Is zen micro photo really worth buyi

i am not sure to buy it or not
can hear someone's opinions so i can make a decision
Pease
THANX

I've had the Microphoto for 3 days now and used it extensi'vely, also at the gym. I gotta say I was disappointed at first and was going to return it (for the reasons listed below), but since then was able to compromise/work around them and came to appreciate it's advantages. Here are MY initial cons and my dispositions after 3 days, as well as the pros....you decide how to weigh them:
Con:
- Static noise => The noise evidently is induced by the colour display, i.e. it's only there while the display is lit, which isn't usually the case, as the player shuts it off to save battery after a few seconds if the the touchpad isn't used
- No charger => Oh well, you can either charge it while connected to USB or buy an external charger for a few bucks on ebay
- No resume feature when changing playlists/changing to FM radio => Bookmarks can do the job just as well, it didn't take me very long to get used to it
- Slow upload => I still don't like that!
- Messy/faulty/lacking Media Organizer Software, e.g. external m3u playlists can't be imported directly to the player, freezes up etc. => That is still a big con, but I was told here that a 3rd party software (Notmad) can do everything the Creative software can't, unfortunately it's not free :-( but I guess I will get it.
Pros:
- Biggest pro has to be the HUGE memory (8GB) at a s size smaller (i.e. thinner) than the original Zen Micro. I don't think there is one player out there that squeezes that much memory in such a small palyer and still keeping the weight down.
- Using the custom equalizer settings the sound quality is superb IMO (and I've gone through 3 different mp3 players so far), in contrary to what people have reported here. Enabling the bass booster gives it an extra kick, I like it!
- Audio normalizer (normalizes all tracks to the same volume), that's a great feature!
- The display is bright and clear IMO (also contrary to what people said), there are 0 brightness/contrast settings, the highest making it extremely bright and flourescent. Mine is set to 7 which works just fine in daylight.
- The case seems very sturdy, almost indestructable, I think it's out of metal, no flimsy plastic pieces here as with most players
- The battery life seems very good, I haven't done a long enough field test yet, but after fully charging it and doing three .5 hour gym sessions, it's still charged more than half.
- Simply put: FM Tuner!! I refuse to get any Apple product, as they persistently ignore consumers' requests/complaints to add a lousy FM tuner to the iPods. What is Apple's problem anyway?
Well, the pros outweigh the cons in my case, my older player (Mpio FL00) just can't compete anymore, and iPods are out of the game because a) everybody has one (boring) and b) they have no FM Tuner......so I decided to keep the MicroPhoto hoping I will stay happy with it!

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Help with my Bran-New Creative Zen Micro Photo. [Questi

If you don't want to see the backing of my whole story skip to the bold print at the bottom!I also want you to know I read the FAQs and searched through some topics like this, but haven't found any asking my question.First of all, I'm new to the forum, but I've been researching Creative's Zen for a long time now. I kept observing each one closely before I purchased a product. I then saw the Zen Micro Photo come out. This one won my attention. I loved this, I quickly searched for reviews and went for the buy for Christmas. I told my dad about it and he was "iffy" on the price, but it was better then the iPod in my opinion.Christmas day came and I opened it. Right away I checked everything out I knew a lot about the menu already and all, but not really how to control it. I checked to make sure everything worked. All systems were go. After listening to the defaults (which I loved) I went to go install the software. I already had Media Player 0 and Adobe, oh and I didn't want the freakin AOL toolbar! Lol, so I installed everything else. It took forever, but I hooked it up and I installed the drivers, but as soon as I plug in the USB connector I see: "A HIGH-SPEED USB device has been plugged into a LOW SPEED USB port.After that, I switched USB ports, btu I got same message. I hit the X and then tried to charge. I got the Lightening Bolt, but no dimming of lights. I found out that this computer is not letting me install any service packs, I'm confused about that.My question:Is there anyway I can charge this mp3 player and download music onto my Zen Micro Photo without Service Pack ? Or did I just pay $250 for a really cool glowing mp3 player to be used as a paperweight? (I love this Zen and I ran the battery dead hoping that would make the charging easier).Help?
My Specifications:
My Mp3 Player: Zen Micro Photo (Black)What I tried: Switching USB ports and re-installing Service Pack Software: Not sure how to determine firmware without installing something. I'm on a XP Professional and I'm using the Creative Media Source and Creative Media Toolbox

Thank you DM for responding. I am expecting problems, but it still won't allow me to charge the Zen Micro Photo or even use the Creative Media Source. I can't upload any songs or any contacts on it. I haven't uploaded anything yet, but it's not reading the USB device. When I run Creative Zen Micro Photo Media Explorer I get this message at the top of the screen: "The device is not connected. Please connect your Zen MicroPhoto to the computer. I can't organize anything or add songs... so it just makes all the programs I downloaded useless and my Creative product unusuable.ONe thing it does do though... whenever I plug in my Zen MIcroPhoto to the USB it turns it on and glows, but only shows my battery at the top with one red line and the green lightening bolt filling the battery up.After leaving it like this for two hours the green moves, but the red bar stays the same size.

Need help with Zen Micro Photo: It stays in recovery m

Just recently, my zen micro photo has been staying in recovery mode. I have tried all of the four options available? to me in recovery mode. .) Clean up 2.) Formatt All 3.) Reload Firmware? 4.) Reboot. When I try "Reload Firmware". It doesn't really "reload". All it does is erase the current firmware, which it has done several times. My computer doesn't really realize the player. It doesn't allow me to acess my songs, which have already been deleted. It says the "Player is not connected". At first, I thought I needed to charge. I charged it to maximmum. The battery is "FULL". Also, the firmware update doesn't recognize the player either. Whenever I select the reboot option, my player reboots to recovery mode. This does no good, as I have tried all of the available options in recovery mode, and they have done no good. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.Message Edited by Damaniscool on 04-2-200707:29 PM

do you hear a sound from the hard dri've like it's stuck? this is common. if so, please search this forum for "hard dri've whack" or "percussi've repair".

Zen Micro photo.....HELP?

ok sooo.... i am an idiot..............one night after coming home i was running to catch a ride with my friend and on the way.....my zen micro photo fell outta my pocket and into the grass..............well the next morning i obviously couln't find it so i got in my car and drove to the place that i got the ride from- well i founf it in the grass. So i was real happy that i found it until i got home and all it does when i turn it on is go to that stupid recovery mode-----and it wont go any where else.......................it doesn't look damaged at all. UGH it makes me real mad some one PLEASE HELP and gimme some suggestions!!!!!ASAP

It really sucks about your player
...but it was concrete.
...and you've got a disk dri've inside there.
what do you think would happen if you dropped a desktop computer from 3 feet off the ground onto concrete?

Having big problems with Creative Zen Micro Photo!! I need much urgent help!

Hi. I am having a big problem with my MP3 Creative Zen Micro Photo device at the computer.Here is the thing:Before I bought this I had the regular Zen Micro & having fun with it. I had no problems with that when I used the Media Explorer to transfer songs. So I bought the Zen Micro Photo & installed it my computer. As normal I used the Media Explorer to transfer songs & pictures.So I reinstalled Windows XP at my computer, and when I installed the CD that followed to transfer new songs, the Windows said that it's an unknown thing I have connected in the USB.So I installed Service Pack & 2. I have tried to install drivers from the cd but it seems that there are no drivers on the cd! The big problem is that when I connect the MP3 to the computer, it doesn't read it's a Zen Micro, it's just unknown! So the Zen Micro Photo Media Explorer program doesn't work & I can't transfer songs or picture on it! And it just happened after I re-installed Windows on my computer. The same thing happened on my brother's computer after he re-installed windows. And when I connect the MP3 to the USB, it says that it's not a USB 2.0, but .! And I am sure it is 2.0 because it has always been like that before I re-installed windows. Also the MP3 does not re-charge when I put it my computer! The battery is just the same, it tries to do it but it doesn't. So I am using my sisters computer to charge the MP3 & transfer songs. I have tried everything but I can't seem to understand what the problem is? I have never experienced something like this before, and I really hope you can help me with this! To be honest I think what I am missing is the driver. So can someone PLEASE provide me the link for the driver? I have downloaded all those 3 on www.creative.com, but they are none of them! Also that playforsure firmawre thingy does not work because it sais that I have to connect my MP3, and it is connected already!Please reply as quick as possible! Thanks a lot for you kind help!
I have also sent this mail to creative support! But please help me I have had this problem for almost 2 months now! =(Message Edited by anakwalajinn on 05-0-2006 08:47 PM

Might try this:? http://forums.creative.com/creativel...mp=true#M95059

Zen micro photo wont char

okay, creative explorer picks it up. I can put music on it and everything but it doesn't charge! This is getting really bad. My Bat is already dead and i can't charge it. This is my second faulty zen micro photo in less the 7 days! Any reason why it wouldnt be charging? help would be greatly appreciated(<--spelling)

Won't charge? Can be a couple of reasons.
- There should be a blue pulsating light when charging and the flash icon should appear at the batt icon.
- The batt itself, player or even the USB cable may be faulty.
- The USB cable is not plugged in correctly.
If these 3 are not the cause, bring it back to the store and have them do a direct charging simulation for you.

Zen micro photo OTG photo trans

Can anyone please tell me wether pc free photo transfer (from digital camera), is possible with the zen micro photo or vision:m
Regards & thanks in advance

you need to get a device that's called "USB OTG Copy Bridge". I got one from Vivanco for 25 euro.
Here's info on it, but in German
http://www.vivanco.com/cms/com/detail_produkt?mv_session_id=UURIdUDP&mv_pc=27&mv_ arg=9590&own_key=562
I'm sure you can find sth similar in your neighborhood.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=usb+otg+copy+bridge&btnG=Search
I bought it also with the purpose of copying my photos to my Zen Mass Storage Data partition. Actually, I haven't used it yet, but it's good to have, I think.
EDIT : I've seen a few mp3 players that have the OTG function built-in, but these are really few, and were not reputable brands. None of the Creative MP3 players does the OTG directly, I believe. Hope it will be added to future players, though.Message Edited by fred_be9300 on 2-26-2005 :47 PM

Zen micro photo proble

ok so i've had my zen micro photo since last summer, which means that the creative lab crew wont help me since my purchase is over a year old. lame. well i had a minor 2 ft drop with my buddy, and it wont work. when i turn it on, it freezes on the "creative" screen. then when i get to the option window so i can attempt to clean it out, it wont work, i would like to say that it freezes also on all the options, but i cant really tell. those are i guess minor problems. i dont really know, but it also will occassionally make this odd "skipping" noise when i take the battery out and replace it so it will restart. this kid at Best Buy said that it has a small rotating disk on the inside and that it could of cracked or isnt on properly. but this is a drag. and you would think that i could just plug my baby into the computer with the USB cord,but now it wont even respond to the computer, or the computer wont recognize it. if you have any advice that would be swell.

i asked that same question because my zen micro broke no responded, but i did get a microphoto and have not had any problems yet.

Zen Micro Photo revi

Hey for people who wants to buy the zen mirco photo
saw tis review on the zen micro photo..its damm cool..
http://www.dapreview.net/content.php?review.232.0
Hope u will all like it...

It was useful to me!
I like the pictures of the ZMP so you can see how he really is.

Zen micro photo & Audi

I'm now leaning towards the Zen Micro photo. This question is really for Cat. Do you know if this player will be compatible with Audible as the Micro is?
Thanks,
Judi

Audible
Can I ask what is this thing called Audible and why are there so many demands for creative to support this? At least in spore frens I have say they never heard of Audible. Maybe it is only drawing ppl in the other parts of the world?

Zen-Micro Photo Freeze up H

I have had my Zen Micro Photo a little over 0 months and yesterday it froze up and I turned it off and back on and it just hangs at the Creative screen.
I have taken the battery out and placed it back it. I let the battery run down and re-charged it but nothing happened. ?I really need this thing to work. There is no reset button. Help.

From the FAQ on How do I access Rescue Mode/Recovery Mode on my player?: Creative Zen Micro and Zen MicroPhoto Players
. Make sure that battery is charged.
2. Detach your player from your PC, and ensure that it is turned off.
3. Remove the battery.
4. Move and hold the Power button to the Power On position and re-insert the battery to the Zen Micro. Hold the Power button until the Recovery Mode appears.
if you vote 'worst' for a post where I try to help you, I don't see much point in trying to help you. :|Message Edited by skb on 04--200708:04 PM

ZEN Micro Photo FM RADIO MO

Hello,
sorry for my englisch! It is not so good!
I bought the ZEN Micro Photo Player and I have tried the FM radio Modus.
It is very bad! Everytime i hear some crackle! Whatever position i try i hear the crackle!
Someone know what the problem is? It's a great pity, because everything else is good!
Thank you for a answer
GOGI79

You can change your 'theme' in display settings> theme and this will give you a range of colours in FM radio mode. FM radio will usually sound better outdoors. Check battery power also. If it is still really bad, contact customer support.

Zen Micro Photo Randomly Shutting Down

&Zen Micro Photo Randomly Shutting DownU Hello there,
I have a Zen microphoto which I ahve had for about 3 years now and the only problem i ahve ahd before was a software issue that was fixed easily. Now I will turn my player on and it will randomly shut off and reset all of my settings. It most commonly happens when I move it from a desk to my pocket. And sometimes when i boot it up it will be in recovery mode, sometimes not. Other times it will boot and there will be random colored pixels on the screen. I really need some help cause i dont want? to but a new Mp3 player.
Oh and i have reformatted and reloaded the firmware twice already.
Can anyone help me?

Information on LiON battery lifespans.
A lithium-ion battery provides 300-500 discharge/charge cycles. The battery prefers a partial rather than a full discharge. Frequent full discharges should be avoided when possible. Instead, charge the battery more often or use a larger battery. There is no concern of memory when applying unscheduled charges.
Although lithium-ion is memory-free in terms of performance deterioration, batteries with fuel gauges exhibit what engineers refer to as "digital memory". Here is the reason: Short discharges with subsequent recharges do not provide the periodic calibration needed to synchronize the fuel gauge with the battery's state-of-charge. A deliberate full discharge and recharge every 30 charges corrects this problem. Letting the battery run down to the cut-off point in the equipment will do this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate. (Read more in 'Choosing the right battery for portable computing', Part Two.)
Aging of lithium-ion is an issue that is often ignored. A lithium-ion battery in use typically lasts between 2-3 years. The capacity loss manifests itself in increased internal resistance caused by oxidation. Eventually, the cell resistance reaches a point where the pack can no longer deli'ver the stored energy although the battery may still have ample charge

My Zen Micro Photo 8gb has gone m

Hi all,?My Creative Zen micro Photo 8gb has gone a bit mad. It had a firmware update, and then wouldn't work. SO I hooked it up to the PC and nothing was happeneing. It tried to rebuild the library, but froze. So I followed tech suppourt, and formatted it, and lost all my music, and it wont do anything now. It gets to the Recovery Mde Screen, and does the following:?Clean Up: - Says it's cleaning up, but does nothing really. Format All: - Says formatting, and does so. Reload Firmware: NOW, here's the interesting one, I hook it up to download the firmware... AND the PC recognises it's plugged in, but the firmware application doesn't. Reboot: - Reboots straight into Recovery mode again!?Very frustrating. Can anyone help?Cheers

Mine too! It completely froze to Recovery mode, I can't even turn it off! I had to take off the batteries and when I open it, it's stuck in there. I had it replaced by Creative Labs. Btw, I commend their tech support. The email support is fast and very responsi've. A RMA was issued to me and they were able to replace it in a matter of days. Then my 2nd player (refurbished one,what I got back) was working for 7 days when it froze again. then it says rebuilding library or something..but it won't finish loading. It was stuck to that page, cannot turn off, had to take off batteries again. I did this 5 times, since it failed to reload the library. Afterwards, it displayed Hardware Failure.
Now, I'm currently waiting for their email feedback since I reported the problem again.
My advice, let them know. Hope you can work yours out.

[Zen Micro Photo] Stuck in b

My Zen Micro Photo gets stuck in the bootscreen. When I turn my Zen on it says "Creative" and after a couple of seconds "Zen Micro Photo". While "Zen Micro Photo" is in my screen it does nothing. I tried to take out the battery and turn it on again, but still nothing. Only after a couple of hours it starts working again.
It als doesn't connect properly with Windows XP.
The problem started a couple of days ago when I activated the removable harddri've mode on the Zen to connect it to Windows 2000.
Should a reload of the firmware help?

See the section "My Zen is not behaving properly, won't startup, or goes into rescue mode. What should I do?" in the FAQ.

Is zen micro photo really worth buyi

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