has anyone got a Creative ZEN Xi-Fi 2 . as i was tempted to get 1 from argos. whats the speaker like. is it reasonably loud without to much distortion. is the touch screen ok, will it play downloaded videos without to much converting. also like the idea of the extra memory slot.. have googled , but lots of verying reviews. also tempted Archos 3 Cam A30VC. fm transmitter sounds handy. any thoughts. regards popp

hey popp, what if you were to chose between different products but under the same company? (sorry if you are planning to buy only between the ZEN 2 or the Archos 3)

seeing that you are choosing between an expensive product, like the Creative ZEN Xi-Fi 2, then the products i'd talk about would interest you even more.

instead of buying between the ZEN 2 and the Archos 3, how about choosing between the ZEN Xi-Fi 1 and the Archos 28?

Archos 28: http://www.archos.com/products/ta/ar...try=ca&lang=en

ZEN Xi-Fi 1:
http://us.store.creative.com/ZEN-XFi...B001CB0RSG.htm

- both are currently sold at 99.99$USD
- both have free-shipping
- both have wi-fi wireless internet, increases its "worth"
- archos 28 is touchscreen with 8Gb
- ZEN Xi-Fi 1 is not touchscreen but has 16gb
- archos uses the "open" Google Android OS, allows download and installation of Andoid apps
- ZEN includes ZENcast, a free online collection of videos and audio podcast channels

the difference between the archos 28 and the zen1 is that: - the archos is on the more "productive" side than the zen1
- the zen1 is more on the "multimedia" side with 16Gb
- the archos can open, and edit microsoft words/powerpoint/excel documents

which would i choose?
i would chose the archos 28 because it has the ability to edit and view words/powerpoint/excel documents on the go, it uses an "open" Google Android OS, as in that developers can edit and code the Archos 28 based on the Linux language, if i am correct

which to choose?
it depends on your "needs". If you are planning to buy an mp4 player specifically to play music, videos, pictures, listen to the radio, and access the internet, then the ZEN 1 is ideal as it has 32Gb of onboard memory.

if you are planning to buy a unique mp4 player, then the Archos 28 is ideal because, from the data on its website, it the the first Android-OS based device sold under 100$, it can open and edit microsoft words/powerpoint/excel document On the Go.

I have the Zen X-Fi, but not the X-Fi2 as I hate touchscreens (always more trouble than they're worth, I find). The speaker quality is good enough --- let me put it this way: you can leave it sitting on your desk and listen to it and it doesn't sound tinny. Of course, the sound is much better when you plug in the phones, and as an aside, the phones that come with the player are one of the best sets I've used to date.

Video has always been something of a problem for Creative. A very large percentage of the video I have transferred onto my X-Fi (I don't use videos much on it though) had to be converted by its own software, and a few just would not play at all, so if video is your thing then I would say it's not the choice for you.

The controls are a little fiddly, but after a bit of experience you get used to them fairly quickly (tip: use your fingernail, not your finger, as they're small and grouped closely together). Power consumption I find is very good. As a comparison, I ran my ipod 5th gen all night, from about 2AM to about 8AM, and it died before that time (about 7.20 I think) whereas for the same time period my Zen was only half-empty.

I can't speak for the Archos, but I've never had any problem with Zens. Also, you aren't stuck being forced to use the likes of itunes: it's just drag and drop from the PC, which is very handy.

One more thing: I haven't had to use it, but I'm reliably informed that the SD card has to be accessed separately, ie you can't have a playlist using songs from your Zen AND the SD card at once, though that's probably a small point.