The Gadget Doctor’s Blog

Since 2006, the Zen Vision M has had serious problems with its LCD screens: the screens crack from the inside or suddenly display white lines across the screen. Sure, if you sit on it, step on it, or roll over it with your car, the screen will crack. But what about the Zen screens that crack while just sitting on your desk? Or the ones that crack overnight while you’re sleeping? Or the one you pulled out of your pocket to discover that the screen has white lines on it? Why does this happen? This is very frustrating, and whats even worse is that Creative Labs will not replace your screen under the warranty; they consider it to be accidental damage that is your fault and will charge you a large sum to replace it. So, you might be asking, “Why does this happen, and what are my options at this point?”

Why Did This Happen?
I have taken apart hundreds of these Zen Vision M players with screen problems, and each time its been the same thing: there was either a complete break across the whole screen, or there were fracture lines on the lower left or right corner of the screen. I took some pictures of one such Zen Vision M screen.

The fracture lines slice into the circuitry, causing the screen flaws. Fracture lines can be caused by force or heat. Force is the number one factor in causing the fracture. The Zen Vision M is not built to sustain trauma. The plastic that contains the circuitry in the screen is very thin as well, and is not supported by a metal backing or padding or anything. Even a small amount of force, such as dropping the Zen Vision M on one of its corners, can transmit across the lower corners of the screen. These fracture lines cause the white vertical or horizontal lines across the screen. Sometimes the entire screen will crack, and it will be very obvious that it is broken because it will look like there is an ink spill inside the screen.

Zen Vision M owners buy should buy a case that can absorb lots of force. Something with plenty of padding; thin casings will not do any good. But what if its too late for that now and your screen is already cracked?

Your Options:
1. Call Creative and see if they will replace your screen. If not, see how much it will cost.
Creative Labs phone number: 1-800-998-1000 Monday-Friday 9-6 CST

2. Replace your Zen Vision M.

3. Get a brand new screen professionally installed by The Gadget Doctor .

If you own a Creative Zen MP3 player and you only get sound in one ear, static background sound, or no sound at all from your earphones, there is probably a loose solder connection on one or more legs of the headphone jack. This is because there is not a lot of solder holding the headphone jack legs to the solder pads, and over time the strain of taking the headphones in and out of the jack causes a leg to break free of its solder connection. At that point, you might notice that if you wiggle your headphones around inside the jack, the jack is loose and moves around, and the sound might go in and out, be inconsistent, staticy, warbly, etc.

If you have a Zen Micro, Zen MicroPhoto or Zen Touch, and you know how to solder, this will be a relatively easy fix. First, heat up your soldering iron, then disassemble your Zen to the point where you can take the circuit board with the headphone jack out, and lay it on a flat surface. Hopefully you have some solder handy, because you’ll need to add more solder to the pad. Heat the pad (or pads if more than one connection is loose) and apply more solder on top of the headphone jack leg and pad. Try to wiggle the headphone jack to see if it still moves around; it should be tight now and fixed in place.

Then put it all back together and you’ve solved your problem! Crisp, clear, consistent sound.

For other models such as the Zen Sleek/Sleek Photo, Zen Vision:M or Vision:W, or Zen Xtra, things get a little trickier. The Zen Xtra technique is the same as in the above paragraph, but chances are a lot higher that the pad will come up off the board and you will need to replace your motherboard or repair the pad.

The Sleek & Sleek Photo and Zen Vision:M & W use through-hole solder connections on their headphone jacks. If you have warped, inconsistent sound coming from your earphones and you have one of the four models mentioned above, chances are that your headphone jack is cracked and needs to be completely replaced. Also, replacing your headphone jack on these four models is quite a bit harder to do, as there is a lot of glue between the jack and the motherboard.

Technique for Zen Sleek/Sleek Photo & Zen Vision:M & W:
First off, you’ll need to be careful and have a lot of patience. You’ll need a soldering iron with a fine tip, some extra solder, and a replacement headphone jack.

You’ll need to apply heat on each pad one at a time for a few seconds one each pad while pulling the headphone jack gently off the board. This will take some time and you might damage the pads. Once you’ve detached the broken headphone jack, you can put the new one in place and solder it onto the board.

If you do not feel comfortable doing this yourself, you can have it done professionally for under $50 by The Gadget Doctor.