Creative Labs NOMAD II MG 64 MB MP3 Player Silver with Docking Station

With digital music players, memory is the key to a long-lasting and hassle-free relationship. The players store music on flash memory chips, so you won't have to worry about skipping or your music degrading over time. Flash memory means you can also record over and over again with no loss of sound quality. But building memory into these chips costs money, and up until recently you were lucky to get an hour of music in an affordable player.

The Nomad II MG's built-in 64 MB memory means you won't have to invest in additional memory immediately. If you do decide you need more playing time, you can choose from SmartMedia cards in a range of sizes and prices. The tiny cards easily slide into the back of the player and require no configuration or extra power to use (check out our selection of SmartMedia cards).

With the rapid pace of technological developments, Creative Labs has also made the Nomad II MG upgradeable using software that can be downloaded from their Web site. Creative Labs also complies with Digital Rights Management, which means that, to prevent copyright violations, you cannot upload certain files from your player to another device.

Linking your Nomad II MG to your computer is easy using the included docking station. The USB interface means you'll spend only seconds downloading files, using either MP3 or Windows Media Audio (WMA) formats. Turning your CDs into digital audio files is simple with the included Creative Digital Audio Center software.

If you do get tired of your playlist, the Nomad II MG allows you to switch at the touch of a button to FM radio. The player's 32 station presets save time fiddling with the tuner and you can even record from the radio with the player's built-in microphone. The microphone can also be used to record memos or conversations at one of two speeds. A 64 MB SmartMedia card will hold up to four hours of voice recording.

You can view track information on the LCD display, which is backlit for easy viewing in dim light. The Nomad II MG runs for up to 10 hours on two AAA NiMH rechargeable batteries, and comes with a case.

For an affordable and versatile introduction to the world of digital music, you can't beat the Nomad II MG.

I take that MP3 player with me on rough mountain bike rides, snowboarding, running, commutes to work, and (sometimes) while I'm at work. I've dropped it numerous times, but still I have had NOT ONE SINGLE PROBLEM with it, yet. My cradle has not broken- maybe I'm just lucky. For those who have none functioning cradles, there are updated drivers online for free- that could solve some of your problems. Admittedly, I have deleted a song or two, because of poor button placement, but if you're capable of learning, you're not going to do that more than a few times, at best.

For the price and the performance, this unit ROCKS! With its capabilities to expand to the 128MB card, that's a lot of songs! Get this MP3 player! It's totally worth it!


Still working after 2 years   August 8, 2002
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Felt I had to add this after reading all these reviews. I got my II MG over 2 years ago and it still works fine. Only problem is the display sometimes flickers on and off, but if you tap it it comes back. I use this for the gym, travel and in my car. I've dropped it numerous times and gotten it wet and it still works fine. I have deleted songs accidently as others seem prone to as well, and agree button placement was poor. Overall this player has been great, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Creative product.


The other reviewers aren't lying. It stinks.   July 3, 2002
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I owned this player for about 5 months before its cradle stopped functioning. There are two main faults with it that lead me to advise against this MP3 player.

The first is its poor design. All of the function buttons are located along its sides. In order to hold the thing in any natural and comfortable way, your fingers have no other place to go except over the ultra-sensitive function buttons. The slightest change in pressure will activate any button you are touching. You'll find yourself accidently pausing, stopping or (worst of all) DELETING a song as it is playing very often unless you adopt the incredibly annoying practice of locking the buttons whenever you aren't using them. But unlike some other players, this also locks the volume button- which means you'll spend lots of time unlocking-changing volume-locking-unlocking-skipping a song-locking. Ugh.

And why any designer would put a one-touch delete button right near your general function buttons is beyond me. Make sure you memorize the layout of the buttons, because it absolutely stinks to delete a song when you just wanted to pause it and there is no second chances once you hit the extremely innocuous and sensitive delete button.

The second drawback of this player is how often it seems to break inexplicably. My player is fine, but if I want to use it anymore I'll have to get a new cradle. My cradle just decided to stop functioning one day. It wasn't jostled or banged around, it wasn't dusty or submerged in soda- nothing. I'd chock it up to bad luck if I hadn't gone on the web the next day and found dozens of unsolved breakages involving this player and its cradle.

This unit is slick looking and tiny, but not worth the trouble. Look elsewhere for your MP3 player needs. You can do much better.


Get To Know Nomad Warranty Service   June 26, 2002
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

I formerly owned a Nomad II, which broke after about a year. I then purchased a Nomad II MG, which I had to return because the charging cradle didn't function. I purchased another one, and that one stopped working after about thirty days. I would steer clear of this frail product.

(P.S. Why would anyone with an IQ higher than a chimp buy three of these things? I couldn't find another one with expandable memory and an FM tuner).