Creative Zen Micro 5GB vs. Apple iPod Mini 4GBPrefaceThe Zen Micro is Creative's belated answer to the Apple iPod Mini. Coming eleven months late, and about 250,000 units behind, the Zen Micro is certainly a late-comer. But one thing you must understand is that Creative has actually been in the MP3 player market way before Apple did. But what made the Apple iPod so popular was the design, something which Creative is finally learning, or maybe, has learnt.
In our biggest, most comprehensive review ever, we pit the Creative Zen Micro against the Apple iPod Mini in the biggest fight between digital audio players, ever. First, we will touch on the Creative Zen Micro Asia Launch. Next, we take a look at the players, the navigation system. We'll also do some transfer benchmarks as well as battery tests. Read on to find out the outcome.
Creative Zen Micro Asia LaunchAs you can tell from the Zen Touch, Creative is trying very hard to muscle in on the large-capacity audio players, having been beaten by Apple's iPod until it was bruised and bleeding. What has Creative Chairman and CEO has to say about that? Well, we were invited to the Creative Zen Micro Asia Launch on 17 November to find out.
The event started off with some marketing hype, which I shall quickly go through.
- the 5GB Zen Micro can store 2500 songs, 1500 more than the competing iPod Mini
- it is the smallest micro-drive digital audio player
- "mersmerising blue glow"
- curved to fit naturally in the hand. Fifth is the
- vertical touchpad means "no more going round in circles"
- FM tuner, plus FM recording capability
- voice recording
- long playtime of 12 hours, 50% more than the iPod Mini
- organisation. Zen Micro can sync with Microsoft Outlook's Calendar, To-Do Lists and Address Book
After that, it was time for Mr Sim Wong Hoo, Chairman and CEO of Creative. Mr Sim introduced his "Take No Prisoners" approach. This meant Creative's aim was to "win in every respect". Mr Sim started off on the sound quality of the Creative audio players. He claims no other MP3 player has yet to reach a 98dB Signal-to-Noise ratio, something which Creative has been providing on its players. He also mentioned the "intuitive" verticle touchpad, and how it makes more sense since we scroll vertically on the mouse.
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