Zen Plus?

I had just about decided that the second generation iPod Nano was the MP3 Player to top my Wish List, when I came across the Creative Zen V Plus. This tiny player is not much larger than a container of tic tac mints (see the first picture on page 3 of this excellent review on epiZENter.com or
alternate picture here)



It is shorter than the iPod Nano by almost an inch, but slightly wider and more than double the thickness. Like the Sandisk Sansa e200 series, the player features an FM tuner and video playback. The player has an excellent user-interface, which is licensed to Apple for their iPods. It is also loaded with useful features like creating multiple playlists on the player, renaming and deleting them. Files can also be deleted on board the player. Creative players are well known for superb sound quality.

There is also a plain Creative Zen V (no Plus) version, which doesn't have an FM tuner or video playback. This costs about $20 to $25 less than the Plus version. At present the Plus comes in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB versions, but an 8GB has been rumored and reported (on mp3newswire) and is even mentioned on the Creative Asian website, but is yet to be seen in the USA.

The Zen V Plus would really be a contender if it had a 8GB version available in the US, as the 4GB is around $180, some $20 cheaper than the 4GB Nano, so an 8GB version would be cheaper and more worthwhile.