Jake Ludington's Digital Lifestyle

Pretty colors aren't my motivation for buying any gadget. If the features rock, I'll buy a gadget in almost any shade. I'm admittedly disinclined to own anything in a shade of pink, no matter how cool its features are, but for the right gadget, I might make an exception. The Creative Zen Micro is taking a very obvious aim at the same crowd who might purchase an iPod Mini. Looking beyond the exterior, the Zen Micro is a great little gadget. 5GB of storage gives it 25% more storage capacity than iPod Mini. It weighs a mere 3.8 ounces. Beyond the very functional navigation of songs, the Zen Micro also includes an FM tuner, 8 preset equalizer configurations, a clock radio, and 10 hours of recording via the built-in microphone. The buttons are backlit with a blue glow for easy navigation in the dark and sized for easy navigation for people of all finger sizes. At 2x0.7x3.3 the Zen Micro is 0.2 inches thicker than the iPod Mini and 0.3 inches shorter. If you want to make a fashion statement with your portable player and have a wide range of music store options, the Creative Zen Micro is currently your best bet.