Back in November I wrote that the next gadget that I was going to buy was the Creative Zen, and believe it or not, I did. That’s actually quite unusual for me, as more often than not a total information overload (damm Internet!) usually leaves me undecided for a very long time. At the last minute I almost listened to the little voice that said “What about that cheap iPod? It could double as an external hard drive” even though I don’t need one. I’m glad I didn’t listen because I’m totally in love with my Zen. It’s so perfect for me. Perfect size for watching a few videos now and again, perfect for popping into my pocket to walk down the road listening to some tunes. Perfect for flicking onto the radio to catch a news/traffic bulletin… oh, and the microphone is going to eventually come in handy during lectures (at least that’s the idea). It also has this one shortcut button that you can assign to open any application on the player – mine simply plays all my songs on shuffle, it’s seriously handy. You know what? I can’t imagine an iPod being so versatile… at all. Accessories wise, I bought a case for it but haven’t felt the need to actually use it, because it feels so sturdy in your palm. I also got a pair of Sony headphones (the standard creative ones in the box are seriously low end) and one of those sticky screen protectors so I don’t scratch it whilst it’s bouncing around with my keys and change.
There are some minor drawbacks, however. This IS of course the case with most technology these days (what, you expect it to work out of the box?!) Despite what the sales people drone, even an iPod won’t play your DVDs for you straight out of the box. A number of minor tweaks are required.
Guide to the Creative Zen
The first step with the Zen is to update the firmware for the device. Firmware is a computer program, it’s similar to an operating system (like Windows) and it can be updated in order to have new features added (just like Windows). You can find and download this on the Creative website, or directly from here (links to the European site). All you have to do is make sure your Zen is connected via USB before opening the downloaded file.
The second step is to download and install the newest version of Zen Media Explorer (this is a very handy utility for transferring files to the player), also on the Creative website, or here. Once this is done, your player and transferring files will run smoothly. If you don’t follow these two steps be prepared for the occasional need to reset the player and you might also encounter a few issues with transferring large numbers of files.
So, now you’ve got music… but what about a few videos? Personally, I don’t even bother ripping DVDs, I get all my video goodies online, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t still have to convert them. Unfortunately, Zen Media Player doesn’t convert videos very well (just trust me on that one). Thankfully there are many free converters out there. I currently use iRiverter, which you can download here. This will convert videos you’ve downloaded from the Internet, like movie trailers etc., but it will also convert DVDs to play on your Zen.
The reason I’ve chosen to recommend this software is because it is the fastest I’ve tried, but in order to get iRiverter working for you (as the name suggests, it’s not exactly designed with the Zen in mind), you’ll need to download this file (links to anythingbutipod.com, registration is required). The folder where you have installed iRiverter has a subfolder called “profiles”, unzip the file and save it in this subfolder. When you’re using iRiverter make sure that you change the device that you want to convert the DVD for to “iAudio” and then “D2″, the reason we do this is because the settings for the iAudio D2 player are the same as the Creative Zen.
Ripping DVDs is can seem like a daunting task, but all it requires is some patience and you’ll eventually get the hang of it. Depending on the length of your DVD, it can take quite some time to convert and this all depends on how much computer memory you have for the task. If you find it’s taking a long time, don’t sit and wait for it to finish, go be productive elsewhere for 30 minutes. Although, converting video files you already have on your computer takes very little time in comparison.
The Kindle friendly file you end up with is split into sections (one for each article) and can even handle images, and hyperlinks – so if you’re reading an article that mentions a secondary associated article you can click that link and the Kindle browser will open, you can even switch to “Article Mode” in this browser, and the Kindle will autofocus on the text content for you. Though I’m certainly not blown away by the “experimental” browser, it’s obvious that surfing the web is not something the Kindle was designed for.
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