Digital Home Thoughts: Review of Creative Zen Sleek

"One almost has to feel sorry for Creative. It’s been trying right from the outset of MP3 players to compete with Apple. In fact, if memory serves, it beat Apple to the punch by introducing the original hard disk jukebox, around a year before the iPod was launched. But ever since the small white monolith appeared, Creative’s been chasing the market. In an attempt to win the fight it has tried beat Apple players on a feature by feature basis without as much thought going into design. And while Apple focuses on around three players at any one time, Creative seems to have about 87, which just shows that the company is as confused as we are."



So true. Anyways, this review is about the new Zen Sleek. It is a strong 20GB audio player contender. It’s lighter than an iPod and the iRiver H10, despite the fact that it integrates a microphone and FM tuner and can record from both (iRiver has both features). It looks so much like an iPod mini though lacks an easy to use menu system from what I can see. So if you want 20GB in a small form factor then this is for you, otherwise, keep looking.