Creative Technology MuVo Muvo N200 (512 MB) MP3 Player

I've been hunting for the perfect MP3 player to go with my Audible.com subscription. At first, I used the house-player that Audible will give you free with a 1 year subscription (an Otis - which, fwiw, is terrible), then I got a piece of software that was supposed to turn my Sony Clie TH55 into an Audible player (it crashed constantly while trying to upload tunes), and then I said to myself, "Self, it's time to buy something specifically for listening to Audible."

My husband has a different Creative player (the Zen w/1G storage), but I didn't think I really needed to store more than, say, 24 hrs of spoken word content. As an aside, I should note that Audible files are compressed - and the sound quality is lower than what you'd probably prefer for music - so the bottom line is that you can get many more hours of newscasts/books than you could get of music onto a given memory size. Anyway, I also wanted something very small (lugging a Clie on a belt clip was awkward, as it actually tugged my hipster pants in a downward direction). I figured I'd use it on my commute, cleaning the house, and during exercise.

At the time of writing this review, I've owned mine for about four months. I had to install an Audible firmware upgrade (easy peasy), and with the USB 2.0, files transfer at a delightfully high speed. I have a subscription to NPR's "All Things Considered" (daily) and a book (monthly). So far, most of the ATC files can't be paused - the player "forgets" where you were and starts over again from 0:00 every time. This is a little annoying. I would say 95% of the ATC files have no pause function. Otoh, for all of the books I've gotten so far, the N200 will pause and remember where we were just fine. I don't know if the ATC problem is due to the files or the player, but I suspect it is the files. (I've notified Audible, and they've done exactly nothing about it.)

I've used the radio a little bit. I never seem to have very good pickup, and the scan for presets didn't find the stations I actually wanted because the signal wasn't strong enough to make the cutoff. I haven't used any of the other features (voice recorder, etc.) yet, no need for them. Maybe they'll be handy someday.

Battery life is quite good. I use old rechargeable Energizers with the player and get enough time out of each one (10-12 hrs?) that I don't feel like I'm constantly changing/charging batteries. I love how this takes regular AAA batteries and doesn't have some expensive proprietary battery that requires its own charger and will eventually die (with my luck, a battery would die after the player - and the battery - are discontinued). With the N200, I have the freedom to pop into any drugstore, and that is quite frankly a relief to me. The battery meter will show you 3 bars for a fully charged battery, 2 for a mid-life, and 1 means it's about to go. With my batteries (and this may reflect how rechargables go, for all I know), it's a little weird - it'll be a 2 bars for some time, and then it's abruptly kaput. I never see the 1-bar warning.

The screen is tiny, and the words scroll by very slowly. But it gets the job done, and I can't complain. The backlight is good enough to read words in the dark.

I haven't used the stretchy armband, but I do use the protective cover/belt clip on it. It is fantastic - the clip maybe even pinches too hard (tough to get onto a pocket flap sometimes). The player doesn't fall out of the cover, and it barely adds any bulk to the design. I haven't tried the earbuds that came with the player (I use Sony sound-isolating earbuds, also reviewed on Epinions). Some people don't like the tiny buttons, but they don't bother me. I worry that the little wheel button might break eventually, but everything has worked perfectly so far.

For all that I love my player, it does have a couple of minor flaws. It buzzes loudly in the ears when the backlight is on. True, the backlight shuts off in a few seconds, but I've never heard of another player that does that. What is the benefit of having a signal in your ear that the light is on? Presumably you're looking at the display if you're hitting buttons...? The other thing is static. I bought mine in December, at the height of dry winter static season. Take off your coat while using the MuVo, and a) you'll hear a freaking loud bang in your ears, b) the player shuts off immediately, and c) it forgets where you were when it shuts off. The first time this happened, I panicked because I thought it had shorted out and died permanently. It happens when I fold staticy laundry, squeeze past my husband in the hallway when we both wear woolen sweaters, etc.

Overall, I've been really happy with the MuVo Micro N200. It does everything I wanted in an MP3 player. I recommend this highly and without reservation.