Zen Micro and Podcast Listening

08 Feb 2005

A couple weeks back I decided that I needed to bite the bullet and pick up a portable MP3 player.

I was initially thinking about cheaping out and going with an iPod shuffle, but the availability is limited in Canada it seems and I’m not sure if I would
be too happy in the long term with a purchase like that.

I also considered an iRiver 20gig player because of a few good recommendations from friends and I had listened/carried it around and figured I could live w
ith its weight.

Requirements were basically something that didn’t weigh quite as much as a brick, had a screen (although I would have let this one slide in the case of the
shuffle), decent battery life, good storage and nice looks.

I ended up going with the Creative Zen Micro and have been quite happy with it. I’m travelling to Boston next week to visit a client and it should hopeful
ly make the trip more bearable if I have some tunes/podcasts to listen to. No real issues getting the thing up and running, I did apply a firmware upgrad
e that supposedly allows me to plug the player into any computer and use it without the Creative software. I haven’t tried that yet but I assume it should
work.

Another niceity about the purchase is that I managed to get the supposedly limited edition which comes with an additional 12hr battery. All in all, I’m q
uite happy with the purchase.

Now to dig up all the podcasts I’ve fallen behind on and get them on the micro before I leave!