Creative Zen Touch Vs. Mi

I am looking for a new mp3 player to buy, and would like to get a creative one but I am having a few problems, hoping some of you could help me.
On the tocuh version (20gig) is there ANY way that you could make it so you can use it as an external dri've (so you don't have to install the software)? Then, once the battery dies (not discharges but I mean dies) what do you do? On the Ipod you could hack it and put another one in for a much cheaper price than apple offers, but what do you do with the zen touch?
And for the Zen Micro is there a way where you can use it with plain windows explorer (drag and drop).
For someone that has tried both, which would you recommend?
Thank you all for your comments.

Note the headphone jack fiasco has not been confirmed (read below). There is only speculation and hope that someone at Creative has worked out how to turn on the soldering iron.
As for the battery fiasco, Creative have 'officially' said that they intend to release updated firmware this month that should reduce 'sleep/standby mode' from 24 hours to 4. Fingers crossed!
DreL wrote:
how do u tell if u have the fixed batch of zen micros?
[b]Based on information within this forum, the last known hardware revisions has been November 2004. And this revisions was not to the headphone jack, but to the faceplate.</B>
To date, no one can officially confirm if the headphone jack on newer players has been revised. There have been Creative (Phone) Technical Support implying changes have been made to the jack, however this has been verified by a forum moderator to be false. There are however, "ongoing hardware revisions" which you can interpret how you like, but don't appear to impact the headphone jack design/manufacture.
Right now, if you believe the estimated numbers, only a minority of owners are affected. Alternati'vely, those who have opened the Zen Micro will concur the headphone jack is extremely vulnerable due to it's weak connection to the circuit board (which consist of 3 "glued" points). It is only time before this is a growing problem due to the poor design described.
Do you buy a Zen Micro and take the risk or wait until the issue is resolved? The answer really depends on how good you are with a solder gun...

Similar Messages

  • Creative zen touch problem - mediasource says it's emp

    i've had my creative zen touch for more than a year and a half and used it every day with it working fine. a couple of weeks ago mediasource loaded it as empty on my pc. however all my music is still on it and i can play directly from the player but not through my computer. i've tried opening the player through other programs but this doesn't work either. i've tried uninstalling and reinstalling all of the creative software that came on the cd with it (mediasource, nomad explorer etc.) but it hasn't worked. does anybody know why this is and how i can fix the problem it's a bit annoying because i can't put any new music on it. thanks very much in advance. jonny.

    Hello Roknoch,
    Welcome to Creative forums!
    You might want to check on these threads:
    Scroll Pads gone Bad
    ZEN touch: Button on face not responding

  • Having Trouble with Creative Zen Touch 20G

    Hey everybody. I bought me a 20G Creative Zen Touch (you know, the one where the scroll thing is in the middle of the player, vertically?). Anyway, i bought it a couple of weeks ago and it's pretty **bleep** cool. No problems with it.....until today. I was watering the lawn, listening to my music (no, it didn't get wet), when all of a sudden it stopped working all together. Well, at first i saw some "Voice Recording" thing i had never seen before and no matter what i pushed, nothing happened. I couldn't even turn it off. I tapped it on the side, then it began working again. I decided to shut it off and put it in my room. Later when i went back to it,it wouldn't turn back on at all!!! Even though it's battery was charged, i decided to plug it into the charger where, once i plugged it in, i got a screen that said:
    <EM>"CREATIVE ZEN</EM>
    <EM>Copyright (c) 2004</EM>
    <EM>Creative Technology Ltd.</EM>
    <EM>All Rights Reserved"</EM>
    And thats how it is currently: Nothing at all happens when it's disconnected from the charger and i try to turn it on. When connected to the charger, i get said screen, but thats it. No music, not even the blue backlight or the blue blinking light on the power button indicating that it's charging. :smileyindifferent:
    Can someone tell me what's going on/how to fix this? We have been getting unbelievably hot weather here in So. Cal and i have the feeling that the hot temperature may have something to do with this. I've tried keeping the player in the coolest place in the house (besides the freezer) which would be near a fan so it could be in a cooler place, but even leaving it in such place for a couple hours isn't helping me.

    Hey buddy
    same problem with me. The zen got little moist due to rain, after that it froze at the 'Creative screen' that too comes on when i connect it to charger. I disconnected the battery, it worked for a while but it is back to same position now. It dosent responds to resetting pin... nothing happens it is dead. Only when i disconnect battey and connect charger ... give it a big whack it works for a while then hangs again.
    Still trying my stuff on it. Otherwise i will format it and reload the firmware later on.
    if u get any solution let me know on [email][email protected]][email protected][/url]
    thankx

  • Creative Zen Touch stuck in Recovery M

    Bear with me please since my english is not the best, but I'll try to explain my problem as good as I can.
    Both me and my girlfriend have Creative Zen Touch mp3-players, and yesterday we were gonna update the firmware on both of them. We went to the Creative support page download-section and downloaded the latest one. When we were gonan install it it gave us the message that all data would be removed and that was fine with us since we already had plans about removing most of the music and replace it with new tunes. But when we were installing the firware it statrted out just fine but then when it said "Player is being rebooted, please wait..." (or something like that) it just was like that for a long time. After 20 minutes my patience ran out and I unplugged my device and tried with my girldfriends instead. Same thing happened with hers so now both our players are stuck in recovery mode with no firmware what so ever in them. I tried installing the firmware once again on both of them but now it can't the firmware just says my device isn't plugged in even though it is and my computer finds it as soon as I plug it in.
    I contacted support and they told me to uninstall everything that has to do with the player and also remove Windows Media Player and all of its components. The reinstall the drivers and restart my computer. Then I should wait until my device told me to updtae the firmware to press the language selection on the firmware update. I did all of this but the firmware upadate still says my player isn't connected. This happens with my girldfriends player too, so it can't be any defect on the device.
    So right now we're sitting on two mp3 players that are useless since they are stuck in recovery mode with no firmware. Please help me if you can and please keep in mind to not use too difficult english words. Thanks in advance!
    Worth mentioning is that I've tried both the old and new firmware updates just to get it going and no one worked.
    LukinMessage Edited by Lukinx on 07-7-200706:0 AM

    Can't believe no ones answered this, check this thread ttp://forums.creative.com/showthread.php?=94247 then look for Rich's post in the thread, check his link for more info.
    Basically uninstall wmp, and it's run time and reboot
    Be using XP
    try to install creatives latest plays for sure software suite (it will fail)
    Don't unplug the player just reboot
    Player should be found, ignore all messages of any kind
    Go to FW update and double click it
    Hopefully breathe a happy sigh of relief.
    Creative you really are a bunch of toerags
    Message Edited by Del369 on 07-7-200702:23 PM

  • The Creative Zen Touch Movement: Active Creative Us

    Who out there wants a skin for their Creative Zen Touch? Who is tired of the monopoly that Vaja cases has and forces you to buy their horrific case for 70 Big Ones? Who is tired of the Creative Case that is included and is extremely bulky and doesnt even have a screen to see what you are doing? Are you not tired of having to take the Zen Touch of the cases everytime you want to do something? Are you tired of users that have Iri'ver and Apple's Ipod having infinite accessory choices while you are limited to 2 case choices? If your answers to these questions were yes, this is the new movement for you. This movement will bombard companies like Iskin and xSkin with emails asking them to provide a Creative Zen touch alternati've for cases that are protecti've, photogenic, and sleek. This method works because Iskin and xskin want to make $$$ and with more emails they know they will make more money. My Ipod counterparts show off their Ipods and protecti've them with the xskin exo3 which is only 0.7mm thick, and cannot defend my creative zen touch because I have a bulky case that makes it 3 times as big. With a skin, my creative will be protected from scratchs, perfect for style points, and i dont have to take it out of a case everytime I want to change anything. This movement worked on the Iri'ver site where they overloaded the system with emails for Iri'ver skin requests, and 3 months later, Iskin rolls out a skin for the Iri'ver. We can do the same. I encourage you to assist me in this movement so we can bring the Creative Zen Touch to the top of all mp3 players trampling the Ipod and Iri'ver alltogether. Now whos with me? Its time for action because we are the Acti've Creative Zen Touch Users
    We are sending emails to these sites
    http://www.iskin.com/store/I2feedback.tpl
    On this site fill in your name and email and then paste this message (below) into the comment zone:
    The Creative Zen Touch Skin Movement
    This is the Creative Movement brought to you by Creative Zen Touch users. We have had enough with the horrible cases that are offered to us as choices. We are look to towards you for salvation. We kindly ask that you create a skin for the Creative Zen Touch, our forums are overloaded with request. The market for a skin for the Zen Touch has great potential to grow and we offer you as our first choice to do so. We are tired of the Ipod and Iri'ver users who can show off their sleek mp3 player complimented by a sleek skin and a screen protector. We wish we can do the same. We want to level the playing field for all mp3 players and we are asking you to do so. I have talked to over 80,000 creative zen touch users via the Creative Forum and they are all urging for a skin and are willing to buy it. That is a great potential market you have in front of you. Thank you for your deep consideration. This movement is lead by Creative user dmai7.
    - Your Concerned and Ambitious Customer

    actually about the skin thing
    if u wanna change the skin of your touch you ll have to brake the warranty patch that is over a screw and with it end your warranty time.
    for stuff that sticks over the case its alright
    and yes there should be more accessories to this thing
    have fun

  • Connecting Creative Zen Touch to Stereo (Bose Lifestyle Syst

    Hi Folks,?A bit of a naf question, I want to connect my Creative Zen Touch to a Bose Life Style System, To provide the best quality Audio connection can you advise what is the best cable for me to use. On a seperate note has anyone any comments on the Cambridge SoundWorks Dock Station, I would like something to connect the Zen Touch to for the kitchen, the cambridge sounddock id a bit of an ugly beast. Is there anything a little easier on the eye but with the same excellent audio quality. Thanks in advance for any help?Earlsie

    scorpian007 wrote:
    If you have RCA inputs on your stereo, just buy a 3.5mm to 2 RCA cable and connect it that way. If not, buy an FM transmitter, connect it to the headphone jack on your Zen Touch, set it to a channel and then tune into that channel on the stereo's radio.
    Hope that hel
    ps.
    Here's a pic & link too:
    http://www.radioshack.com/images/ProductCatalog/ProductImage/42/42-2483.jpg">
    You can buy it at any RadioShack (in America) and in Canada I would assume FutureShop would have it as well as any local electronics store.

  • Creative Zen Touch Skin PLEEEAASSEEE HELP!!!

    Who out there wants a skin for their Creative Zen Touch? Who is tired of the monopoly that Vaja cases has and forces you to buy their horrific case for 70 Big Ones? Who is tired of the Creative Case that is included and is extremely bulky and doesnt even have a screen to see what you are doing? Are you not tired of having to take the Zen Touch of the cases everytime you want to do something? Are you tired of users that have Iri'ver and Apple's Ipod having infinite accessory choices while you are limited to 2 case choices? If your answers to these questions were yes, this is the new movement for you. This movement will bombard companies like Iskin and xSkin with emails asking them to provide a Creative Zen touch alternati've for cases that are protecti've, photogenic, and sleek. This method works because Iskin and xskin want to make $$$ and with more emails they know they will make more money. My Ipod counterparts show off their Ipods and protecti've them with the xskin exo3 which is only 0.7mm thick, and cannot defend my creative zen touch because I have a bulky case that makes it 3 times as big. With a skin, my creative will be protected from scratchs, perfect for style points, and i dont have to take it out of a case everytime I want to change anything. This movement worked on the Iri'ver site where they overloaded the system with emails for Iri'ver skin requests, and 3 months later, Iskin rolls out a skin for the Iri'ver. We can do the same. I encourage you to assist me in this movement so we can bring the Creative Zen Touch to the top of all mp3 players trampling the Ipod and Iri'ver alltogether. Now whos with me? Its time for action because we are the Acti've Creative Zen Touch Users
    We are sending emails to these sites
    http://www.iskin.com/store/I2feedback.tpl
    On this site fill in your name and email and then paste this message (below) into the comment zone:
    The Creative Zen Touch Skin Movement
    This is the Creative Movement brought to you by Creative Zen Touch users. We have had enough with the horrible cases that are offered to us as choices. We are look to towards you for salvation. We kindly ask that you create a skin for the Creative Zen Touch, our forums are overloaded with request. The market for a skin for the Zen Touch has great potential to grow and we offer you as our first choice to do so. We are tired of the Ipod and Iri'ver users who can show off their sleek mp3 player complimented by a sleek skin and a screen protector. We wish we can do the same. We want to level the playing field for all mp3 players and we are asking you to do so. I have talked to over 80,000 creative zen touch users via the Creative Forum and they are all urging for a skin and are willing to buy it. That is a great potential market you have in front of you. Thank you for your deep consideration. This movement is lead by Creative user dmai7.
    - Your Concerned and Ambitious Customer

    my god, THANK YOU FOR SOMEONE SAYING THIS, man, they got em out there, but only in the UK, and i dont know about you, but i li've in the US and im dying for the exspect skins to be in the us, can SOMEONE please tell me where to get them in the US or someone make them, cmon guys at creative, if they can do it, you sure can

  • Creative Zen Touch - Hard drive problems - HD upgr

    Hi!
    I bought my Creative Zen Touch almost a year ago now. Yesterday my hard dri've went crazy. The sound was a funky rythm, 0 DJ "scrathes" then one more high-pitched sound. In the Rescue menu I try to format the hard dri've and it responds with "Hard dri've problems."
    Yes, it has fallen down several times. I don't know what caused it to malfunction this time though. It suddenly just stopped working. It looks like a mess, was bought over internet under the name of a mother of my frien; to make a long story short. I have no warranty :/
    So here's what I decided; I opened it up to take a look inside it. Here's what I found:
    - One loose battery, too much dirt on the sticky stuff.
    - One hard dri've, model: HTC424020F7AT00
    And here is my main questions:
    - Can I use a 40gb Hitachi dri've in my 20GB Zen Touch? This is just the big brother, so the dri'ves are pretty much the same except storage space. http://tinyurl.com/4yurr
    Thanks
    - KennethMessage Edited by Kgjersda on 09-6-2005 04:4 PM

    <FONT color=#339900>Tweaking 'n' Hacking Your <EM>Creative</EM> <EM>Zen</EM> <EM>Touch</EM> <EM>20GB</EM>
    Thanks for your reply SSR. I'm a clueless as to what the controller is, but at least I've found out that the <EM>Creative</EM> <EM>Zen</EM> <EM>Touch</EM> <EM>20GB</EM> uses a .8" harddri've. So the larger <EM>Fujitsu</EM> <EM>Siemens</EM> 2.5" dri'ves, which the <EM>Creative</EM> <EM>Nomad</EM> <EM>Zen</EM> <EM>Players</EM> use, aren't compatible.
    For anyone reading this post who wants a step-by-step guide to upgrading the harddri've of a <EM>Creative</EM> <EM>Nomad</EM> <EM>Zen</EM> <EM>Player </EM>(but NOT the <EM>Creative</EM> <EM>Zen</EM> <EM>Touch</EM> <EM>20GB</EM>), visit <EM>PC World</EM> magazine online for a "how to" article: http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article...67,pg,7,00.asp
    <IMG src="http://images.pcworld.com/howto/graphics/9267-2303p075-7b.jpg">
    If anyone has experience of tweaking/hacking the <EM>Creative Zen Touch 20GB</EM> or if anyone should come across a similar "how to" guide for upgrading its harddri've (and knows of specific models of compatible .8" hardri'ves) - then please post on this forum.
    Cheers........... Tim Holmes.

  • CREATIVE ZEN TOUCH - CUSTOMER SERVICE WONT H

    CREATIVE, i will never ever buy another product from you again and will encourage all others not to buy from you because of your poor customer service. My problem is not with the product as such, i own a Creative Zen Touch and until about?6 weeks ago everything was going fine, when i formatted my harddri've. It was then i relised i had misplaced my Zen Touch software CD, so as you'd expect the first place to look would be this website.. off i go looking around the store and customer support, i even sent an email.. to be fair i did receive an automated response about tunring off the Zen and trying again (useless when i need a software cd howevere), so i waited a while (a week) to see if they'd reply - which they didn't. So, i then sent another which ended with the same result., and then again with the same results. Just now i finally called customer support (paying intl call-rates) and all i got was an automated response telling me to log onto the customer-support page on the website. ARGHH!!?Basically if anyone, ANYONE can please please tell me where i can get the Creative Zen Touch software CD it would very very very very very appreciated as i go on holiday in two weeks and i don't really want to fork out more cash on an I-Pod or I-Pod alternati've (never again will i buy Creative). Angry-customerMessage Edited by angry-customer on 03-29-20060:46 PM

    Clearly, this is not true.
    Despite seeing everywhere that "firmware available via USB from creative.com" the Creative Sleek Photo has no firmware that is available online anywhere and when you ask, everyone from customer support talks to you as if you have 5 heads for even suggesting that it should be available like anything else is.
    This IS ridiculous and I too, have no more interest in Creative products despite purchasing my last 2 MP3 players from this brand, I'm done with this mess. It's frustrating beyond belief that a simple fix turns into a huge fiasco all because the company has no real rhyme or reason for failing to offer any support for a product, instead forcing you to send said product in the mail to take weeks for something that otherwise take a few minutes.
    Truly absurd.

  • Creative Zen Touch 20GB - Windows Vista

    (Creative Zen Touch 20GB - Windows Vista6 Hi folks,
    My old computer running XP recently gave up on me and I now have a new computer using Vista.
    I have lost the cd I got with my Zen Touch as it was over 5 years ago now but it still works perfectly!
    I want to set up Creative Media Player on Vista so I can start transferring music again but I have heard that if I download the firmwear I will lose all the songs that are currently stored. I really don't want this to happen as most of my music was contained on my old PC and it will be very hard to locate it all again so if there was a way I could just set up Creative Media Player the same way I had it before, without losing all my current music, that would be great!
    Any help much appreciated.
    Thanks,
    Pob

    Pob wrote:
    Hi folks,
    My old computer running XP recently gave up on me and I now have a new computer using Vista.
    I have lost the cd I got with my Zen Touch as it was over 5 years ago now but it still works perfectly!
    I want to set up Creative Media Player on Vista so I can start transferring music again but I have heard that if I download the firmwear I will lose all the songs that are currently stored. I really don't want this to happen as most of my music was contained on my old PC and it will be very hard to locate it all again so if there was a way I could just set up Creative Media Player the same way I had it before, without losing all my current music, that would be great!
    Any help much appreciated.
    Thanks,
    Pob
    This should get you going? http://mrinternet.wordpress.com/2007...ether-finally/

  • Creative zen touch problem

    creative zen touch proHi, the touchpad on my zen touch has suddenly stopped working, my touchpad works but not properly..anywhere i touch it, it only goes down never up. i am unable to scroll up through my menu an through the recovery mode to make a firmware update and i can not tun of my creative zen touch please If you have any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

    Hello Roknoch,
    Welcome to Creative forums!
    You might want to check on these threads:
    Scroll Pads gone Bad
    ZEN touch: Button on face not responding

  • Creative ZEN TOUCH and Macs, plz h

    Hi,
    I am considering buying a Creative Zen Touch and would like some help
    I was wondering if anyone could answer this for me, and yes, I have the read the FAQ and about Macs and how it isnt officially supported, yada yada
    What I would like to know is, I have a PC at home which I will use to transfer music
    HOWEVER
    At Uni'versity, I am forced to use a Mac computer. What I want to know is, I would like to use the Zen Touch as a portable hard dri've so I can copy my homework (not mp3s, but school work) on to the Zen Touch, then go to Uni'versity, plug in the mp3 player into the Mac and access my DATA files from the Mac WITHOUT having to install any software (i.e. plug n play)
    Thanks,

    peterh85,
    I'm afraid you can't. The player will need driver and application installed in order to link up with the computer for file transfer. Even when MTP firmware is available, you will need to be using Windows XP and Window Media Player 0 to interact with the player.
    Jason

  • My Creative Zen Touch is refusing to work! HE

    Ive got the 20GB Creative Zen Touch Mp3 Player and today, it just stopped working. Its less than a month old, didnt get knocked or anything. I put it down on my desk at college, an hour later, i picked it up and left, tried to turn it on and it won't work. I had about 3000 songs on it too. Before you say the battery has probably run out... Ive tried that! Does anyone have any ideas about what to do to sort it out other than sending it off? Anyone know how to get the songs off their if I do have to get it repaired? The person at Currys told me I would loose all the songs on their if I sent it off for repair, so any help from anyone is welcome. Thanks

    read this: http://forums.creative.com/creativel...essage.id=2383
    the same problem.

  • Creative Zen Touch no longer docking; problem has appeared out of the bl

    For the last couple of years, I've used my Creative Zen Touch without any issues. I managed to upgrade to the MTP firmware with no troubles whatsoever. When I tried to plug it in a few days ago and add a number of songs, the computer no longer recognised the player. The USB ports seem fine, and when I plug it in the player boots. It doesn't come up with the "docked" screen on the player, however, and in Windows a "trying to add new hardware wizard" window pops up that never used to pop up before. Whatever I try to do, it never works. I'm using Windows XP SP2 and like I said, I never used to have any issues before until this popped out completely unexpected. It just won't realise that the Zen Touch is a MTP player for some reason!

    The people on the forum who would respond are customers, like you, being rude to them probably won't encourage them to help.
    These two pages contain some useful tips, have you checked these yet?
    http://us.creative.com/support/kb/ar...p?l=2&sid=0053
    http://us.creative.com/support/kb/ar...p?l=2&sid=9287
    Cat

  • I just reset my computer How do i get the music from my Creative Zen Touch onto my computer aga

    Hi, I just had to reset my computer and i lost all my music... how do i get the music from my Creative Zen Touch onto my computer so i can listen to music again on my computer?

    itsVASH,
    Basically you do the reverse of how you got it onto the player to begin with. You will open up mediasource, select the Zen Touch in the left hand source window, select PC Music Library on the right hand side. Select your songs and press the arrow pointing to the right.
    Jeremy

  • How to transfer files from Creative Zen Touch to Creative Vision:

    Is there a way to transfer my music files from my Creative Zen Touch to my Vision:M?If so, can someone tell me how to do this. ?I know this has probably been asked before but I am new on this message board and am in need of assistance. It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

    If you have both the player and you're using MediaSource, just connect both the player to the computer, select one of the player as source and the other as destination and just transfer over it. Note, protected content will not be transfer over though.
    JasonMessage Edited by Jason-CL on 03-27-2006 06:54 PM

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