Electronics

Creative Labs NOMAD 6 GB MP3 Player Silver
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Apple 10 GB iPod (M8976LL/A, April 2003 Version)
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Apple 10 GB 2nd Generation iPod M8709LL/A
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Apple 30 GB iPod with Video Playback White
Apple 20 GB iPod Photo U2 Special Edition MA127LL/A
Creative Zen Touch 20 GB MP3 Player

Creative Labs NOMAD 6 GB MP3 Player Silver

Average customer rating:

OK, but needs help
2 years later and still going strong
First Generation Jukebox, functional but has quirks
Serious QC Problems
All problems have solutions

Creative Labs NOMAD 6 GB MP3 Player Silver

Manufacturer: Creative Labs
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

MP3 Players & Accessories | Creative Labs | Brands | Electronics Features | Electronics

Audio & Video | Refurbished & Used | Special Features | Electronics Features | Electronics
Accessories:

NETGEAR Wireless Digital Music Player
Energizer CHM4FC Battery Charger High Energy
Koss KTX-Pro Portable Stereophone
Koss SportaPro Stereo Headphones
D-Link DSB-H4 4-Port USB 1.1 Hub

Product Features:

Portable digital audio player with 6 GB of built-in storage (over 100 hours of CD-quality music)
Plays MP3 files; upgradable to support other formats (such as WMA) and is SDMI compliant
USB interface for fast digital transfer; compatible with Windows and Mac
Weighs only 14 ounces and measures the size of a portable CD player
Comes with headphones, rechargeable batteries, AC adapter, and carrying pouch; " In the Media: ""Creative Lab's Nomad Jukebox is a monster product for the serious digital music freak."" --Pen Computing"

ASIN: B00004XO1V

Amazon.com Review

One of our biggest frustrations with MP3 players has been their limited storage capacity. You'll typically get 64 MB via internal memory or memory cards, which provides just a little over an hour of near CD-quality MP3 audio. So when we heard that Creative was releasing a 6 GB player that can hold over 100 hours of music, it sounded perfect. Soon we'd be rifling through a massive catalog of tunes on our little player, from Elvis Costello to LL Cool J to Miles Davis, whenever the whim struck.

The Nomad Jukebox is essentially a portable hard drive with software that will play MP3 audio. Since hard drives include spinning and moving parts, this player is not ideal for active MP3 users from joggers to snowboarders.

We cracked open the box, inserted the rechargeable batteries (two sets of four AAs are included), plugged in the AC adapter, and waited the recommended 12 hours for them to charge initially. This is a very important step. This was our second set of batteries--we didn't bother to heed Creative's initial charging directions when we first got the product, and our first set of batteries soon lost the capacity to be recharged.

After installing the included software (we tested the Jukebox on a Macintosh G4 using SoundJam MP; for PCs, Creative includes PlayCenter 2) and connecting the USB cable, we quickly deleted 2 GB of starter MP3 and audiobook files and started loading our own music. We started with about 500 songs, but noticed after the load had finished that not all the songs made it onto the Jukebox. Also, the SoundJam software didn't like us doing any other work on our Mac G4, stalling out the load whenever we switched to another program.

We found it was best to load in smaller numbers and to keep SoundJam up as the active application (unfortunately, not the most efficient use of computer time). The transfer rate is about 6 minutes per 100 MB, which translates to around 25 songs. (So far, we've loaded 861 songs and we still have over 2.3 GB left of storage.)

Once music has been transferred to the Jukebox, you need to create an active playing list by navigating one of three lists--artists, albums, and genres--then adding songs to the queue. (This points out the need for creating thorough ID3 tags, an electronic label that can include song title, track number, year, and more. ID3 tags can be created via the PlayCenter and SoundJam software manually or be imported from the online CDDB database. For more information about tagging, see the Amazon.com Making MP3s Guide.) Playlists can be saved in the Jukebox, though it can be a bit tedious (there's no keyboard), and you can't add songs to an existing playlist.

The Jukebox also sports some nice additions. It has a line-in recording capability (using an external microphone) that records WAV files that can be adjusted for optimal (or low-end) sound quality, and it can play audiobooks.

The biggest downside to the Nomad Jukebox is its portability. As noted, it does run on rechargeable batteries, but they'll last far less than the advertised two hours. Also, this isn't the device to take jogging; its internal hard drive, though somewhat shock and motion resistant, just won't take that kind of activity. It's really made for stationary play using its included AC adapter.

It also has a few playback glitches, the biggest being that you can't fast- forward or rewind within a song. Also, there's no bookmark feature for audiobook listening--a necessity for long files.

Ultimately, the Creative Nomad Jukebox isn't perfect and isn't suited for everyone's MP3 needs. But it has become a staple of our gadget life--it travels with us daily to the office and hooks in nicely into stereo systems, both at home and at friends' houses. Someday, we'll all wonder what we did without an MP3 jukebox. --Agen G.N. Schmitz

Pros:

6 GB of storage is massive--over 1,000 songs
Several methods for selecting playlist songs (artist, album, and genre)
Line-out for connecting to stereo systems, and line-in for recording

Cons:

Battery power is sucked up quickly
Prone to skipping/stalling when used in heavy activity

Amazon.com Product Description

The Creative NOMAD Jukebox is a portable, multiformat, compressed audio player with intuitive navigation for easy categorizing and classifying of content. Measuring about the size of a portable CD player and weighing only 14 ounces, this EAX-certified digital audio player features 6 GB of storage capacity. With far more memory than most portable digital audio players, it stores approximately 100 hours of CD-quality audio (equivalent to about 150 albums) or up to 2,600 hours of spoken word content. Unlike other hard drive-based solutions, the NOMAD Jukebox offers an onboard real-time digital signal processor for superior audio playback and customization. The NOMAD Jukebox is SDMI-capable and supports file formats such as MP3, WAV, and WMA.

Other highlights of this player include special effects algorithms that alter the way your music sounds, making it seem as if you are listening in a concert hall, in a stone room, or in a forest. You also have the flexibility to adjust the treble, bass, and middle tones to your liking. You can slow and speed the playback of files, a feature that is particularly helpful if you are running through the minutes of a meeting you just recorded or are listening to other spoken word content.

The NOMAD Jukebox offers USB interface for lightning-fast data transfer between your NOMAD Jukebox and your PC or Macintosh. It includes headphones and four rechargeable NiMH AA batteries.

Product Description

Merge your entire collection of MP3s and CDs in one compact device, and you'll never run out of your favorite tunes. With its 6GB storage capacity, NOMAD Jukebox allows you to store an amazingly large collection - over 150 CDs of digital music! All from a compact, portable design.NOMAD Jukebox features EAX audio technologies to enhance your audio experience. Enjoy surround sound with the FourPointSurround speaker support, or change the Headphones Spatialization Settings for realistic music environments, anywhere! EAX's adjustable playback speed lets you adjust the playback of your MP3 music and voice files without compromising audibility. Ideal for picking up tips from digital audio books and for running through the details of that meeting you just had. The NOMAD Jukebox supports advanced recording features via the line-in jack. You can record from external devices - even replacing a DAT with dual band recording up to 48 kHz. Your recordings can then be ported back to the PC with the bundled Creative PlayCenter 2 software, for editing and encoding using your favorite music or audio production tools. NOMAD Jukebox offers support for MP3 and WAV formats. Its firmware is designed to support additional digital audio formats and software extensions. Hardware-ready, NOMAD Jukebox is geared for access to future releases of SDMI compliant content too. Finally, you can turn your PC into an entertainment powerhouse. Creative, the leader in PC audio and digital entertainment now offers fully integrated Personal Digital Entertainment (PDE) Solutions. PDE leverages the power of the PC to create enhanced audio and video entertainment experiences.

Customer Reviews:

OK, but needs help.......2006-01-11

This is a OK unit for playback and storage, but i don't know if i would buy another one. the controls on the face are poorly stenciled with their control function, which wears off quickly making each control unreadable after awhile (built-in obsolescence?). my unit is about 4 years old (nomad jukebox-6 gig) and creative no longer supports the product. i cannot upgrade either the drivers or the playstation software (2.5) which is needed to transfer files from computer to MP3 player. so what use is this unit now? i seriously doubt i would buy another creative product.

2 years later and still going strong.......2004-06-16

While my Nomad Jukebox's structural integrity depends heavily upon duct tape, it still works like a charm. I've managed to break it a few times, and it was always pretty easy to repair just by ripping off the fuzzy things on the bottom and unscrewing those delightful miniscrews to reveal the magical guts of the player. Sometimes it gets fussy if I start and stop and start and stop like 3 different songs, but that's what the reset button is for. My only complaint is that USB 1.1 just seems so slow these days, I wish there was a magic wand that would all of a sudden give it some firewire capability.

First Generation Jukebox, functional but has quirks.......2003-04-13

I bought this jukebox about a year ago before the version 2 came out. And boy did I get buyer's remorse when a few months later Creative introduced the Jukebox 2 with lithium batteries. I could not get more than 1-1/2 hrs with the enclosed batteries, and the Jukebox would reboot sometimes when going over a bump in the car. However I do enjoy the 6 GB of storage (now they have Jukeboxes with 40Gigs!), and since my CD collection isn't so large, I get to have it all with me. I bought a car adaptor, [it was out of stock in the Creative online store for months, and I did not get it until 6 months later]. In the meantime, I could only use it for getting to sleep hooked to the AC adaptor.

One more thing, to the person who said that his jukebox would not even turn on with and without the batteries. You need to stick a pin or paper clip into the reset hole in the back while turning it on or off [if it is hung in the off position]. I read how you bought all those accessories and feel for you.

Serious QC Problems.......2002-11-15

Do not buy Creative lab products. After contacting customer service multiple times about a warranty item, I talked to one of their techs, who said that they estimate 10% product failure on their products. My options were to pay to have it fixed, with another 10% chance that the repair could fail, or get the broken part back. They do not stand up behind their products. Don't throw your money away.

All problems have solutions.......2002-08-29

... I'm using WindowsXP with a 6gb model, and after converting my MP3s to WMAs(they take up half the size without noticeable quality loss) with "Plus! Audio Converter", I can fit nearly 3500 songs on the thing. There is also a great new Firmwear version that is better than the one in the newest "Jukebox 3." Simply go to Yahoo.com and search for "Nomad Jukebox" and you'll soon find Firmware v4.0. This new firmware converts the volume control into a scrolly-wheely thing that makes finding songs SO easy, and the UI is very intuitive and simple to figure out and use, the only thing that's difficult about it is that it's so different from the last crappy ones that it's hard to get the hang of. As for battery life--I've got 2 sets of the Creative batteries and the AC adaptor that collect dust in the drawer. I went down to RadioShack and bought a pair of hi-cap NiMH batteries for $$$ and a charger for $$$, and I get nearly 5 hours of playback. There is absolutely no problem with this jukebox if you do a few non-warranty-voiding altercations to it.

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