Creative Audigy 2 ZS Notebook Sound Card Review

[Nemesis]

Review: Creative Audigy 2 ZS Notebook PCMCIA



If you are a laptop owner, you probably crave for good sound. The onboard audio and tiny speakers just don't cut it. You need something better. This is where the Creative Audigy 2 ZS Notebook comes in. It is the second card after the Audigy 2 NX to be aimed at laptop owners. A PCMCIA based sound card, it will give your laptop the sound quality you always wanted. A great product for any notebook owner, read on to find out why this is such a great buy.

Design & Features:



The Audigy 2 NX is USB based and hence needs its own power supply. Although it gives you lots of hardware control options, it really isn't portable. This is a PCMCIA based card which makes it extremely small and highly portable. In fact, it is smaller compared to desktop sound cards. And considering the great quality it delivers, Creative must be congratulated for this achievement. All you need is a free PCMCIA slot and either headphones or speakers. Please note that this card cannot provide output to laptop speakers. But who would want to do that anyway? Pair this card with a good set of speakers or high-quality headphones and experience the wonderful sound. Creative has made another innovation when it comes to connecting speakers: They have a special cable that connects to the card and then the other end connects to speakers. This is a space saving feature. Also, the optical connections are integrated within the Line-In/Out ports so that saves space too. This card supports a huge amount of formats/advanced controls/certifications including THX, multiple Dolby types, EAX 4.0, etc. It supports upto 7.1 channel sound. The card comes with Creative earphones which are much better than most earphones although they are a tad too big. It comes with all the requisite drivers and applications you need. Creative also bundles a DVD-Audio sampler disc and a disc with info on games supporting EAX. THey do not bundle any games which is a bit of a disappointment because most of their desktop cards come with games bundled. Once inside the PCMCIA slot, the card juts out about 1 inch which is fairly non-obtrusive.

Real World Performance:

Yes, the stats are pretty impressive but how much of an improvement is it over on board laptop audio??? The answer is a million times better!!!! The sound is clear and crisp. The plethora of settings will let you get the perfect sound for every kind of application. I have tested the card with music, movies and games and I must say they sound great!!! I had to use earphones as my speakers will arrive only tomorrow. I will also test the card using a 5.1 setup and post the details.

Conclusions

Any self-respecting audiophile will want this card. It is a great add-on to your laptop and of you pair it with good speakers, this card will completely shake up the sound you were used to with the on board audio. Take my advice, pair them with a THX certified 5.1 set and sit back and relax. Let the power of the Audigy 2 ZS take over!!!

Pros:
+ Great sound in a small package
+ Plenty of options
+ Highly portable
+ No external power required

Cons:
- Might not run on laptops with low bandwidth/low powered PCMCIA ports
- Sound available only through earphones or external speakers; no hardware controls/remote
- Little expensive

Price:
Official Creative Price: $129.99
Amazon Price: $110.99 (This is what I paid)

System Requirements:

Minimum System Requirements

* Intel® Pentium® III, Mobile Pentium® III, Pentium M, Celeron - 1.2 GHz, or equivalent AMD® processor, or faster
* Intel, AMD or 100% compatible motherboard chipset
* Microsoft® Windows® XP (SP2) or 2000 (SP4)
* 256MB RAM
* 600MB of free hard disk space
* Available Type II CardBus slot (PCMCIA slot)
* CD-ROM/CD-RW or DVD-ROM drive required for software installation
* Headphones or external speakers (Audio will not play through built-in notebook speakers)


Recommended System for DVD Movies, DVD-Audio and Games

* 512MB RAM
* DVD player software for DVD Movie playback
* 6x DVD-ROM drive or later for DVD Movie and DVD-Audio™ playback
* 3D Graphics Accelerator with 32MB or better for 3D gaming

Note: Other applications may have higher system requirements or may require a microphone


Specifications page:

http://creative.com/products/product...ct=10769&nav=2

Hmm nice review

Critic’s time

A Sound card for notebook is a good idea but quite useless, we know that notebooks don't have enough power & rely on battery, & it is basically used to stay connected or do the work on the go, now where is time to listen to music, something extremely limited

Ok, some like to listen to high quality music on the go, like while traveling in train or Plane, now, just try to turn on the speakers, passengers will start shouting on U the first moment

-------------------------------
Audigy is dead; Creative will be launching SoundBlaster Zenith for PCI-E based sound card market soon, no more PCI

[Nemesis]

1. This card is meant for desktop replacements that can provide the power to the card.
2. I said it needs either external speakers or headphones and there is no output from the laptop spkears so no cahnce of passengers shouting at you. Also, if you travel business/First class, they give you electrical outlets.

[drgrudge]

AHHa , good review, nemi dude...

Will be available in India?

[theraven]

Critic’s time

A Sound card for notebook is a good idea but quite useless, we know that notebooks don't have enough power & rely on battery, & it is basically used to stay connected or do the work on the go, now where is time to listen to music, something extremely limited

Ok, some like to listen to high quality music on the go, like while traveling in train or Plane, now, just try to turn on the speakers, passengers will start shouting on U the first moment

dude seriously
whats with that ?
why cant u just simply comment on the persons effort than commenting on the darned product ?
review it urself ... or add ur comments later
atleast commend nemi on his conscious effort

good job nemi
as usual