Shown to the left is my Christmas present from my parents – thanks guys! It is a brand new, 20 GB Creative Zen Touch, and it replaced my iPod starting yesterday.
I had a first generation iPod, and while it worked well enough, it didn’t do what I needed. The battery life was terrible for one – the Zen Touch boasts a 24 hour battery life at 128 kbps (all my stuff is at least 128, most of it is higher). The main problem for me however, is that my musical life is spent inside Windows Media Player. Ever since version 9, I have used nothing else, and I really wanted a player that would work with WMP 10. The Zen Touch does, as do all WMA-enabled devices. It also has some really awesome features that the iPod was lacking, like creating and editing playlists on the go, deleting tracks without having to connect to a computer, and I like the Creative equalizers.
The TouchPad, which is where the device gets its name, does a good job of replacing the iPod’s ClickWheel in my opinion. At first it takes some getting used to, but only a single day after having it, I think I have mastered it – on the lowest sensitivity setting at least. It’s pretty easy to go through long lists of songs, and once you get the hang of it, it’s easy to move slowly one or two songs up or down.
Perhaps the only thing that I don’t find that useful right now is that the interface is USB 2.0 and not FireWire. This would be fine, except for the fact that I don’t have any USB 2.0 ports in my computer.
Anyway, the title of this post is about podcasting, so I should say something about that. I am going to be testing out the Zen Touch with Windows Media Player and Doppler for podcasting, and I’ll write about how it goes later. I can now finally test our WMA feed at BlogosphereRadio! I also plan to buy the Wired Remote for the Zen Touch, which adds and FM Tuner and a Microphone, so maybe I’ll even be able to podcast on the go!
Anyway, its a sweet player, thanks Mom & Dad!
MasterMaq's Blog 
Your most welcome Mack – hope it does everything that you would like it too! Sounds like you are doing great at mastering your new gadget, have FUN! LYL Talk to you real soon, on your Birthday! HUGs
Glad you like it and I hope it does everything that you need it to. It is also fairly cheap these days to add USB 2.0 support to your computer.
can i have your parents?
lol nice choice Mack, I have to say I too, was going to get the Zen, so why did I get the iPod? I make no excuse for myself, my digital camera was silver and chrome, my cell phone, silver and chrome, my laptop, silver, chrome and blue led’s, my MD, silver and chrome, so, guess what, the iPod, silver, white, and chrome 😉
Mack, I have the Zen Touch 40gb and love it! And anyone with a Zen needs to use Notmad by redchairsoftware at http://www.redchairsoftware.com/notmad and ditch the original software CD. Their software suite works great! Simple and straightforward.