Creative Zen Nano Plus: Best Bang for the Buck
Creative is still the quality/price ratio champion. Very small and light, its Zen Nano Plus comes in ten different colours. Admittedly it's not as pretty as the iPod Nano or the iRiver U10, but the price is much easier to swallow. The unit is very simple to use, with very few buttons. The display is tiny, but large enough, since the Nano Plus only plays music: it displays the name of the current song, the elapsed time, and the state of the battery.
A built-in FM tuner has a 32-station memory. The Nano Plus can also be used as a voice recorder if the need arises, and can also record from the radio. This function is somewhat limited, though, by the fact that it records only in WAV format.
More interesting is the rather rare line input that lets you encode any audio source in MP3 format at 160 kbps with very acceptable quality, despite a slight hiss. You can transfer files from the computer to the player using Windows Media Player, or via drag and drop in Windows Explorer.
The sound quality was quite astounding for such a small player, and the Nano Plus stands up to comparison with its competitors. All the nuances were reproduced, and the balance was good, though not with the earphones that come with the player! You'll need to junk them and get a good set as soon as possible. Battery life was good, and since power is from a single AAA battery, you can carry a spare so you won't ever be left in silence. It's a lot simpler than having to find an outlet when you're away from home.
