Product Description
The Creative Zen Portable Media Center is the ultimate portable player for audio and visual entertainment. Watch up to 85 hours of video, listen to over 9,000 songs and view tens of thousands of photos. Its intuitive Microsoft interface offers familiar, fast and easy access to all your favorite digital media and gives you the freedom to take it with you anywhere. Watch it, listen to it, share it or show it off - As the flag ship of the Zen family of portable media products, the Zen Portable Media Center truly delivers an unparalleled audiovisual experience for people on the go. Movies, TV, music and photos can be enjoyed on the Zen's bright 3.8-inch color screen, through high quality headphones or its built-in speaker. You can even connect your Zen to external entertainment systems to share digital media with friends and family. This powerhouse entertainment player is housed in a compact and sleek design that is truly mobile. The Creative Zen Portable Media Center's rechargeable Li-Ion battery is removable, which means you can carry a spare battery and have many more hours of digital entertainment at your fingertips. Plus, Zen connects to your computer with a USB 2.0 port, giving you high-speed transfer for all your media. Zen supports all popular audio, video and picture formats including MP3, WMA, WMV and JPG. And, because it supports Windows Media Audio with DRM, the Zen Portable Media Center works will all popular download music services. You now have all your home entertainment wherever you go - experience the new wave of digital entertainment with Zen.
Customer Reviews:
price OD high.......2007-03-23
this is more than 400 bucks. i rather buy the psp which i already brought for 200. it has better waity media then psp i heard but i dint know.
Absolutely do not buy this device.......2006-10-29
I have owned Creative products before, and have generally been happy with them: I have a MuVo I have been using for about five years, and have Soundblaster Audigy cards in my machines at home.
The Portable Media Center is a bad effort by Creative, and for several reasons:
1) It has a nice screen, and if you play WMA files with album art, the art displays. However, if you have MP3s with album art, forget it. I tried to get Creative's help with this, and got nowhere.
2) Some MP3 files will not play at all. You get the message "The item is missing or damaged. See Portable Media Center Help on your computer."
3) Some MP3s play, but with weird glitches in the first ten seconds or so. It sounds like pieces of the file are skipped over at high speed. This is repeatable (when a file has this problem, it always has the same glitches in the same places.) Creative was no help with this.
4) Periodically the machine forgets it has an internal speaker (pull the headphones out of the jack and you hear nothing.) If you reset the device then POOF, the speaker works again.
5) Though the PMC is VERY expensive ($500 for a 20Gb device that can only play Windows Media Video files?), Creative has never released an update for the buggy software. I have been checking the Creative web site for a year and a half (since I got the player as a birthday present from my wife) and they have not put anything on there since 2004. They released half a dozen updates for the Muvo firmware for my other player, but nothing for the PMC. Apple updates their iPods, why can't Creative update their expensive clunker?
6) Creative will not help you with any problem after 60 days, unless you either buy their Support option or pay them $13 for a half-hour call. They tell you to check the web site for information, but they don't even admit to the problems I have been having on their FAQs. (I know they are aware of these problems, because I have read other people's complaints about the player, but they pretend the problems don't exist.)
One comment about the player itself. The ergonomics are strange. The rocker switch on the left only works when you are in the menu system; you cannot use it to skip from track to track while playing something. The rocker switch on the right is not a "wheel" type rocker, though it is circular. There is no "up" or "down" on it, though it would have been trivial to use that for volume, which would have reduced the number of switches (and the cost of the product.) Because there is a special button to escape to the menu system, you could have got rid of every button on the right, and had exactly the same functionality. Maybe they needed a box big enough to hold the battery and hard drive, so they decided to fill the space with buttons.
There are preset buttons on the top of the unit. If you press and hold one, it will "bookmark" a song or video. Pressing the button later will return to that content. I have never had a use for this feature, and fail to understand what having four song or videos available by pressing one button is useful for. (Maybe you need theme music when you enter a room?)
The video iPod is smaller, the Archos players play all kinds of formatted video, and virtually every other player in the universe can display the album art from an MP3 when playing it. There is no reason to ever consider buying this player. I am surprised Creative is still selling it.
Owned this for 2 years now - still works great .......2006-06-23
I bought this for my autistic son for christmas two years ago. I wasn't sure about it then but it still works fine two years later. My son is rough with this player and it can take a licking and keep on ticking. He loves music and I've loaded disney pictures and family pictures on it as well as a favorite video on it. (getting the video on it was the most difficult). Keith has been able to manuever through all the different songs and he figured out how to get the picture slide show to play while playing music. This player is a bit on the heavy side but it has been such an enjoyment for Keith. It is the best $500 I've ever spent on him. He has an ipod shuffle I bought after this but he prefers the Zen. He has dropped it and tossed it aside when the battery has died. I recharge it and sometimes have to reset it (it is computerized). But it is hardly scratched at all. The only downside is that it shows fingerprints but even that is not so bad.
Excellent product.......2006-05-29
Terrific product. I recently bought one on eBay and I love it. I read a lot of the reviews here to help make the decision and found them very helpful. It hooks up very easily with Windows Media Player and is simple to use. I tried out a lot of programs to transfer DVDs and I found the best one to be the CloneDVD Mobile program. I have been transferring a lot of my DVD collection to a format of 320x240 and vary the size of the file to around 700MB. I've also put a lot of the videos I have downloaded from the web on the the PMC. Like people have said, the best thing to do is just set it to transfer and just go to bed. I don't understand the complaint about it not having a kickstand for easier viewing, the carrying case can also double as a kickstand, so problem solved.
I highly recommend the PMC, after reading the reviews here, I was left unsure at just how good the picture quality was...would it be grainy? pixelated? not sharp enough? All my worries vanished when I watched the first video, amazing quality, crystal clear, sharp, and very impressive.
Do some research like I did, go to creative.com and look at the PMC, read reviews on this site or at CNET.com. CNET even has a video clip showing the PMC. PCWorld.com has some good reviews.
Very good product.......2006-04-10
I own a Media Center and I added this to watch programs. The product works great: excellent battery life, outstanding sound and nice screen output. Software is easy and user friendly and sync seamingless with my desktop Media Center. Easy to send audio to other devices (cars, home teathers, etc.)
The Cons that I found on this product are:
1. Unable to program your own playlist or to create them inside the PMCE. If its possible...not so easy to find out how.
2. You need third party software to convert video like Tv shows (mpeg) and DVDs...it is not expensive, but not included.
3. Device somehow thick. I think this is going to be an issue on the next generations. Also it is a little heavier than other products.
Overall is a great product and I am really satisfied with it. Much better to carry a protable DVD player. If you want a really cool device to hold your music and have a couple of movies to have some fun, this is for sure a great buy. Doesnt worth to pay the "list price".
Product Description
The RadioSHARK adds a software controlled AM-FM radio any PC or Macintosh computer -- and that's only the beginning! The RadioSHARK records AM & FM broadcasts. Record a scheduled show or use Time-Shift Recording to "pause" live radio, so you can return to right where you left off moments, even hours later.
Amazon.com Review
There's a lot to like about Internet radio, but sometimes you just want to catch the local NPR broadcast or listen to the ballgame without searching for a streaming audio feed. Griffin satisfies this urge with its RadioShark, an AM/FM desktop radio that plugs into your computer's USB port to broadcast the full spectrum of local radio. More impressively, the device also acts as a radio version of a digital video recorder, employing a technology called Time-Shift Recording to pause and rewind live radio (think TiVo). Time-Shift Recording lets a user pause a live interview, leave the desk for 15 minutes, and then return without missing a second of conversation. In addition, the RadioShark records radio in real time with the push of a button or records favorite programs via the VCR-like scheduling window. Griffin touts the device as a great way to take control of how and when you listen to the radio. And we agree for the most part, but with a major caveat.
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The software interface includes frequency and volume sliders, along with band, seek, and record buttons. |
Design and Setup
The slick-looking RadioShark is shaped like (surprise!) a shark fin, with a white plastic exterior that looks perfectly at home amidst a desktop full of Apple peripherals, including the ubiquitous iPod. This makes sense given Griffin's reputation as a manufacturer of Apple accessories. Installation is quick and easy thanks to the included CD-ROM, which comes with software installers for both Mac and PC. Users will need to be running OS X 10.2.8 or higher or Windows XP to operate the software, however. Once it's up and running, users can easily reposition the device to improve radio reception and recording quality, though we didn't have any problem picking up the signals in our notoriously reception-poor region. Listeners can also add an external antenna to the rear jack should reception prove spotty.
Features and Performance
Listening to the radio with the RadioShark is as simple as flipping a switch. The basic yet intuitive software interface includes frequency and volume sliders, along with band, seek, and record buttons. It takes but a fraction of a second to change stations, and the signal responds immediately. The audio quality isn't terrific, but it's just fine given the circumstances (FM radio through computer speakers). Recording is also quite easy, whether it's for five seconds or five hours. Once you turn it off, the files save conveniently as either AIFF or AAC files (Mac) or WAV files (PC) in your computer's designated music directory, where you can listen to them later or export them to other applications. Alternately, Mac users can choose to import their recordings directly into iTunes for added convenience. This is particularly cool for iPod users, who can record songs or programs from the RadioShark and then listen to them later while on the move.
The Time-Shift feature, which offers a continuous 30-minute recording loop, is also quite convenient. Should you pause or rewind a segment, you can easily rejoin the live broadcast by clicking the fast forward button. The RadioShark also continues to record the live broadcast while you're checking out the archived footage, ensuring that you don't miss a second. And should you want to permanently record a Time-Shifted song or program, you can just hit record and it's done. A couple of other convenient features include an equalizer with several preset settings and an easy-to-follow scheduling window for upcoming recordings. Listeners can even set the RadioShark to record hourly, daily, or weekly programs.
Unfortunately, thanks to a few serious hiccups, these scheduled recordings may never come to pass. Specifically, if you let your computer drift off to sleep, the RadioShark responds by disconnecting from the software. The only way to sync it back up is to unplug the Shark and start again, but in the process, listeners lose all their scheduling information. This problem appears persistent in both Macs and PCs, though Griffin's web site says Windows users shouldn't experience the problem. Griffin recommends disabling the sleep preference as a solution, but that's inconvenient for a number of reasons. As an alternative, users can reconnect the device each time it fizzles, but that's also a pain and makes the scheduling window virtually obsolete. Until Griffin releases an update, the sleep issue will remain a major drawback.
We also experienced a few skips while using the Time-Shift feature. These weren't standard static interruptions, but sounded more like sporadic CD skips--sometimes several to a song. This wouldn't be a big deal when listening to conversational radio such as NPR, but if you're trying to record music, it could be a real drag.
But it's the sleep issue that really prevents us from giving the RadioShark an enthusiastic recommendation. Should the recording problems steer listeners away from the RadioShark? Not necessarily, unless scheduled recording is the main reason you're drawn to the machine. The radio and Time-Shift features are still pretty cool, and the RadioShark offers one of the easiest ways to record live radio into digital formats. But it does put a damper on an otherwise great product. --Rivers Janssen
Pros
- Plays local AM and FM stations through your computer
- Records live radio and syncs recordings to iTunes and iPod
- TiVo-like Time-Shift Recording lets listeners pause or rewind live broadcast
- Fun, shark-fin-like antenna receives solid reception
Cons
- RadioShark loses signal when computer sleeps, disabling scheduled recordings
- Time-Shift feature occasionally causes audio skips
What's in the Box
RadioShark, USB extension cable, installation CD-ROM, user's manual.
Customer Reviews:
Problematic, though eventually decent........2007-09-29
Does not work that well with the drivers that comes with it. Lots of background hum and other audio distortions. It works mildly better with the updated drivers on griffin's website. Works pretty well if you download the drivers for the RadioShark 2. Pretty expensive original price though.
Great item for the price........2007-09-07
I got the radio shark to replace my stereo that died. It not only does that but adds a radio recorder to my tools. I can save audio recordings directly to iTunes. There is updated software that enhances the radio shark experience, but it also leaves out one or two features from the old software version I thought should be carried on to the new.
Dislikes are it is not the best on reception, but local stations come in very clear. Wish it had a way to connect to an external antenna. This would help in boosting the reception part.
Overall a good buy and a cool way to have what the old macs had. One more point is that it is stated on the package it is for 400mhz G3 macs, but is recommended for G4s and up. I have a 700mhz G3 and it seems to work just fine on it.
I Love This Thing!.......2007-06-27
It does what it says! I can record my favorite talk shows and listen to them when I want. The player could be a little nicer but it works fine. I get pretty good reception after I played with the placement of the antenna a little bit. If it's too close to the speakers and monitor, it would pick up noise. It is the best investment I have made for my pc in a long time!
Find another FM tuner for your Mac or PC.......2007-05-26
This was probably the worst investment I've made for my computers ever. The signal is weak, and if you're more than one wall indoors, forget about getting anything worthwhile. Unless you try one of the many hacks for increasing the power to this device or have an external power supply/antenna for it, you won't catch too many radio stations.
My advice: Stay Away from this product. There's a reason why it disappeared from store shelves so quickly.
Great concept.......poor software and reception.......2007-05-14
I bought this to record lectures that were broadcast over an in-house fm signal. I've done this before with a portable mp3 recorder and had fine results but thought I could set this up to do it automatically and have the files saved on my computer. I was disappointed that the recordings I made with the radioshark had static in them so the reception must be very weak. Also the software left alot to be desired. I ended up returning this product and went back to setting up my mp3 fm/recorder manually to do the job.
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