Amazon.com Review
The Creative Labs Nomad IIc is one of those gadgets that are so much fun to play with, you find yourself forgetting they're useful, too. When portable MP3 players first hit the market, they were relatively simple devices good for one thing: playing MP3 files. Now, as companies have learned customers want more than just that, today's devices can no longer be described as just MP3 players.
The Nomad IIc's most overlooked feature is that it is a digital voice recorder. Since voice recordings aren't the memory hogs that music files are, the Nomad IIc can record up to four hours' worth. This feature is perfect for dictating messages to yourself or for the fledging journalist recording interviews, and you can even upload voice files from the Nomad IIc to your PC.
From an audio perspective, the Nomad IIc couldn't have performed any better. The equalizer had good settings, and the ability to program user-defined settings was awesome. A wired remote control and bass-enhanced, behind-the-head headphones completed the package.
MP3 players are great for music lovers on the go. Because they have no moving parts, they're well-known for delivering skip-free music. To test the Nomad IIc, we loaded it up with some hip-hop and headed down to the local BMX spot in San Francisco. With the player clipped to a belt, we put it through its paces over a multitude of jumps, with more than enough crashes. We did our best to make it skip, but it performed perfectly (but beware--the Nomad IIc isn't scratch-proof). Only after the battery started to get low (the Nomad IIc offers 8 to 10 hours of playback) did performance degrade. But this was easily remedied by dropping in a new AA battery.
This version of the Nomad IIc has 128 MB of onboard memory, but it does include a slot for SmartMedia memory cards. As additional memory is still relatively expensive, and most of us don't have extra cards lying around the house, there will come a time when you'll tire of the songs on the device. And without the presence of your PC--and no additional SmartMedia cards--you'll be at a loss.
MP3 music, like everything else technology related, is in constant flux. Recognizing that, Creative Labs ships the Nomad IIc with reprogrammable firmware that should enable it to support digital audio formats and software extensions as they emerge. So you should be able to enjoy your Nomad IIc for years to come.
--William O'Neal Pros: - Awesome sound
- Lightweight
- USB interface makes connecting to your computer simple and downloading fast
Cons: - Simple software could be more robust
- Navigating the LCD menu can be a pain
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review
(174 customer reviews) 109 of 113 people found the following review helpful
Great Product, Bad Software...,
July 15, 2002 Philippe (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Creative Labs NOMAD IIc 128 MB MP3 Player (Electronics)
This is not my first MP3 Player... In the last week, I bought the Rio One MP3 player... Big deception... So, I replaced it with: The Creative Labs Nomad IIc. And until now, I'm generaly impressed. ;) The reason why I purchased this MP3 player is because I travel a lot by motorcycle and, after 4 hours of riding, you start to grow tired of hearing wind and engine... It helps to have a distraction like... hmm.. your favorite music? ;) The problem, forget about my CDPlayer with 45 secs of memory. It starts skipping the moment I start riding... :( The product, I find it great: The menu is easy to navigate (from my personal point of view, though, if you check reviews for the 64MB, you'll find that some complain about the navigation). Music, Settings, Information (to know where you are at with the memory), Time (Yep, there is a little clock in it to know today's date and time) and recording (yes, you can record your voice) are all neetly seperated with Iconized menus...Read more
63 of 64 people found the following review helpful
A month with the Nomad IIc 128mb clamshell mp.3 player,
September 20, 2002 BigMamou "BigMamou" (Port Townsend, Washington USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Creative Labs NOMAD IIc 128 MB MP3 Player (Electronics)
I purposely waited for a while to write this review in order to explore all of the criticism - good & bad - about this unit. I chose it because it had the most memory for its price and size. It is a GREAT and amazing player. I'll address the main criticisms I've read in other reviews on this site:1 - It's not loud enough. It is plenty loud, too loud for me. The people who have this issue with it must be deaf or they are downloading mp.3's from the internet that are compressed too much with lowered volume!2 - The documentation is poor and the software is confusing and hard to use. Yes, the documentation and software could be better but the key is to get the drivers and firmware downloaded from the Creative site and nomadworld.com. There are at least 5 downloads to be gotten before the unit kicks into life. Read the software descriptions carefully and download the drivers in the proper order as some of them need to be present on your computer in order for later updates to work...Read more
52 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Great sound for a great price,
January 22, 2003 By A Customer
This review is from: Creative Labs NOMAD IIc 128 MB MP3 Player (Electronics)
Have owned the Nomad IIc for a month and haven't dropped it yet, so I can't attest to its durability. Top rating from Consumer Reports (for the 64MB version) influenced my buying decision. The "quick setup guide" is not much help, so if you need detailed setup instructions, install the PDF manual from the CD like other users have suggested. Don't bother downloading the manual from the Nomadworld site - it's exactly the same as the one on the CD, only with some annotations. Setup was easy after reading the aforementioned manual - install the software, plug in the player, transfer the files. Have used both the PlayCenter 2 software and the MusicMatch Jukebox Nomad plug-in to transfer files; since I rip CDs using MusicMatch, I prefer using that program, but the two perform identically in terms of letting you know how much memory is left, etc. Be sure to pick up a 128MB SmartMedia card to expand memory capacity (256MB total will hold 50-plus 128 kbps MP3 files). Written...Read more
