Creative Nomad MuVo Mix (512 MB) Digital Media Player

Every month, manufacturers unleash even more MP3 players to an increasingly confused public. Not only do these devices have wildly divergent features, but ongoing format wars mean the MP3 player you choose dictates where you can buy your digital music. These devices are anything but one-size-fits-all.

First, there's the question of design. A player can have every feature in the world, but if the design doesn't match your lifestyle or if the interface is impenetrable, you still won't enjoy it. You'll want to look closely at performance; sound quality and battery life can make or break a player, especially if you travel a lot or have the so-called golden ears of an audiophile.

Before you start checking out specific models, you should have a basic understanding of the types of MP3 players available. Note: all types of players mentioned below can play other formats besides MP3, such as WMA, ATRAC3, OGG, or AAC, but we still refer to them as MP3 players.

Types of players: Hard-drive-based | Micro hard-drive-based | Flash-based | MP3 CD


Hard-drive-based players
Most likely, a high-capacity player can accommodate every song you've ever purchased or ripped from a CD. Hard drives run from 20GB on up, and large players such as the 80GB Apple iPod can hold around 23,000 songs, assuming an average file size of 3.5MB per tune.



Hard drive MP3 players such as the Microsoft Zune can hold a luxurious amount of music and video.

Pros: They store all your music on one device. They also tend to have more features and larger screens and are overall easier to use. High-capacity players give you the best bang for your buck in terms of price per gigabyte (for example, $300 30GB iPod vs. $250 8GB iPod Nano).
Cons: These players are usually built around a 1.8-inch hard drive; thus, they are larger and heavier than the others. Also, hard drives have moving parts, so these players aren't ideal for strenuous physical activity. Finally, most use rechargeable batteries (usually lasting 8 to 20 hours per charge) that you can't replace yourself, so after several years, you might have to pay for a new model or pay to get the battery replaced.


Micro hard-drive-based players
Straddling the line between full-size hard-drive-based MP3 players and compact, flash-based players, these models aim to give you the best of both worlds by using miniature hard drives (about 1 inch or less in diameter) with capacities of up to 12GB. So-called "micro drive" players are being largely phased out in favor of high-capacity flash devices, but you can still find compact hard-drive players such as the Creative Zen Micro Photo for sale online.



Micro hard-drive players such as the TrekStor Vibez are becoming rare, but they still offer an appealing compromise between hard drive and Flash-based MP3 players.

Pros: They're smaller and lighter than high-capacity players but still hold more tunes than flash-based models with the same price.
Cons: You get fewer megabytes per dollar than you do with a larger player, and these models have many of the same disadvantages of larger hard-drive-based units, including the moving parts that limit physical activity and nonremovable batteries that eventually wear out and need to be replaced. Luckily, many new micro drive-based players such as the Creative Zen Micro feature a user-replaceable battery.

This is a basic summary of MP3s, there's many types all of which have similar features.
Overall Rating: 10/10

I purchased the Creative Labs MuVo Mix MP3 Player because I had decided to take up jogging again and wanted a sound device I could carry that was lightweight and unobtrusive. The MP3 player holds more songs than I could ever listen to and is great for someone like myself who does not need a device that stores 1,500+ songs and who does not want to pay a fortune.

I purchased the Creative Labs brand because of its reputation and I purchased the MuVo Mix model because you can insert the player directly into the USB slot and download songs(or data, PowerPoint presentations, etc.)directly without a bunch of wires everywhere.

I haven't found any faults as of yet and as I stated before, unless you are one of those people who have hundreds of songs you would listen to, the MuVo Mix is more than enough as I am up to about 80 songs and I still have room for more.

As my first mp3 player, I had a lot to learn about how these players work. Ripping music (I like classical) is easy. The important thing I discovered is how the files are named. Now, if you are listening to music that comes in 3-4 minute pieces like rock, and you're not that concerned how they que up, its not a problem. However, classical music usually is written in a sequence. For instance, a multiple movement symphony. So with the default naming convention in Windows media player, the files looked like this. 01_Beethoven 5th symphony.wma. Ripping a Mozart symphony would be similiar. 01_Mozart 4th.wma. However, the player sorts the music alphabetically so the music gets played in the wrong order. Carefully renaming the files to fit a logical sequence is the only way to make them play correctly after you've already ripped them. Better yet, specify in the Media Player options dialog how the files are to be named. Album, track title, track number. This is especially important with large memory players that can hold multiple CD's worth of music. Another thing, its almost impossible to remember all the album names and track names so think about a player that has the capability to display that information. Also, get a player that supports folders. That way, file names are less important as you can download tracks into specific folders and keep them separated

I like this gadget because it's simple and affordable. I didn't want to pay a million bucks for a player that holds a million songs because for me, it's just not neccessary. Plus, I figure, if I drop it and it breaks, oh well, it didn't cost 300 dollars or anything. It is very small, you can put it in your pocket. It's good for someone who doesn't want to fuss with a lot of technical business. You just plug the thing in to your computer, and it tells you how to transfer songs. Pretty easy.

This was a gift for my mother as it is her first mp3 player. It is easy for her to use because there aren't that many features or buttons that she needs to press to listen to her tunes. A possible drawback is there is no screen to see the song name but it is easy to use as long as you don't need many features. It also does not need a cable to add songs to your mp3 player using a pc.