Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra 40 GB MP3 Player

Rating:
Summary: This player rocks!
Review: Yeah, the Zen is awesome. I debated back and forth for about three months over buying the Zen and the iPod. Eventually, I decided on the Zen. Why? Mainly for the issue of the battery of the iPod. From what I understand, the iPod's battery dies and will not hold a charge after about 18 months. And, when it dies, Apple replaces if for $100 and doesn't even send back your original iPod - so all the music which you put on it is lost. This does not seem to be the case with the Zen. However, now that Creative has (or is coming out with) a 40 GB version of the Zen touch model, that might be a better purchase, simply because the battery seems to last much longer. I can get the Zen's batter to last for about 9 hours on 20% contrast and a 5 second backlight, while still skipping tracks frequently.
Also, the headphone jack problem has been mentioned in some of the previous reviews. From what I understand, that problem was an earlier model of the Zen and Creative has fixed the headphone jack. I certainly have not had any problems with mine. Definitely a good buy!