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Creative Labs 20 GB NOMAD Jukebox 3

Creative Labs 20 GB NOMAD Jukebox 3

List Price: $299.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Really Great product
Review: I bought this product because of the many features it has. I particularly like the fact that you can record from other players onto it. You can take a line in off of your computer and record streaming audio to listen to later. The USB 1 is reasonble,although USB 2 would be nice. It only takes about 1-2 seconds per song to load. The button layout takes a little getting used to, but once you do, it becomes intuitive. The line out feature is realy great because it pumps a nice strong signal out for you receiver. Another nice thing is the smart volume control. Like when you are on a train and you have turned up the volume to hear a really soft part of a song, and then you get to a loud part, it wn't blow out your ears (and believe me, it can over good headphones). My only gripes are that it is a bit on the big side. But if you have problems wih this, imagine how big a CD player and 200 some odd CDs will be. This is a really great product and I love it. While the product is nice, the software is only mediocre. The Creative audio transfer is good, but I can't get the 'other' files transfer program to work. But as I don't use this program a lot, it doesn't hurt its rating. However, if you were going to buy it for document transfer, get third party software. The reviews about it breaking to easily are not true. I've dropped mine numerous times and it's been fine. One of those times was down a flight of stairs. I would not do this yourself though as it might void your warranty. Over all a really great product. Nice work Creative!!!!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Where to find the microphone to record audios?
Review: Where to find the microphone for recording using the NOMAD Jukebox 3?

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Pure Garbage! Buyer Beware!
Review: This unit never performed as advertised. Their tech line kept leading me on that firmware updates would fix it, but never did. My primary use of the MP3 was during travel, on the airplane or cruise ship. It ALWAYS let me down. It finally died and would not respond to any command. Sent it back to Creative for a $20 test. They called and told me what I already knew, it died. They wanted $180 to fix, I said forget it. Next step will be to return it to their President...he can keep it, he needs it more than I do. He needs to fix their quality problems. I have now purchased a Gateway unit and just love it....flawless operation and much more user friendly.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Clean, Long Recording
Review: I don't use this for playing music back. I use it to record original content: interviews, sporting events, choral music. There seem to be a limited number of products like this that make good recordings. Nomad Jukebox 3 makes excellent line in (high level) recordings. The VU meters don't seem precise enough to rely on much, but there is so little noise that you don't need to set levels very high. I'll record, transfer to the computer, normalize the levels where I like them, and it's still a clean recording after that extra amplification (for nomalizing the levels). Once you are familiar with the several steps required to start the first recording you make, it's not a big deal... but you can't pull it out and just hit record. Works nicely with external mic preamp, but not for direct mic in. I don't believe I get the battery life specified. I have two rechargable batteries in the unit, which is supposed to give it maybe 20 hours. Maybe it's because I use it to record and to do file transfers, instead of playing music. I have recorded an entire stage play with it (several hours), and have a pretty low battery indication. I'm not taking any chances. More than a couple of hours, I'm using the power line adapter.
The "Creative File Manager" program works ok, but it would be nicer if you could use Windows Explorer instead. With the Firewire port, transfers are really quick. USB1.1, really slow.
It records as good as you put in. Good mics & preamps in; pro quality recordings out. If you get careless and hit it with too hot a level, it's fairly forgiving.. Some peak distortion, but not that awful digital popping I've heard on some equipment.
It's sturdy, but it's an entertainment device. I carry it generously wrapped in padding. It's not meant for parachute drops.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Buy an extended warranty - you'll need it!!! :(
Review: I've owned this player for just under a year. Two months ago, an internal part failed, requiring I send my unit to Creative for repairs. They charge $20 just to look at the unit. They said their turn-around time is 10 days. It took them nearly 3 weeks to get to my unit. They tell me I'll have to pay $87 (in addition to the initial $20) to fix the problem.

It's clear that the problem is an internal part failing, NOT damage due to customer abuse. If the player came with a 12-month warranty, I'd be covered. But, all Creative MP3 players come with only a 3-month warranty, so I'm screwed.

But you don't have to be. If you buy a Creative MP3 player, buy the optional extended warranty to protect yourself from what many of us Creative customers have experienced. Or better yet, buy a player from another company.

It's really a shame that Creative jukebox players have such a high failure rate over the long run. Otherwise, they are good players with lots of useful features, and they have probably the best sound quality of any MP3 players on the market.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Hours of music and data
Review: I purchased the Nomad 20GB Jukebox about a year ago and have been very pleased with the results. I can store all of my LEGALLY downloaded music in absoultely no time on either the Firewire or the USB cable. Inaddition you can store large documents on the player that would normally not fit onto a floppu disk. I've used it to store 100's of pictures for slideshows.

However there are some things I wish were different about the player.
1. Kinda big. Sure its the same size as an Normal CD player, but come on, you want to buy an MP3 player so you don't have to worry about CD's.
2. Software. You can upload data files to your player, but you have to have the software with you, if the data transfer file program isn't on the computer your transfering to. Why doesn't it just show up as an external hard drive like other large memory disks.
3. Assocesories. To really get the full potienial out of your player, you need to invest upwards of $100 on add-on's. Items such as carrying case, extra battery, and the wired remote make the Nomad Jukebox really worth it. Inaddition, the headphones that come with it are good, but after a year, mine have fallen apart. I am now looking at getting some good Bose headphones to go with the player so that the sound of my music is not just good but great.
Other than those three things, this is an excellent choice if your not commited to spending $400 for an ipod.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: OK till it stopped working after 10 months
Review: Aside from being big and bulky, I was somewhat happy with this jukebox. After a brief 9 and a half months, it stopped working. I was getting an error message saying firmware problem and unable to listen to anything because the machine would not boot up. Customer service then mislead me into sending back the unit to be fixed or repaired. This was not the case- they wanted $200 to fix a 10 month old unit. I am thoroughly disgusted with this company and their support. I would recommend every person buying any MP3 player stay away from CREATIVE and their NOMAD & JUKEBOX products.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: pure trash
Review: I've never reviewed an item before, but I've never had a product like this. Please check the readers reviews at ZDNET ; I did, but somehow thought it wouldn't happen to me.
It did.
I can't judge the performance because it has never worked. Customer support is nil. I wasted hours of my life trying to get it to work (it kept saying "player not connected"). Finally, they sent me a replacement. Guess what "PLAYER NOT CONNECTED !!!" I have never been this frustrated in my life. If you read any review on this product, let it be this one. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. STAY AWAY, FAR FAR AWAY. I would hesitate to even look at the "player" too long.
It can happen to you. Trust me.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Lots of features
Review: I have had NJ3 for exactly a year now and I decided to share my thoughts with you. I only had one problem,which is known to owners of NJ3 as "Erratic scroll" control. I upgraded to firmeware "1.20.06. and that solved it completely. I am giving it a 5 stars, because I am comparing it to what was and is available out there and I can see that NJ3 stands out in features. The Line-out alone feature which lets you connect to a home stereo at a "pre-amp" level was not shared by any other unit untill recently by the"Karma,Iriver IHP-120" is just great.
I travell overseas a lot and I have two battaries in the unit which increases the play time to 18 hours "although Creative claims 22 hours. Still plenty of time for overseas trips, and those battaries are user replacable unlike Ipoders,,, oops,I meant others.
I never had a problem with the software and I am running Windows XP. I like my NJ3 a lot and it is still one of the most compatitive units out there. If I wanted to buy a new hard drive based unit today, I'll also be looking at the Iriver unit too. I have their flash based IFP-390 which I use for the gym and it is a very good player, and the IHP-120 has been getting good reviews but rather on the expenisve side.
Line in recording and DSP are also good features worth mentioning

Good luck

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Unreliable
Review: This jukebox gets worse with time. The software simply does not work or something is wrong with the sites downloads. Very complicated. Cannot transfer music.


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