Creative X-Fi 2 8 GB - A Must-read for people considering buying a media player and unaware of anything other than iPod

Supplier: Compume
Manufacturer's Website: http://www.creative.com
Price: 899 EGP
Specifications:
Internal Storage Size: 8 GB
External Storage Type: Micro SD
User Interface: 2.4" ( 480*300 ) Touch Screen, 2 additional buttons, reset button
Additional Features: external speaker, AV Out capability, synchronize calendar, tasks and contacts with Microsoft Outlook, Capability to run applications


Writing fully comprehensive specifications in the header of this article is most probably a compromise, which I resorted to due to the huge amount of features of this player. This is for sure not the first review of this gadget, so it won't help an early adopter like myself. But I think it is going to be of great use to people who are looking now and considering something other than the iPod without compromise regarding quality.

A little history lesson that I think is necessary: it was Creative Labs ( now Creative Corporation ) that got the computer to produce sound back in the 80's of the last century when they invented a new component that can be added to personal computers back then, the sound card. Their innovations and additions in the field of multimedia has never stopped ever since. Creative was one of the very first companies to release an MP3 player, with storages reaching a whopping 32 MB back then ( the Nomad Series if any old school enthusiast is reading this ). Creative was the first to release a PMC ( Portable Media Player ); a device that has a colored TFT screen to provide video playback capability.

Why the iPod was and still is successful is largely due to its simple yet excellent user interface. iPods have always been good looking. They don't have a lot of buttons that make using it complex. The reinvented wheel used to scroll and control the iPod was a revolutionizing addition. Besides aesthetics, iPods succeeded with more serious audiophiles due to its capability to play lossless music

Intermission: Lossless music is music that has the exact same quality as the source from which it was taken. Few formats are lossless. MP3 is an always-lossy format. This means that an MP3 lacks some details that are present in the original source ( most probably a CD ). To make things more measurable, bear with me this highly technical fact: according to the refence manual, audio CDs follow a specification called "Red Book", which says that music on a CD has a data rate of up to 1411.2 kbit/sec. The maximum data rate possible for MP3 is 320 kbit/sec. While the numbers are noticeably apart, this isn't exactly the same difference that you would notice when you hear both. This is largely due to the clever encoding of MP3. An audiophile though can be quite irritated by MP3s, and honestly anybody who gets used to lossless music on a proper audio setup will be unsatisfied with lossy media.
Well known formats of lossless media: FLAC, M4A, AAC, WMA Lossless

Regarding video playback capabilities, the X-Fi 2 is capable of playing numerous formats, with a maximum video resolution of 640*480, at which the playback is noticeably choppy. Besides it being choppy, you don't really get to see 640*480 on the player screen because its maximum resolution is less than that. The other new way through which you can view this higher res video though is on an external screen, using the AV Cable (sold separately @ 69 EGP). Video is not the strongest point of this player, but its not that bad to be fair. For the largest part, videos player smoothly and with good color reproduction by its 3.2" screen. Works great for watching videos while on the move, like o a long ride or awaiting something. With the in-ear buds shutting up a lot of the noises, you can get a fairly good watching experience.

Other features of the player include FM radio, voice recorder, syncing calendar & tasks with Outlook, and user-added applications. This last point is something Creative is trying to push. Having tried a lot of apps made by community members ( mostly from Xerooo.net ), I can say that you might use it from time to time, and that it adds to the player, but it is definitely nothing like the iPod touch apps. Geekier users like myself may find an advantage in the X-Fi 2 apps, which is their openness. Unlike Apple's apps that require a licence and approaval of the great oracle at Apple, Creative is allowing anybody to build, edit and publish programs for their player. Enough geek-ness.
All in all, the X-Fi 2 is not a bad buy, I like it very much in terms of design, but I think it could have been much better with beefed-up video playback, but Creative opted for making the cheaper product. If iTunes doesn't bug you at all, then don't look here. If you don't like it one bit, and it is a useless piece of crap that Apple is forcing us to use, this is something that you definitely want to look at.