Saving money is what it's all about. But most customers will only buy what everyone else buys and look no further - the new "in" thing, or what they are most comfortable with and have been for 20 years or so! Some prospective customers will look nonchalantly through the flyers and ads, either in the newspapers or browsing through the Internet, checking to see what is the latest thing out for music listening. And almost everyone has heard of the iPod through some avenue or another. Most of us would like to hear something nice, something that is reliable, and looks good - don't we?

Creative Labs new unbelievably tiny Zen Nano Plus is quickly arriving on the footsteps of its successful predecessors - the Zen Touch and the Zen Sleek. What Creative Labs is moving toward is a smaller, yet more compact top-of-the-line MP3 player, for individuals who do not require a lot of storage room for their music library. The Zen Nano Plus 512MB, or 1GB, is beginning to look as if it were taking on the iPod Shuffle. The Nano Plus comes with all the extra tools that make Creative Labs' MP3 players stand out from the others. Above all else, the FM radio with recording capability puts it in the elite categories of digital music players. Most people like to have the freedom to be able to record their favorite radio programs, while having the incredible choice of listening to podcasts, songs, and audio books.

The Creative Zen Nano Plus is packaged with earbuds, an armband, a neck strap, mini-USB cord, line-in cord, non-rechargeable AAA battery, and organization software. It includes MP3/WMA/WMA(protected) playback, MP3 encoding up to 16-kbps from the line-in, on-the-fly playlist creation, five graphic equalizer settings, and automatic synchronization software. For recording, the built-in microphone picks up sounds from clear across the room, so it can be used almost anywhere: schools, lectures, work, etc. so obviously, the Zen Nano Plus is an absolute workhorse compared to some other brands that are out, such as the iPod Shuffle. According to the DigitalTrends review, the earbuds testing the Zen Nano Plus were much better than that of the iPod, due to better range and clarity. Tested headphones were the Koss KSC-75s, Sennheiser HD580s, and the Etymotic Er-6i.

As far as durability, the Creative Zen Nano Plus seems to be a bit more durable than the iPod Shuffle, with a weight of the iPod Shuffle at .78 ounces, and the Zen Nano Plus at .80 ounces. Also, the Nano Plus will allow a person to record from a CD without the use of a computer. All you have to do is supply the music - oh yes, and the money to buy it! How good can it get!!