Nomad IIc, 64MB MP3 Player
1 Terrific Player-Great Quality
I received this player Christmas 2002 and was skeptical before opening it, as I had been previously searching for an mp3 player and had one in mind. Finally, after much thought, I decided to open the package and use the player. It was incredibly easy to use the player, considering I had no prior training. I could store a decent amount of music in the player(about 20-25 songs, depending on length), but still decided to buy a 128mb Smartmedia card(Good Investment). The memory card then allowed me to store approximately 45-50 songs. The player was also incredibly durable, considering i carried it in my pocket most of the time, and it survived a few light drops.
Now, if you are observant, you've probably noticed i've written this in past tense. The player was stolen from me by my brother's friend right off my kitchen table! I, as anyone would be, was very angry, and to add insult to injury she moved the next week!
I would, however, highly recommend this player to anyone looking for a decently priced, highly upgradeable mp3/digital music player.
2 hit and miss product
After further review I would have to give the Nomad II C a low grade. My son and I each purchased one and initially they were very good products. Unfortunately, the software was not reliable, and the product support less than helpful. We upgraded our system using microsoft XP, which is not compatible with the NOMAD II C,,so in order to download new music, we have to rely on another computer system that uses windows 2000 or 98. The size, weight,and sound is good, but it does have its limitations due to the software issues.
3 Best MP3 Player Ever!!!!!!!!!!
This is the best MP3 player I have ever used. Buy one used though. Buy the one from BryanLane12 for 79.99 (least expensive)
4 Superb quality
I've had this about 8 months for use during jogging and running in races and it's been superb. Inputting music is easy, the player plays three different types of music files, MP3, WMA, and a third I can't remember. I get a lot of volume out of it, and can get even more with Sony buds, that on the cord has a volume controller. Sound does not degrade after an hour or so of exercise. Now I want a memory card, so I can add more music...Heartily recommend this player.
5 excellent x mas gift in 2000 still rocks in 2003
my wife got me this procuct two years ago for the holidays. The first thing I liked about it was that it was compact...which meant no more bulky cd player, the second was the ease of use and how user freindly it was...my wife has a fear of such gadgets and even she can find her way around it....the thrid was the software...now i've read some of the other reviews but i found the software easy to use, my only gripe is that in order to sort your music the way you want it on the device you have to keep clickng on the shift up and down buttons until your songs are arranged the way you want them...a bit tedious but nothing major...song storage isnt bad either...only 12 songs wth mp3 at 128 but if you convert to wma format at around 96kps you can fit 28-30 songs...and with the use of the upgradable memory (up tp 256mb) u cn hold up to around 65 songs ( 5 to 6 hrs of music if u play your cards right)...and the thing is sturdy to...I've dropped this thing about four times since i've had and no problems yet...the only other thing about the player i had a gripe about was that some times it locks up in really cold weather when i had it inside my front jacket pocket...but as long as it's worn on my inside pocket it's fine...other than that i recommend this player to anyone who wants to get more bang for there buck out of a quality product ...p.s.. it is also supported by real player and windows media player as well
6 Freezing
Awful product
broke within 6 months
froze while playing music
cant be fixed
7 A Real Review
I bought this player at the end of august 03.
I had been looking for a mp3 player for a while
because I am tearing my hair out on my long train
rides to college. After reading about 100 reviews
on about 10 different websites. i decided to buy it.
the price is well worth it. another bonus is that
it fits the same smart media card as my digital camera.
ok, the ups are thats it fairly light, and small, and
you can listen for hours on 1 battery. the sound quality
is excellent and the volume doesen't distort the higher
you put it. it's got a few other cool extra, voice, time,
5 preset sound settings and a custom one. the downs are
you can't continue listening to the music when going
through the othere extras on the menu. the software
is mediocore, i get a few error messages sometimes, but
then you just try again and it's fine.
overall, i am really happy with product.
and recommend it to anyone who appreciates
value for their money...
8 one drawback for language-learning
I've had mine about a year, and it still works fine. I have only one complaint: it doesn't have a rewind function suitable for language-learning. Unfortunately, that was what I bought it for. I record Internet radio in the language I want to learn, to improve my listening comprehension and accent. Sometimes, one runs into a new word or a phrase that one can't quite get, and needs to re-hear it. With a standard tape or CD, one would just skip back five or ten seconds (or twenty seconds, or any arbitrary time. That's not possible with this player. I can restart a given track at the _beginning_ of the track, but I can't go back just five seconds or ten seconds or just any old time I choose, to re-hear a given stretch. That's a big drawback for this purpose. So if you want it for just casual listening to something, it's good. But it's not suitable for recordings that you may need to listen to at a level suitable for study or transcription. (I've kept checking for a firmware upgrade that would allow arbitrary-length rewinds, and none has appeared.)
9 Great player, Great Linux support
Got the player, downloaded the linux driver at [website], found out i can put 30-35 songs on at 64kbps without buying an extra sm card and was incredibly surprised at the ease of use and awesome sound! Highly recommended.
10 great little gaget
I have had the Nomad IIc for the last 6 months and am very happy with it. I also have a Olympus 4000 digital camera so when I discharge the rechargable batteries in the camera I transfer a "dead" battery into the Nomad and and it will run all day, plus I have a spare 128Mb smartmedia card availble if I need it.
The software that comes with the unit is lacking but there are alternitives "red chair software" is what I usually use and you can transfer music from the computer with realplayer.
11 Superb Little Player
I checked about a dozen mp3 or CD players to use while jogging. Some looked frail; others very costly. This seemed moderately priced, sturdy, compared to others. So I bought it. Unlike other users, I have no problems with volume. In fact, with or without earbuds, the thing blasts away and has to be turned down. I wonder if their original recordings are decent or if they know where the volume button is. I found it easy to operate with Windows XP. Am NOT so thrilled with the software package, which is clunky, but you're not cuffed to that. Windows Media Player works, and others. Would wholeheartedly recommend. At 64K it holds about 16 songs, or about an hour's worth of programming, great for an hour's worth of exercise.
12 Nice, small, just a few minor problems
I got this little thing nine months ago, and it just now occurs to me to write a review for it.
First, notice: Yes. I like it. I liked it nine months ago, and I still like it now. But there are some things I don't like about it.
What I like:
1.) It's small. It fits along with the rest of mess in my backpack. It's only about 2x3.5x0.75 inches, right?
2.) WMA support. On a pair of headphones, you lose some of the quality you would on a GOOD set of 2/4/5/6.1 speakers anyway, so dropping to 64Kbps with WMA really helps a lot, with only 64MB plus a card.
3.) It's not CD-based. I never much liked those big things.
4.) WMP8/9 support. I don't like those programs, but they get really useful when I want to put an MP3 on my player when I want it in as a WMA. (Which is about ALWAYS.)
What I don't:
1.) Short battery life. Ok, it's got probably a good 10 hours. But when you listen to a LOT of music, it blows out pretty fast. Also, you're already down to about 2 hours left when the meter shows 2/3 power.
2.) No playlist suppport. Admittedly, with such limited space as 192MB or less it doesn't matter as much as on a PC, but it'd still be VERY nice to be able to separate MP3/WMA files by artist or anime or DDR MIX.
3.) The battery/card cover. It falls off all too easily. (Even though the rest of the player is REALLY durable.) Plus, when it is off, the clips that hold the cover in place break off as if they were paper.
4.) No defragging. It's, honestly, to be expected, but I'd like to keep my lists properly intact such that I can add a song without getting it put right smack in the middle.
13 For the price this is the best!
I bought two in November 2002, I used it for over six months, still happy with it. Software work perfect with Win XP, easy to download music, take just couple minutes. Sound quality is very good. It use only one AA battery and lasts about 12 hours. I used it for bikking and jogging perfect!
14 Compatible playcenter for XP available
I just got my Nomad IIc. It seemed that the software provided did not work with XP. I downloaded an update from Creative website and everything became a snap.
15 I will never again buy a Creative Product
The support that Creative Labs gives for this product is absolutely dismal. This product does not work with Windows XP. I have had to install drivers numerous times. I've had to call the support line numerous times, only to get them to send me an updated version of the terrible software that they send with their product (incidentally, it doesn't work with Windows XP) Now I'm stuck with the Doors on my player, which was great for a few plays, but now I'd really like to listen to something else. Another thing: this product eats up batteries like crazy. To anybody considering buying an MP3 player, I think it'd be well worth getting one that is rechargeable, as I'm about to do. Anyway, my advice is to stay away from this product if you have Windows XP.
16 Good Mp3 Player, Voice Recorder Format Proprietary
I just got the unit today, nice little mp3 player. But I needed to record client recommendations for a web project. The format ends up being a .nvf. What's that? I tried downloading some software to convert nvf to mp3 to no avail. I'd rate the unit a 5 if the voice recordings were in an mp3 format, a 4 if they were in a wav or wma, but a nvf....please.
Bottom line if you're looking for an mp3 player/mp3 voice recorder....don't buy it. But if you don't mind playing your voice recordings on the unit or with the Creative software, buy it.
17 Great little player...
I have had this player for about 9 months or so, but it seems like longer because I use it almost everyday. It is a nice size, and just great overall. I like the visual display, and it gets decent battery life, about 8 hours per one AA. I had a little trouble using it when I first got it because the instructions are laughable, just one tiny pamphlet with about three pictures. After that, though, I fell in love. I seriously use it constantly, and I have dropped it countless times, lost the battery plate on the back, and yet it still works. It's also easy to use SmartMedia cards. I installed a 64MB because I wanted more space, but an hour's worth of music is pretty good.
18 Very Good
I bought my Nomad IIc about 1 3/4 years ago and i still listen to it all the time. Its really great. It has been dropped many times by my friends and has some large scratches on it but it still plays and works perfect. Also if u want to put more songs on, just lower the quality level.
19 Excellent
I recently recieved a Nomad and it was well worth the money. The directions are easy its super light and small. And its really fast when it comes to adding music
20 Just keeps getting better
I've owned my IIc for about a year and a half now, and I've been very pleased with it. Good player interface, good quality, and I added a 128Mb Memorystick so that I can carry three hours of music (this makes the interface a little less responsive, but it's still usable). Creative's Playcenter software is pretty bad, but what stuff isn't?
However, my latest experience is what made me decide to write this review. I always take my Nomad with me working out--running, climbing, cycling, etc, so it's taken its fair share of bumps on rocks, and still works great. Coming down a grade on my roadbike at 40mph a couple of days ago, I hit a bump and the player flew out of my jersey pocket and onto the street. I figured it was a goner for sure, but I turned around to pick it up anyway--and after putting the battery back in (it had popped out), it works perfectly! No problems whatsoever (except for a few scratches, but I deserve that...)--thank you Creative!
21 ...
really nice thing...keeps workin even after i dropped it a few times...i have it for 4 months now and had no problems with it...only the headphones aren't that comfortable but i didn't buy it for the phones...really nice thing...=)
22 Great unit...for the price.
Before buying this unit I looked at newer, and much more expensive models...but this one has exaclty what I wanted out of an MP3 player...it plays MP3s (and WMAs). For anyone looking for a voice recorder, radio, storage device, kitchen sink...look elsewhere.
The only cheap part on the unit is the battery cover which will probably pop off eventually. At that point I'll just tape it on. It also doesn't have an arm strap...but I just clip it to my shorts anyway.
This unit can be upgraded to a total of 192 MB with the firmware update found online. The included headphones are pretty good...better than I had expected. I have a feeling that I'll have this thing for a long, long time.
For the price...you can't go wrong.
23 Great Product for the Price
I bought this mp3 player for my girlfriend and she loves it. I bought a 128 meg card also and there is enough room to put about 3 1/2 cds on it. I have read reviews about the clip being bad and it not holding it on and so far she has no complaints also I have heard complaints about the volume level not being high enough she says not so it is definitly loud enough for her. However she has complained about the head phones pinching her ears a little. GRET BUY FOR ME!!!!!!
24 Great device, Bad software
I purchased the Nomad IIc as my first MP3 player. I figured it would be a good starter device. The player itself is very easy to use and I am quite happy with it. The default 64mb will hold, on average, 17 songs. For me that is perfect, but it has the ability to be upgraded.
The Creative PlayCenter software on the other hand is a terrible waste of time. On a homebuilt system running Windows XP, the program would not detect my Nomad IIc. The software would also crash to desktop 50% of the time. Troubleshooting with Creative finally resulted in nothing as the Creative techs could not figure out my problem and they simply closed my ticket number.
I discovered a 3rd Party Nomad transfer program, NotMAD by Red Chair Software, and since then everything is smooth as silk.
I highly recommend the Nomad IIc player, but not the PlayCenter software it comes with. Find alternate methods to transfer and you have a brilliant device.
25 Great mp3 player
My first mp3 player and the Nomad IIc works great! For those of you complaining about lack of volume. I purchased the Sony MDR-E828LP budstyle headset for $10. I now have the volume at about 15 vs 22 with the headset that came with the nomad. The Sony headset is better suited for working out with and the sound quality and volume is a definite improvement. I bought it because of the $30 rebate and the voice recording feature for taking notes while driving. The fact that it's an mp3 player was just a bonus, but now I use it for most of my music listening. My only annoyance is that I can only fit about 10-12 songs on the 64mb memory that came on the player at 192 bps. Sandisk/Amazon is having a $20 rebate special on their 128mb smartmedia card and I've already ordered mine.
26 Best Value for the $
For the price it's really hard to beat it. First thing I did was to go to the Creative site (Nomadworld.com) and I updated the firmware so that it would accept 128 meg smartcards... the whole process was a piece of cake. I can't really see how anyone can survive for long without expanding the base 64 meg memory. The PlayCenter software that comes with the Mp3 Player is fairly intuitive and makes transfering MP3 or WMA files from your computer to the player pretty easy.
Other reviewers have given the Nomad IIc demerits for a perceived lack of volume. I must admit that at the highest volume level it isn't like sitting in the front row of a rock concert. However, I find it more than loud enough to completely drown out the sound system playing at my local health club which is really all I want it to do. I found the sound quality of the headphones to be pretty decent, with good (but not great) bass response. Normally, for any low end CD/MP3 player, you end up chucking the headphones and upgrading to a better pair. Not necessary in this case unless you're a total audiophile with x-ray ears.
The one thing that kept me from giving the Nomad IIc a perfect score is the kludgy way the smartcard was integrated into the unit. Unless you have fingers of steel, you have to take the battery out of the unit first so that you can get enough of your fingers on the smartcard to get it out. Poor engineering.
Highly suggest using Windows Media Player beta 9. I've been creating WMA files at 96Kbps and you get around four files for the price of three Mp3 files at 128Kbps.... and they sound just as good!
27 Excellant
I have went through several MP3 over the past year, either the software wasso difficult to use, the player was usless, or the unit itself was to difficult, THis one made it all simple. The only downfall is that it goes through batteries like no bodies business. But I guess that is the nature of the beast. Go ahead buy one of these, you will love it.
28 Good gift for tech-savvy teenager
I bought this unit without knowing much about MP3 players as a birthday gift for my 17-year-old daughter, who is very computer literate and has been building a library of MP3 audio on our PCs. She has had nothing but good things to say about it, and considers it highly superior to a portable CD player.
29 Great MP3 Player
The Nomad IIc is awesome. The voice recording is very helpful in man situations, and sometimes just fun to play with. I wish that it was 128 instead of 64, but not a big deal. The headphones that came with it are also great, very comfortable. The price is the best though, with the mail-in rebate...This is the best price I've found for any other MP3 player. I strongly recomend this.
30 awesome ... in one word
this little thing is just plain AWESOME... just wish i could buy another one for 40 bucks!!
31 Great MP3 player.....
Just got this unit for my birthday. I'm really impressed with the player and the software that comes with the unit. Only two negatives: Not enough volume, my sony walkman radios have a lot more volumne (I like loud, rocking music!) and second, the manual that comes on the CD is confusing at best, poorly organized and just does a minimum job of explaining how to change settings and use the software.
Definitely would buy this product again!
32 What?
This site wont even tell you how much MB it has, doesnt look too good to me
33 Simple, reliable little player
My Nomad IIc has been nothing but reliable. I've dropped it several times (I'm uncoordinated) on pavement from a height of three feet, heard a heart-crushing "crack", but though the case is a bit scratched up, the insides work just as well as the day I got it. The sound quality is great, the controls thoughtfully laid-out, the headphones quite good, and the display is huge and easy to read. I also must defend the battery-life; mine goes for ages (12 to 14 hours, I think) on one AA cell. Battery changes are few and far between. Of course, I have my backlight set on minimum--if you want the backlight to stay on for longer, you pay dearly for it in battery power. The Nomad's software design and controls are so intuitive, though, that you really don't even need a backlight.
34 Great player for Linux!!
Initially bought a RCA Lyra, but sent that back because it plays a non-standard MPY format. What this means, is that you can't just dump MP3 files into the Lyra, what a waste!.
Picked up the Nomad IIC unit and had it connected to my RedHat 8.0 linux box in a few minutes. I dumped some mp3's in it and was ready to go. Great features, and works flawlessly with the NomadII software for linux which I downloaded after a brief search on Google. I bought a 128MB Smartcard with this unit, and now have 192MB or memory to spare. Only my second day with it, but I have to give it thumbs up, because I never had to use the manual with this as the controls were very intuitive. Crummy headphones come with this unit, but get a good pair and you will have a great combination.
35 It was alrite
I bought this product in early July...it is now Halloween and it's broken. It worked fine for a while, but in about late september, the heaphone jack on it messed up and the contacts weren't touching the headphone contacts. I knew it wasn't the headphones, because I bought different ones, and I also used the auxilarie hook-up to some speakers I had. Plus, the warranty only lasted 90 DAYS!!!! its like they expected sumthin to go wrong!!! all-in-all its pretty good, but not worth payin ... canadian for it, there are better products for your money.
36 Rating?
Hi,
As long as I am not accessible to such products, how can I rate?
Is there anyway to order it here?
37 Great MP3 Player ! Built to last ! Buy it now.
I bought this MP3 Player a year ago, I must say I waited awhile to review this, as we know how electronics are and I didn't want to rate this as soon as I bought it. Well the player is still working great, I must admit that the paint by the buttons are wearing away etc. and around the screen also but this is normal after months of use. Now the player has fallen many times out of my hand and at one incident bounced off the floor and it stills works! When you buy this make sure you pick up a memory card so you can put more songs on it. Also use re-chargble batteries, I find it eats batteries like a bowl of cereal for breakfast.
38 Great little player!
I just recieved this today, and i've found it very easy to manipulate, as well as have an easy interface. the voice recording is great, transferring files is quick and easy, but i think the playcenter software could be a little less flashy, as it can be confusing to use the first time. sound quality is great, and with a 128MB expansion card, i can hold about 3 hours worth of music on it. the belt clip was great during a light jog i took, but it feels a little flimsy. backlight is very bright and makes the text very easy to read. this player looks very promsing.
...*almost 2 months later*
Still ticking. works great even after a couple 4 FOOT falls onto a hard surface. i've seen lots of reviews for this player being flimsy, and all i have to say is the plant that my player came from must be better. battery life is great: about 10-12 hours with a rechargable battery and a couple hours less with a regular alkaline battery. beware that the backlight and player idle can drain the battery right quick if you have them on for too long. one small complaint, though: sometimes in the playcenter software (of which i've mentioned before) will jumble up my playlist after i disconnect my player (ex. songs 1,2,3,4,5 will end up as 2,1,3,5,4 after disconnecting). not a major problem, and not really related with the player, just bad software. i hope somewhere down the road creative will make a better alternetive for the playcenter software.
39 AWESOME PRODUCT!!!!!
this thing is awesome, it holds tons of music has great sound and a great price to sum it all up. the mic is kinda wierd but who needs a mic on an mp3 player n e way. best of all, its free, all other mic mp3 players cost more. the transfers are fast and the player look sweet. this is definitely a great deal for an awesome product. i love the backlight and the great lcd that is so nice andd clear with tons of pixels so the splash screen looks cooli love it Creative!!! keep up the great work!!
40 Docking Station Unavailable (per Creative!)
This looked like a great solution, UNTIL...the convenience of the docking station became a pipe dream. I sent an email to Creative Customer Support and here is their reply.
Response from Creative: 8/19/2002 11:39:23 AM
Unfortunately, the docking station is no longer available. We will not be receiving any additional stock.
Best regards, Chris
If you don't want the convenience of the docking station, then perhaps ok, but the only market for the docking station is from wholesale/auction type sources.
41 Strong Product - Good for all Uses
At the time of this writing, I've used the Nomad IIc for about three weeks on a daily basis.
For the price you will pay, this is an excellent product.
Installing the battery is a snap, and listening to the installed music is very easy. Software installation was a breeze in WinXP, and I had no problems ripping CDs into either WMA or MP3, although I recommend MP3. Downloading songs is a snap and relatively fast. The queing capability of the software makes point and click very easy as you select your songs for download, and then manipulating the order in the player is very easy from the software. The backlit LCD is easy to read and the controls are very easy to use, even while working out.
The only reason why I did not rate this product for five stars is the volume needs to have just a little more output. Both my wife and I use it and have noticed that maximum volume on a treadmill leaves just a little bit to be desired. However, it still works flawlessly!
I would strongly recommend this product over many other for the same, or even higher price. If you are looking for a great prodcut that works right out of the box without too much effort, your search is over.
