So, I purchased the Creative Zen a few months back. Initially I purchased the 1 gig version and it was working ok but it started giving me some troubles a few months in. It kept randomly turning off, so I decided to exchange it in for a Creative Zen V Plus 2.0 gig version. The plus version had video and FM radio, both of which I never used. The screen was far too small to display. I had filled up the mp3 player with loads of music using my NapsterToGo Subscription and found that the player was getting a bit slow when scrolling the large list of songs/albums/artists. The player was nice and small and felt very rugged. Because of this very reason I never really kept it protected, I would just put it in my jean pocket but never dropped it either. About a month later I noticed the small tiny navigation button cracking and a week or so later the button had cracked in half and gotten lost. Luckily for me I had a product replacement plan from Best Buy and although they are not supposed to cover physical damage ( I never told them it was physically damaged when I called.) they sent me back a gift card for as much as it was worth.

Creative Zen V

I was actually pretty disappointed with the player. Although it looked rugged and the software is pretty decent, it often would screw up by randomly freezing requiring a reset. It was slow and very hard to navigate.

I am now a happy customer of the Sandisk Sansa. At first I was thinking of getting the Samsung T9 because of the touch screen controls and the sleek looks but the fact that it did not support album art was a real turn off and after testing it out I realized that the controls were not that great because although it was fast at navigation and fast to boot up it was practical for scrolling through the lists.

Sandisk Sansa

The Sansa 8.0 gig version went on sale and i ended up getting it for the same price as the 2.0 gig zen because by now the prices dropped substantially. I love the scroll wheel and the software. It supports album art and even has an expansion port. I bought a Griffin clear case which I will try to replace with the chrome case when best buy gets it in stock. The buttons are a bit annoying on the Sansa when its in the case but I have gotten used to it, and I use the scroll wheel the most any ways. For $179 .00 I think its a great deal for an 8 gig mp3 player.