I just treated myself to a new toy (excuse the fuzzy photo). It's a Creative Zen Micro which is compatible with Napster To Go which I am about to upgrade to (more on that in a later post). Anyway...the 5GB disk might not seem huge compared to the Zen Touch, iRivers or the rather nice looking Toshiba Gigabeat, but it's enough storage for roughly 1200 tracks at around 3 to 5MB a track. Plenty to keep me entertained whilst cycling, walking and my forthcoming trip to see my wee bro in NZ in October...anything with a bigger disk was another 100GBP and the dimensions became less than comfortable for my pockets.
Another selling point is the built in FM radio (I missed listening to the radio on public transport) which works a treat even in my office which has more RF generating kit than Edinburgh Airport. The unit is solidly put together and I'd even go so far to say that the quality of the built is at least as good if not better than Apple's iPod range.
When re-charging (either from the mains adapter or USB cable) the Zen emits a gentle pulsating blue glow which is aesthetically pleasing to the eye and is a nice touch.
The touch sensitive controls initially took some getting used to, however switching to the least sensitive mode got me past my initial finger trouble. There's also a reassuring click from a built in speaker to give you an audible cue when you've selected a menu option, track etc, though this can be turned off.
The sound quality is also excellent and the headphones that come out of the box are comfortable to wear and give a good sound reproduction. There is also a range of preset EQ settings but you can also customise your own EQ settings from a 5 band graphic equaliser.
Finally, the retail box I bought came with a bonus rigid case with belt clip and desk stand.
All in all I'm well pleased with the Zen Micro and it's huge improvement on my bulky old Zen DAB
Score: 8/10