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Creative’s latest release Zen V and Zen V Plus, addition to their flash based line pose serious threat to Apple’s iPod nano. They come with 2GB memory and the Plus version at$170 is going to give Nano line a good run for the money.
Variations on these two models include music memory of 1,2 or 4 GB capabilities. They also include a voice recorder, line in jack and a organic LED display, 1.5”. While the display is pretty good at indoor viewing is not all that great outdoors. Both lines play content from Plays For Sure subscription service and handles the standard complement of MP3, WMA and Audible file. Only the plus version plays video too.
These players have impressive sound quality as the tests with the PC World proved. These devices ranked slightly worse than the IPod Nano and Creative’s Zen Nano Plus but was within striking distance. Cross talk score were the best. A variety of high bit rate MP3 files played great with all kinds of tweaking through a 5 band equalizer during my listening tests. Creative does seem to be maintaining their audio standards!
