Creative ZEN X-Fi with Wireless LAN

The wireless version of the ZEN X-Fi comes in two capacities, 16GB ($199.99) and 32GB ($279.99). There's also a $149.99 8GB version, which lacks wireless capabilities, but offers everything else that the 16GB and 32GB models do. We took a look at the 16GB player. Some people will see the slick, glossy black credit card size 2.4 ounce ZEN X-Fi and instantly fall in love, but the thirteen buttons on the front panel seem excessive to me, especially in this era of scroll wheels and touch screens.

Regardless, the nine button, phone pad like array works in the same basic directional way that a scroll wheel does the top middle button navigates up and the lower middle is down.

The four additional buttons on the front panel are for skipping forward and backward, playing, pausing, and displaying submenus.

The 2.4 inch, 320 by 240 pixel screen offers sharp video and photo playback, but the codec support leaves something to be desired (more on that in a second).

You get an SD slot for playing files stored on external cards, a mini USB slot for syncing with a PC, and a built in mic, and speaker. The player comes with Creative Centrale, an app that organizes your PC's music and media, and can convert your video files that won't play nice with the ZEN X-Fi. Codec support for audio is generous : MP3, WMA, WAV, Audible, and AAC4. For videos and photos, it's far more limited. While Creative claims the player natively supports MPEG4, MJPEG, and WMV video, all of my test files had to be converted with the software in order to play.

This doesn't mean is the company is fibbing, it's just that the ZEN X-Fi will only play certain types of MPEG4's and WMVs, and if all the file's parameters aren't to its liking, conversion is required. This is a bit annoying, but plenty of players, like the Sansa Fuze for example, require similar video conversion. Photo support is limited to JPGs. The Wireless LAN feature is the flashiest aspect of the ZEN X-Fi. Unfortunately, it isn't a snap to set up because the user interface isn't intuitively organized.

You have to poke around in the menus to find what you're looking for. Also, the Creative Centrale software on your PC doesn't default to sharing mode, so you need to first enable the Centrale Media Server or your player won't be able to find your PC's music. Connecting to an 802.11B or G wireless network is fairly straightforward, though entering a password on the keypad is a bit of a pain.