Get to know the Zune HD>>Creative Zen Mozaic (4GB, black)
Manufacturer: Creative Part number: 70PF240100111
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Accessories
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The Creative Zen Mozaic offers great bang for your buck as far as MP3 players go: get super sound quality, a boatload of features, and a cool interface--all wrapped in a funky design at an ultralow price.
Read more
Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com Marketplace |  | In stock | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 12/03/2009 |
CNET editors' review
Creative Zen Mozaic (4GB, black) price range: $59.99
- Reviewed by: Jasmine France
- Reviewed on: 08/06/2008
- Updated on:10/14/2008
The good: The Creative Zen Mozaic offers a unique design, great sound quality, and a sweet, customizable interface. It's packed with features such as an FM radio, a voice recorder, a built-in speaker, and photo and video support. The player is also a good value, and video battery life is exceptional.
The bad: The Zen Mozaic lacks dedicated volume controls and it only works with Windows XP and Vista. Videos must be transcoded with the included software.
The bottom line: The Creative Zen Mozaic offers great bang for your buck as far as MP3 players go: get super sound quality, a boatload of features, and a cool interface--all wrapped in a funky design at an ultralow price.
Creative Labs knows audio, and we're not just talking about sound cards. The company's line of Zen MP3 players has consistently earned good marks for sound quality, features, and value. Perhaps the favorite of all these devices has been the Zen V Plus, an adorable budget player with an ultracompact design. In fact, the Zen V Plus has been popular enough to let Creative rest on its laurels for more than two years. But now the time has come for a refresh, and that refresh is in the form of the Zen Mozaic, a uniquely-designed device with Creative's signature sound quality and feature offerings. The Mozaic is a bit larger than its predecessor, measuring 3.1 inches by 1.6 inches by 0.5 inch, but like the others in the line, it's priced to sell: the 2GB version is $59.99 while the 4GB goes for $79.99 (an 8GB model is in the works).
Straight-up: we think the Zen Mozaic is super cute, but that doesn't mean it's just for girls. The mosaic tile design on the front gives it an arty look that anyone tired of ho-hum electronics can appreciate. On that same tip, however, we can see how those who prefer sleek understatement might find the pattern off-putting. Creative offers the device in a choice of three colors--black, gray, or pink--which account for the overall color scheme and shading on the tiles. Nine of these tiles comprise the player's main controls, which have understated markings to indicate their functions. This way, the buttons blend nicely into the overall design--we like the effect. The keys consist of four directional arrows surrounding a center select button; the four outer corners include dedicated back, contextual menu, play/pause, and shortcut buttons. We're pleased to see that Creative included the full array of controls found on the Zen, although the fact that they are set so close together will prove challenging for those with larger fingers (the fact that the buttons are raised helps some, though). Unfortunately, there's no dedicated volume rocker, but there is a combined power and hold switch on the left spine. The bottom of the player houses the standard mini USB port and a headphone jack.
The interface and plethora of visual display options continue to set the Zen line apart. As per usual, Creative includes various themes for interface customization, and you can set any image on the player as wallpaper. All menus are straightforward. Music is sorted by playlist, album, artist, and so on, while photos are conveniently sorted into folders. Open these folders and you're greeted with an attractive three-by-four thumbnail grid of your pictures. The photo viewing experience is great: the thumbnails magnify as you scroll through them and once you select a photo, you are given various options including zoom and rotate. Naturally, you can view photos and slide shows while listening to music. There's even a nifty, semi-split-screen deal on the main menu that cycles through album art, photos, or video image clips, depending on which media type you are browsing.
Getting content onto the Zen Mozaic is a mostly simple task (except when it comes to video). If you're already running Windows Media Player or Rhapsody, you don't even need to install any software to start syncing content to the player--in fact, you can even use drag-and-drop if you prefer. However, the included Creative Centrale software is a worthwhile install and necessary for converting video for the player. ZenCast--a program that offers a one-stop spot for subscribing to, organizing, and transferring podcasts--is not included on the disc but can be downloaded. It would have been nice if Creative had folded this into Centrale to offer a more seamless experience. We'd also love to have seen Mac support; unfortunately, the Mozaic uses MTP, so you won't be able to sync it with any machines that aren't running Windows XP.
There's a lot to like about the Mozaic, but it really shines in the features department. It's worth noting, however, that there is no line-in recording for audio or video. Nor will you find an SD card slot on this player. What you do get is support for MP3, WAV, WMA (including subscription), and Audible audio; AVI video (all videos must be transcoded with the included software); and JPEG photos. There's also a built-in mic for voice recording and an FM radio with autoscan and 32 preset slots. And Creative includes basic PIM functionality: you can sync contacts, tasks, and calendar info from Outlook to the device. Plus, you get the usual shuffle and repeat playback modes, handy contextual menus, and the ability to search for artists and songs as well as rate songs on the fly and set up to 10 bookmarks. Nine preset EQs, a five-band, user-definable mode, and a bass boost function ensure that you can adjust sound to your liking. Creative even threw a speaker onto the back of the device for music sharing moments.
Frankly, we've come to expect great audio quality from Creative's MP3 players, and the Zen Mozaic did not disappoint--once we swapped in the Shure SE310 headphones. (For their part, the included headphones were passable.) Perhaps the best thing is that all genres of music sound equally great. The bass of Zeb's disco house track "Disco Patel" was tight and enveloping without overshadowing the sparkle of the high hat and minute ting of the triangle. In the Bangles' high-end heavy intro to "Hazy Shade of Winter," the detail of each instrument was crystal clear, and the relatively quiet Spanish guitar was not lost among the frantic chorus of the rest of the track. Overall, music was rich, warm, and detailed...and it just made us happy.
The Mozaic also boasts plenty of volume to drive a full-size set of 'phones--we only had it up to about a third with some noise-isolating buds. The rated battery life of 36 hours for audio is impressive, and the 5-hour rating for video is solid; interestingly, our CNET Labs test results swapped our opinion, as we got just a solid 22.3 hours of music and a hugely impressive 10.4 hours of video. The 1.8-inch color TFT display is nice and bright and photos look good, but some suffer from blurriness at the edges. Videos look fine with a bit of pixelation, but the screen size isn't conducive to watching a lot of video so we can forgive this. Viewing angle is very good from every direction except the bottom.
User reviews
-
-
Quality Player for the Price
by Kynafairge on January 25, 2009
Pros: It's inexpensive for the number of features (speaker, FM radio, alarm clock, 4GB memory to name a few). It's light and the design is appealing to me. Navigation is simple, and intuitive. The battery life is great.
Cons: I hate the software that comes with it. The headphones are cheap, but that seems to be standard for most players. The USB cable is too short to be practical. Only compatible with XP or Vista, so no Macs allowed.
Summary: If you want a simple to use player with a decent amount of memory it's great. It's easy to navigate and add music or other types of files. ...
Summary: If you want a simple to use player with a decent amount of memory it's great. It's easy to navigate and add music or other types of files. It charges quickly and the battery really does last quite long. I like to listen as I head to sleep, so having a "sleep" setting is nice, as is the speaker.
While it does have a plastic shell, it feels sturdy. I I like the design, but that is more personal preference. The buttons are much easier than the joystick of the Zen V Plus, and I've never really like the wheel on other players. The screen is small but clear. Having pictures on it isn't really a priority for me, but a nice feature. The FM radio is much stronger than I expected.
I usually lock it while I listen, but if you don't the screen will not go completely dark. Also, on the display, I don't really like the digital time format on the title bar. It's just odd looking to me, but still readable.
However, the software it comes with is pretty bad. My computer had issues within a few hours of installing it. Instead I use the drag and drop method instead. I could use Media Player as well.
Overall, there are extras that I probably won't use, such as the alarm clock, but it's a solid player for the price I paid. I don't regret the purchase at all. Creative should work on the accompanying software but other than that I feel like it's a solid player.2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Sound Quaity is Very Loud
Pros: Excellent sound quality ?very loud sound;
Calendar & Alarm;
The lightest on the market; and
Excellent battery life;
Alphabetically ordered search;
Fast-forward and rewind works better than most other mp3s ?you can stop at almost exact locationCons: The only limitation is that you cannot expand it with mini SD disk and it doesn?t play FM radios, while SanDisk Sansa has both. But for such low price, this zen is great mp3 player.
Summary: I have owned ipods, a Motorola roker, a SanDisk Sansa, and this (Creative Zen Mozaic). I found Creative Zen to be the loudest from all of these. I have many ...
Summary: I have owned ipods, a Motorola roker, a SanDisk Sansa, and this (Creative Zen Mozaic). I found Creative Zen to be the loudest from all of these. I have many audio books that have been converted from audiotapes and their sound quality is very poor. Unless the mp3 player is very loud like this Creative Zen, it can become difficult to hear. This may not come as a surprise because this company have been in the audio business for a very long time now. They also have produced the best software of converting audiotapes to digital audio. Thus far, I love it.
The only limitation is that you cannot expand it with mini SD disk and it doesn?t play FM radios, while SanDisk Sansa has both. But for such low price, this zen is great mp3 player.
The bottom line is:
Best player for audio-books that have been converted from audiotapes because of its excellent sound quality even with its own earphone.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Great sound for a nice price
by percussiveness on October 5, 2008
Pros: Fantastic sound quality, even through the included earbuds. Bright, attractive screen with very customizable menus. And it looks pretty cool too.
Cons: The included software isn't very intuitive, and you do have to wander through a few menus on the device to get a feel for its interface. Also, there's very little included documentation - you have to download it.
Summary: Overall I'm very happy with this player. For the price, you get a whole lot of value. The sound is excellent, and there's even an on-board EQ. Too ...
Summary: Overall I'm very happy with this player. For the price, you get a whole lot of value. The sound is excellent, and there's even an on-board EQ. Too bad about the software, but it's only really needed if you want to encode video, which I don't intend to bother with - somehow, a movie loses something on a 2-in screen, you know?
In general, this is a sweet little device, especially for this price. Good buy all around.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
Great product for the price
by jwilkie on July 30, 2009
Pros: Easy to use, sounds great, durable.
Cons: Software could be alittle easier to use, features on black keys should be white, plus didn't like the ear phones, kept falling off my ears and finally lost sponge caps, which makes them useless.
Summary: Wife got this for Christmas, 4 months later found it stuffed away in a draw. I love to walk, but it is boring, so I decided, to take control of ...
Summary: Wife got this for Christmas, 4 months later found it stuffed away in a draw. I love to walk, but it is boring, so I decided, to take control of the MP3 player and within 30 minutes had all mp3s that I knew I would enjoy while walking on the player. For an MP3 player it is great. Able to delete tracks, if I hear one that doesn't suit walking.
Bottom line minor issues, good quality sound, especially with quality ear phones, still cheaper than most MP3 players. -
Its a cheap quality product
by osta911 on December 29, 2008
Pros: - good sound quality
-good looking
-cheap
-cool built in speakerCons: you can't use i tunes the headphones suck the whole thing is agarbage i hate it the program for it doesnt work ir slows it down.
Summary: Its just a waste of money, dont buy it. Its too much trobule, i mean you want even dowlaod off of I tunes.
Summary: Its just a waste of money, dont buy it. Its too much trobule, i mean you want even dowlaod off of I tunes.
1 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Creative
- Part number: 70PF240100111
- Bottom Line: The Creative Zen Mozaic offers great bang for your buck as far as MP3 players go: get super sound quality, a boatload of features, and a cool interface--all wrapped in a funky design at an ultralow price.
General
- Product type Digital player / radio
- PC interface(s) supported Hi-Speed USB
- Flash memory installed 4 GB Integrated
- Digital storage None
- Weight 1.5 oz
- Dimensions (W x D x H) 1.6 in x 0.5 in x 3.1 in
- Color Black
- Available body colors Silver, Black
- Voice recording capable Yes
- Included accessories Earphone, USB cable
- Software type AudibleManager, Creative Centrale, Drivers & Utilities
Digital Player / Recorder
- Supported digital audio standards MP3, WAV, WMA, ADPCM, Audible
- Playback modes Playlist
- Supported bit rate 128 KBps, 64 KBps
Built-in Display
- Audio system built-in display TFT
- Diagonal size 1.8 in
- Resolution 128 x 160
- Backlight display Yes
Audio Features
- Sound output mode Stereo
- Built-in clock Alarm, Digital clock
- Additional features Calendar, Bass Boost, Voice recording, Built-in organizer, USB 2.0 compatibility
Video Playback Features
- Still image format JPEP, BMP, GIF, PNG, TIFF
CD System
- CD system type None
- Digital audio standards supported MP3, WMA, WAV (IMA-ADPCM), Audible 4
Speaker System
- Speaker(s) 1 x Speaker Built-in
Equalizer
- Equalizer type Built-in
- Equalizer factory preset qty 8
- Equalizer factory presets Pop, Jazz, Rock, Disco, Vocal, NewAge, Classic, Acoustical
- Equalizer user preset qty 5
- Equalizer band qty 5 bands
Radio
- Tuner type Digital Radio tuner
- Station preset qty 32
- Tuner bands FM
Remote Control
- Remote control None
Microphone
- Microphone type Built-in
- Microphone operation mode Mono
Headphones
- Headphones type Binaural
- Sound output mode Stereo
- Connectivity technology Wired
Connectivity
- Cable(s) included 1 x USB cable - External
- Connector type 1 x Headphones, 1 x Hi-Speed USB Mini-USB Type B
- Slot(s) provided None
Battery / Power
- Battery 1 x Lithium ion Rechargeable Player batteryIntegrated
- Mfr estimated battery life 32 hour(s)
- Power device type Power adapter
System Requirements
- Peripheral / Interface devices CD-ROM, USB port
- Operating system Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP SP2, Microsoft Windows XP 64-bit Edition
- Min hard drive space 175 MB
Sustainability
- CNET Labs: Battery drain test / Video playback 623.69 min
- CNET Labs: Battery drain test / audio playback 1340 min
Product series
-
Creative Zen Mozaic (2GB, black)
Manufacturer: Creative
Specs: Digital player / radio, 2 GB, MP3, WAV, WMA, ADPCM, Audible, 1 x Lithium ion Rechargeable Player batteryIntegrated
-
Creative Zen Mozaic (2GB, pink)
Manufacturer: Creative
Specs: Digital player / radio, 2 GB, MP3, WAV, WMA, ADPCM, Audible, Protected WMA (DRM 9), Protected WMA (DRM 10), 1 x Lithium ion Rechargeable Player batteryIntegrated
-
Creative Zen Mozaic (4GB, pink)
Manufacturer: Creative
Specs: Digital player / radio, 4 GB, MP3, WAV, WMA, ADPCM, Audible, Protected WMA (DRM 9), Protected WMA (DRM 10), 1 x Lithium ion Rechargeable Player batteryIntegrated
-
Creative Zen Mozaic (4GB, black)
Manufacturer: Creative
Specs: Digital player / radio, 4 GB, MP3, WAV, WMA, ADPCM, Audible, 1 x Lithium ion Rechargeable Player batteryIntegrated
-
Creative Zen Mozaic (4GB, silver)
Manufacturer: Creative
Specs: Digital player / radio, 4 GB, MP3, WAV, WMA, ADPCM, Audible, Protected WMA (DRM 9), Protected WMA (DRM 10), 1 x Lithium ion Rechargeable Player batteryIntegrated
-
Creative Zen Mozaic (8GB, black)
Manufacturer: Creative
Specs: Digital player / radio, 8 GB, MP3, WAV, WMA, ADPCM, Audible, Protected WMA (DRM 9), Protected WMA (DRM 10), 1 x Lithium ion Rechargeable Player batteryIntegrated
Accessories
Manufacturer info
- Creative
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Creative products on Shopper.com
-
- Website: http://us.creative.com
- Address:
1901 McCarthy Blvd. Milpitas, CA 95035, Milpitas, CA 95035 - Phone: 800-998-1000
%20-%20Compare%20prices,%20reviews,%20user%20opinions%20-%20Shopper.com&srcUrl=http://shopper.cnet.com/mp3-players/creative-zen-mozaic-4gb/4014-6490_9-33183727.html){kind=small}