MODEL- N200BB1GB VENDOR- CREATIVE LABS FEATURES- MuVo Micro N200- Black Sleekest MP3 Player loaded with features such as Line in, FM Radio and Recorder, Voice Record, USB 2.0 - all in a stylish micro sized skip free player. MuVo Micro is the sleekest new flash Digital Audio Player from Creative. With the incredibly thin design you will never even notice you are wearing it, but you will notice the amazing, skip free, audio quality when you are listening to your MP3 and WMA music. MuVo Micro comes in fun, vibrant colors and each color comes with either 256MB, 512MB or 1GB of flash memory to store hours and hours of your favorite songs. 512MB player holds up to 16 hours WMA or 8 hours MP3 music. MuVo Micro has a line-in that you connect to and record directly from any audio source, like a CD player - you do not need a computer! Plus, with a built-in mic, MuVo Micro is perfect for recording quick notes or lectures and MuVO Micro has an FM radio you can tune in to and record all your favorite radio shows. With the USB 2.0 connection MuVo Micro will transfer your songs from your computer in seconds; you do not need any special software. Plus, MuVo Micro is a USB mass storage device, simply drag-and-drop data files like photos and presentations and store them in your player. With support for WMA, MuVo Micro N200 offers you access to the widest selection of music download services on the Internet. Includes MuVo Micro N200 player, Creative earphones, Sports armband with carrying case and belt clip, Line-in cable, USB 2.0 cable, AAA Alkaline battery, Quick Start booklet and Installation CD. -- SPECIFICATIONs ------------------------------------ INTERFACE - USB 2.0, Compatible with USB 1.1 CAPACITY - 1 GB (1024 MB) (FORMATTED
1 Tiny little wonder - great sound, features, not perfect
Its really a very small player. Flash players are a great technological advance. It was very hard to decide weather I should get a regular hard drive mp3 player or a flash player. You are obviously aware of the pros and cons of choosing one over the other. Flash players are exteremly portable, allow you to use your own AAA battery, widely available, but on the other hand max out at 1 GB capacity. So I decided to keep the flash player and also get a regular mp3 player later, if i feel the need for one.
Positive qualities
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1) Great Sound, comparable to the iRiver H320 and Dell DJ 30 players I test drove earlier
2) Very very portable.
3) The player appeared as a drive letter as soon as I plugged in, and allowed for easy tranfer of files using Windows Explorer, on my Win XP Pro OS.
4) Transferred 994 MB of files in 5 mins, so if you can save all your music on your machine's hard drive, this ease and speed of transfer virtually resolves your problem of limited size in Flash players
5) Handy to have FM player, and recorder, along with Line-In recorder to convert your old vinyl tapes, or anything else you want to feed to this player.
I would recommend 1 GB to anyone, but if you are just interested in using it for workout and are on a budget, then atleast get a 512 player. Any music player who uses a portable player owes it to himself to own one Flash Player..if possible pick the n200, or Creative tx fm.
Negatives
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1)Browsing to the next song stops the current song. In hard drive mp3 players I tested earlier, this was not a problem. They let me play my current song, and browse through rest of the player until I found something else I wanted to switch to.
2)You need to be aware of before making a informed buying decision is, I couldn't figure out how to use playlists.
3)This player could easily be your only MP3 player if you can easlily have all your music collection on your PC. If you can,t and you rely on carrying all your files on your MP3 player, then this player may not be for you. Then you might need another high capacity player like DELL DJ, Creative Nomad, etc.
One good thing about this player is, I could easily connect to my car audio system with a TAPE adapter, and change songs so easily, and not worry about damaging the player or its hard drive (since it does not have any). Its lot easier to have this in your car instead of a pricey and delicate hard drive mp3 player.
I think, instead of beating yourself as to weather you should buy a hard drive based or flash player, if you have a active lifestyle, and atleast need to use your player while walking, or workout, get this one. If you know what songs you like, you can easily move files around, as long as you have enough storage on your computer( this is a very important consideration)
2 Great product, but there's always room for improvement
Met almost all user expectations for ease of use, including smart controls & default option selections which minimize clicks & scrolls (example: you go from fm radio during a commercial to play some songs and it knows you'll probably want to go back to fm when you go back to the menu) Great shuffle options, easy to use folder navigation (i recommend keeping everything in the root folder or one level down into a folder).
I like the dial for controls, but I would have preferred a dial for the volume instead of two buttons that look like next track/prev track. Basically the controls have been reversed! but they make sense because the dial is more like a mouse because you push it in to 'hit enter.'
FM has presets which work great and the thing even has autoscan which is cool, but when scanning, even if you hold down the direction it stops at the next available radio station, so it can take longer than it should to get to your goal with all the speed bumps (my favorite radio station is DC 101.1).
Player features "drag-and-drop", but DRM WMA files such as the ones purchased from Walmart can only be copied to it via Windows Media Player or something that will also copy the license file. I consider this extraneous, because their agreement says unlimited loads on a portable and it's not like you can load the wma on another computer for burning / storing without acquiring a license. eh... Which actually makes me think that if you could hook up a cd writer directly to a muvo or whatever then that would kick ssa.
You can hear the noisy backlit LCD buzz. You can't hear it after the backlight goes off, of course, so it's just annoying for that second. But man, that's annoying and makes you think that the SNR is terrible until you realize what it is.
3 Not "Creative" at all!
I bought the Creative MuVo in high hopes of being able to work out a the gym with a slim light weight MP3 player and enjoy my favorite songs. That was with the first player I bought...it was working fine, it took me a while to understand how to "rip" songs from my cd's and download them to the player. I also enjoyed the clear sounds, but after the second day, the headphone plug jack stopped working, and the left ear of my headphones went dead. First I thought it's just the head phones, but I tried my other pair and the left ear still didn't work.
I manage to go and exchange the player for a new one still with hopes that the defect was not going to reappear. What I didn't know is that the new player I got to replace the broken one was more defective! This time it was about a week before the player stopped working! STOPPED WORKING! I tried to turn it on and the screen will light up but no music. I tried again...no music. I tried many times, changed batteries, waited a few minutes to give it time to "refresh"...still no music!!!!!!! That's when I got mad. I will never buy a product by Creative again! I spent too much money on something that doesn't work. I will try other products close to the price I paid so I can enjoy an MP3 players positive usage qualities...but NEVER EVER a player made by Creative.
4 not bad but not great
I have had my RIO S35 Sport for many years. I like the S35 very much. It simply works great. Let's have a comparsion.
1) Size - The N200 is about half the size of the S35. It is good to be small but at the same time, the switches are also very small. The buttons are ok but the Scroll Wheel is too small to use because everything uses the Scroll Wheel in the N200. The S35 is bigger but it is round instead of rectangular. I can hold the S35 more comfortable than the N200.
2) Sound - the N200 sounds very good. Both sound very good. But my aging S35 begins to make clicking noise from the begining of every song. The N200 doesn't make any clicking noise but it has a buzzing noise whenever the backlite comes on. You need to use another earphone to fix the buzzing noise. I have a Sony MDR-W24 that has a inline volumn control. If I lower the inline volumn, the buzzing noise goes away. I also try the earphone that comes with my S35, the S35 earphone doesn't have any buzzing noise either. Bottomline is that you need to use an earphone that has a bigger resistance.
3) Screen - The S35 has a much bigger screen with 4 lines. You can see different info about the song. I have to say the S35 has a much better screen. The N200 screen is very small with only 2 lines. It only display the time and the title. No bit-rate. No file type. No remaining time. No date. No nothing from the N200.
4) Menu - The N200 uses Icons to represent different features. You need to memorize what the Icons are for. There is descriptions for the icons but you can only see the text when you scroll to that icon. Unless you already know what the icon is for, you will, like me, end up spending all day to look for the options you want with the tiny Scroll Wheel. And there are ALOT! of Icons and Menus in multiple levels for you to scroll with the tiny Scroll Wheel in the N200. A big D-Pad in the S35 is a better way to move around IMO.
5) Feature
Recording - The N200 has line-in and a mic. They both works well. And it is nice to have recording. You can record memo and note and thing like that. BUT... you need to "hunt" for the Icon to switch the recording on.
Memory - The S35 uses SD memory card. You can add more memory but I don't find it useful. You will end up putting more of you hard earned cash to the S35. The N200 already comes with 1Gig. More than big enough for everyday uses.
Windows - N200 has a better Windows support. The S35 disappear from Windows all the time. N200 uses USB2. The S35 uses USB1. Transferring files is much much faster with the N200.
Playlist - No playlist support for the N200!!!! but N200 supports one-level folder. I like the folder support better than playlist.
Bottomline:
The reason for me to get the N200 is the 1Gig of memory, the faster USB2, and better Windows support.
This is a very good MP3 players. Highly recommanded. But only 4 stars because there are too many options in the menu and the scroll wheel is too small.
5 design flaws, poor service, good sound & features
I have the 1gb version of this unit, and I think it is a really great mp3 player. I am completely pleased with the sound and functions.
The problem I have with it is shoddy engineering, and, poor customer service.
CONSTRUCTION
My player fell about 1 foot on to a wood floor. The batter cover shattered. It was not so far a drop to be broken, plus the cord helped slow the drop.
Upon inspection you will see that the tang on the battery cover is VERY flimsy, and WILL break just with normal use, in time.
I got a replacement and have been VERY careful with it, even opening the thing seems to threaten the tang to break. The over is also made from low-grad plastic that will easily break.
SERVICE
I currently live in Singapore, where Creative is based. I bought the player from a local big-name electronics chain.
When I inquired about how to go about getting a replacement cover, Creative refused to send it to me direct or even to the place I bought it. And of course although the unit was only 2 weeks old, I had to pay for the new cover.
SO...I had to take half a day off work, go to their service center which is way across the island, and wait over an hour, JUST TO PICK UP A NEW BATTERY COVER.
MORONIC CUSTOMER SERIVCE
After the ordeal, I mentioned my experience to them in the interest of providing useful customer feedback, and hopefully, better product design going forward. I am in the Customer Service business and know how valuable this is to companies. The replies I got back were moronic at best, and typically Singaporean (i.e. not acknowledging fault, finding excuses around that) at worst.
(If anyone wants to see that correspondence, which took over 4 emails to get nowhere, contact me and I will send it to you)
I simply tried to tell them that the design was damage-prone, and that the means of getting a replacement was not very customer-focused, whereas their competitor's is. They did not seem to care.
I have no idea what to expect if something else goes wrong with the thing.
MORAL
If you're ok to eventually face the same experiences, it's a great unit. If not, buy an iPod, I know I will next time. And yes I know about that battery issue.
6 The MuVo N200 is great for me (knock on wood)!
I had been coveting an ipod since 5 of my friends each bought one within a year and were so excited about them. However, I discovered that my computer would not support an ipod (because of my Windows ME) so I had to start looking for alternatives. I decided on a flash player because I wanted to exercise with it and because they were a lot cheaper. After researching for a couple weeks, I treated myself to one for my birthday and so far I'm very happy with the MuVo N200. The size is mind-boggling. It's almost TOO small! I hope I don't lose it! I've read complaints about the buttons being too small, but I don't have an issue with that at all. The roller wheel makes for easy navigation and the volume buttons are larger, so it's easy to adjust volume while on the move.
I haven't figured out the playlist feature yet, so currently, songs are automatically entered alphabetically into the player. That's fine for me, because it makes for a good mix of my songs.
The radio settings are great. You just hit auto-scan and any stations that come in clear enough are automatically put into the pre-sets. Not many stations come in where I'm located, but I'm in the boonies. I'm looking forward to trying the radio when I'm in a bigger city.
The backlight buzz has been mentioned in reviews before, but it's really not a problem for me. There are two solutions, either set the player to not have the backlight on, or ignore the buzz for the two seconds it's on when songs start up! Firmware may also solve this problem, but I have not downloaded any firmware since I am not bothered by it.
My only complaint is the ear buds that come with the player. I think it may be the size of my ears, but they are very uncomfortable. I have yet to take the player on my hikes, but I have a feeling they won't stay put once I'm exercising heavily.
I've only owned the player a week so I am hopeful that this review stands the test of time. I know that mp3 players can be tempermental and vulnerable to problems. So far, I have been recommending this player to anyone who wants a small player that is easy to use with good sound. No, I won't be fitting my entire CD collection onto it, but 300-400 songs is plenty to get me by!
7 could be perfect but...
[...]
You will find out that the N200 suffers of random "squeaks" sounds during playback and that Creative was not able to fix this problem even with the latest firmware revision (1.12.01).
At the moment it is not confirmed that this problem will be solved at all.
8 Coolest little player
This is THE neatest little player. Its about the size of a pack of gum and just as light. I was surprised at the sound quality from such a small player. You can even customize your equalizer settings. Bass is great too. I have the 1 gig player and its more than enought room for adding and deleting albums at a time. The FM radio(no AM though) is pretty good. It has 32 presets which is plenty. There is so much you can do with this player. Record FM, or use the line in, drag and drop files with Windows explorer. Its really cool and I'm glad I got the 1 gig.
What I didn't like were the headphones included. The earbuds dont fit well and they fall out when you exercise.
Also, I been using mine for a few days now and I have not heard any "static" or crackling as reported in some of the other reviews.
9 Perfect for avid exercisers who aren't music enthusiasts
If you've been pooring over thousands of user reviews trying to find the perfect MP3 player to suit your needs, you're probably like me. I don't buy ANYTHING worth more that $50 that I havn't given several hours of research and as usual, that time was time well spent. I love this player. My girlfriend and all of my friends either own an ipod or other comparable hard drive 20G players. Sure, the mammoth storage space and ultra hip image was appealing to them, but size and fexability matter to me. I inteded to use it for exercising, most particulary rock climbing.
Right out of the box this little player is virtually weightless, sits in the palm of your hand, and has a sleek design. Another out of the box feature I appreciated was the sports band. It has a size adjustable for just about any physique and a soft texture as to prevent rub-age.
One point that has seemed to raise the eyebrow of those I rave to is the detail that the MvVo N200 runs off of a AAA battery. Yes, it seems like over time this might be a costly venture, but not when you consider the biggest benefit for someone like me. When you're out in the wildnerness and you're lacking the conveniences of modern society such as a USB port or an electrical socket, the battery use is a god send.
In my readings I also came across a complaint that the player lacked playlist capabilities. Apparently when a product doesn't specifically say that it has a function it doesn't exist. WELL IT DOES! Its called a folder. If you put certain songs in a folder it will only play what is within the folder. You can even repeat and shuffle within a folder. Does that sound like a playlist to anyone else? You have to create these folders on you computer before you go out into the world with your player. Its an ultracompact flash player for crying out loud!
Anyway, the sound is great, especially when you utilize the custimizable equilizer. The radio tuner is okay but I don't really use that function much.
There is one draw back, the earbuds that come with the player. Obviously these aren't meant to be awsome but the sound sucked and they hurt my ears.
In conclusion this 1GB Flash MP3 player is awsome an if I ever meet the guys who made it they definetly deserve a high five.
10 It might just be the right player for you !
I recently tried this player. All the specs and reviews seem wonderful.
What I liked. Small size, replaceable battery, design and controls are excellent, very easy to use, very good construction - does not seem cheap.
What I didn't like. Volume level and controls.
If you like easy listening music and can live with moderate volume levels than this is the player for you.
If you listen to hard rock and would like to pump it up or if you want to use a cassette adapter with your car radio you might not be happy with this player.
When using the normal equilizer setting on this device the volume levels are so low that they are just barely audible, the sound you hear is kind of muffled or foggy and I must set my car radio to near max to get any decent respone from my Alpine speakers.
The only fixes I found were to use alternate equilizer settings.
The Rock or Pop setting helped but the solution I settled on was to use the custom equilizer and set all the frequencies to max. This was better but I still had to set the volume controls to a minimum of 30 of 40 set points for normal listening and to get a better more realistic audio it was necessary for me to set the volume to 35.
Changing ear buds did not help and in some cases only hurt.
I've had an iRiver flash player for some time and the volume will blow you away before you can max it out, not that I listen to it at max but the audio presence just seems more powerful at much lower levels.
I am not alone as I have read of other people mentioning this problem on Creative's web site, and yes I have upgraded the players firmware to the latest North American (USA) version.
If I am able to return this device to Amazon I will probably order the 1 GB iRiver flash player as a replacement even though it does not support the "Audible" digital book format.
I would love to keep this player if I could get over the volume problem. I've tried to live with it but I can't afford to throw away the better part of $200 for something that doesn't meet my expectations.
Hope this helps someone out there !!
11 Amazing MP3 Player - IPOD Shuffle who?
This player is absolutley amazing. As big as a pack of Trident missing a few pieces, it packs itself full of features. Aside from simple drag and drop file copy it offers simple scrolling ability with its toggle\fast forward\rewind\advance switch. This same toggle switch, when pressed, is how you switch from FW Radio (which works surprisingly well and finds all available stations automatically and stores them), you can change song groupings, shuffle between groups or in an individual group, change the EQ to several presets or use the voice recorder.
I go to the gym a lot and was looking for a Flash Media MP3 player. I was using a SONY Mini Disc, but God what a pain in the but to convert the MP3's to ATRAC. Get with it SONY! I was looking at the IPOD shuffle, but without a screen...come on.
This thing doesn't skip at all, sounds excellent, the headphones are good though I switched to the wrap-around the head kind becuase I am not a big fan of earbuds when exercising. It has an awesome arm band if you want to use it and, get this...comes with an energizer AAA battery! How many products give you a battery when it isn't one built in or specific to the device? Not any I know of. The player will run for 15 hours or so and I just have a spare AAA if i need to replace it and BAM!... I am back in business.
This thing is worth every penny, though I see it went down 10bucks on amazon since I bought it. Oh well. Buy this. You won't be unhappy.
12 Best Micro MP3 player for your money.
This is the first MP3 player I've ever had. It is wonderful. After a few weeks of research I had compared the new IPOD Shuffle 1GB, the SanDisk 1GB, the iRiver 1GB, and the N200. The N200 gets you the most features, and best quality for the best price. You can drag and drop any MP3 or WMA file directly onto it in a matter of seconds. It doubles as a flash drive you can use it to save documents and other important information. It has an in line recorder which allows you to connect to any audio unit with a headphone jack(3.5mm) and record directly from it. It has a built in FM radio with better reception than I can get in my truck. You can record songs directly off the radio as well. The LCD screen is ambidextrious and easy to read. This unit requires no software, it will plug and play instantly.
PRO's
Tiny size
1GB Flash Memory(holds 240 MP3's and almost 500 wma's)
FM Radio
In line recording
Microphone
Good LCD Screen
Comes with armband and belt clip
Wonderful sound from earbuds(you can also connect it to your cars tape cassette player with your old cd-tape connection.)
Easy to use
Long Battery Life
Cons:
Have to use a cord to connect via USB (as opposed to MuVo TX FM direct connection.
In Line recording picks up lots of static and other noise.
Earbuds are too large for most people(unless you have Dumbo ears like me)
Microphone only practical for recording "notes to self"
Have to navigate through menu to switch from music to FM.
Overall this is a very strong product that beats out all other micro players(especially the iPod Shuffle. If you don't care about the in line recording feature go ahead and purchase the MuVo TXFM 1GB for the convenience of direct USB connection.
13 Just a few things
Cons:
1) The buzz you hear when the backlight is gone - this has been fixed, I downloaded the firmware and used new headphones.
2) It takes more effort than it should to turn on the player.
3) The rubber casing could have been made with a higher quality.
4) Wish the volume would go up a little higher - I max out at the gym.
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All in all, I enjoy my player. It has a clean, crisp sound. THe build of the player is excellent and does not feel cheap at all.
Transferring files was a piece of cake - just connect the player to your USB socket (via the cable they supply), and the folder pops up. I was only allowed to have 1 level of folders though: the root, and another folder. Anything beyond that was not recognized by the player.
I was very impressed with how fast the music was loaded when skipping through folders and songs - pretty much instant - no waiting involved.
The battery life is only about 12-15 hours long (as promised). I am used to my old rio s35 which played 40 hours on 1 AA.
The FM receiver was decent, a little fuzzy in my house - haven't tried it anywhere else.
The armband is pretty solid.
No regrets with this purchase.
14 AWESOME TECHNOLOGY/TINY/MASS STORAGE
I had been waiting to get an mp3 player.I wanted a micro size unit and 1gb of storage and i wanted an FM radio.Something which apple doesnt offer.Anyway,when i saw this on Amazon last month i bought it.I am absolutely blown away by this n200.It is so small and light you dont even feel it or even know its on you.Way better than an ipod which is a big piece of metal in your pocket.
-The sound is great.
-The FM radio works great.
-Holds about 300 songs or 16 hrs in mp3 format(you can double this if you rip your mp3 into wma format which can be done easily with the provided software program!)
-I can plug it into my car stereo.
-It has a 5 band EQ.
-I can fast forward or rewind thru a song itself not just skip to the next tune.
-Nice lcd readout
-Easy to use.
-It takes 1 AAA battery- which means you dont have to be near a plug to recharge the thing every few hours.
For hikers/backpackers/outdoors people this means you just bring some extra batteries with you-cant do this with a device that needs to be wall charged like Apple..Apple's new Shuffle is junk compared to this-it has no LCD so you dont know where your songs are etc...Also the shuffle is a small rechargeable battery-which means you have even less battery life-like maybe 3 hrs?And how long will that Apple proprietary battery last?Maybe a year.Lastly the shuffle doesnt have an FM radio.
This Creative MuVo Micro N200 1GB blows away the apple shuffle.
AMAZING.Get this player if youve been waiting to get a micro size mp3 player/radio.
15 Best, Lightest Choice for AUDIBLE BOOKS
Let me clarify one thing first: all the cracking others have heard comes from bad rips from CDs. This is simply not a problem with good-quality rips to MP3 or WMA.
We bought the N200 because it is the BEST of the flash-memory based MP3 players that will play Audible books in Audible's AA format. Flash-memory means no moving parts--so there is NEVER any jumping or interruption while walking, running, exercising. And flash-based memory is far less vulnerable to breaking if you drop it. [iPods are hard-disk based, more memory, but bulkier and more likely to break, and far less battery time. Even the new Apple shuffles are based on built-in NiCad batteries--and take 4 hours to recharge for 12 hours of play!]
The N200 runs about 15 hours on a single AAA battery, easily replaced. And with a GIG of builtin memory, you can fit about 50-60 hours of Audible books; or 300-400 songs. Using the USB 2.0 connection, all you do is plug this thing in--and any XP machine will instantly read it as another drive. So, you have the option of dumping data files on this player as well--very useful, fast, and convenient!
Other advantages for Audible users: Audible-ready means you can fast-scroll through the sound file--an important feature if you lose your place inside a 6-hour audio file and have to start all over again! The nice thing about the N200 is that if you accidentally scroll out of a book file, the system automatically bookmarks your place--and will start again in the same place when you return.
All in all, this is a solid, reliable player.
16 Forget Rio, iRiver or Apple, the MuVo N200 is far superior
After retiring my Rio Cali, I was looking for a new unit to take on my motorcycle and to the Gym. The new microdrive players are very appealing but would not likely holdup as well as a solid state player like the Muvo. I evaluated the iRiver and Rio Forge flash players and was thouroghly disappointed. The MuVo is not only less expensive, it is far superior; better radio, a usable case and armstrap, smaller, lighter and much easier to use than the other units. I also contemplated the Apple Flash players, but by the time you purchase a sport case/armband to replace the nearly useless neck strap - the Apple players are the same price as the MuVo - but with no LCD, FM radio, Voice Recording, or In-Line record option. If you are looking for a small, lightweight, full featured MP3 player, look no further - the MuVo N200 is it. One last thing, upgrade the firmware when you get the unit - it addresses many of the issues brought up in prior reviews.
17 We've arrived (as long as we can reboot)
I have much experience with cassettes, then with MiniDisc. I rip MP3s at near-MiniDisc quality -- 256kbps. This makes the files large, so I decided not to get a 128 MB MP3 player.
I waited, and now the 1GB players that are smaller than a MiniDisc player or Mini IPod have arrived. It didn't take long to research online and determine that the Creative Labs MuVo Micro has the feature set I wanted: storage capacity far above 128 MB (for large, high-fidelity 256 kbps files), tiny size and negligible mas, true 5-band equalizer (which all music players should have), USB 2.0, and universal USB-drive functionality with Windows Explorer (no special, cumbersome software required).
The 5-band EQ enables you to pick the headphones you prefer for style and comfort, then adjust the player to match those headphones as long as they are decent and you understand the principles of frequency response compensation.
The provided earbuds have a smooth and wide frequency response. They are white, which I don't care for, and are physically uncomfortably large, larger than the inexpensive silver-gray Sony earbuds (which are larger than the older black Sonys).
I recommend the Sony in-ear-canal Fontopia earbuds, because they are wide and flat in response and they block background noise. I use a slight mid-boost with these.
The red case is a good-looking, strong middle red -- not at all the cheap orange-red hue I've seen online. It is soft plastic so be careful not to scratch it.
My unit was effectively broken for a few days (it powered off when I tried to play a song file) but I formatted the drive and, especially, installed the latest firmware, which reset the unit. Hopefully this unit won't become unusable again when I'm mobile.
I keep the special USB cable with me, for file transfer.
There is a user interface design flaw: for no reason, the FM and stored music icons are placed at opposite ends of the cycle, so it takes around 8 actions just to switch between FM and stored music. The FM reception is great. The user interface is easy to figure out. A tiny, lightweight battery lasts a long time.
I tried voice recording and it was too muddy, at least with the original firmware. I will have to double-check this with other users to find out if better results are possible. I have only done a quick pass through these extra features which didn't factor into my purchase decision.
Highly recommended, as long as installing the latest firmware is effective at resetting the unit.
18 My Muvo rocks
I got this little player at Christmas (for myself) and have been having fun with it. It sounds great and holds loads of music. No static at all. The battery life is good, even when I recorded a 90 minute show, I still had lots left. I have used the belt clip and case. It works well, but it is easy to press the on/off button while clipping or unclipping. I do use different ear phones, mostly because I think the white ones stand out visually too much.
It is easy to switch between folders of music and the FM Radio.
I am starting to figure out all the features and options. It downloads music quickly with the usb2 cable. I can easily delete a song I don't like, too.
My biggest problem is remembering to take it out of my pocket before doing my laundry. So far, so good.
19 Great little thing
Just started using this new little toy. Switched from my Rio sport 64MB (what a joke!!). I use it for running. I love the size (it is sooo tiny). I love the memory (250 songs). The fm radio has good reception. Two little nitpicky complaints: 1. It is not easy to switch from radio to saved music - which is important to me while running (buttons are too tiny). 2. No stopwatch. Overall I highly recommend it.
20 no crackling here...solid performer
I've owned this player for a few weeks, and I haven't had any crackling issues mentioned by the previous reviewer, and all my files are of the 128kbps MP3 nature. My backlight setting is at 10 seconds, and I haven't heard any static when that's on either. If a bunch of others are reporting the same problem, it may be cause for concern, but I can report at least one person who doesn't have these problems--me!
The good: The player is obviously highly portable, which makes it a breeze to travel with instead of my 30GB Jukebox. Battery life from 1 AAA battery has been around 12 hours with heavy feature use (scrolling, EQ, etc.) and my 10-second backlight. Transfers have been extremely fast with either the included software or Windows Explorer via the drag and drop method. I haven't recorded anything directly to the player yet, but I do like the line-in feature. As for storage, I've got 86 tracks uploaded, most of which are 6-9 minute remixes, and I've still got about half the 1GB storage left.
The bad: Yes, the earbuds suck. But is this really a surprise??? When have you ever bought a portable cd/mp3/minidisc/whatever player that came with a good pair of earbuds? My advice, spend the $30 or $50 and grab the Sony MDX-EX51s (or 71). Also, I've had problems learning how to use the folders, but in fairness, I haven't read the manual yet. I would have also liked a better case for it....the clear belt clip is just ok, but again, I'm not going to return it (or dissuade you from buying it) because of crummy earbuds or accessories.
In all, I have little to complain about with this player. If the process of editing the track IDs was easier, I would have given this thing 5 stars, but overall, I am very pleased.
21 Serious flaws finally fixed?
1.12.01 firmware has been release to address the "clicking" sound produced during playback. Get this at www.creative.com.
Added comment: The rubber holder for the player, if left on for weeks on end, will somewhat scratch certain areas of the player. So if you're concerned about cosmetics, don't use it unless you have to.
Also, the V200 has been released outside the US - it's basically the N200 with a direct USB connection, so you don't have to use a cable. I don't know when it will be released in the States.
Revised Review:
I'd give this 4 stars now: This is a nicely compact mp3/wma player for 1 GB. It's not a USB type flash drive - instead you must use a cable to connect it to the USB port on your PC. Software consists of a player and an organizer so you can drag and drop files, and pretty much everything you need to rip music off CDs and transfer them onto the N200. Comes with a translucsent/ smoke colored rubber case with a belt clip attached to it. Also comes with a very long velcro-type arm strap. There is a small hole if you care to use a neckstrap (which is not included).Earbuds have decent bass but do not fit well in small ears and keep falling out or getting loose. I recommend getting a pair of the Sony closed-type earbuds (Fontopias).
There are a total of 4 control buttons on the player. 2 buttons for volume, one for on/off/play/pause, and one button "wheel" for forwarding through songs and for accessing the menu items. Microphone is built-in along with an FM radio. FM Reception appears to be decent. Blue backlight can be turned off or left on for 3, 5, 10, or 15 seconds. Every time you move the button "wheel" the backlight will be activated. Now, the problem with the backlight is that whenever it's on, you'll hear annoying static for the duration of the backlight. So, say, when you scroll to the next song, and if you have the backlight set to 3 seconds, for the first 3 seconds of the song you'll hear static along with the song intro. The new firmware addresses this. If you just got your player in mid-January of 2005, get the new firmware.
*****MAJOR PROBLEM***** regarding intermittent electronic crackling sounds - while listening to tunes on this player, I'll hear the occasional crackling sound, like there's a loose connection. This problem has been acknowledged by Creative and although not all players (odd, isn't it?) experience this problem, another firmware update in February of 2005 will address this. In the meantime, it's very annoying but if you're willing to wait a month (I am) then go for it. I haven't heard about this issue with other Muvo models so I'm eager to find out. It is a bit pricey for the storage space but remember this isn't a hard drive, but a flash drive. And for those who don't have a CD player in their car, just get a cassette adapter like the ones that come with portable CD players and plug it into the headphone input on the N200 for easy listening in your car. Also check out the new Mini Mac - less expensive for 1 GB storage.
PROS:
tiny, light, compact
flash, not hard drive based
good software provided
backlight
built-in 5-band EQ
language selection
built-in microphone
built-in FM radio
battery (one AAA) lasts about 15-16 hours
perfect size for exercising/running without having to swap songs constantly as on a 128 KB player
direct line-in to record from other sources
fast USB transfers
shuffle function
CONS:
earbuds don't fit small ears well
intermittent crackling sound during playback (new firmware will fix in Feb, 2005)
static while backlight is activated (new firmware will fix)
not a USB plug-in - cable needed and provided
pricey when compared to slightly larger storage space on HD-based players
2-line LCD screen may be annoyingly small for some to read
actual 1 GB not available - some of the apps take up space
