• Recommend:
• 0 Comments

Play MP3 Files on Creative Labs' Nomad

Tiny device also has an FM tuner and voice-recording capabilities.

By Laurianne McLaughlin, PCWorld   

The Nomad, which plays MP3 files you download from the Net, is small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. Compared with the popular Diamond Rio MP3 player, the Creative Labs product offers two unique features--an FM tuner and the ability to record up to four hours of voice clips. You could use this for personal notes or for recording audio clips to post on a Web site.

The Nomad holds about one hour of high-quality MP3 music. It runs on a rechargeable battery; and you can slip it into a bundled PC docking station to recharge. The device transfers MP3 files through your PC parallel port. It also transfers regular data files, so you could consider it a 64MB floppy in your pocket.

I was quite impressed by the quality of the sound from a shipping Nomad player when combined with Creative's $199 FPS2000 four-piece Surround Sound PC speaker set with subwoofer. Creative's bundled Music Match software lets you add environmental audio effects when playing MP3 files on your PC: For example, you can simulate the sound of a concert hall, the outdoors, or a small room. The software also lets you create an MP3 playlist for your PC.

As other options, the company will also offer headsets and an adapter that lets you pop the Nomad device into your car's cassette tape slot and play MP3 files.