Creative Labs ZEN Touch 20gb

I have recommended this to others in the past (who have purchased the unit), and although I would be wary of doing so again due to my screen problems, I think that with ANY portable device it is easy for them to develop issues (mobiles, mp3 players, camera's, old fashioned walkmen). Impacts, temperatures, general wear and tear generally limit these items to at the most a couple of years of usage nowadays, which is a unexpected churn rate in ethical (landfill) terms, if not warranty! Until solid state (CF etc...) mp3 player technology improves to have comparable storage capabilities I would think that hard-drive based items such as these will always be an overweight and vulnerable proposition.

Whatever problems I have had with the device I know that when reading up on competitors offering (or this products replacements) there are always issues with these kind of products, so I should count myself lucky!

The reason i am getting rid of it is, as i mentioned above, the headphone jack isn't flush with the rest of the player, a huge design flaw that should have changed. It basically means that you can't plug in a audio cable to go into a hi-fi / amp system which is infurating.

But apart fromt that is a good solid mp3 player

I have owned my MP3 player (the 40Gb version) for some 18 months now, and I still love it. In fact, I can't imagine being without it.

I have read reviews complaining of "freezing" with their product, but I have yet to have any problem at all with my Creative Labs Zen Touch MP3 player.

It is heavier than the infamous Apple brand, but boy is it solid. Mine has a few dents (mainly from early experiments of trying to use the belt pouch, before I discovered how easily that item became unattached from your belt), but still it works perfectly, and not a scratch on the screen.

I have half filled my 40Gb capacity, and this has resulted in the start up time taking a "massive" 15 seconds or so.

Battery life is great. I have never tried to see if it reaches the claimed 24 hours, but certainly I use it every day and generally recharge it once a week or so. When I bought mine the mains adaptor was standard (I presume it still is) or you can charge it via USB.

The proprietary file management/ripping software has proved very reliable for me. Drag and drop. Hard to get it wrong. In fact, I tend to use the media player within the software for playing any MP3 material on my laptop, because I find it more reliable than WMP.

The headphones are poor. Switch to something like the Sennheiser C300 as a basic pair and you won't regret it.

It has equalizer facilities as well as various preset alternatives. However, once I had some good headphones I found the standard flat setting provided the best sound, which I guess, speaks well for the overall integrity of the sound it is producing.

Navigation is simple enough. However, I have to agree with anyone who says the navigation slider is over sensitive, even on its least sensitive setting. This is only really noticeable when you are seeking to scroll up or down just 1 notch. On the other hand, it is amazingly reliable and brilliant for zipping through long play lists. As well as the navigation slider there are 6 buttons (3 per side) and a central "OK" button - all very responsive and solidly made.

Setting up of personal playlists is easy-peasy.

It has a variety of play modes - normal, repeat track, repeat all, shuffle, shuffle repeat and play track once.

It is true that, like any non Apple MP3 player, it does not have the wide variety of add-ons available. However, I have connected my player to a set of HK Soundsticks through the headphone socket, and although it does not look as sexy as an iPod connected to a Bose Sound dock, the sound quality bears worthy comparison, and you are saving about £150. Similarly, there are many decent FM transmitters out there that it can hook up with to give you the perfect equivalent of the iTrip.

Overall, it does everything I want. It does it very well. And, after 18 months, it is continuing to do it all perfectly. Now that isn't bad!

I have nothing to compare it to, as it's the only MP3 player that I've owned, but although it's good enough when it works, the poor quality of manufacture, lack of access to Creative and lack of accessories available is annoying, and it makes me wish I'd gone with the flock and got an iPod instead.

I bought the Creative Labs Zen Touch 20Gb MP3 player over a year ago, and it's been very good. The sound is great, but as with all of these players, it depends on the source and the compression used when ripping. I tend to use WMA and rip to 128 or 160.

I use this on the train each day, and I only have to recharge it every few weeks. I've never timed the battery life, but I guess it's good for about 12 - 15 hours of use.

I find the touchpad a little too sensitive, even on the low setting, but it's not a major problem, and I tend to use it in random mode anyway.

Great when the Zen Touch works, a totally lost cause if something goes wrong!

If you're thinking of buying one its worth checking out the discussions within the support section of Creative. In a year I've had most of these problems.

I bought it because it seemed well priced compared to the iPod's, however, my friends with iPod's are still as happy as can be, my friends with Creatives are quickly swapping for the altogether more reliable, more stylish and ultimately better priced iPod's.

The first 6 months of Creative Labs Zen Touch ownership were reasonably problem free, apart from the touch pad, which you'll either love or hate and the track ordering:- tracks are not always stored in the correct order in the Creative Media Source player (the media player/download manager which runs on your computer). When using this player on my pc, I had to play tracks in time recorded order to overcome this. Also noticed that synchronizing the computer with the mp3 player produced errors when trying to update several albums at the same time. Workaround:- download albums one by one to the mp3 player.

After about 6 months, I did a synchronization between pc and mp3 player and discovered that several albums had lost tracks, which now appeared as albums (with just one track!). Decided to visit Creative's website to download the latest version of the CMS player. After 45 minutes my computer was still "hung". Had to abort and then discovered that the CMS player didn't work at all. Deleted off/uninstalled all Creative software and tried to reinstall from original disk, however, this wouldn't work either. Re-visited their website to discover that if you try to download the latest version of the CMS player, you cannot ever reinstall the original.

Had a bit of "bun-fight" with their customer service dept., but after I threatened legal action, they have agreed to replace both the mp3 player and all software.

I have worked with computers for over 20 years and have designed some very complex systems, used by multi-national companies round the world and am not a novice in these matters. It strikes me that by their offer to replace my product, they acknowledge that they have a problem with their software, although they have not admitted this.

Also, I had to do several "techie" things to sort out my computer, as amongst other things, my cd drive failed to work.

Not sure I can be bothered to pursue their offer of a replacement as I have already expended considerable time on their deficient software and, as my business rate is £100 per hour - I'm sure you get the picture!

I regret to say, but having heard other friends' problems with iPod, my general advice would be to steer clear of American companies. Samsung mp3 players seem to have no detractors, so will maybe try them next.

All around I think the Creative Labs Zen Touch is a great device.. Yea Yea.. it's a little heavy. But its not like it weighs 50 pounds or anything. I haven't had it but for a few days and I love I already. When I bought it it came with an FM transmitter, no more burning CD's YAY!!! All around I think i'ts a great player and would recommend it to everyone. I owned the Creative MUVO and that was great I was waiting to find another Creative mp3 player because Creative always makes the best products.

I've had my Creative Labs Zen Touch 20Gb MP3 player for about 6 months now, and I can say it has been excellent in that time! The reset button is very handy for those rare freezes (it's happened twice so far) - The iPod lacks one, so you have to wait for the battery to die... What a drag!

The battery life is 24 hours - AMAZING - this is hard to find on any other player. It can even last up to 32 hours with WMA.

The sound is very good quality and NEVER skips.

The case, I'm also very happy to say, is Extremely sturdy (I dropped mine from a tall desk on to hard wood flooring and it kept playing the whole time through - not even a dent in the case). The screen is also remarkably scratch resistant.

You can store files on it too - not just music.

It is up to 50-60$ cheaper than an iPod

The unit is also fairly customizable, although it does lack some settings such as more seconds for the back-light and a reduced shutdown timer etc...

I have had my Creative Labs Zen Touch 20GB MP3 player for about a year, and it has been fantastic! I haven't had a single problem, and I have recommended it to several friends

One friend managed to throw his down a flight of stairs onto a concrete floor. The case broke open and half of the buttons broke, but it still worked!! You don't need to even drop an iPod to break them!!