Creative Zen M is the ipod killer

I bought this mp3 player for my girlfriend who used to have a Sony Vaio (not the laptop) before. The Vaio boasted 40GB of space, but it had quite a few drawbacks. The worst, and of course, knowing Sony should not come as a surprise, was the DRM system. Even if the songs were already in mp3 format, the Sony software would convert them to a proprietary format and then take forever even with USB 2.0 to get them on the player. If your computer crashed and you had to reinstall the operating system, you were doomed. You could not get your songs off the player unless you had previously gone through the process of creating certificates which had to be validated online for the computer that you were storing the songs on. Being the more technical person, I must have ended up transferring about 40 cds on the player over 5 times, and it became very frustrating.

When the battery died on the Vaio, I decided to look for a Christmas present for her. I do a lot of research and read through a lot of reviews when it comes to buying electronics. I was interested on hard-drive based players only. I was not a fan of the iPod to begin with since everyone and their mom has it nowadays but I wanted to be thorough and give it the benefit of the doubt. My friends have iPods too so I considered that as well and in the end I decided to go for the 30GB Creative Zen M. Here are some of the pros and cons:

Pros:
*Zen M has plenty of storage space. Perhaps not 80 GBs or more like the ipod, but you can go up to 60 GB. That is a LOT of space. If you're lying down in a hospital with every bone in your body broken and you're wrapped in gauze like a mummy while watching movies on an mp3 player suspended from the ceiling for hours, chances are you will not end up using all the space. So why pay for it.

*The screen quality on the Zen (over 220k colors) is superior to that of the ipod (64k). The Zen can play MP3, WAV, WMA, ADPCM, Protected WMA (DRM) audio formats whereas the ipod can play AAC, MP3, WAV, AIFF, Audible and Apple Lossless. The Zen screen is bigger too. As far as video formats go, the Zen is amazing. It can play DivX 4, DivX 5, XviD5, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WMV9 and MPEG. Compare that to just being able to play MPEG-4 on the iPod. No need for transcoding either.

*With the Zen M you don't need software like iTunes. Actually, you don't need any software to transfer the files. Just plug it in a usb port and it will show up as a removable drive. It's all drag and drop from there. I have also found out to my amazement, that Windows Media Player 11 does a great job in finding the album art. I was surprised since some of the third party software I tried out, cost $ and cannot even find half the albums correctly.

*The Zen has a built in FM tuner. iPod does not.

*The Zen M has a customizable wallpaper. iPod does not.

*You can record voice on the Zen directly without the need for third party accessories as is the case with the iPod.

*You can search for songs on the Zen a bit easier than on the iPod. You do a text search or browse by first letter of the artist's name.

Cons:

*A little bit bulkier than the iPod. Whatever. More bang for the buck that way.

*The navigational pad is sensitive and takes a little bit getting used to. The iPod seems to be slightly better.

*Also, iTunes has a wider selection of downloadable music.

My girlfriend loves her new mp3 player and so do I. We love discovering new features on it. And was a bit cheaper than an iPod.

Zen Vision:M Has Outstanding Quality, Features, & Price

The Zen Vision:M 30 GB Media Player is a marvelous balance of quality and features and is an absolute bargain. It is about as thick as and a little larger than a deck of cards, and weighs about the same as a small digital camera. The screen is 2.5”, has 320x240 resolution, and supports 256K colors.

The face does smudge and scratch easily; you might want to purchase a “skin”, which is a thin, clear protective film that adheres to the face of the player and can be replaced if it becomes scratched or scuffed up.

On its bottom half, the corners act as buttons and give nice tactile feedback. The left and right edges of the scroll pad act as forward and reverse, and go faster the longer you hold them. This is very handy in audio books and films.

The player’s interface is a simple, configurable menu. In lists, there is a sidebar alphabet to help you jump to a position. Text is displayed in a large, fine, rounded font that is very easy to read.

The unit requires an external adapter or for sync, recharge, and A/V out. You can charge the unit in 6 hours using the included USB cable. A charge will last from 4 hours (video) to 14 hours (audio).

Adding files to the player requires use of the Creative Zen Vision Explorer software, which has drag and drop capability and syncing.

Audio is strong and clear. The Smart Volume balances out volume of tracks, which is nice. Bass Boost, however, gives music a muddy sound.

I like that in addition to repeat and shuffle, you can play a random album or most (or least) listened to tracks. The bookmark feature is essential for audio books. The playback display is very clean and easy to read.

In addition to WMA song purchases, the player supports subscription services, which allow you to borrow unlimited songs indefinitely while you are subscribed. The large capacity of the player maximizes the value of this service.

Photos look outstanding. The images are bright and crisp with vibrant color. The player does a great job of scaling down high-res images, and you can scale down images during transfer to save space. You can play audio files while viewing pictures, slide shows, etc., and can set any photograph as your wallpaper and set its brightness and tint for text readability.

Video files play smoothly, and even though the screen is small, the color and detail are excellent. I bought a feature film from Amazon’s Unbox service and was surprised at how good it looked. Included software will convert unsupported formats (Ipod video, for instance). The process, however, is slow.

FM reception is much better than in most players I have seen, and there is a signal strength meter. The player supports recording of FM, though a recent firmware upgrade (which I’m skipping) disables it.

The mic can pick up voices in a large room with good quality. I recorded a meeting and was even able to pick up sounds through a closed door.

The 30GB capacity is great, and you can set aside up to 16 GB for file storage.

There is also an alarm clock and Outlook calendar viewer.

I love my Vision:M player. I've got all my music, five years of photos, a feature film, numerous podcasts, 2GB of file storage, and still have 12GB left. I use mine at home, work and in between (I walk).

The Zen Vision:M is one of the finest multimedia players available. It is a joy to use and a wonder to behold. For its high quality, wealth of features, and reasonable price, this player should definitely be on your short list.

Still a GREAT player but not the best

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.

Whats better than the ipod with a strong company name?

Creative labs have been known best for their sound systems, sound cards, etc.

Comparing the Zen vision m with the ipod video, the size is relatively the same but the Zen is a little bit thicker and heavier. But for its thickness, you also get more useful features!

Featuring a built in FM transmitter, voice recorder (yes with the built in mic) and better battery life on the videos, why not spend the money on a Zen? The color quality is better, and it includes a sync adapter which also has an a/v out port so you can hook it up to your TV! YES you got that right, hook t up to your TV (cables for that is not included but it’s just an a/v out cable you can pick up for no more than 5-10 bucks).

Videos you have in your computer, (almost any format) can be directly placed into your Zen and be viewed on the TV with GREAT quality. (I tried it on my 67inch and worked perfectly fine) Share photos on the big screen, and also play music while you are sharing those photos.

The battery life on video playback mode is doubled the ipod. Charging the Zen could be a hassle though as it doesn’t include the wall charger. The Zen charges through the USB, and the sync has a port for the wall which is not included.

Comes with a nice leather scratch protection case, and great headphones.

What more can you ask for?

Through my experiences with the ipod, I find the Zen to be MORE user friendly! Accepts a variety of different formats in both video, audio, and pictures.


Jin

Creative Zen Vison M- Great MP4 player or the Greatest?

Pros:
First I'd like to tell you what I find interesting that the Creative Zen Vision M (ZVM) can do. To start us off I really like the "scrubbing" buttons on either side of the scrolling pad. This allows you to fast forward and rewind, as well as skip and go back. Secondly the top right button can be programmed to access anything you choose. If say, you use the equalizer a lot, you can have it take you directly there, or perhaps it can take you directly to the FM radio or even voice recorder. Your options are limitless because ever options are available, even menu categories. I was a little mad that Creative ditched the Windows version of the Firmware. But They've really pulled it off with this new (updating) firmware. This comes with the Fastest File Transfer program I have ever seen! 20 gbs worth of stuff somehow in less than 1-2 hours. Amazing! Remember that Creative is the Worlds leader in sound cards for PCs, meaning that this device can achieve way better sound quality than its competitors (very true, I compared). It also looks better than the ipod or any other mp3 device with its glowing buttons, deep blue, very sexy.

Cons
Yes all items have some problems, but luckily none to major on this item. Lets start off saying I bought the Black ZVM and of course the sleek shinny black face attacks a whole lot of fingerprints. Of course this can be solved with a case, along with the next problem. One big turnoff (heh) is that it doesn’t have the removable battery like most of its brothers, meaning (like the ipod) you eventually have to have it repaired or thrown away. The ZVM is a scratch magnet, like all the other MP3-4 players on the market, including iPod (Apple actually got sued because the easy scratchablity and low durability of the ipod). Last con, it's a little chunky but when compared to an ipod, its not as wide. Little trade off, but still love it.

Compared to iPod:
Now it’s time to compare the Creative ZVM to the iPod video 30 gigabyte. I am by no means a fan of Apple or any of their products (anti-apple), but since they somehow became the leader in MP3-4 tech. I will compare these similar devices. I will counter everything that iPod users try to say is better. The iPod screen delivers a mere 64k colors while the ZVM has a stunning 256k. The screen resolution, color, and frame rate of the ZVM are all better than the iPod when compared in hand and stat wise. Next, why get a video player if you can't watch videos. Not only does the iPod make you convert everything though itunes (can you say total control?) the battery life of you ipod will not withstand a 2 hour movie, or eventually a 15 minute clip. I've seen it myself. The Creative I’m holding in my hand however has played one 2.5 hour movie and listened to music for 2 more hours and the battery was still showing 1/3 battery life. Next, the wheel on the iPod is just stupid. Once you get a music collection or playlist of over 100, your thumb is going to get tired of going in circles. With the ZVM however, you can just hold down on the bottom of the touch pan and it will scroll for you. If you like radio and having a microphone then all the better, these may be features you won’t use a lot, but are very nice when you have them. Next we have the firmware, recently Creative opened a lawsuit against apple for stealing their firmware components, that tell you anything? Last why o why would you buy an item with an apple bitten in half?

Thanks, I hope this review helped!