fwc: MP3 Player - Creative Zen Neeon

Recently I got my hands on one of the smallest and lightest portable MP3 players around, the Creative Zen Neeon.

The Player
The Neeon is built into a compact frame which measures 79.9 mm x 46.9mm x 15.9mm and weighs only 75 gms. The back plate is brushed metal and is available in 10 colours. Also available are easily changeable Stik-Ons which one can select from a wide range of designs from 4 different themes - Eden, Safari, Funky and Kawaii.
Package contents:
- Zen Neeon
- Creative Earphones
- USB 2.0 Cable
- Line-in Cable
- Quick Start Booklet
- Installation CD
- Pouch
- Creative Stik-On (1 piece included)

Equipped with a 5 GB micro drive, the Neeon can pack around 1000 songs, giving you a carrying capacity of around 85 hours of music. The display is 4-line LCD with a resolution of 128 x 64 pixels and a 7-colour LED backlight that can be changed depending on what mood you are in.

The player has a USB 2.0 port which can be used for data transfers as well as charging the battery for the player. Also included, is a stereo port for the head phones and a line-in port to record from an external sound source. Volume control, Play/Pause and Record buttons can be found on the sides along with the most used interface object, the 3-directional scroll wheel which is used to scroll through songs and access other options as well.

To select the songs you want to play, you just need to push the wheel once and select the browse option to access the stored files. The player supports MP3, WMA and WAV formats. However, the plus point here being, you can also use this player as a portable storage device.

A very useful feature is that the Neeon supports folders and all your music can be transferred by a simple "Drag & Drop" method but, only a single level directory support is provided. Apart from playing stored music, you can also listen to FM radio and save up to 32 of your favorite stations. Although we don't have that many FM stations as of now, it is always better to be ready for the future. The reception and the radio playback are pretty impressive.

Also featured is a voice recorder which you can use to record live or from the radio playback. Now, you can sleep during those boring lectures and still not miss a thing. Your sleep will only be limited by the amount of free space you have. But with 5 GB onboard, that's going to be one long snooze. One can also record music from an external audio source like a CD player using the Line-in record mode.

Usage
The handling is pretty simple, considering you get accustomed to the scroll wheel which can be irritating at times. The playback quality is good but not as good as the iPod or for that matter the earlier Creative Nomad Jukeboxes. I wonder why. The battery lasts for around 10 hours of continuous playback on a single charge.
But the most important factor here is Time. Upon unplugging the USB cable after transferring music over, the Zen Neeon takes about a minute to get ready. This happens only after you transfer music, so it is still acceptable. But the normal start up also takes quite a while, about 15 seconds. And since the player does not have a "Suspend Mode" like the Zen Micro or the iPod, the 15 seconds feels really long.

The software is also sluggish at times. For example, when browsing through music, it takes roughly 3 seconds to scroll to the next item. That means about 30 seconds to scroll 10 lines. When you press "Play", it takes approximately 2 to 3 seconds to start playing. And when recording, it takes about 5 seconds before the Zen Neeon actually starts recording.

Also, you cannot listen to music when the player is connected to the computer's USB port. Since Creative does not include an AC adapter in the package, there's no way to charge and use the Zen Neeon at the same time. Also, it takes around 2-3 hours to charge it fully when plugged into a USB port.

The Zen Neeon has no touchpad, no removable battery, no color screen, and to top it up, has a very small screen that can display only 4 lines of text. Browsing your music collection 3 lines at a time and that too with a 3-seconds delay, is a serious pain in the wrong place. On the music playback screen, only the track title is displayed. If you want to know the artist or the album, you're out of luck.

Conclusion
The aim of the Zen Neeon is simplicity and ease of use. But for Rs. 12,900/-, this is certainly not the best option around. It's a decent audio player, but has its own share of bugs. We have used Creative players before and were actually disappointed that this player falls short of the standards that they have set for themselves. All the irritants about this player that we mentioned earlier are certainly not what we expect from Creative. And the steep price does it no good either. There are better options around and you can afford to give this one a slip.
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