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Basically a great MP3 player, with above average audio and features. Creative also has a strong high quality audio sound card business for PC's and thus deep audio engineering prowess behind their MP3 players. Apple doesn't have this. I also wanted to see if I could do better than the over-hyped iPod for the money. After a lot of research and actual use, I feel this model is a better alternative overall, in the current market in performance and value. And I am happy with it, but there are some negative aspects to consider that Creative needs to improve that I detail below. The good: Excellent audio if you turn on the 'extra bass' switch and adjust the equalizer using the manual custom mode - to raise right and left vertical slider bars to middle or high positions and drop out the middle bars to their lowest settings. This will improve music fidelity a lot. Add to this high quality ear buds bought separately (i.e. not Creative brand) such as Shure e4's and you'll have an amazing system. The ear buds Creative gives you with the unit are very cheap and seem oddly stupid for them to include with such a great player, as they obviously badly hurt the players otherwise high sound quality. Synching albums into the unit from the MS Windows library is quick and easy to update. Overall the unit is a better value than iPod for the money. Screen detail and colors are very good. Although the screen can be scratched very easy, the player inside is apparently durable as well. I dropped the unit on a hard floor by accident twice and it is still working o.k. Lastly, Creative makes serious high quality audio sound cards for many PC's these days, and so has a lot of state-of-the-art audio equipment engineering know-how to draw on that Apple does not. I'm not an expert, but I'd like to think that fact translates into better sound than iPod or most competing players. The hard disc has a huge music storage capacity. The rechargable battery has a long playback life. It also seems to recharge fairly quick. The Bad: Again, the ear buds included suck, defeating the impressive sound engineering of the player. Instructions documentation is surprisingly shallow and poor. You are forced to learn a lot about using the unit on your own by trial and error. This can be very frustrating when you are starting out. Some of the control features are tricky or goofy. Creative's web site offers some support accessories for sale, but is usually out-of-stock on many items and BE WARNED the unit itself comes with almost nothing, no a/c charger, no leather case, etc. They also way over-price their accessories in general. The rechargable battery is not easy to remove, replace or buy. Creative does not offer a replacement battery on it's accessories list, forcing you into their expensive repair service. You can open the unit yourself but it is tricky and might void the warranty otherwise. I eventually found replacement batteries on eBay and the Web for this specific unit, but they are very obscure and expensive. Creative's other MP3 player products have easy-to-replace rechargable batteries, why not this one? And would it really cost Creative that much to include a few basics like an a/c charger, decent ear buds, a leather case, etc. up front when you buy the unit, instead of having to spend more money and fish around in the after market? And often do it with other companies as Creative accessories list will most likely be out of stock anyway, for what ever you need.Read full review
I have had my Zen vision M since August, and it's worth every penny. After alot of research I decided on Creative Labs over Ipod. Glad I did, the sound quality is amazing and after a few days of getting used to the key pad (very sensitive but you can used to it) I was downloading with ease. This is my first MP3, and I am in awe of this machine. I use it to walk everyday, it is very light and user friendly. A little bigger than an IPOD, great battery life, amazing clear, crisp screen. As far as scratches and marks, I havent had a problem I bought a leather case for it and it protects it well. I highly recommend this MP3, no regrets here. The extra features are great as well. Calendar, clock, voice recorder, fm radio, and portable photo album. IPOD has some competition here.
I bought the player 4 weeks ago for a friend of mine and as time passes we just keep on finding more flaws in this product comparing other players such as the cowon A2 for example. this player has some unique functions that still keeps him on top of other players. functions like a horizontal touch pad and a shortcut key that can be programed by the user to do almost any function you want... in addition the creative ZEN is capable of playing most Xvid and Divx files without any problems comparing to Ipod that cant read anything except MP4 and legal video files that cost allot of money.. but still the ZEN doesn't support video files with AC3 sound and those should be encoded to regular stereo sound system. The Cowon A2 can read all those files with no problem but he lacks in size and wight so it's your decision. another thing is battery life time which is pretty good even for watching a few episodes of southpark while on the subway. creative says 4 hours for video, for me it lasted 3.5, and for music only 14.5, according to creative it's 16. but still battery life is really good especially for video time, comparing to the Ipod which has only 2 hours of video time. anyway I really don't understand how you can watch anything in this tiny screen (2.5"). If you're looking for a player that can answer your need of seeing movies and series everywhere, you need something like the cowon a2 which has twice the screen size and twice the battery life time in video (10 hours). One of the most essential accessory of any mp3 player is the AC charger. Creative doesn't include an AC charger in its product package. also a tv cable that transfers the picture from the player to the tv and they also do not include a case for the player. all of those are very expensive and as I said essential in any player. those product are included in the regular pack of the Cowon A2. another subject is browsing your music, the creative zen has a touch pad, we all know the ipod's touch wheel which is great for navigating your Ipod. well creative came with new horizontal pad that cant compit with the wheel pad but still does the work, and it's better then any joystick navigation that other players have such as the Cowon a2. plus the zen has a search option which is pretty helpful in finding those tricky songs that you remember only one word from there name. another advantage of the Zen is a very easy to use and beautifully GUI that basically works on browsing your files by titles such as artist name, song name, album name and such... Advantages- * Vibrant screen with great resolution (240*320). * Works great with divx and xvid in almost any resolution. * Has the ability to connect to a TV. * Has a good battery life time * It has a GREAT user interface. * Touch wheel navigation and shortcut key. * Good price * Good weight - 163g Disadvantages- * The regular package contents don't include some of the essential accessories such as AC adapter and carrying case. * cant play video files coded in AC3 (surround sound) and .ogg music files. * Screen is a bit small for watching any real videos * you cant take advantage of all the product capabilities without adding allot of money for cables and such. * It cant be connected to a pc with any usb cable, it must include a special adapter that comes with the player. In conclusion the Creative ZEN Vision:M is a great player but certainly not the best out there. it has some key features that can easily make it the best player for you.Read full review
I bought this player because I've owned one earlier (left it on a plane) and have been generally pleased with it. You can download a lot of video, photos and music in 30GB. Only 2 drawbacks I see with this player: There is no Creative Zen Vision M adapter for an ipod dock that does video and audio. Creative Labs created this product; created a dongle that allows use of standard USB cables and has an AV port for television viewing of video; and created speakers/systems with ipod docks so it should not be a stretch to create a Vision M adapter for an ipod dock - even if you have to use the dongle. The 2nd drawback is for audiobook users. The bookmarking feature is great but once used, it does not continue to the next track. Overall, great value for what you get - unless you want to dock it to a home theater or a sound systemRead full review
i own both, and i will not only list the official features of both, but the actual ease of use. THE SCREEN QUALITY + the ipod has a bigger screen now, and does its job well. + the vision:m snuck up on it and surpasses it easily. the screen's colors are amazing. STORAGE + the ipod has a 60gb model. the player automatically works as a removable drive. + the vision:m only has 30gb. you have to allocate a certain amount to be 'removable storage' and have it in a certain mode for it to work. still works though, and that's mostly what matters. MUSIC PLAYBACK + the ipod has above average sound quality and a beautiful 'now playing' screen that EASILY incorporates your album art into the picture. + the vision:m boasts album art support, but it really wasn't a fun process.. most people have said that it's much harder than they thought to take advantage of that feature. plus on the now playing screen, the album art looks a little out of place and wasn't fit into the layout well, in my opinion. everyone knows creative's sound quality is amazing. no contest. VIDEO PLAYBACK + the ipod only plays 2 kinds of files that previously were impossible to come by. buy legally straight from itunes.. or take your incompatible video files, take a few hours to convert them with a free program, and you have no problem with the video portion. i have not, but many have. + the vision:m boasts support for divx, Xvid, and others. only one out of five videos that it supposedly supported actually transferred to my player, which was a major letdown. i have yet to find a free video converter and probably will need to purchase one. OVERALL LOOK + the ipod is infamous for its easily scratched front & back on these new models. your screen will get VERY scratched if not taken care of. it has good weight to it and the thinness is impressive. many compatible cases to suit your needs. + the vision:m is beautiful as well. though not as thin as the ipod, they chose to stray completely from an ipod-esque layout. the scrollbar and keys are COMPLETELY different, and there's a good chance you'll be partial to one or the other, as i and my friends are. hopefully whichever one you purchase. :) though they both have listed very very similar features, i have not had the same ease of use with both. whether or not that is of any matter to you, i don't know. being the user.. i'd like for everything to work, and i don't feel like everything does on the vision:m. if you're dead-set on going against the grain and never touching an ipod.. this will be an impressive alternative. the video quality is lovely, and the sound is unbeatable, and the design is original. if that's all you need to hear.. the decision should be simple for you.Read full review
