I just got my hands on a Nomad Zen Micro. That makes four Nomad’s so far – I also have a IIc, Zen Xtra, and a MuVo NX. While I like my other Nomads, the Micro blows them all away.
First off, it’s tiny. It may only be 5GB compared to the Zen Xtra’s 40GB, but it’s also around a third the size. The touch pad is a little funky to get used to, but it sure looks nice. And unlike the Xtra, it pulls power from the USB connector. It doesn’t even have a separate power connector – the AC adapter that it comes with actually plugs into the mini USB slot. Cool
Haven’t had it long enough to talk about battery life or the interface, though the interface at first blush seems much better than the Zen Xtra. For example, if you’re listening to a song you can jump to that artist in the library. I’ve wished for that feature many times with the Zen Xtra.
Of course, the first thing I did was flash the device to the new 2.1 firmware. The 2.x firmware adds support for Plays for Sure subscription services like Napster To Go. And I signed up for my 14 day trial on Napster about 10 seconds after I updated the firmware. I’ve downloaded about 1GB of music from Napster – I figure that’s a good start.
(Note to Creative – the fact that I got a Zen Micro does not let you off the hook for updating the firmware of the Zen Xtra. I expect to be able to use that with Napster To Go as soon as possible.)