MaximumPC 2007 04

C

reative’s Cambridge SoundWorks division has come up with a terrific dock-
ing speaker system for anyone who owns a Zen digital media player: The
PlayDock Zen takes advantage of nearly every feature those players offer, and
it’ll run on batteries, to boot!
The PlayDock Zen delivers very good sound with excellent bass response,
thanks to a built-in subwoofer powered by a 24-watt amp (the main speakers
receive 12 watts per channel). It crosses the border into the land o’ distortion
if you push it too hard, so don’t expect it to fill a big room, but it’s more than
adequate for near-field listening or as a bedroom system. It doesn’t sound
nearly as lush as the exquisite Majestic Diamond I speakers reviewed on page
72, but it’s also less than half the price and delivers more features than those
micro monitors.
The dock has stereo line-in, headphone-out, and video-out ports, so you
can hook it up to your TV and watch movies or view photos at 640x480 reso-
lution (we’re happy to report that Cambridge includes the proprietary cable
needed to use this feature). A telescoping FM antenna is on the back, too, but
it works only with the FM tuner in the 60GB Zen Vision: M—a string antenna is
provided for folks who have the 30GB model.
Cambridge provides a system of plastic adapters and neoprene sleeves
so that any Zen model will fit tightly into the dock. The 30GB Zen Vision: M we

used for this review was well supported and didn’t budge when we pushed its

buttons. (The unit also comes with a full-function wireless remote.) But there’s

no mechanism for absolutely locking the player into the dock, so we turned the

combo upside-down and shook it to see what would happen: The player flopped

back and forth and slid a fraction of an inch off its connector, but it didn’t fall

out. Still, we’d be wary of toting around a

docked player.

—Michael Brown

Cambridge SoundWorks

PlayDock Zen

Better than the average boom box

reviews Tes Ted. Reviewed. veRdic Tized

The PlayDock Zen has a built-in handle and runs on either ac

or eight c-cell batteries, so you can lug it around the house or

take it to the beach.

8

playdock zen

$200, http://www.cambridge

soundworks.com

14 "

7 "