Creative Technology Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra (30 GB) MP3 Player

This is one of the best mp3 players to hit the market.

Great Sound
Great Battery life
removable battery is a huge plus because it lets you put another in when you run out.
Much better priced then the ipod as well!

Definatly recommend this to people.

I picked my Zen Xtra up at a bestbuy for 200 dollars, at the time much cheaper than a 30 gb ipod. This is such a great mp3 player, i use it all the time and it hasn't failed me yet. However the one thing this has, the only thing this has that the ipods don't is a color screen, which is starting to bother me. However you have to ask yourself,is a color screen worth the 150 dollars?
-Jack

I got this open box @ circuit city for $180 bucks. I should have bought the service protection on this one. I have been really hard on it without meaning to be hard on it.
It has tons of space and is easy to use, I think. I just kept putting it in my pocket and moving around so it fell out. ARG! It did work for a full year though!

I have had this for almost three years...never have had a problem with it! I love it. It is so easy to use, the battery holds a charge for a very long time, and when it does finally run out, i will be able to replace it easily...no need to MAIL IT BACK TO THE COMPANY, like other popular mp3's... i think it is a great product and way exceeded my expectations.
I got my kids the smaller micro one....they like them too...

I'm a person who loves my music. I write it, play it, listen to it, talk about it, live it, breathe it. So, believe me when I tell you that having high quality music around me at all times is important.

As my music collection expanded, I needed to get a larger MP3 player, and I started to search around for a 30 gig. Obviously, I looked at iPods, but I wasn't really all that impressed for the price I was paying. As I searched around for alternatives, the Creative Zen really caught my eye.

Feature wise, it easily keeps pace with the older iPod's, with such things as custom playlists, track searching etc. It holds 30 gigabytes of songs, which is more than enough to keep you entertained for a long, long time.

The interface it uses is surprisingly simple, with self explanatory menus and it's extremely easy to synchronize your music collection with it using Windows Media Player. My only complaint about the interface is it's a little bland, but who really cares about that? It's all about the music.

In fact, that's really my only complaint about the whole unit. It's a little bigger than modern MP3 players, and the interface isn't flashy. Other than that, it's everything you could ask for in music device. When you can get one as cheaply as you can with this, why bother with an iPod or anything else? Get a Zen.

After much research I bought this MP3 player and have not regretted it. It is far less expensive than the IPod and works just as well. My only complaint about this player is its size. It is a bit too bulky for my liking, but the price easily makes up for this.

I bought this MP3 player years ago and it serves me well today. It has endured 105F temperatures in my car for days on end and still hasnt broken. To top it off it has excellent sound, and storage for an unbeatable price.

Well, here it is, a full year since I've purchased my Zen Xtra (used even) and I'm still gonzo over this thing. It goes with me to work, in the car, to parties, on trips, and home again. This is my first MP3 player and I've since purchased a smaller [flash memory] player for working out and the beach.

I'm a former radio programming guy who groups his music into formats/genres and really enjoy being able to switch over to whatever type of music fits the mood and or occasion. [much like tuning into radio stations, but without the commercials or cost of satellite subscription] The library and indexing features are supurb and the sound quality is great. I've only had to do the reset thing once [for reasons unknown] and it rebuilt it's files without a hitch.

Other than nubbing I get from snooty pod owners for calling my "ersatz" pod a "pod" (oops) all is well in Zenland. This has been and should continue to be a solid performer until the next newer, better, moustrap happens along.

(10/07) Another year and spare change goes by and we're still tuning happily
along. It's and still my primary musical companion.

(11/08) Still feeling the love.. Many many more hours of rock steady performance have gone by. Throw into the mix - a couple of Birthday Parties, a Pirate party, a wedding on Lake Mead (including the pre-wedding bash) all pulled off without fail or hiccup. This thing is a working commercial for itself. Oh, and I still have not found a better mousetrap.

I couldn't justify the extra cost for a iPod . . . Isn't the smallest thing in the world, but for me, that wasn't a problem. I needed the room and prefer WMA format. Right now I have around 10,000 songs on here, all compressed to 64kbps WMA format and I still haven't filled it up. I really can't complain about anything on this player, it's really just very well made and designed.

Originally written July 24, 2005.

Well, this is the 3rd Creative product I have purchased and I'm just as satisfied. I was pondering getting this, the Creative Zen Micro 5GB MP3 Player, or the Creative Zen Touch 20GB MP3 Player. I actually slept on the Zen 40 gig when it was under $200.00. Not this time, I got the 30 gig for $180.00 and I'm very happy.

Other than not having a Radio, it has the features that make or break a MP3 player. I can create Play list on the fly if I desire, import playlist from the computer. There are a zillion EQ settings with the ability to customize my own.

The sound is great, even at 64 kbps WMA format. For hundreds less that the so called leaders, this is a true value and I'm so glad I finally made the purchase. I know I'm forgetting some items, but I'm listening to it as I type and load my CD's onto my computer. This MP3 player is everything I'll ever need.

Recommended:
Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 180.00
Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection

Update: June 15, 2006.
Well, a year later and my review is pretty much the same. I can say that I have had a couple (2 times this happened) of instances where the unit has frozen completely and I had to either reboot or remove and replace (same battery) the battery. This has been a great product for me and I have moved on to the Archos AV500 (sorry Zen Vision M, not enough features to compete). Now the 40 and 60 gig units can be purchased for much less than what I originally paid. Great device, Monk....

I liked the features and sound it had. I bought it because It was a good deal. The Display is very nice and the detachable battery was a definate plus, so then when it did run out after 14 hours, you could replace it with a charged one. So its cool.

I bought this two years ago because I wanted a large capacity MP3 player, but didn't want an ipod, given how difficult it is to transfer files on them. This unit has performed very well, although it is a bit dated with the blue display. But if you're looking for a 30Gb player that sounds great at a budget, this is the one to get. The great thing is it can also be used as a portable hard drive.

I personally like all of the creative players. First they are far less anal about what music you can put on them, the ipod requires the use of itunes and when you have a horde of music that you paid for and it all goes kaput when your computer goes belly up, its a real pain. Wich a creative player you can just load whatever you want. On top of that the only disadvantage is that they are a bit larger for the most part, but they are also cheaper and if you are savy and know how to repair them if you need to they are easier to get apart and fix or upgrade. This particular model line even has a removable battery pack to easily replace it should the batteries start losing their effectiveness. Best for the money by far.

The Creative Zen Xtra 30gb MP3 player is probably the best bargain if you are looking for an MP3 player that has a lot of storage. Averaging between about $95 and $115 on ebay for 30-40gb, the Xtra is a far better buy than the Ipods which average between $200 and $300 for the same storage. One small complaint that I have is the large size of the MP3 player, but for such a low price, the extra bulk was worth it. The only other copmlaint that I have is that when I first started using it, it froze when i turned it on every once in a while, but this is my 3rd year with it, and i havent had any problems with it in the last 2 years.

After doing a lot of research on MP3 players I decided that the Nomad Jukebox would be the one for me. If you are not into current top 40 music but like historical as well as current music and you have a ton of CDs in your collection then an MP3 player with a large hard drive is probably what you need too. I have close to 2500 songs on the hard drive and it is about half full.

So far, I’ve put about 80% of my CDs on this player. I hook it up to my car, my home entertainment system, and I play it thru ear buds at night to go to sleep. NO more CDs to fool with!

Pros:
 laptop hard drive is cheap and replaceable
 battery is cheap and replaceable (I bought a 2nd one for it)
 large capacity
 has more functions than the current Creative Labs hard drive MP3 players
 scroll function is easy
 create permanent play lists
 create your own temp playlists on-the-fly

Cons:
 Bulkier and heavier than current models
 Software it comes with is not too great
 The support and download page is terrible
 No longer available in most stores

he got the player here faster then i expected.he upgraded my shipping on his own and paid extra from his own pocket to speed up the shipping process. I find this as a positive and a surprise. The player was better then he described it adding to the value recieved in the transaction. he gets my highest recomendtion.

This Nomad Zen Xtra have an excellent sound and big storage capacity. Maybe something not to good for me is the size. The cost is another factor I love from this transaction.

I researched this player thoroughly against all other models and decided that it was, for me, the best value for the dollar for the large storage hard-disk players. So far, even though this used player is used, it has performed flawlessly and still pumps out the tunes.

Make sure that the unit has been taken care of well, and it should perform for many years.

I bought one of these I think 2 years ago, maybe less. I payed $200 for a brand new one. It's $200 for 30GB of storage is a great deal. You'll pay $200 for a 2GB iPod.

BUT, the Zen Xtra is big and bulky. It doesn't have nearly as many accessories available to it like the iPods do. Actually, no MP3 player does.

I also found that my iPod Nano has MUCH BETTER SOUND QUALITY. I found that weird considering CREATIVE Labs is one of the top Sound Card makers.

Overall, if sound quality isn't your top priority like it is for me, the Zen Xtra is great for you. You get a WHOLE LOT MORE storage for the money and they aren't to bad lookin either.

The 30GB hard drive is adequate. But a larger LCD with color would be an improvement. The battery life could also be extended. Menu navigation is somewhat slow and difficult due to the number of buttons as well as size and sensitivity levels. The PC connection and MediaSource Navigator software works, but is also over-engineered. Size and weight are acceptable. Overall, the Zen is a very good unit.