13 out of 13 people found this review helpful.
You'll Be SORRY !!!!
Date of Review: Aug 14, 2007
The Bottom Line: Cheaply made with sub-standard plastic; documented design & hardware defects; likely will fail soon after purchase; lousy warranty service - manufacturer doesn't give a rip about fairness or customer satisfaction
I bought a Creative Zen V Plus MP-3 player as a Christmas gift, in mid-December 2006.
Right out of the box, I was a little concerned about the durability of this player - it felt like a cheap plastic toy.
Some major issues encountered right away with this player:
1. No wall socket charger was available. The only way to charge the unit was to leave it plugged into an active computer. A remote charger apparently is now available, but can only be purchased through the Creative Labs Website, for a pretty hefty price.
2. Loading music onto this player is a chore to say the least. It just wouldn't accept new songs from Windows Media Player. Each time we wanted to add a song, we had to re-format the player (wipe all songs out of it) and then download a whole new playlist.
3. This player liked to freeze up, for no particular reason, on a regular basis. You need to insert a paper clip into a little hole, and push a hidden button (careful - don't break the button), to re-set the player.
4. And one other thing you discover AFTER buying it - the batteries are not user replaceable. You have to send the unit back to Creative Labs, pay to the tune of $ 50 or more (including shipping) to get a new battery. Basically, this MP-3 player is disposable by design.
One of the features of this MP-3 player is the "innovative 5-way joystick" - a small button that you toggle up, down, to either side to scroll the menus, or push in to make your selections.
My daughter used this player less than one month, and the joystick button cracked in half. I kind of blamed her and her sister of being too rough with it. The player was returned to retailer, and a replacement unit was provided by the store.
Six months later, the joystick on the replacement player "shattered" into multiple pieces, rendering the player unusable.
I had a design engineer look at the pieces - the conclusion: sub-standard, very thin (think disposable plastic cup), brittle plastic used in joystick button... wholly unsuitable for its intended use and very unlikely to withstand normal usage - a serious design flaw.
The joystick consists of a very small, square peg that is recessed in the case of the player. The cheesy plastic button sits on top of this peg. Once the button breaks, there is no practical way to control the joystick - it's too far down in the case. Basically, once the joystick button breaks, the media player is unusable.
As it turns out, breaking joysticks is the second-most common defect with the Zen Plus V player. The number 1 defect is the failure of the OLED screen (as in it goes totally and permanently black).
For more information on the defects of this MP-3 player, check out complaints posted at the following Web sites:
http://forums.creative.com/rss/message?board.id=dap&message.id=196095
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/B000IBROQE/sr=8-2/qid=1189457987/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful/002-7732714-7487212?ie=UTF8&n=172282&qid=1189457987&sr=8-2#customerReviews
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2006/10/creative-zen-v-plus-review.php
http://www.cnet.com.au/mp3players/mp3players/0,239036133,339270978-1,00.htm
Here's the game Creative Labs plays with its customers when defects become apparent:
1. If the joystick button breaks in less than 90 days, they claim it's "external physical damage" that is not covered by warranty - and they charge you a $ 25 diagnostic fee (duh ! the button is broken) and make you pay shipping both ways (and you get back the same inoperable player unless you agree to pay them for repair labor and parts).
2. If the joystick breaks after 90 days, they expect you to pay the $ 25 diagnostic fee, shipping both ways, plus the cost of repair labor (the part only costs a penny)... all told more than $ 80 to have them "fix" their defective product that only cost $ 90 - $ 100 to begin with.
And for the record, Creative Labs won't offer any substantive guarantee that the replacement joystick won't break in 6 months or less.
It's a SCAM !
For anyone considering buying a Creative Zen V Plus MP-3 player - DON'T !! You will be sorry. It's a chintzy piece of crap that will only cause you aggravation, and then quit working altogether.
I bought a Sansa e250 to replace this defective Zen V - what a world of difference !! (see our review of the e250). And the Sansa actually cost less than the Zen and had more memory !
Bottom line - save your money and buy a quality product. Avoid the Creative Zen V Plus at all costs !
To be "fair", there were a few positive things about the Zen V Plus:
1. The OLED screen was very bright and crisp, though a black line appeared across the screen (the first sign of imminent failure) after about 3 months of use.
2. The music quality was entirely acceptable.
3. Navigating through the menus was easy with the joystick - until it broke.
NOTE: We sued Creative Labs over this player and won - the details are posted in the comments for this review.
