Zen xtra 40gb, PLEASE help !!

[route9987]

ok, id love ANY help on this matter...

I bought a 40gb zen xtra, (from ebay so no guarantee etc) and it was fine, until the headphone connection became broken in some way.

at first sound only came from the right headphone, but it worked if you put the jack 1/2 way in, or all the way and pushed itto the left.

the local repair place said it would probably be a simple connection problem, but when they looked inside said it was the actual headphone socket, and that it'd need a new one. They will fit the new part it if I can find it...(and said to see what it looks like would help, then go to an electrical components store or something, and get it)

Does anybody know what the socket is like ? Would it be the same as a one from a minidisc player for example? Because I have an old broken minidisc player you see....

Thanks a lot.

Marc Ross

 

[Xavier]

Do you have a digital camera or something? A photo of the socket on your player would be handy.

Xav

 

[route9987]

..

do you mean the whole socket, like, the inside ? i tried to take it apart but struggled a 'bit' so gave up, if u think it'd help loads i'll try again and post it, wouldn't be tonight though.

thanks a lot.

do u know, are there many of this type of socket? a place near me said they sell 2 or 3 types. (sizes?)

 

[Xavier]

A shot of the outside will be fine... I just want to make sure it's a standard 3.5mm stereo connector before we go recommending anything. Does the headphone lead have any kind of remote on it?

Xav

 

[route9987]

k

yeah its definately a standard 3.5mm socket, no headphone remote or anything.

thanks a lot

 

[pcg79]

shoulda bought an ipod

 

[Tom]

Don't bother thinking about using the same socket from another broken device. If you want to repair it yourself, the most likely cause of the fault is that the legs from the socket assembly have broken, or come unsoldered from, the main PCB. If the former, then you might try Maplin for a replacement socket (be prepared to do some filing/emery papering, to get it to fit in the case. If the latter, then find somebody with steady hands, and solder it back. BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO LIFT THE TRACK FROM THE PCB.

 

[Rich]

I found this thread on this site after doing some random browisn on the zen xtra - just thought id share my thoughts as im thinking of getting one:

Im thinking of buying a zen xtra, after reading several good reviews on it, form what i can make out it compares well to an i-pod has better sound, and a user replaceable battery ( with spares avaialble) the only downsode to it is a problem with the headphone jack, which according to http://www.nomadness.net is fixable with a steady hand and some soldering skills.
theres more info on the forum on nomadness.net.

 

[gunner440]

what i prefer with the creative series is:

lithium batteries - something which the ipod apparently doesnt use (stupid)

and its recognised as an external HDD on windows allowing for dragging and dropping of the mp3s
ipod's need apple software for uploading

i seriously dont get the hype with the ipods :/

 

[Clown]

I only want one because they look really nice

 

[gunner440]

I only want one because they look really nice

give me some of your money too pls

so i can get a zen

 

[Rich]

cheapest UK price for them appears to be amazon
£218 for the 30Gb xtra, and £180 for the CD player sized jukebox 3 (20gb)
As for the external hardrive, that only aplies to the Muvo range the Zens need drivers and software to work on a P.C

 

[gunner440]

that only aplies to the Muvo range the Zens need drivers and software to work on a P.C

sure of that?

friends of mine said they didnt?

anyone got any concrete proof as to whether or not they do require specialist software?

 

[Rich]

acording to the forums on nomadness it need drivers, although i havent bought one yet, i cant verify this but heres a link to the thread in question asking about driverless usage.

 

[gunner440]

acording to the forums on nomadness it need drivers, although i havent bought one yet, i cant verify this but heres a link to the thread in question asking about driverless usage.

i'm using a rhomba at the moment and it does say it "officially" needs drivers and creative programs to upload and install the mp3 player

however, i got it running on my windows xp and 2000 machines without the need of anything other than the usb cable so..

 

[Vae]

I've got a 20GB Firewire zen and it needs a special program to upload MP3's and another to upload normal files which then don't show on the zen without using the special program.