Strengths: Great FM reception. Simple to add MP3 and Wma files. Beautiful display

Weaknesses: Nary a 1.

Summary: Love this new toy. Placed 1200+ songs on this unit in first three days ownership. Simple to setup and move through menus. Love ability to have contacts on my portable media player.

Strengths: Easy to set-up and install, easy to transfer songs, easy to use, relatively cheap, good user interface, nice looking and compact in size.

Weaknesses: Extremely slow in scrolling through songs or advancing from song to song, freezes up frequently, slow in transfering songs, not reliable.

Summary: I bought this Zen after owning 2 ipods with battery failures. I was hoping that it would be comparable to the ipod because most of the reviews on it are very positive. Initially I was very impressed with how easy the unit was to use and set up. The sound quality was good. However, within a day or so the unit was freezing up frequently and eventually stopped working all together. It's also EXTREMELY slow. Count to ten slowly, and that's how long it takes to advance ahead to a new song. Maybe if i had never owned another type of mp3 player I could have gotten used to this, but personally I would not buy another one.

Strengths: Sound Quality, replaceable battery, the color

Weaknesses: ultra sensitive touchpad espically the scrolling part, OK battery life, few accessories, software has to be charged on computer for it to be charged by USB

Summary: I decided to go with the Creative because it has a replaceable battery and it was cheaper than the comparable Ipod mini. The audio sounds great and the menu is pretty easy to navigate. I haven't really used any of the feature like the FM radio or voice recorder but I guess it's nice to have. I had to go with the black one with a blue backlight cause it looks awesome. The touchpad is pretty annoying because its pretty sensitive even when you put the setting to low. I'm always scrolling past things that I want. It's pretty frustrating sometimes. Also I think the battery life isn't that great. I have to recharge it every day but at least it lasts me for around 8 hrs. I found out the hard way that for it to be able to charge by USB on a computer, the software has to be installed which I think is pretty retarded. You should definitely pick up a charger cause it's a lot faster to charge and more convenient. Overall I'm pretty happy though I think I would like the Ipod more since it's touchpad is better.

Strengths: Great featuresTouchpad controls work greatUser replaceable batteryCan charge unit via USB portUSB 5.0 data transfer

Weaknesses: Menu system takes some getting used toPlastic case gets scratched easily

Summary: I bought a Zen Micro instead of an Ipod for two reasons: one is I do mot like the fact that Itunes provides much in a different format, and the other tis that the Ipod does not have a user replaceable battery. If I am hiking or on a camping trip, where would I charge my player? With the Zen that is not a problem, I can carry extra batteries I have charged in advance. My collection is MP3 and WMA files, and the Zen does a great job at playing both. The touchpad interface is very well designed and despute what I have read in other review it is quite responsive and easy to use. The blue glow is a great attention getter, and the unit pulses when it is charging. The SnR is one of the big selling points, and rightly so. The music is clean and noise free even at high volumes. The earbuds are a bit larger than most, and may be uncomfortable for some. The silky bag is good for keeping scratches off the unit, which is plastic and gets scratched fairly easily. I would highly recommend this unit to anyone, it is smaller than the Ipod Mini, and you can replace the battery yourself.

Strengths: Compact, easy to navigate, light

Weaknesses: user manual could be better

Summary: Finally, a 6GB zen micro with great sound and great features. It was easy to set up and import music. The only drawback was the lack of colors and the lack of availability at retailers. User manual could also be worded and arranged better.