Creative Labs Silver Nomad Jukebox "C" (MP3/WMA)
The affordable, hand-held NOMAD Jukebox C lets you enjoy portable MP3 music at an irresistible price. You can listen to, store, and carry around your MP3 music in style with your choice of a classic silver or metallic blue. Approximately the size of a portable CD player, the NOMAD Jukebox C has 6GB capacity to store up to 100 hours of CD-quality MP3 music. That's like having a 150+ CD changer in the palm of your hand! The versatility, extensive connectivity, and complete accessory line available with your NOMAD Jukebox C make it the most versatile and affordable member of the Jukebox family. The NOMAD Jukebox supports standard MP3, WMA, and WAV formats and it is geared for access to future audio formats. Upgradeable technology allows new features and enhancements to be downloaded to it when available. With the NOMAD Jukebox, you can keep up with the ever-evolving world of digital music and be on the cutting edge of digital audio technology. EAX audio technology delivers an unsurpassed listening experience by adding customizable effects to NOMAD Jukebox. With a whole range of EAX effects and applications, you can create a completely personalized listening experience.
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 such as joggers and snowboarders. We cracked open the box, inserted the rechargeable batteries, 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 roughly six minutes per 100 MB, which translates to about 25 songs. (So far, we've loaded 861 songs and we still have 2.3 GB of storage left.) 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 they can 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), which 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 resistant to shock and motion, 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
The Creative Nomad Jukebox C is a portable, multiformat, compressed audio player with intuitive navigation for easy categorizing and classifying of content. You'll be able to bring up to the equivalent of 150 CDs with you anywhere--in your car, to your office, or to a party! 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 have, it stores approximately 100 hours of CD-quality audio or up to 2,600 hours of spoken word content. Unlike other hard drive-based solutions, the Nomad Jukebox C offers an onboard, real-time digital signal processor for superior audio playback and customization. The Nomad Jukebox C is SDMI-capable and supports file formats such as MP3, WMA, and WAV. 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 up the playback of files, an especially helpful feature if you are running through the minutes of a meeting you just recorded or are listening to other spoken-word content. The Nomad Jukebox C offers USB interface for lightning-fast data transfer between your Nomad Jukebox C and your PC or Macintosh. It includes four rechargeable NiMH AA batteries. Note that the Nomad Jukebox C does not include a carrying pouch or headphones.
Creative Labs Silver Nomad Jukebox "C" (MP3/WMA) Accessories
Creative Labs Silver Nomad Jukebox "C" (MP3/WMA) Reviews
It doesn't have the memory, but it's less frustrating - they actualy answer the phone & offer advice. I bought the product a few months ago & enjoyed its use - great sound & functionality (I'd have given 4 stars).
Going back to my good old Rio 500 (purchased 2 years ago & still working beautifully). I'd like to send the unit to them to have it repaired (I'm assuming the hard drive needs replacement)and would gladly pay any costs, including shipping, which I have explained multiple times to the sales rep answering the phone.
No answers.Unfortunately, I am at the end of my rope & decided it's a sunk cost. LESSON LEARNED: DON'T BUY FROM A ONE PRODUCT COMPANY.
The sales department is the only one who picks up the phone & won't give any further information about support or repair. I have, since then, tried every available method for getting in touch with Creative's tech support department - multiple emails (all unanswered) & phone calls (on hold for ++45 minutes EVERY TIME with never an answer regardless of the time of day).
Unfortunately, a friend sent it crashing to the floor & it stopped working completely.
I purchased my first Nomad for my wife 12/2000. The batteries did work a little better this time, for a while, but now (again past the 90 days) I am getting very little battery life again. I bought it for my wife to walk with.Oh, well. I assume I am stuck with a unit that only plays plugged in. to repair, even if it was something simple.Because I liked the concept of the Nomad I purchased another. We had problems with the battery charger, but because of some personal issues, didn't return within 90 days. When I contacted technical support, they said they had worked out the problems with the batteries, but that because I was out of warrenty, I would be better off buying a new one as they would charge me.
Imagine my dismay when I install the rechargable batteries that come with this unit, only to discover that they will not charge. You must first charge the batteries in a charger unit (not included) before the Nomad will detect them. Imagine my further dismay when I install the freshly-charged batteries (charged for 12 continuous hours, per the instructions) and watch the battery meter fall from 95% to 67% in a little less than 10 minutes. Oh, and by the way, if the charge drops below 65%, you won't have enough power to save playlists or other system settings.Battery issues aside, the performance of the Nomad Jukebox is decent.
Sound quality is good, and the filing system is a passable method for finding the song you want. The Nomad *should* charge the batteries when it is plugged in to its AC adapter, but alas, that is not what happens. If you are looking for a stationary MP3 library, then this product is aptly named; a big jukebox that must be plugged in wherever you want to use it. There are much better MP3 players out there, such as Apple's iPod, which should come down in price within the year.
And that's with the backlight off. If you want portability, look elsewhere.
Also, the battery life is very short. Creative has extremely poor tech support and will NOT lookup customer information to allow you to return a defective item if you no longer have the receipt. I tossed mine after a couple of weeks because it was working OK. Getting playcenter to recognize the device to transfer files to/from the computer is also a challenge and requires a strange combination of plugging in/unplugging, turning off/on, etc.The only good thing about the unit is the large storage capacity, but that is useless if the unit does not work.For such a high-priced item I am extremely dissapointed in Creative and this experience has taught me to never buy anything from them again. They have an uncaring attitude.While it was working it would often crash and require me to restart it. If you buy this unit, make sure to retain the original receipt. Just after that it started having problems and stopped working altogether.
Do it. :) If you want this with you at the gym, for example, you will need to purchase a different carrying case, as the one that comes with the player doesn't have any straps or the like. I still have an amazing amount of space left to start moving some CD's.Although it is only slightly larger than a portable CD player, and a little on the heavy side, it is still pretty portable.
This replaced the 10GB D-Link Roq-It, which had the WORST sound quality possible. I am totally happy with my 2nd choice and was able to quickly move my entire library off the computer and onto the Nomad. I'd also recommend getting a better pair of headphones. The set that comes with the player, which come around the back of your neck, leave much to be desired when it comes to sound quality.
Once I switched to an existing pair of Sony's that clip over each ear, the sound was EXACTLY what I was hoping for.Overall, this is a great machine, with a memory capacity that should be far more than the average used will need, and won't be outdated for your purposes anytime soon.
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