Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra 40GB - Family Flagship (cont.)

All of the access ports for the Dell Digital Jukebox MP3 player are aligned on the top side and include (left to right): headphone port, power port, and USB port (2.0/1.1).




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Unlike the Dell Digital Jukebox, the Jukebox Zen Xtra has all of its navigational and function buttons on the right and left sides of the unit. On the right side, Creative chose to situate the reverse/skip, forward/skip, play/pause, scroll toggle (pressing in is the enter command), and menu button (which is the home button). The reverse/skip and forward/skip buttons look like a single button, but it is actually two different buttons with a single button cover and a slight bridge to separate the two.

The two buttons can be pressed down at the same time, which makes the design a bit odd. If the reverse/skip and forward/skip buttons are going to be placed in this manner, we prefer the way that Dell had designed the volume buttons on the Digital Jukebox, with the buttons being independent of one another.




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The bottom side of the Jukebox Zen Xtra is only home to the security switch that holds the cover in place. Removing the cover is the only way to access the removable battery for the Jukebox Zen Xtra.




Click to enlarge.


The left side of the unit is where Creative placed the rest of the buttons (left to right): power, back, and volume up/down. The volume up and down button is designed the same way as the reverse/skip and forward/skip buttons are on the right side of the Jukebox Zen Xtra. We would hope for the future that Creative would make each button in each pair separate from one another.




Click to enlarge.


Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra 40GB – Family Flagship Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra 40GB – Family Flagship (cont.)
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  • jdmf13 - Saturday, July 3, 2004 - link

    This is the MOST USELESS review I have ever read about the Zen Xtra!

    What kind of a reviewer writes a review like this and the only "test" he focuses on is the transfer speed from to the Zen?! I think the transfer speed from a PC to a Zen is the last thing one someone's mind when they're looking for an MP3 player....geez.

    The reviewer forgot to mention two VERY important things like :

    - sound quality (a world apart from an iPod)
    - battery life (average of 10-12h)

    I'm not really fussed how long it takes to transfer a few MP3s, and if I am then I'll use Notmad Explorer (from Redchair software - also left out by the reviewer) which is much faster than Creative's bundled software, not to mention stable.

    To also answer a previous question in these comments, there is limited Mac support via a plugin for iTunes : http://www.nomadness.net/modules.php?name=Forums&a...

    For USEFUL information on the Zen Xtra range, take a look at Nomadness : http://www.nomadness.net/
  • Quiksel - Saturday, July 3, 2004 - link

    yikes, i'm glad i never bought one of those... gosh, doesn't look very good in any category, especially when you're comparing it to the iPod...

    Andrew, you mentioned the Windows support, but I guess there is no Mac support? Just curious.

    Thanks for the review, but like #2, where's iRiver?

    ~q
  • EdvardGrieg - Saturday, July 3, 2004 - link

    yay for once again failing to mention either Rio or iRiver....
  • Souka - Saturday, July 3, 2004 - link

    Yeah, but it can't be integrated into my BMW 3 series...unlike my iPod...which works great! :)

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