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Synchronization Ease of Use (4.50)
It stands to reason that, since the Zen X-Fi has wireless connectivity and the ability to stream audio/video from your home PC, you'd also be able to sync the device wirelessly. Unfortunately, as logical as this thought stream is, it is not the reality we live in. Instead of wireless synchronization, you'll have to rely on the most itty-bitty USB cord ever. Once you've come to terms with such a short leash, you can look forward to using Creative's sync software, Creative Centrale. This software features a layout similar to iTunes, Windows Media Player, and just about every sync/media player out there (excepting Sony's, but Sony's is downright horrible). Using this software, you'll be able to sync over playlists or loose songs, although there isn't an option to automatically sync things over. The software itself is easy to use, but it's not all that useful -- especially since you can just drag & drop files onto the device itself.
Synchronization Features & Support (3.50)
Again, your Zen X-Fi will be recognized as a storage device when you connect it. Since iPod has started a trend of making users dependent on software to transfer their media, media players like the Zen X-Fi are becoming fewer and further between, which is a shame. Want to toss a song on your media player quickly? Just connect it, open up Finder or Windows Explorer, drop it on there, and you can be on your merry way. Even better: want to take a song off your media player? On an iPod, you simply can't do this, which is incredibly annoying for those with multiple PCs and a non-centralized music collection, or for those who want their music on their work PC.
This feature aside, there isn't much that the synchronization software actually does in terms of adding functionality. It can sync over your audio recordings, which most software doesn't support, although most devices don't have an audio recording application either.
As alluded to earlier, one annoyingly absent feature is the ability to sync the device via wifi. The Creative Centrale software lets you stream music wirelessly to the device for playback purposes. Is it really that big of a leap from this functionality to synchronization? Hopefully a firmware update will come out that will allow this functionality.
Other Synchronization Software Features (4.25)
As a media player, the Creative Centrale software is adequate. As a media organizer it's not as invasive as iTunes, which may or may not be a good thing. You can change the tag info of your songs with the application, but doing so won't update your music's folder structure. Of course, if you're maintaining your own file structure this is a good thing, but we'd like to see the software offer such a service as an option.
One thing we should mention, however, is that the Creative Centrale software does handle pictures well. You can sort pictures by year, people, event, place, or by folder. You also use this software to make slideshows.
Probably the only important feature the Creative Centrale software provides is wirelessly streaming your media to your device. This is a neat little ability, especially if someone else is hogging the computer.
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