Creative's player, the Nomad Jukebox Zen MP3, will cost $299 after a $50 mail-in rebate--much less than Apple's comparable iPod music player that sells for $499.

In July, Apple introduced a Windows version of its iPod, which at 20GB can hold up to 4,000 songs in 160kbps MP3 files, or 5,200 songs in 128kbps files. The player began selling at retail Sept. 15.

Creative has countered with its player, which looks like a Sony Walkman. The Zen includes a 20GB hard drive, which lets it store up to 5,000 songs using 128kbps MP3 files, or 8,000 songs using Microsoft Windows Media Audio files.

Creative's 20GB machine is the same price as Apple's lowest-end iPod, a 5GB machine that also sells for $299.

The Zen's main selling points are its price and a Firewire connection, which lets it transfer data quickly to PCs that are not equipped with the latest version of Universal Serial Bus, USB 2.0.

However, Creative's use of a standard 2.5-inch hard drive could hamper sales for customers who are not necessarily shopping on price alone. Several manufacturers make 2.5-inch hard drives, which are standard for notebook PCs, while only one company, Toshiba, manufactures the 1.8-inch drive used in the iPod.

Because 2.5-inch drives are more readily available, they cost less. But the 2.5-inch drive makes the Zen bulkier than the iPod.

The Zen weighs 9.5 ounces and measures 4.5 inches by 3 inches and. The 20GB iPod weighs 7.2 ounces and measures 4 inches by 2.4 inches, making it potentially more appealing to people who care more about size and weight than about price.

Creative's player will be available from Amazon.com, Buy.com, Fry's Electronics, J&R Electronics and Cambridge SoundWorks, as well as directly from the company. Apple sells the iPod directly to customers. It is also available at Best Buy.

Credit CNet News

Technical Specifications

Size WxHxD: 2.99" x 4.43" x 0.95" (75.9 x 112.6 x 24.5 mm)
Weight: 9.5 oz (268g) with built-in Li-ion battery
Casing: Anodized Aluminium
Memory: 16MB SDRAM
Capacity: 20GB hard drive (667 hours of 64 kbps WMA encoding; 333 hours of 128kbps MP3 encoding)
Power: DC in 5V
Battery Life: Up to 12 hours of continuous playtime
Interface: USB, SB1394*(FireWire)
Playback Formats: MPEG Audio Layer 3 (MP3), Windows Media Audio (WMA) and WAV
Signal to Noise Ratio: up to 98dB
Channel Separation: up to 75dB
Frequency Response: 20Hz - 20kHz
Harmonic Distortion Output: <0.1%
Operating System/Firmware: Reprogrammable**
Output: 1 x 1/8" stereo minijack headphone
LCD Display: 132 x 64 pixel resolution blue LED backlit display
Data Connector: USB 1.1, SB1394*(FireWire)
EAX® - Smart Volume Management™
- Environmental Effects
- 4-band Custom Equalizer
- Advanced EQ presets
- Headphone Spatialization
- Time Scaling: Up to 1.5x faster or 0.5x slower for audio playback


* IEEE 1394 compatible
** OS/Firmware support & update will be available via www.nomadworld.com

Additional Info at the Creative Labs info page.

Suh-weet!

What's that thing in the upper-right corner, though?

um, the player?

Yup... Apple is gonna have to slice their prices by another 150 bucks before I consider jumping on their bandwagon. Especially with gizmos like this for 300-350. Only thing iPod still have on anybody is a few inches in total size area and for a 200 price differential that's not going to do much to justify things now that competition is stiff .

Forget the Zen.... e.Digital's Odyssey 1000 should knock the socks off of just about all comers. Should be out very, very soon and priced somewhere between $320 and $350.

Features:
20 Gigabyte hard drive
13-hour minimum playback time
Mac and PC compatible
Mac iTunesTM compatible
Drag ‘n Rip copies music directly from CD to player
USB 2.0 high-speed download
Typical USB 2.0 transfer rate: 8 Megabytes per second (MBps)
Voice navigation using VoiceNavTM technology
Built-in microphone for voice recording
MP3, Windows MediaTM (WMA), and WAV file playback
FM tuner with 12 preset stations
16 MB DRAM anti-shock buffering
Five-band equalizer with 5 presets and 1 user-defined setting
Approximate dimensions: 2.87" x 4.3" x 0.9" (73mm x 110mm x 22.8mm)
Blue backlit electro-luminescent LCD with adjustable settings
Internal real-time clock
WMA Digital Rights Management (DRM) support
Combined audio out and remote control jack
Multi-language support via firmware upgrade
Playlist creation through user interface
Firmware upgradeable
Lithium-Polymer rechargeable battery charges in 4 hours

ROFL Mahahahahaha lol

-"WMA Digital Rights Management (DRM) support "

You think I am buying that piece of crap?!

If they think I will buy something that tells me what I can do with my auido fuck it.

NeoFlash - Nonsense. "Support" for WMA DRM means it will play files with OR without it. Hope this helps. This will be THE player to have.

http://www.jandr.com/JRProductPage.process?RestartFlow=t&Merchant_Id=1&Section_Id=1142&pcount=&Product_Id=3613984&Sort=

EDG ODYSSEY1000

e.Digital Odyssey 1000 Portable MP3 Player - Looking for a high-capacity MP3 player that's incredibly portable? This ultra-portable player is only 4.3" high, 2.9" wide & 1" deep, yet it contains a 20GB Hard Drive for Storage of up to 4,800 MP3 files! There's an FM Tuner and a built-in Microphone that lets you Record messages like a digital voice recorder! It also uses e.Digital’s VoiceNav, based on Lucent’s speech recognition technology, so users can navigate through their libraries of Music by voice.
Also acts as a portable hard drive!
Large 160x128 Backlit (blue) LCD Display
12 FM Presets
Supports MP3, WMA, & WAV Files
5-Band Equalizer
Internal Real-time Clock
Folder/Subfolder/Track Hierarchy for efficient management of playlists
Normal/Shuffle/Repeat/Intro Play Modes
16MB DRAM Buffering
Combined Audio Out & Remote Control Jack
PC & Macintosh Compatible (iTunes compatible)
Includes: universal AC adapter/battery charger, Music Explorer Software for PC, Stereo earphones, Mini-USB 2.0 cable, & carrying case

It's just the point, if the company wants to support DRM I do not wish to give them my $$$.

not buying it since it has DRM and SDMI hassles. also it's too pricey, 20gb notebook HDDs with a little case and lcd slapped to it shouldn't cost near $300+. and i HATE mail-in-rebates. they make them take so damn long so no one wants to bother with it.
so basically, No... doesn't offer enough for the price or the hassles. maybe, i will consider the odyssey.

A few things to say...

1. Moxa - shut up. We know the Odyssey 1000's specs!

2. Neo & Aeroe - uhh, shut up also. the player needs to support DRM in order to play WMA files (even unDRMed ones). it's not a hassle - just use MP3s or OGGs (if the player supports OGGs).

It's the paradox of MP3 players... decisions are made on comparison. Say, for instance, the Zen didn't support DRM (and, therefore, didn't support WMA). Some unenlightened (or stupid) prospective buyer would compare this with the eDig and see right away that the eDig supports more file formats! The weird thing is that nobody in their right mind actually USES wma (on account of it sounding like crap and all), and even less with DRM.

hmm someone should ban that prick ^^^

The zen is sweet, used to have the archos jukebox 6000...pure crap compared to the creative zen.
Like the sound on the zen (with good headphones), full and rich. Only thing I hate is that one has to use creatives software to be able to download songs to the player.

I have spent HOURS and HOURS looking for a way to get streaming audio and Netlibrary books and files with Digital Rights Management onto my ipod. I never found anything “FREE” worth using... Here is a link to a $49 product Replay Radio http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-1796560-10291934 that really works... It is like TiVo for ANY streaming media or digital audio (including WMA-DRM) you want to add to turn into wma or AAC your ipod, or other music player. Also works to capture sound from cassette tape or records. This product won PC magazine’s editor’s choice award for recording crystal clear audio on a PC. Save time and money with software that is intuitive and works right the first time!