A few months ago I developed a deep need to purchase a portable music playing device. The old-school notion of carrying around a discman was right out; as I found myself spending increasingly long periods of time at my university, I realized that I would quickly exhaust the musical possibilities that traditional media-based players have to offer. I decided it was time for me to take a big leap into the wild world of mp3 players. (Yes, I know I’m about ten years behind the bleeding edge.) There are a lot of players out there. I narrowed my criteria down to four main factors: functionality, ease of use, capacity, and sound quality. In the end, Creative’s Zen Micro won the day. Function-wise, it does everything I need it to. (I can even use it to transport data files from school to home, which pleases me beyond words.) I find the navigation system and controls easier to grasp than the iPod’s much-lauded click wheel. And the Zen Micro definitely has the iPod Nano beat when it comes to the price/gigabyte ratio. As for sound quality, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the nuanced playback features. Over the months I’ve been using it I’ve also noticed that this unit is a pretty hardy customer. It’s survived a few unfortunate drops and it has yet to develop any surface scratches, even though I carry it in my pocket without a protective case. My one complaint: I think the AC adapter should come with the player; charging the Zen Micro through a USB cable can be a lengthy proposition.

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