Note: This review was written July 2005.

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        Conclusion
        Features
        Ease of Use
        Durability
        6 Months Later

Conclusion

The Creative MuVo Micro N200 (a mouthful, huh?) is a nifty little MP3 player jammed with great features and a great sound chip. Although, this is not the most durable MP3 player around, I do recommend the MuVo Micro N200 to people who need a compact, easy-to-use, and nice looking MP3 player. A word of warning though, the MuVo N200 doesn't exactly seem like it's built-to-last.

Now then moving along to the ratings:

For The MuVo Micro N200:
Features: (3 Good/ 3 Okay/ 0 Bad)

Ease of Use: (7 Good/ 1 Okay/ 0 Bad)

Durability: (0 Good/ 2 Okay/ 1 Bad)

6 Months Later: (2 Good/ 2 Okay/ 4 Bad)

Total: (13 Good/ 8 Okay/ 5 Bad)

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Features

For such a compact MP3 player, the N200 comes jam packed with more than enough features: a radio, voice recorder, customizable EQ, line-in recording, a folder-based organization system, and various play modes, which includes shuffle. That's great, right? Well, it would be except a few of these features don't really work that well.

Sound Quality: I'm no audiophile but the N200 sounds great. Although, remember to replace the stock ear buds, if you get one. $10 Sennheiser ear buds work great, by the way.

Radio: Contrary to several of the reviews I read prior to buying the N200, the built-in FM radio is pretty good. The reception is good enough for my tastes. The N200 can also scan the radio waves and save all the stations it finds as a Preset, so it's very easy to channel surf.

Voice Recorder: The built-in voice recorder was very poor. I mean it's not like I was expecting it work that well, but my recordings turned out flat and very soft. Don't plan on using this to record lectures or speeches.

Customizable EQ: A nice touch. I don't use it much, but it works well, none the less. The N200 also includes 5 built-in Preset EQ's: Rock, Classical, Pop, Jazz, and Normal. I tend to use the Rock Preset EQ.

Line-In Recording: This feature, thankfully, works a lot better than the voice recorder. Line-In Recording (or is it encoding?, anyways...) allows you to record music from anything else that has standard headphone plug. FYI, the N200 ships with a headphone outlet to line-in outlet. The recordings themselves are perfectly fine. Although, they do sound a bit flatter than the original source.

Folder-Based Organization: While the folder systems gives you the ability to categorize your music, to me it's a bit too basic. I would perfer playlists but I'll take what I can get. The N200 in default will play the music in by folder then by alphabetical order. Alternativly, you may play music in various forms of shuffle. There is no way to change the order to your liking unless you manually rename practically every other song. It would be nice if the player could play playlists, but the folders suffice for now.

Play Modes: To sum it up the N200 can play you music based by folder, in various forms of shuffle, and in the normal default way. The shuffle in my opinion isn't as random as I'd like it to be, but it's good enough.

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Ease of Use

With only a single click-wheel, the N200 is pretty easy to navigate albeit tedious at times. It's relatively easy to switch from various modes of use, ie. from FM radio to Music. However, trying to find a single song even with the folder system is a bit tedious.

Adjusting sound levels is very simple, on account of the + / - buttons on the side of the player.

Adding music is pretty much just plug in the standard mini-USB cord then drag and drop. You don't even need to install that Creative Music Source software, that comes bundled, since the N200 acts like an external storage device right out of the box.

Replacing the AAA battery is a snap. Just snap the battery door cover off and pop in a new battery. Just in case you are environmentally inclined, the N200 will play just fine using rechargeable 1.2V AAA NiMH batteries. Um just to let you know, the battery door snapping thing tends to break off, so if it does just secure the battery door using a piece of tape.

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Durability

Here we have some issues. Many Amazon reviewers report their N200s arriving DOA (dead on arrival). Thankfully there's a 3 month Warranty, which to some isn't long enough. Creative isn't exactly known for making built-to-last MP3 players, so, unfortunately, this isn't that surprising. Mine thankfully came in working order, and still is in working order, albeit a bit diminished.

The plastic that the N200 is made out of is that glossy kind that scratches and smudges easily.

Also the N200 doesn't feel too sturdy; I could probably pry it open with my finger nail. Y The battery door breaks off quickly, more on that next.

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6 Month Review

I originally wrote this for Amazon, but I've decided to revise it and make it ever so helpful.

Well it has been half a year, since I first got my Creative MuVo Micro N200. Right now the player isn't so great anymore. I suppose I may have been a little rough on it; my regular jog might have jarred a few circuits.

So now then, here are the main functions that are still working well:

• Turn's on, pauses, and plays. (Note the absence of “turns-off.”)


• Screen & Backlight


• Navigation Wheel/Knobby thing


• Dedicated Volume Buttons


• Navigation System


• USB Outlet


• Radio


• Voice Recorder, still mediocre.


• Line-In Recording


• Sound quality still great!

Now then let's move on to some of the issues I have with the player:

Battery door hatch thing: It really doesn't snap back into place anymore. The little piece, that snaps into place, broke off a couple months back, so now I keep it in place with a small piece of black duct tape (good stuff). No big deal.

Battery Life: This went down the pooper for some reason. I'm not sure if it's a matter of unplugging the headphones or if the player isn't shutting off completely. Either way, to keep the player from draining every single AAA battery I have, after one charge, I take out the battery after every use.

On/Play/Stop Button: I'm not sure if it's the button or something inside the player, but when I attempt turn it off, by holding the "On" button. The player freezes. Although, it eventually turns off after like at least 15 minutes. Now-a-days, I just pop the battery out to turn my N200 off.

Dust: Some dust got under the faceplate of the LCD. No big deal. None of the particles are big enough to obstruct by view of the LCD.

Buzzing: Makes a buzzing noise when the backlight is on. No big deal, you can barely notice it when music is playing.

So that about covers it. Otherwise, my Creative MuVo Micro N200 is still in working order. Oh yes, do note that the Creative MuVo Micro N200 is exactly the same as the Creative MuVo Nano Plus.