Creative Zen Neeon (5GB)

We got to hand it to Creative, it's really good at popping new MP3 player models out of the woodwork. The Zen Neeon dazzles with an eye-catching array of reusable stickers for the faceplate and a low price point for a 5GB player. Unfortunately, it fails to wow us with its recycled menu interface.

The MuVo Reborn?
Actually we don't really know. Seems to us that the product guys at Creative decided to mesh together the design of the Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra with the menu navigation of its MuVo MP3 players in a form factor that straddles both.

	The MP3 tiger or just a pussy?

At 79.9 x 46.9 x 15.9mm, the Zen Neeon is much smaller than the iPod mini and, with its metallic backplate, it feels at once both solid and compact at the same time. However, there is too much empty space beneath the display, which is quite a waste of real estate. The screen could have been enlarged from the current meager four-line display.

Hardware controls are sparse, to say the least, and includes a Play button that doubles as the Power On/Off on the right side, two volume controls, a Hold switch on the left, and three connectivity ports on the top; line-in, 3.5mm earphone jack and a mini-USB. It looks like Creative's morphed most of the MuVo's controls onto a 5GB player. The Zen Neeon also packs the usual suite of FM radio, line-in and FM recording.

Opening the Stik-On pack

To us, scrolling though 1GB worth of tracks in the MuVo V200 without a search function was already quite a pain in the thumb. Now that the same clickable scroll wheel has resurfaced on the 5GB Zen Neeon, we aren't exactly thrilled, either. The saving grace is that the Neeon supports a drag-and-drop interface as well as folder navigation which makes navigation a little more palatable. The Neeon also enables shuffle play within a folder which is a sweet addition.

Just Skin Deep?
We were spoilt for choice with Creative's initial offering of 16 different designs for the Zen Neeon. In the end, we went with the first Stik-On from the Funky series which features a cartoon of a red-haired gal amidst a lava glow background (always a hit with the guys). As we began plastering on the Stik-On, we realized that we had to bring our screen-protector-application skills into play (honed over many years with our PDAs). The thinness of the material made bubbles inevitable even though it ensures that the Stik-On is less liable to be ripped off by accident.

Creative mentioned the reusability of the Stik-Ons and we were eager to put this claim to the test. After 50 cycles of peeling and reapplying, the adhesive on the Stik-On still remained viable though we noticed, as is normal with most stickers, the corner which we used to pick at the Stik-On was getting frayed after the first 10 removals. It's an aesthetic issue, but nitpickers are bound to be irked by this.

Peel, massage and voila!

The Stik-Ons serves as both decorators and surface protectors, but what we found funny is that there is a hole left exposed on the Stik-On for the LCD display. Creative could have done better by using a transparent layer of plastic to protect the screen. The fact that there is a gap will also translate into accumulated grime along the edges over a period of usage.

It would also be ideal if Creative introduces a line of printable Stik-Ons for users to customize their own.

Last Thing: Does It Perform?
Rock , Jazz, Classical, Pop and a five-band equalizer are the sound enhancements on the Zen Neeon. We felt the presets to be a tad weak and would advise users to stick to the customizable equalizer.

	Fraying at the edges

In our test tracks, Diana Krall's They Can't Take That Away From Me had more presence in comparison with the iPod mini's rendition which had a bit of echo. In Garbage's Why Do You Love Me, the bass was empathic and in-your-face.

In our transfer times, the Neeon hit a high of 4.6MB per second with a 0.99MB file but slowed down to 2.7MB per second when trying to shift 240MB worth of assorted MP3 files.

Creative claims a battery life of 16 hours, but based on our test using assorted MP3 files encoded at 128kbps, the Neeon managed 15 hours and 29 minutes in our time trials.

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