WE HAVE A TIGHT CHRISTMAS fast approaching and this year that means ignoring lust-worthy Apple components and looking a viable alternatives like the Creative Zen MP3 player at left. I've been admiring the credit-card sized Zen in several Dublin electronics shops and the only reason I haven't bought one is because my brother-in-law swears by his. I don't want to look like a follower so I'm holding off for a 32 GB Flash version of the Creative Zen. It's handy to have a SD/SDHC card slot because that helps me leverage my SD collection. The Creative Zen supports MP3 and AAC which means I can rip and play--with one additional step required to rip iTunes music. I also have to convert my 3GP and MP4 files to video in WMV or DivX/XviD at 320x240 resolution but Creative's software could help with those tasks. Let's see whether I get one of these little numbers for Christmas.
Creative sells the Zen online in Ireland for €229.
