28 Apr 09 Creative re-launches the ZEN, calls it ZEN MX
Whenever a classic movie gets remade, many of us just accept the fact that Hollywood has run out of ideas. Well, it looks like the same can be said about Creative, a company that clearly isn’t living up to their name of late. Instead of announcing a new touchscreen player, like most other DAP companies; they announce the player you see below. No your eyes aren’t deceiving you, the ZEN MX is rehash of the ZEN from 2007. The player looks identical to the original, save for the power switch being removed, and integrated with the Play/Pause button.
Like most of those Hollywood remakes, the ZEN MX takes a big step backwards from the original. First, it removes support for AAC files, leaving you with just MP3, and WMA. You can also say goodbye to WMV, Xvid, and Divx support on the video side. In its place is a proprietary CMV format. To top it off, it looks like Creative still hasn’t fixed the SD-card integration issue, despite having years to do so.
Is it me, or does Creative have a death wish? The only silver lining, if you can call it that, is the pricing. The 8GB model will retail in Japan for 9,800 Yen (around $91US), and the 16GB for 13,800 Yen (~$143US). While I still feel Creative has the potential to make a great player (with the help of their Zii chip), I also feel their best days are long behind them.
via epiZENter
