Strengths: Excellent sound quality, design and price relative to its peers

Weaknesses: The touchpad is a little too sensitive

Summary: I have been holding out for hard drive mp3 player for a long time. I finally decided to buy the Creative Labs ZEN Sleek Photo 20 GB MP3 Player I can to listen my mp3 collections anywhere. My mp3 player arrived yesterday and the setup is so easy, I was able to filled up to 10gb of music in about 15 mins. The only thing I initially struggled with is the touchpad, it is very sensitive and you have to be very careful otherwise you might pick the the wrong song selection or topic. After about 5 minutes of fiddling I finally got use to it but it is still a minor annoyance. The phsyical size of this player is about the same size as an ipod and smaller then iRiver or the UGLY Dell Jukeboxes. The color display is crisp and vibrant. I would definitely recommend this player based on price, looks and sound quality. If you want a player with better controls and not price sensitive then this probabnly not the type of player for you. So far I am happy with the purchase.

Strengths: FM Radio; random repeat shuffle; capacity; durable and dependable

Weaknesses: oversensitive touchpad (easier with practice); frustrating text entry system;discontinued product; accessories expensive or hard to find;removable disk option requires presence of sync cable

Summary: The FM radio has good sound quality and reception. The included headphones are pretty good. The microphone works, though I didn't test it much. Recording from the radio is decent. There are settings for playlists and repeat random shuffle which let the player simulate a jukebox. I haven't yet used the player to the limit of its battery capacity so can't give an estimate of the actual duration.One can set aside a partition of the drive for use as a removable disk. In order to use it, however, one must carry the sync cable along. Since I knew it had a harddrive and knowing how sensitive they are to vibration (from PC experience), I had planned to be gentle with it and hope that will suffice to extend its useful life. (The FAQ in the manual does not recommend use for jogging.) It was easy to program. I followed the setup instructions carefully so I could avoid problems I'd read about. After it was fully charged, I used the included software (Creative Media Explorer) to transfer the files I wanted from my ITunes directory. (For now, I'll continue to use ITunes on my PC since I'm used to it and it's a bit more versatile than Creative Media Source, Creative's included equivalent.) There are tools for updating mp3 tags and automatically organizing music files on the player, but I haven't used them yet as I like what I've set up so far. The Zen Sleek/Zen Sleek Photo was discontinued at about the time I bought mine. I chose to buy one because of the features included. At this time (6/8/06), accessories are still available at online stores including Creative's own site. For now, I'm using simple rubberbands at the top and middle to keep it from sliding on the car seat. For the image conscious, this may not be a viable option. The greatest challenge is to deal with the touchpad. It is oversensitive. There is a system option to reduce sensitivity and that helped, but it still requires a light touch as well as a patient and adaptable mindset. Typing in radio preset names or anything else with the built in text engine and the touchpad is frustrating. Unlike the newer players this does not have video playback and recording, but I was aware of that when I purchased this; I did not relish the idea of video that small. The photo function is nice if it's needed. The software can be set to automatically adjust photos to a size the player can display. It takes a bit longer to transfer protected WMA files to the player, so don't transfer those with regular mp3s or when you're in a hurry. In spite of the negatives, I'm satisfied with the player as it does what I wanted it to do and is versatile enough for me. I'll update this review when I've used it a while longer. 7/17/06: The player is still working fine. Adding and removing songs is easy. It did freeze one time, but I had disconnected the cable too early. I simply used the reset function and it has worked fine since. At this time, new players are still advertised at some retailers. I would recommend the player overall. However, if one wants to enter titles and other text on the player itself, it might be better to try a different player.9/8/06: The battery life seems a bit low (about 10 hours), but that may be because of the volume level I need on the bus and at work to drown out surrounding noise. I use the smart volume, usually at a setting of 17. One of the earpads kept slipping off so I removed both. That may make a difference in the sound isolation.11/9/06: I don't even notice the sensitivity of the touchpad now. Bits of dust started to gather under the screen, so I removed the plastic screen cover and was able to clean underneath it, but I don't recommend that because if it isn't removed just right, it could break. I made a small crack in the corner. I'm still satisfied.03/25/07: I found a skin with armband and belt clip on the most popular online auction site for $9.99+$3.99 shipping. It fits perfectly with cutouts for all of the features. Do a search for "zen sleek silicone armband" and you'll find several colors to choose from. I won't name the seller as that might be considered a commercial endorsement. I'm upgrading my rating from 4 stars to 5 because of long-term satisfaction.

Strengths: Huge capacity, OLED screen that gives you unlimited view angle, FM Tuner+Recorder, Picture Viewer.

Weaknesses: Needs the driver to be installed in order to use it on a computer.

Summary: A really good buy! Cheaper than the I-Pod. You can download thousands of pictures of music and pictures on it. Voice recorder and radio recorder. Very easy to use. In other words, the best MP3 player you could ever get.

Strengths: Made of very durable aluminum casing. Product has the ability to last. Descrete. Also software is very stable. Crisp clear display. There are also different personal options to custimize your Player.

Weaknesses: It's a hard drive MP3 Player = more suseptible to damage from drops than a flash MP3 Player i.e. nanos. Also headphones are crummy so spend a few extra bucks and get a nice pair. Non-removable battery

Summary: I would reccomend this to someone in High School or College because of ability to store Photos. The touch pad is also very easy to get used to. Being that this product is from Creative the sound quality is also exceptional. It's best to have your music already organized before transferring to MP3 Player to avoid any problems with songs being randomly placed in your player. Battery life is 15-19 hours depending on how much it is viewed/changed/level of volume which is a great plus! I don't anticipate having any problems with this product. Overall it was easy to set up and it took about 2 hours and 20 minutes to have it fully charged with 31 different albums(394 songs).