Every new mass-storage digital audio player is bound to be compared to Apple's venerated classic, the iPod.
Creative's 1.5-gigabyte Nomad MuVo? is a good choice to fill the gap between lower-capacity MP3 players and the ungodly volumes of storage offered by the iPod.
But think about it: What is the difference between the ability to store 850 songs - which Creative says its new player can do - and 5,000 songs?
Assuming that a typical CD has 12 tracks, 850 songs translates into 70 albums - enough to hold many people's entire music collections.
Size-wise, the MuVo? is just less than two-thirds the height of an iPod, has a similar width and is slightly thicker.
As with Creative's other mass-storage digital players such as the Nomad Jukebox Zen series, the blue-backlit LCD display is rather small, which makes it difficult to read text.
We were told that the Nomad MuVo? could be charged using either the provided A/C adapter or through its USB 2.0 connection to a PC, but attempts to recharge the battery using the latter method met with total failure.