Creative sucks

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So, I get this old Creative MuVo TX 256mb mp3 player from my sister - it's worked for her, even if she's reported some problems.

So I get it, and not having the music taste of my sister, I reformat it. Then I think about the problems she had, and decided to install the latest firmware.

Big mistake.

Now guess who's got a bricked MuVo without any firmware, which won't be recognized by Windows or turn on?

Creative sucks.

EDIT: Taza's short guide to fixing a broken Creative product: Install wrong firmware, reinstall product's real firmware. In this case, the trick was installing MuVo TX FM 1.19.01, and then installing latest MuVo TX driver on it. Now it works. Somehow.

[ December 25, 2006, 03:50: Message edited by: Taza ]

 

I thought Creatives were awesome bullet-proof devices that were the best MP3 players ever invented.

 

Oh, Creative products may be *bulletproof*. If only they endured their own drivers and firmware as well.

 

I upgraded firmware on my MuVo Slim some time ago without a hitch, and my bro upgraded the firmware on his Zen, also without a hitch. With the new firmware, the player froze once then unfroze and worked again, go figure why.

I've also faced some crashing problems with cramming MP3 files when SmartFit is activated in Mediasource, and found out the hard way that once SmartFit is activated, only WMA files will play and foreign MP3 WILL crash the player. Fortunatly, it can be disabled quickly.

Also, the inability to turn off the charging function when connecting it to an USB port annoys me big time.

Apart from that, nothing bad to say about Creative. It gets the job done, and does so pretty well.

 

So you have one Creative product, and probably f*** something up along the way, and suddenly the best sound card manufacturer, along with an awesome lineup of Mp3 players, PC speakers, and web cams, "sucks" because you had one bad experience?

I have 2 of their Mp3 players (Zen Micro for me, and Zen Nano for the wife), a web cam, 5.1 speaker system, and an USB sound card. Not once has any of those products "sucked" or given me any problems.

Creative is an awesome company with great products. If you don't like them for something like a F***ed up firmware update, there's always the iPod crowd you can hang out with.

 

One bad experience? I have a Creative webcam which has drivers I can't properly uninstall, a Creative graphics card that always crashes the system without third party drivers, and the list goes on and on.

No, Creative sucks. It's got a serious problem with it's drivers and firmware. And seeing I found the advice to install the wrong firmware online, along with reports of dozens upon dozens of MuVo TX's doing exactly the same, it isn't exactly a glitch.

And oh, the firmware upgrade crashed while I was doing exactly what Creative told to do on it's website. No user error, no computer glitch, no nothing. Creative problem, not PEBCAK.

Creative has an awesome line of mp3 players prone to malfunctioning (this is the second MuVo breaking - my brother had one that broke some months ago, and he switched it to an Asono), sound cards with so-and-so sound quality (though I admit they can be great with proper *third party support*), and absolutely horrible web cams (personal experience).

I prefer to hang out with the iRiver and Logitech crowd. I actually like to get something that'll not break (or break my computer) once I install the drivers.

 

Had no problems with their products, but I kinda dislike how they integrated DRM to their new drivers without offering a DRM-free option.

 

Well... I can hardly believe what I'm about to do, but I'm starting to rally to Taza's opinion that Creative SUCKS.

My MuVo is seriously FUBAR. I was taking a long walk yesterday and listening to some music, everything's going well so far. So, my Disturbed song ends, and the following one kicks in, but I hear NOTHING. I let it go for some 15 seconds then take out the player and see what the f*** is going on. Basically, the thing seems to be on fast forward, except that I DIDN'T touched the freaking button! It keeps on running, and changing songs doesn't solve the problem. I had to pull out the battery and restart it... and then bam, it works like a charm.

No big deal, maybe... but when the player turns FUBAR about ten times in 30 minutes it's a serious irritant. (Yes, it did it MANY times - I almost wanted to sandwich it between my boots and concrete)

 

I don't know much about Taza, but I get the impression he's a bit of a techo, so probably doesn't stuff things like this up very much (not I like I would).

I've had my iPod Shuffle for over a year now and it is still 100% problem free.

 

My f****** MuVo has gone FUBAR again.

I'm pretty darn tired of that s***. If it keeps going that way, Creative will end up in the trash in favor of Samsung.

 

My Creative Zen 30Gig player has finally kicked the bucket. I will not purchase any Creative MP3 players ever again. Its time to look for a nice Archos player.

 

My MuVo has gone FUBAR for the last time. Not even a firmware upgrade fixed it.

F*** you, Creative. I'll never ever buy one of your f****** MP3 players again.

I think I'll get the Panasonic MP3 player that works with SD cards. At least I know a Panasonic won't go FUBAR on me after only *ONE* year.

 

Interesting stuff. So what is the best and most reliable MP3 player then, now that Creative appears to have fallen off its perch as the darling of SP?

 

Well, I upgraded firmware from version 1.12.01 to 1.13.02, and it didn't fixed anything. I plugged in my MP3 player for a charge tonight, and re-did the firmware upgrade to 1.13.02, and guess what? The damn thing works like a champ.... so far.

You've saved your ass, Creative... for now.

 

I'm going to agree with Taza on this one: Creative products are rubbish. "Best soundcards" really isn't how I would describe them - more like "overpriced and with mistruths about what they do all over the package" (Creative Audigy anyone?). Sound Blaster became a standard because game companies decided to support the SB and nothing else back in 1991 - and that's the only reason Creative did so well. Better sound cards were already available at the time, but consumers shunned them because of lack of compatibility with games - simple as that. The fall of the SB monopoly with the advent of Windows 95 (probably the only good thing the Windows line ever did) didn't affect them much as their cards already had gained a huge momentum from being the only ones supported for most of the 90's.

 

Why don't you guys get with it and get an iPod, duh

 

iPod? Hell no, that would be even more crappy than Creative.

No, I got myself a Panasonic MP3 player that uses SD cards. At least I know it won't go FUBAR on me.

iPod... geez, some people.

 

Yes, and it sounds great! I just broke down and replaced my old SB Live with an Audigy 4 sound card - lots of low and high end, with good detail, but a little weak in the middle, which seems to cause a slight loss of presence. Still, other than that, it sounds quite good. The sound is very clean with little audible distortion (there is a slight amount, especially in the higher registers). The low end projects very well, with just the right amount of punch. I'm very happy with it.

[ January 20, 2007, 04:02: Message edited by: Chandos the Red ]