the XFi-2 is the worst product I have ever wasted my money on

[Unwanted]

After spending many hours trying to sort out the problems with my first X; Fi2 player, I finally gave up and sent it back to Amazon. Amazon replaced the player. I have only just tried to use the replacement player. It has EXACTLY the same problems:
1) I cannot upload music files. It uploads some files (maybe half) but others just do not appear on the player. If I open the player from the computer (when attached) the files appear to be there. They are all
listed, and all intact. If I unplug the player from the computer, only about half of them can be found on the player. This appears to be random. Some artists appear, some don't. Some artists have some albums, but not others. There appears to be no pattern to what is on the player.
2) Using Creative Centrale does not solve the problem. Again, some music goes on, some doesn't. And it is different to the music that I can get on using the 'drag and drop method'.
3) The 'Drag the Icon out of the window to unlock' function does not work at all. I cannot unlock the player, once locked. It simply does not work.

[Naruto Uzumaki]

I have to agree. I am going to return mine and my kid’s to Amazon and takes the restocking hit. This thing is garbage. My playlists won't synch, the touch screen in unreliable, the interface is non intuitive and the radio is worthless. What else is worthless, the software Centrale they pack with this device. Central looks and feels like 1990 software that they have spent little or no time updating. This exercise in trying to get this player working has taken 10-20 hours and huge amounts of frustration. How dare Creative release this in its current form? They owe us all an apology. I have been a loyal creative customer for many years that's done. I am getting an iTouch.

[DaaruWala]

I Agree! Hey Creative how about including a printed owner’s manual with the product. Is that too much to ask! No matter what i does my player will not display album/cd art? I have been in touch with tech service and they take 3-4 day just to reply and the reply never helps. All they are capable of is pointing you back to their dysfunctional web site. Every time the headphones are unplugged the speaker starts blasting. is it asking too much to allow me to control if and when i want the external speaker on. The touch screen is pathetic and difficult. Even with the upgraded firmware. The volume control is a pain in your head. This was my first last and only creative product. Good luck to everyone else that buys this thing.

[Sasuke Uchiha]

I don't agree with all the bad comments. Shure the X-Fi2 is not perfect yet, but the sound quality and the price is great! U has to use a good CD-Ripper anyway with a good encoder, I use audiograbber with lame encoder and I have no problems to load my whole Music Collection to the player. Creative Centrale it’s not good but only a bit, but I use it only to upload Album covers to the player. Touchscreen works very well except of the volume, that’s bad really. Try to recalibrate it and use the newest firmware. The only problem with crashing/not showing files was, when I uploaded 20 Videos a time, but some of them where corrupt.

[Itachi Uchiha]

I think if you look around here and other forums you will see we are not the only ones complaining. i find the touch screen extremely difficult to use. I am using the updated firmware and i have recalibrated it. It is obviously better than before the upgraded firmware but it is not acceptable in my book. I try to scroll through the screens to find what i want to hear and i constantly end up accidentally selecting something else. This thing is supposed to be the king of the creative crop of mp3 players. It was released way before it was ready if you ask me.

[Orochimaru]

Well, maybe you are lucky and you have a rare example of one that actually works well. I finally managed to get some music on it, after hours of trying (via windows media player). The main problem now is that it is impossible to turn off. The player locks itself on, and the idiotic function of having to drag the icon out of the screen to unlock it simply does not work. This was my second X-Fi2 (the first one went back to Amazon). The problem was exactly the same on both. Oh, and it crashed for no reason, halfway through playing a song yesterday, with a fully charged battery, and it was many hours before I could get it to work again. This player is a heap of goats. It is going back to Amazon, and NEVER AGAIN will I buy anything from this company.

[Kakashi Hatake]

I bought an X-Fi2 from Amazon, couldn't get it to work (several hours wasted) sent it back, got a replacement, which didn't work either. Sent the second one back, and bought a Cowan S9. It works. First time. Out of the box. No need to download firmware updates (which don't work anyway). No need to enter into endless discussions on online forums, trying to fix problems which should not exist anyway. I would recommend the Cowan. It is a bit expensive, but it works, which is the important thing for me.

[Illinois]

For me is a alfa/beta version of a new incoming player. I've found some issues, although I have to say, that it works for me (I can hear music & videos and the touch works) but the overall quality is not the expected. I had a creative Zen, and it was a really much better product.
The issues I have found:
- is quite slow
- requires always video conversion, doesn't matter if it support xvid/divx, the resolution is a matter.
- Every time is disconnected from the PC have to restart and rebuid (try to connect and disconnect 2 times before the restart is done, you'll see a freeze)
- The sound quality is difficult to adjust, is like the xfi and cristalizer distort the sound
- The central button is not programmable (I'd prefer for example program "album of the day")
- have to wait 8 seconds holding the start button to switch on the player
May be a new firmware could fix some of them, but I believe that Creative will not release a new firmware anymore. The one they have works more or less. Is better for them release a new player, with a better hardware (better touch control, better cpu, more buttons, etc). You know, new firmware no $$$, new hardware yes, more $$$. It's simple to understand.