Creative Nomad Juke Box with Playdock

Richard Price
September 2001

Anyone who has a serious interest in MP3 files has heard of the Nomad Jukebox, it is probably one of the better MP3 players on the market and for the price it should be!

To be honest, it is more than just an MP3 player! The Jukebox is the size of a conventional CD player and has a 6GB hard drive that can hold the equivalent of about 150 music CDs.

The unit hooks up to a PC via a USB cable which means a quick setup, and relatively fast transfer rates.

The player is bundled with easy to use software for converting audio CD tracks to MP3 and transferring them to the Jukebox. The software also makes it possible to manage the content of the Jukebox by labeling tracks and managing play lists.

Creative's EAX audio technology provides an interesting listening experience by adding a few environmental effects. Thanks to a bit of technical trickery, favourite songs can now sound as if they are played in different settings such as a concert hall or a small pub.

I have never really been a big fan of MP3 and I only downloaded a few songs to test this machine, but I can see how easy it is to become hooked.

Audio can be recorded by attaching a microphone to the Jukebox

Of course while it is simple enough to connect the Jukebox to your PC or even to some existing speakers by plugging the speakers' audio connection cables into the NOMAD Jukebox's dual Line-Out jacks, it is not a very portable solution.

This is where the Creative Playdock comes in --- a portable, self-powered speaker that makes sense for anyone tired of wearing headphones.

The Playdock is a lot heavier than I was expecting. It uses a sealed lead-acid battery and is not the sort of boom box I would enjoy lugging around --- even if it does look good.

I was surprised by the excellent sound quality of the speakers. The Playdock is manufactured by Cambridge SoundWorks, a subsidiary of Creative Technology.

Overall the Playdock is a very neat compact design that holds four speakers --- two small mid-range speakers on either side of a bass speaker and a small dome tweeter.

The Nomad fits into a rubber glove that clips onto the top of the Playdock. Two cables connect into the back of the Nomad. One to power it, the other to get the sound.

There are four other buttons on the top of The Playdock. Two increase or decrease volume, while a mute button does just that. The other button, labeled Wide creates the illusion that the speakers are wider apart then they really are and does a relatively good job of it too.

Playing music is easy enough. A small button on the side powers the unit up, then the Jukebox controls are used to select and play tracks. The built-in EQ settings of the Nomad Jukebox can also still be used to compensate for shortcomings in the sound.

After being charged for 48 hours the Playdock should have a 10-hour playtime. This would depend on what is being played. Bass notes use more power and reduce playtime considerably. However as the battery cannot be overcharged I suspect most users would leave it plugged in.

Unfortunately the Jukebox doesn't ship with the Playdock --- the two products are sold separately. This seems a big investment for people who are downloading free MP3 files. On the other hand, it may be just the thing for someone with a Nomad and a large collection of MP3 files looking for a compact mini digital stereo system.

Creative Playdock PD200 is AU$499 and Nomad JukeBox is AU$799
www.creative.com

By Richard Price, Editor, EnergyME.com

For information on getting a product reviewed email richard@energyme.com