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Digital Audio is Style…That’s the first sentence that shows up when you power-up the Nomad II MG. And I don’t disagree. Everything about the MG is very stylish – but the question is: would you sacrifice other features for style? In my opinion, four things are needed to make a killer MP3 player: Style, Functionality, Usability and Price. How does the Nomad II MG tackle each of these? Let’s answer that by taking a look at the latest addition to Creative’s Personal Digital Entertainment (PDE) Appliance line.
Style
Without doubt, the MG is the best-looking MP3 player on the market. It’s like the Elizabeth Hurley of MP3 players - just plain Wow! The sleek magnesium casing and the round blue LCD display will, and believe me when I say this, make heads turn. Measuring just 58 x 90 x 18mm and weighing in at 77.1 grams, the MG is a joy to carry. Think of its shape and size as a part two of the original and extremely sexy Nomad (Hmmm…come to think of it: they didn’t call it the Nomad 2 MG for no reason – doh!)
Functionality
The original Nomad packed a punch of features and the Nomad II didn’t disappoint either. The MG is really just an extension of Nomad II so I wasn’t expecting any new features, but, to my surprise, Creative did manage to add a couple of pretty good features- the first one of which is Time Scaling. Time scaling works on FM and voice recording and lets you slow down or speed up the recording without any change in audibility or pitch. Such feature is useful when slowing down the playback speed of a recorded conversation is required to achieve a clear dictation of the recorded message. Something else that makes an introduction in the MG is the direct recording of FM onto the MP3 Player’s memory.
One of by biggest complains for the Nomad II was the limited 64MB memory that could not be upgraded. Creative listened and the MG comes with 64MB built-in memory and an expansion slot to bring it to a max of 128MB. And with the WMA (or any other future format through upgradeable firmware) support which is now available for both the Nomad 2 and the MG, you can record close to forty good-quality songs on a 128MB unit- nearly three hours of music. Nice!
Everything else from the Nomad II makes a comeback on the MG, including the FM player, the voice recorder and the remote control. I like how Creative have implemented the remote control. It hooks up to the Nomad and then on the remote control you have the headphone jack, meaning that if you don’t like Creative’s backphones/earphones, you can simply plug your favorite pair and continue using the remote. You can adjust the base and treble to your liking or select between one of the four presets (Classic, Pop, Rock and Jazz). Of course, you have the USB connectivity, the easy to use Nomad Manager II Software for transferring files to the MG. For ripping audio, Creative have included their customized version of Music Match with the player.
Usability
I wish I felt as good about the usability of the MG as I did about it’s style and features. Like the original Nomad, all the buttons for the MG are placed on the side. However, the buttons on the MG are a little big and get pressed very easily. How is that a bad thing you ask? Try putting the player in you jeans pocket and you’ll know what I mean. I have “accidentally” erased songs, skipped songs, turned the unit off and changed the volume levels- not very convenient, especially when you’re in an airplane! I also preferred the bigger LCD on the original Nomad 2 that let you display a lot more information at any given time. On the MG, the info keeps scrolling and scrolling and scrolling! And, one last thing that scored better on Nomad II was the use of just one AA battery- the MG, on the other hand, uses two AAA batteries which increases your battery costs yet the amount of playtime you get is roughly the same as Nomad II – approximately eight hours.
Price
Nomad has always been expensive- it’s amongst the most expensive MP3 players in the market. But that’s because Creative doesn’t believe in sacrificing quality. Everything you get with the Nomad series has always been top-notch and nothing else was expected out of the MG. Think about it this way…Would Liz Hurley be a cheap date?
Conclusion
It all depends on how you look at things. If looks are more important that convenience, nothing beats the MG. However, if you’re looking for something less exotic-looking but with better ease of use, I would recommend the original Nomad 2 or the MP Man F35
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