Customer Reviews:
 I love Creative, but this is disappointing October 11, 2008
I bought my first one used from Amazon back in July and within 2 weeks, the screen died. I ordered another one, only to have the firmware corrupt and whenever I tried to reload the firmware, the player would disconnect from my PC. At first it seemed nice. It had decent sound and a good size of screen, but for all the trouble, it's not worth the money. Creative doesn't give a long enough warranty. I have a Creative sound card and sound system for my PC which have been wonderful, and my brothers each have a Vision M which has no problems, so I'm disappointed in the quality. And why is it $300 now? It was only $80 when I bought the first two this past summer. There's no way it's worth $300, let alone, $80.
 Cute isn't Everything October 11, 2008
This has been one of the most frustrating electronic devices I've used in a looong time, and that's saying a lot being I have a significant disability and depend on more high tech gadgets than the average bear. Also, I'm a gadget geek who is pretty competent with stuff.
From day one the player has frozen up whenever I put it in fast forward for more than 5 seconds, and periodically freezes up in reverse. This requires using a paper clip to reboot it (don't leave home without one) and a nervous wait while it hopefully rebuilds the library without losing something. I have reinstalled the software 3x and ran the diagnostic at the unintelligible Creative web site to no avail. The interface is lousy...not intuitive and didn't come with directions beyond saying what the buttons and menus are; not what they do. The only good thing going for this device is it memory and battery life. I'm now shopping for an iPod or ScanDisk.
Kathy September 20, 2008
Creative Zen V Plus 4 GB Portable Media Player (Black/Blue)I will tell you that if you say this product is 3,4,or 5*,Then you are evidently looking at the wrong product. This is the most awful product I have ever bought from amazon and I have bought a bunch. It is now sitting on my floor hooked up to the wall outlet and just flickering almost as if it was in its final death throes.. Its been hooked up to the outlet for several hours and it still is in red. I think its just about on its way to creative heaven. Unless you have plenty of dough and can easily purchase another stay away, it is poisonous
Buyer beware September 16, 2008
THINK TWICE BEFORE BUYING THIS MP3. I purchased in it april from amazon, it seemed to work fine, then 3 months into I tried to turn the volume up (which is something I don't regularly use) and nothing happen. Now I can't hear it at all. Contacted creative they recommed troubleshooting, which I did still nothing. I then asked them for a rma, they sent the form along with a charge for 25.00 to get it fixed. Was told anything over 3 months old gets this charge. I don't think I should be charged for a poor workmanship. So I will be looking for a new mp3 and it will not be creative.
 great for Audiobooks! September 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have had my Zen V plus for about a year, and I use primarily for audio books. My public library is associated with NetLibrary and Overdrive, so I can download books for free. My Zen is my companion for housework, the gym, car rides, shopping, etc. I use it on average two to three hours a day.
The Zune and Ipods cannot play audio books from these sources because they cannot manage the DRM licenses. The Zen V Plus can play these files, and even allows the user to set up to 10 bookmarks. Another nice feature is that if you shut off the machine, it holds your place in the book. I have used several other players, and the only other system that worked as well for audio books was my Rio Audio Carbon (how I mourned the death of that machine. Two years later and it can still bring a tear to my eye...)
I have had the zen freeze up on me a few times, usually when I am doing a lot of fast forwarding. Luckily, being female, I usually have an earring on hand, and that works perfect for the reset button hole. My machine takes only a few seconds to rebuild the library - which seem like less time than others are claiming. This is perhaps because I have less files - audio books as opposed to lots of mp3 files. For me, this has never been an issue.
I love the zen even more now that I bought the creative audio charger. I really hated charging with the USB port - the only method available when you purchase the Zen V plus. It takes too long and it is inconvenient. I tried other usb chargers, and the only one that works is the one from Creative - it has some type of proprietary technology. But with this charger, my zen charges in just over an hour. The battery life is variable, depending on how much time the little video screen it lit up. The more you hit the buttons, advance songs, play with the menus, every time you light that screen for 10 seconds, you cut about 15 minutes of pure audio battery time. I have read review that the battery life is over 20 hours - but these reviews must have just turned it on and left it, never using the video screen. In real life I get about seven hours - I recharge every couple of days.
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