buttons were bent out of shape. Replacing the battery was a piece of cake, but getting all the poorly-manufactured, misshapen pieces back together took twice as long.

I don't think they make this unit anymore, but I'm posting this review so that anyone who's considering buying a Creative product will think twice. They're just not built to last.

Just what you'd expect from the country that brought us Daewoo automobiles.......2007-01-14

Though I grew up using them as a kid, somehow I have learned to hate apple products more than I despise most diseases. I suppose this is more than justified on my part, after all, apple's customer service is monumentally awful (especially in relation to ipods), their commercials are elitest and obnoxious, their products are heinously overpriced, and (on the subject of ipods) I've always found iTunes software to be little more than a counterintuitive/borderline unusable pile of garbage. Beyond that, the way apple users always seem to feel that their choice in home computers somehow is making the world a better place... well, it's just stupid. I can't stand "apple people", there, I said it.

For all of these reasons, and probably a few more, I was hellbent on finding a non-ipod mp3 player for myself when I set myself to purchasing one a year and a half ago. After checking out all of the competing non-apple brands, I came to the decision that the 20GB zen touch was the right player for me. Not only was it far more affordable than the preposterously overpriced ipod, it was also not an ipod, so I wouldn't have to feel like a hypocritical jackass while using it.

From the moment I took that pile of garbage out of the package onward, I have regretted my decision to purchase this creative product. The first time I attempted to load my music onto the player, it froze. After straightening a paperclip and jamming it into the side of the machine to force a reboot (I felt like I was using a 1980's era IBM), I once again attempted to load my music onto the player. For the second time, the player froze. I tried a third time, the player froze once more. Frantically, I called creative's customer service department, explained to them the conundrum that I'd found myself in, and emphatically pleaded with them to refund my money. I literally would have done most anything to get back the money I wasted on this worthless pile of quasi-technology. This was obviously a situation the customer service man had heard before, as he had rehearsed his reply down to a science. They couldn't help me, update the software you're using, etc... etc...

I was stuck with this piece of trash. Damn.

I put the player away for a week, giving it time to think about what it did and how much it sucked, before giving it one more shot. Miraculously, the 4th time I attempted to load my music onto the machine, it didn't freeze, it actually took my music and worked properly. I feel that Jesus likely had a hand in this, as nothing else could have saved this disgusting machine I'd purchased.

I used my zen touch for a full year without updating it, and it actually worked just fine for a while after that. Once the music was on there it was fairly functional - not the sexiest looking thing, nor the smoothest operating thing, nor the most reliable thing (it still froze every once in a great while), but it worked okay. Finally, I became sick of the music I'd loaded onto it, so I decided to throw caution to the wind and update the music I had on there for the first time in well over a year.

I don't need to tell you the specifics of what happened after I made that foolish decision, but I will tell you that my creative zen touch ended up in the garbage can not more than 45 minutes after I tried to update it. Of couse, that was after I dented it into oblivion with a hammer and threw it against a concrete wall. I felt the need to thuroughly exorcise the demons this awful piece of korean design had brought upon my house.

2 weeks later I went out and bought an ipod. I'd learned a valuable lesson: Selling out to the ills of hipster american culture isn't such a bad thing, as long as the hipsters are actually using a good product. I still hate apple with a passion, but I love my ipod. You know why? It actually works (despite the fact that iTunes software is still awful... though iTunes is not NEARLY as bad as the software creative had made to go with this product).

I will never buy another creative product for as long as I live. Honestly, I'll probably never buy another korean piece of technology as long as I live; my experience with the people at creative was THAT bad. I mean think about that, this product was so bad that it's gotten me to swear off an entire country! I feel there could be no recommendation stronger than that: Do not buy this awful, awful product.

Good player, but..........2007-01-02

I bought my Zen Touch a year ago because I wanted a place to put all my music without carrying my laptop everywhere. I use these reviews to research a product before I buy something, so I thought I owed it to chime in on this product. As a matter of fact, that is how I ended up with this product.

I am very happy with this player in the basic sense. I have a place to put tons of music. I take it to work with me, to the gym, on vacation, and I use it at home. I didn't have to buy anything extra as it came with headphones and a charger. I already had computer speakers and a jack to plug it into my stereo. That I really like about the player. Also, the battery in it lasts a long time before the player has to be recharged.

There are a couple of things that I do not like about the player, however. First of all EVERYTHING is designed for the iPod, which makes buying accessories almost impossible. That isn't too bad since most accessories are ridiculously expensive. What disappoints me the most is that Creative - who designs many electronics products - has done nothing to help level that playing field. Maybe that is because that they are so caught up in competing with Apple that they have moved on to other products, but it is very disappointing. There is no remote control, which is a biggie for me as I do use it at home and when entertaining I hate repeatedly interrupting a conversation to cross the room to change songs.

There was a problem when upgrading the software FROM THE CREATIVE WEBSITE that caused the player to crash and not recover. Creative was no help whatsoever with this issue. I did fix it through the discussion boards on their website and through some creative (no pun) thinking of my own.

Some of the things that other people don't like either don't really matter to me (i.e. the truly oversensitive scrolling pad) or I didn't experience (headphones dying early, problems when jogging).

I am now considering doing what I have never wanted to do: breaking down and buying an iPod. Not so much for the player itself, but instead for the options that come with owning an iPod due to the accessories and to manufacturers of other products making them "iPod friendly". Cars are now being made with connectors for the iPod and so are home stereo systems. PLUS that darn remote control option. I really want it.

Average customer rating:

DO NOT BUY
Go Get an ipod
BUTTON BREAKS !!!
Two Thumbs DOWN
Nice...for a while

Creative Zen Touch 20 GB MP3 Player

Manufacturer: Creative Labs
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

MP3 Players & Accessories | Creative Labs | Brands | Electronics Features | Electronics

Audio & Video | Refurbished & Used | Special Features | Electronics Features | Electronics

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Product Features:

20 GB storage lets you bring up to 10,000 WMA songs (64 kbps) or 5000 MP3 songs (128 kbps) everywhere you go
Create and customize playlists on-the-go, unique Search Function locates any song, album or artist
Load a song a second with ultra fast USB 2.0 port, compatible with USB 1.1 too
AudioSync lets you seamlessly update your Creative Zen Touch with your latest music on your PC at the touch of a button
Compatible with Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, and XP

ASIN: B00028DJTY

Product Description

Creative ZEN Touch 20GB MP3 Player - Includes Creative Zen Touch Player / Pair of Stereo Earphones / Power Adapter / Travel Pouch / USB 2.0 Cable / Installation CD / Quick Start Guide. This palm-size unit can be used to store MP3 and WMA music files or you can download all sorts of data and use it as a portable hard-drive. It's easy to use and a pleasure to own. Simply use an Up-Down movement on the touch pad to navigate the files. The upper and lower portion of the touch pad will enable rapid scrolling of files. The middle portion can be used for normal scrolling speed. Simply press the OK button or tap on the touch pad to open the selected file. Uses USB 2.0 for faster transfer capabilities 4-band custom equalizer and advanced EQ presets let you customize your music playback AudioSync lets you seamlessly update your Creative Zen Touch with your latest music on your PC at the touch of a button FM radio, voice and FM recording via optional wired remote control (available separately) Transfer your CDs - Creative MediaSource (included) converts your CD collection to MP3s or WMAs with the simple touch of a button Store Data Files - Included software lets you drag-and-drop data and music files to and from your Creative Zen Touch inside Windows Explorer Creative's support for WMA and Windows Media Player 9 Series offers you access to the widest selection of music download services on the Internet Size WxHxD - 4.12 x 2.7 x 0.866 / Weight - 7.05 oz with battery Blue backlit LCD

Customer Reviews:

DO NOT BUY.......2007-01-10

This sounded like a good deal when i bought it a year ago. now today i am on here getting ready to buy a new one becuse the touch pad in mine has decided that it dose not want to work and the buttons are not working this is a peice of junk and i would not reccomend it to anyone. of course if u think it is a good thing then here are a few good things.

Pros-
1.Holds alot of music
2.Long Battery life
3.Good Sound

Cons-
Buttons Wear Out
The Screen Gets Dust Under It Making It Hard To Read
The Touch Pad is Sentive even on low
It Eventualy Kicks hte bucket it seems like after a yea by most standards

Go Get an ipod.......2006-12-07

I purchased this Creative mp3 player a year ago and it worked fine for over that year with only one time freezing. Over the last month I noticed that it would constantly freeze, lock up at random times, and change to random songs.
All I wanted was something that would play my music without problems and have simple seemless interface with the music program (for me window's media 10). This is not the idea with this mp3 player. It would sometimes not be detected by the computer even though the drivers were installed! Also the user interface is totally out of wak, same with the touch pad which in one touch can go though many songs at a time. A definate 2 thumbs down and i MEAN IT! I would rather get an ipod that would work and last me for at least 2-3 years. I guess that this product was not made to fuction past one year of operation. Don't kid me, I loved it when I first got it but it has been a total migraine lately, expecially with all the happy people around me with ipods that work. This is in no way a good item. Which brings me to my main point. Go get an ipod!

BUTTON BREAKS !!!.......2006-11-08

I had this unit for about 1 year now I hardley used it, I just took on my trip and I discovered the lock button broke for no apparant reason. I am buying IPOD, if I am going to spend couple of hundred $ at least I am going to buy the industry standard, not wanabe!

Two Thumbs DOWN.......2006-10-18

After owning a Creative Zen Touch 20gb MP3 Player for exactly one year now, I have found it to have constantly been getting worse since the day I powered it on for the first time. I would not exactly say that is a good purchase for either a) durability, b) the long-term buyer, c) simplicity. Here are the reasons why it is an unreliable purchase:

Touch Pad: This is WAY too sensitive. Slide your thumb too fast and you will skip over 30-40 songs on your playlist.

Dust: The screen gets dust stuck in between the protective layer of the screen and the screen itself, making for irritating little black dots on the screen when the backlight is on

Sound: Very bad bass. Again, I can hear little pops when listening to bass-heavy songs all the time (even at low volume). Distracting and extremely irritating when it comes to listening.

Random: This is by far the most pointless part of this entire MP3 player. Accidently pushing it means queueing all of your tracks up and shuffling them up, ruining your current playlist and forcing you to go through six menus of stuff just to turn it off. I actually threw my Zen at my cat because it was acting so stupid.

Degradability: After owning a Zen Touch for 1 year now, I have noticed a big difference in the buttons on the player (namely the Prev-Track, Play/Pause, and Forward-Track buttons). Sometimes pushing the Forward button ends up you pausing the track, and pushing the Play/Pause button will restart the track, or skip a track. This gets really frustrating especially when you just want to change the track and continue what you are doing quickly.

Fast-Forward/Rewind: This can be a pain doing because most of the time you will just restart the track or skip to the next track rather than fast-forwarding or rewinding. Very lame.

Hold Button: The hold button (locks all buttons and the backlight so they do not function) is very very picky about where it has to be before it will lock/unlock your Zen. The button also gets very stubborn and won't move (see the definition of a 'mule' for a better explanation).

Firmware: Your Zen's battery must have at least 80% life left in it or your computer will not detect your Zen when it is connected to the USB 2.0 cable supplied with it. Even when it does detect it, it takes around 10 seconds per song (pretty painful to transfer 100+ CD's in my home collection) to transfer to the Zen.

Battery: 24 hour battery? Only at 64kbps, which sounds utterly horrible. The usual encoding I use is 128kbps, which the battery lasts around 9-10 hours or so before dying.

Stability: Frequently my Zen CRASHES after transferring songs to it, and will have to take a painful 30 minutes out of my life to fix all 15GB of songs on it.

Software: The Zen comes with an excessive amount of software that half of is completely useless or has the same function in the Creative MediaOrganizer software. Nomad Jukebox Explorer?? Should this be Zen Touch Explorer? :-/

Interface: Notice that it is exactly the same as the interface used in the Dell DJ. Unoriginal.

Playlists: They do not update the original playlist when you add more songs to one or remove them from one. You have to spend 5 minutes typing in 15 characters just to save over your old one (contributed to by the touch pad).

The good parts of it?
- Well, it's easy to use.
- Excellent sound (except bad bass)
- Its great for throwing at people (no joke, it HURTS)

My suggestion is to go search for a Zen Vision:M, and purchase that instead of this. Half of these problems are fixed in the Vision:M, and it is both thinner, and has A LOT more features than this.

In conclusion, this is NOT a good alternative to the iPod, but the Zen Vision:M, however, is definitely worth taking a peek before taking a juicy bite out of the apple that is your wallet.

Nice...for a while.......2006-09-15

This Machine was excellent, for a while. For the first 6 to 8 months i owned the machine, it worked great, it did exactly what i wanted, and it worked with my pc.

then at about 9 months, it all went downhill. The touch pad, works about 10 % of the time, if im lucky. The buttons rarely do what they are marked to do, and the tech support was no help at all. And if you are an OS X user, forget about it. Overall, if you are going to buy this mp3 player, pay the extra couple bucks and get an ipod that is more reliable, holds more songs, has a better batery life, and is easier to use. I would not recomend this product to anyone!

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