Zen Micro- reliability?!?

I purchased a zen micro and after 2 months it broke! i was able to turn it on and off by wiggling the headphone wire?!?! this ment it would turn itself on and waste my battery. I sent it back and got a replacement and now the touchpad has gone! when i try 2 turn the volume up/go up on a menu it goes down, as it does wen i scroll down on the touch pad. This means it is now on volume level 0 and i have no way of turning it up! Has anyone else had these problems? or am i just unlucky and have had 2 crap micros?

Some people have had problems, but it's difficult to say if there's a reliability issue short of seeing Creative's return figures (something we're unlikely to get!).
On your second player, have you tried a reset and a disk cleanup, and reloading the firmware?

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A way how to fix the Zen Micro head phone jack prob

Hi! I am one of the many people that purchased a Zen Micro MP3 player, I loved it until around 6 months of use, an audio shorting problem with the head phone jack, started to repeat it's self every time, that I would plug my head phone's into the Zen Micro head phone jack. After awhile, I was tired of this problem, so I just decided to never use it again, unless I could find out if the maker of the Zen Micro had a repair service. I noticed that some people had their Micro's replaced a few times under the warranty that is included with the player. I also noticed that some one created a way to fix this problem, but I wanted to see if I could find an easier way to fix the problem. Well I did end up finding an easier way to fix the problem, this is what I did.
Absolutely in all means I can't be held responsible / reliable for any unforseen thing / things, that you may or could, do to the Zen Micro, by following the instructions, which I provided. By trying what I did by following the instructions, which I provided you; you accept all responsibility to any thing / things, that may or could happen to the Zen Micro.
The Instructions:
I took a stapler pressed it down to get a used staple then I carefully inserted it in the outer part of the plastic head phone jack ring. Then I pressed the rest of the staple flat against the Zen micro. And Now I get great sound, it is at least better than, the way it was before I inserted the staple. I would suggest to always remove the staple. When you connect the Zen Micro to a computer, charging device, or any other device other than a pair of head phones. You understand that if you leave the staple inserted in the Zen Micro and don't remove it. While you have it connected to a computer, charging device, or any other device, or devices, even a pair of head phones, and some thing happens, you can't hold me responsible.
If you would like to see a photo of how it looks please reply to this message and just include your email address please. I will send it to you as soon as possible. The photo has 4 photos sized down to perfectly fit on one photo, so you can get a good idea of what it should look like.
Message Edited by theZenDude07 on 02-28-200707:45 PM

Thank you for the information, can I please have the photos so I dont destroy it entirely !. Take care,?Simon?(Dublin, Ireland)

Zen Micro w/ Headphone Jack Problem: RMA or n

Hi everyone,
I have a silver Zen Micro, and am currently experiencing this very annoying headphone jack problem where sound gets distorted depending on how I move the headphone jack. Additionally, my player turns on by itself occasionally when it's in my pocket-- I'm not really sure what kind of problem that is, but it's very fraustrating nonetheless.
I bought my player in late November, and it's already past the three month full warranty period, so I've been told that if I send it back for RMA, I will need to pay a $40 admininistrati've fee. Thing is, I'm a student in college, and don't have the money to pay for both shipping and repairs. And I don't really want to open my player up and risk damaging it either.
What do you think is the best course of action? Should I just send it back and pay $40? How reliable is the RMA process-- and what would happen if the same problem occurs again? Pay for shipping & repairs another time?!
Thanks,
Mark

Yes I totally agree with you man the problem is VERY annoying. This is my second Micro I got from Creative and it is having the same problem as the original one I bought and had to send in for 'repairs'... I'm not sure if I am still under the warranty but i dont want to go through the whole annoying process of doing the RMA stuff and possibly paying for the repairs. I just might do it myself... But the Mini is looking very nice right now.... :smileyvery-happy: Just joking.

Trouble playing/pausing with Zen Micro touch

I am having a fairly peculiar (and frustating) issue with my new Zen Micro's touchpad. For me, the Play "button" (area) works only sporatically. Here's the symptoms: I can reliably press the Play/Pause button with my thumb, but I can't reliably press play with the tip of my finger. I NEED to be able to do this since I set the player on my desk at work and will need to quickly hit the Pause button if something comes up (read: if I actually have to work).
I have the latest firmware, so that isn't a solution for me and I have tried playing with different sensitivity settings. After playing around quite a bit, I have determined that the button requires something wide pressing down on it to work. The narrow tip of my finger doesn't work, but the (wider) side of my thumb or even 2 finger tips work great.
Has anyone experienced something similar to this? Is my player functioning normally? Any help is much appreciated.

i have the same problem. back, forward and volume control works fine. sometime much too good
but play, back and menu is only reacting sometimes for me.
and thats the second player i have. had the same prob with the first and got a new one from the vendor.
someone here could help out a little plz? can you all use the play button with the tip of your finger ?Message Edited by washi on 02-23-2005 0:47 AM

Zen Micro: how many are working proper

I bought a Zen Micro for my daughter for Christmas and finally sent it back because it was having the docking problems. I have reguarly read the messages in this forum since then, waiting for an indication that the problem has been fixed. I have read many ideas of what is causing it, from USB ., USB 2.0, usb cables, full battery charge, etc., but no consistent solution. I have also read many posts in which people say most are not having any problem.
So, my request is, if you have a Zen Micro, and you have had no problems at all, please post a message with when you bought yours, and the firmware and software you are using. Thanks a lot for your help. I'm just trying to figure out if it is worth it to take a chance again. I don't want an Ipod with $00 non-user replaceable batteries.

Bought my dark blue Limited Edition in mid-December from Amazon.com. I first charged the unit before doing anything else and it hung up upon completion of that first charge. Removed and replaced the battery and have had no further hangs of any sort. I upgraded to .0.03 right away and am still there. I mostly load music by syncing with WMP 0 and even without the MTP support it works fine for me. I also use Notmad Explorer occassionally to manipulate playlists. It works fine too.
My only problem is I cannot reliably use the touch pad. I'm always selecting the wrong thing or skipping over what I want. Since I love everything else about the ZM, I'm living with the touch pad. I have tried both low and high sensitivity settings and it seems to work slightly better at the high setting.
I haven't actually timed my battery life, but I'm guessing I'm getting somewhere around 8-0 hours playing WMA at 96kbps with Smart Volume off and only occassional use of EQ. I usually disconnect the headphones when the unit is turned off, but I don't know if that changes anything. I try to run the battery quite low (no bars or low battery warning) before a full charge, but I do let it charge for a while sometimes while its connected to the USB port on the PC.
Unlike some, I have been very pleased with the FM radio. I get good reception even at work in my ground floor office of a mostly metal building. That's with the stock earphones.
I started out using USB ., but added USB 2.0 to my computer (Windows XP SP2) and had no trouble with either. I have not seen the problem some have reported about problems when the battery is fully charged.
One last thing... I have 697 songs on my ZM, with about 2.8 GB of free space.
Randy
Message Edited by RMoore on <SPAN class=date_text>0-28-2005 <SPAN class=time_text>04:33 PM
Message Edited by RMoore on 0-28-2005 04:34 PM

ZEN TOUCH or Zen Micro? Which is bett

I'm interested in buying one or the other but am unsure which to purchase. I like the fact that Zen Micro has repeat, resume and random play as well as a stand and belt clip. I also like the fact that it has fm radio and comes in lots of colors. But I love the fact that Zen Touch has a larger storage capacity and is already compatible with WMP 0 without having to hopefully download additional software. Which has a better sound capacity? I have quite a bit of songs with a heavy bass from club songs as well as
hip hop/r &b tracks. Also does either player play songs longer than 4 minutes? I have a couple of songs that are about 9 minutes long. I'm looking for one that is the most user friendly and will not be something I'll have to replace anytime soon because I've run out of space. Does anyone know if the the Zrn Touch will be coming out in various colors like the micro? Any insight into a good choice is greatly appreciated.

Many things are taken into consideration between the touch and micro. Here are some.
Touch
- has more hard dri've space
2- Has a dedicated volume button and has a mix of buttons and touchpad(lot of ppl like that)
3- People seem to have a lot of prob with the touch software and touch does not offer EAX options
4- The LCD light could use a fixing.
Micro
- Smaller HD than the touch (5 GB)
2- Comes with a lot of features for its price. (FM, MIC, date and planner, removable disc mode, etc)
3- Better looking and is more compact and smaller, fits almost newhere.
4 - Software is better and is more reliable, plus removable battery.
5 - 0 colors to choose from.
6 - Comes with a few of accesories ( Belt clip, stand, pouch)
Final - I have tried both the touch and micro for 2 months respecti'vely and the micro is better cause of its many features and creative really stepped up and fixed many problems that people were having with the touch so i suggest u go with the ZEN micro

Zen Micro Unsuitability of Prod

It seems that everything that I want to say has already been said by other discgruntled Zen Micro customers. The headphone jack failed on my Zen Micro. I asked for a repllacement, which I was duly sent, and then found to my utter dismay that the on-off button on the replacement unit didn't work. I have to use my Zen by carrying around my charger and plugging it in every time I want to use it.
Oh ... and then (surprise surpsirse) the head phone jack on the replacement unit failed. Before all the problems I experienced, I recommended this to at least 3 other people. I feel embarrassed about that now.
Can anyone suggest a reliable MP3 player, other than an iPod, that I can buy to replace this one which gives me nothing but problems?

Zen MicroPhoto is a very good player. Don't be scared by all the complaints about the MicroPhoto here, I know a few people, including myself, that have never had a problem with it. Although if you really want somethng nice, invest in a Zen Vision M. This looks like a really cool player, and I would get one if I had the money right now.

Zen Micro Problem- Email support not helpin

I tried email support, I waited over 24 hours just to have someone tell me to upgrade the firmware. I know this is not the problem and I have the upgraded firmware. I thought I would bring my problem here for assistance since I am getting canned responses from the email support team. Heres the problem:?Sunday Night- I put my Zen Micro on the USB charger, I have a trip on Monday and wanted to be sure I have a full charge. Monday morning- I notice that the Zen Micro is on, and has a blank screen. I can see a little line at the bottom, I can scroll through the keys but nothing on the screen. I take the battery out and put the unit away, at this point I have to leave and I opt not to take the unit with me.
Friday- I come back from my trip and decide to further research my problem. I find that I cannot reset the unit, I cannot access the restore screen. I hold the power in the ON position and insert the battery. I wait about 5 seconds, nothing is happening so I let off the power. At this point I get a blank screen. I plugged the unit into the USB charger (unit is off) and I get a blank screen. The blue LED light around the unit dims and brightens which to me indicates it is charging. Windows XP gives me the found new hardware wizard but Media player 0 attempts to locate the device and comes back to tell me to connect the device. I just bought this unit in December and was not expecting it to fail me this soon.
Saturday- I email support. The support team emails me back after 24 hours and gives me the firmware upgrade canned response. I have replied to that email but I would like to get this resolved pretty quick since I am now week into this ordeal.
I do alot of flying, the MP3 player makes the long flights a little more tolerable. This is my first time to purchase a creative unit. I weeded through some threads here and found other folks with the same problem. I assume that Creative Labs is aware of this problem and working to implement a fix soon that will resolve any future problems. I have my email headers, and contact information available upon request. I look forward to a speedy and sensible solution to this problem. Sincerely,Tim

What I am learning is that customer service is not really service. I was telling everybody about my great Zen Micro but, if I don't get a timely response, will start spreading the word. It's?frustrating to spend money on a product that doesn't even last eight months and that they don't support. I want to buy reliable electronics from companies that stand behind them. I wonder what it takes to get their attention.

Zen Micro No

Turning on my Zen Micro produces a screen that says "CREATIVE", glows for two more seconds and then shuts off. I have a full charge on my battery. I've tried to reset without success. I tried to reformat but couldn't even choose an option from the menu before it shuts down. Please help.

I had the same problem and thought I had a charged battery....
Try plugging in the battery charger and then starting the player.
If the player still shuts down you need to contact Creative for a solution.
I also get no indicator that the player is charging the battery when it is plugged into the charger. The battery does charge however.
Will be glad when I get a firmware that resolves all if the gremlins the ZEN Micro seems to have. I still can not connect to my PC reliably with the 2.00.2 firmware. Have tried several PC's running XP SP2 Pro. XP recognizes the player but the player hangs in "Docked" mode and I have to do a remove the battery, reset, disk cleanup to get things back. bummer

Zen Micro for £99.99

Anyone know where I can pick up one of these for under a ?00. I swear I saw one recently for ?99.99 but deleted the link as I already had one. Now I have gone and broken mine, I wanna get another one. Maybe its because it christmas and people have put their prices up.
Any advice would be gratefully received
Cheers
Alex

mhayward259 wrote:
Hi, Before you waste your ?00 have a look at the problems experienced by Zen Micro Owners on this forum. There are hardly any that have had trouble free use of a Micro, over 80% of them suffer total failure of the device within 6 months of ownership. The One Year Old Zen Micro Owners Cub has extremely limited membership, see details in this forum.
Before you waste time listening to mhayward259 remember that his figures have no basis in reality. The only folks who know the real reliability of the Creative players are Creative.

Pros and cons of updating firmware 1.01.03 to 1.11.01 on Zen Micro

I have a Zen Micro 5.0 gb unit with original firmware of .0.03. It works fine with no problems except for the 24 hour standby time. I use Red Chair Notmad software to add or delete mp3's and drag and drop worksreally well for me. If I update the firmware to ..0 I can eliminate the24 hour standby time and cut it down to the 4 hour time. If I do this will I run into any of the problems that I read about in this forum when people update to the latest firmware of 2.2.02, or will I stillhave a steady, reliable firmware with the .0.0 with the addition of the 4 hour standby? Also can I still use the red Chair Notmad software(the latest version) and it still work like my current firmware?Please give me your pros and cons about this. Thanks a lot,?Jim

There are no real cons. ..0 is very stable.
I use Notmad with it and it works great. However, now that Creative has made an MTP driver for pre-Windows XP machines, the 2.x series firmware looks like a decent alternati've, though I haven't tried it.Message Edited by Lyle_JP on 03-23-2006:56 AM

Problem with my Zen Micro's sound j

Okay, I am getting very, VERY sick of all the hassle with this litlte piece of junk.My Zen Micro has had a series of problems and, personally, I just want rid of the little beast. But, unfortunately, I'm not one of those cliche upper-class Canadian kids who can harass their parents into getting them a new one. So, I guess I just want to know if anyone's got any suggestions for me in my predicament.My Zen Micro's headphone jack recently became faulty and, as I have had multiple problems with it, I'm used to this. So I brought it back to the place I got it from and requested, very calmly, for them to ship it out for repairs. And, just my luck, that complany recently got into an argument with Creative and will no longer carry, service, or support their products. WONDERFUL.My warranty is going to be void in a matter of days and I'm very, VERY frustrated. This means they're no longer honouring my warranty, and, to me, that's just NOT COOL. I would like to stress that this is the HEADPHONE JACK AND NOT MY HEADPHONES. And, yes, I'm sure. I believe I was unlucky enough to get one of the ones where it wasn't properly sautered... and I don't know what to do about it. I guess, at this point, seeing as it seems like I'm left without any other options, I'm just gonna crack the thing open and try to fix it myself unless someone can suggest anything more logical. All I'd like from you guys is to know if anyone has had similar experiences or problems and can give me any suggestions or tell me how I might go about repairing it.

Yep, Philazen, that's it exactly. The jack is really sensiti've, and I usually end up in some really obscure position - with the cord of my headphones wrapped around my finger or a piece (or 20) of tape holding the headphone jack in a very specific place - if I want an at all reliable connection. I was told by the people who sold it to me a few months ago (only AFTER I returned my first one) that there were some faulty models of Zen Micros near the very beginning where the sound jack only had 2 pieces of sauter and let go very easily. However, it's also apparently a topic they're very touchy about and deny ever happening, but hey, at this point, I can only assume that's the case for me.Beasts indeed.
Message Edited by Sevyn on <SPAN class=date_text>08-6-2006 <SPAN class=time_text>05:34 PM
Message Edited by Sevyn on 08-6-2006 05:35 PM

Zen Micro Headphone port prob

i have had an 5GB Zen micro for half a year now since my first one completly failed after updating the firmware. The current one i have the headphone port is becomin less reliable since 26/02/06 and this mostly seems to happen when i put it in my pocket, which mostly happens during leason and n my 6th form common room and on my bus and when i do put it in my pocket the sound quality instently degrades to low volume also if i nudge the socket at all the same problem happens. what should i do ask Creative to repair it or return the product to currys and get a replacment??

This is a known problem with the zen micro... Because its oviously a manufacturer defect, You need to contact customer support and demand that your micro is repaired or replaced immediately...
If the warranty for the micro is the same as the neeon, then you should have about half a year left on it... so dont let them give ya that "out of warranty" crap either...

Zen Micro Power Switch Prob

I have had my 6gb Zen Micro for about a month now and have been very pleased. But this morning, to my horror, when I woke up and tried to turn it on the power switch wouldn'work. My Micro still turns on if you put the battery in, and the hold feature still works, but when I shift the switch to the left to turn it on or off nothing happens. I haven't droppped it once or messed with anything in it. I don't know what to do. Has anyone had this problem before? Does anyone have any advice on something to try or what to do?

My Zen Micro has recently developed the same problem. I contacted Support, and they have informed me that I have to pay a $25 fee to get it fixed, and that amount could grow based on the cost of repairs. Quite frankly, I'm upset. This is twice that the player has failed. I RMA'd the first due to a headphone jack problem (which was caused by faulty wiring, which Creative will refuse to admit). This second player has a similar issue. The electronic contacts must not be built/soldered correctly. I will not be recomending this player to anyone I care about, as Creative has proven to have terrible support and exquisitely terrible design. I will not be purchasing another Creative product, due to my lack of confidence in this player. Creative has not even made an attempt to solve my problem, only directing me to the self-guided website that merely showed how unresponsi've their support really is. They have now supplied me with RMA information for my refurbished player, to send into them. I will not likely send this player in. Instead, I'll go peddle the piece of junk off on Ebay, and take the money and put it towards a player that's been proven to be more reliable than Creative's Zen series - an iPod. I know that word is almost a profanity in these forums, but Creative hasn't left me much of a choice. Goodbye Creative, I hope you won't miss my money. As much as I don't like to support Apple, I'm going to now. So enjoy your angered and frustrated Zen users who you don't seem to want to serve. Maybe once you start making quality products again, I might consider buying in.
-A disgruntled former-Zen user.Message Edited by AbandonedHero on 0-30-2006:07 PM

Zen Micro and USB cab

My Zen Micro seems to be very fussy about what USB cables it will work with, to the point that the ONLY cable that it will reliably work with is the one supplied with the unit. Is this normal? If so, what exactly is special about the cable supplied with the Micro? If so, are there any other cables that will work well with the unit's
Thanks!
Olyinaz

There are certainly good and bad quality USB cables, although I've never had a device refuse to use one yet. Does the Micro cable have filter blocks at either end before the plugs?

Zen Micro- reliability?!?

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