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Creative Labs 128 MB NOMAD IIc MP3 Player

Creative Labs 128 MB NOMAD IIc MP3 Player

List Price: $169.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Good sound, but built like a cheap plastic toy.
Review: Love the size and MP3 storage capability. But Creative really cut corners to make a profit on this unit. Right out of the box I was glueing a plastic piece back on to the headphones. The overall feel of the player reminds me of the cheap plastic toys I used to get for Christmas. Not something that cost [alot of money].

I am also disappointed with the voice recording capability. It works fine if you're talking right into the unit - with 128 megs you can record for 8 hours. But recording a lecture is out of the question, unless you're right up in the front of the room and the speaker is stationary.

Another disappointment is the belt clip, which is the only attachment type device included. Just walking to the store the Nomad popped out and crashed to the ground, battery gone somewhere. Whatever firm designed the cheap plastic case obviously designed the belt clip too.

So really it's just an MP3 player, portable, nice sound, plenty of capacity, but probably made on the same line where GI Joes and Power Ranger knockoffs are made.

Creative - stick to sound cards. Consumer electronics are a bit out of your league.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not for runners
Review: The player has sufficient memory, convenient software, and useful features - especially the bass/treble and line-out. However, if you sweat while working out or running, this is not the player for you. It keeps shutting down. Then you have to take out the battery and hold down the button until it reboots; definitely annoying while on a run. The belt clip does not secure it well, and it will fall on the ground if you bounce around. And carry an extra battery, it's a bit power hungry. Customer service was fine and the memory upgrade gives you plenty of songs for 3-4 hours.

If they make it water-resistant, include a good AM/FM tuner, supply decent headphones (the supplied earbuds always fall out), and ensure it clips on securely, this would be a great, great unit. It was a gift, so I can't complain too loudly.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It Will Not Die!
Review: I've had my Nomad IIc for about a year and a half. I love it. It's the end result of several generations of MP3 players from Creative, and benefits from lessons learned. Here's my summary:

SIZE: Bigger than most, but lightweight. Fine for the gym and walking around. Runners may prefer smaller.
HEADPHONES: absolute cr*p - replace them immediately (I got Koss Porta-Pros with a lifetime guarantee!).
SOUND: Adequate sound, but bass could be better. This is certainly a workout machine, not a sit-and-listen-to-Bach machine and should be viewed as such. I find MP3 players' sound generally inferior to the old tape players in any event, but that's the price for convenience.
SOFTWARE: People hate it, but I find it very simple to use.
BATTERY LIFE: Much better than other MP3 players I've tried. I love the fact it takes AAs instead of AAAs (I've got lots of AA rechargeables). 1 AA rechargeable lasts me about 6-8 hours or so. Turn off the backlight to save battery power.

DURABILITY: Really why I give it 5 stars. I've dropped it countless times and put it to the ultimate test this week: a 2L bottle of coke leaked into my backpack. My Nomad was literally floating in Coca-Cola. When I finally got home, I ran hot water through it for about 2 minutes (I kid you not) since Coke is corrosive. Didn't work for 1 day as it was still wet. Now, it works!!! This little guy WILL NOT DIE!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: great product
Review: I bought my Nomad IIc just 2 months ago, and have loved it ever since. It is so easy to use, and coming from someone that is technologically challenged, that is a huge compliment. It has very easy to install/use software that makes adding and deleting songs a breeze. It also provides great sound, and a long lasting battery life (6-8 hours) off of only 1 AA battery!

Some negatives I found are as follows:
1) the headphones- they are so uncomfortable. After the first few hours of wearing them, I went out and bought a nicer pair.
2) the look- compared to most other mp3 players I have seen (including other nomads), the IIc is very boring looking. It has a matte silver finish that makes it look more like a toy mp3 player.
3) The instruction manual could use some help...I am still waiting to find out what a few of the buttons do.
4) It doesn't come with a mini remote for easy navigation. I run everyday, and in order to skip a song or increase the volume, I have to remove the player from my pocket to see the buttons.
5) it is slightly bigger than most other mp3 players I have seen. It is much smaller than a cd player though.

Overall, for the price, durability, and memory provided (128) it is a great investment. I have yet to encounter any major problems (knock on wood!).

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellent player with right features for travel
Review: I bought this as soon as it was introduced; I had been waiting for a 128 MB player with the right features for running and travel. Those features are:

- AA battery. I use rechargables, same as in my camera. I did not want a player with an internal battery. When the battery is low, just swap with a fresh one. My camera uses AAs, so I only need one charger for both. Always carry a spare battery in the carrying case.

- 128 MB Smart Media expansion card. Load up a couple of these with music. My camera uses Smart Media, so I can reformat for pictures when I'm done listening to the music.

- Remembers the last song you listened to. Some players don't when you turn them off.

This is supported on Windows and Mac (iTunes), but the Mac support will not format the memory cards. Headphones are poor, but who expects quality? I use Sony MDR-A34 ear-buds for running and Sony MDR-7506 closed ear phones for airplane travel.

This doesn't get 5 stars for a few minor reasons:

- The expansion card does not fully erase with iTunes, so I have to reformat it on a PC or with my camera.

- The directory only displays first 12 characters of the file name, so if you name your files Artist-Song.mp3 you won't know what you have. When playing the song, the mp3 tags for artist and song are displayed.

- The USB 1.0 inteface is slow; really wish it was USB 2.0.

It has a clip, but I always carry it in a case; use a belted case like the neoprene case from Nathan & Co. I've never dropped it as a result. Also, leave the plastic over the LCD display. It protects the display from scratches.

-

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Works Properly. Does not skip like other mp3 players do
Review: I've got this player for a month and it works perfectly so far. The control menu has a logical layout and is very easy to use.

Sound quality: Sounds great. But the headphones that comes with the unit really .... I recommend you to invest on a better set of earphones. I must stress that this player NEVER skips. It plays all my songs flawlessly. Also, there is no delay time going from track to track.

Many brands provides a "bass-boast" feature. Creative further allows the users to fine tune the bass and treble with a custom treble/bass level control (30 levels for each).

FM tuner: None. But that's okay! I have read over hundreds of reviews about mp3 players and they all say have the same thing to say about the FM tuner implemented on the other brands: "Very poor reception. It would be a nice feature had the FM tuner worked." Creative included an FM tuner in their earlier Nomad II models, and it suffered from the same problem.
My point: the FM tuner isn't important since it would not work well anyway. Don't buy an RCA or Rio just because they have an FM tuner that sounds terrible.

I do worry about the overall construction of the unit. The bottons do not seem very durable. I am afraid that they may cease functioning after a few month of usage. The case looks very flimsy to me. I am not sure that it can sustain heavy drops.

Overall this is a good player for its price. Go to cnet.com for more reviews about Creative IIc.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Unit Bad Weak Software
Review: Have had this unit for a couple years. Also have a 3rd gen 15 gb iPod. Size and weight are major pluses. With expansion card over two hours music. No hard drive, no skips.

The Creative software is poor. I really dislike it. I have to have the original cd just to get the most recent versions. Go to Red Chair Software and get Notmad software which is Windows Explorer like. Very nice and fast compared the Creative's.

One AA battery is very nice.

For a quick music fix get the Nomad.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Built to fail
Review: What a piece of junk! I purchased one that ceased to operate after eight months. Then someone gave me a new one as a gift. That lasted for about seven months. I would not recommend this product at all. Maybe this is Creative Labs' attempt to get people to buy more MP3 players.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: cheap player
Review: locks up everytime I put a memory card in it. Not happy at all. I replaced it with a Dell Jukebox and am very satisfied.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: great, lightweight player!
Review: I've had this player for a little over a year and I love it. It doesn't have the storage space of an ipod but it's much cheaper and much much lighter! It holds about 30 songs and I bought a memory card which holds another 30. That's more than enough music for my daily commute and a decent amount to get me through a plane trip. The 1 AA battery lasts for a long time as well. The software is very easy to use and even on my clunky old laptop things go pretty quickly.


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