Product Name: Zen Vision:M 30GB Digital Multimedia Device
Marketing Information:
ZEN Vision:M is the fusion of music, photos and video into one compact player. Enjoy up to 15,000 songs, watch up to 120 hours of video, share tens of thousands of photos with your family and friends. Do it all in style.
Product Type: Digital Multimedia Device
Product Features: Audio Player
Product Features: Video Player
Product Features: Photo Viewer
Product Features: FM Tuner
Product Features: FM Recorder
Product Features: Voice Recorder
Storage
Storage Media: Hard Drive (Integrated)
Storage Capacity: 30GB Hard Drive
Display & Graphics
Display Screen: 2.5" Color LCD 76800 Pixels
Display Features:
262,144 color
Image Formats: JPEG
Image Formats: GIF
Image Formats: TIFF
Image Formats: PNG
Image Formats: BMP
Audio
Playback Duration: 15000 Song(s) @ 64Kbps WMA
Audio Formats: MP3 Playback - 320kbps
Audio Formats: WMA Playback - 320kbps
Audio Formats: WAV Playback
Video
Video Storage: 120 Hour(s) MPEG-4 @ 500Kbps
Video Formats: MPEG-1 Playback - (Simple Profile)
Video Formats: MPEG-2 Playback - (Simple Profile)
Video Formats: MPEG-4 Playback - (Simple Profile)
Video Formats: WMV Playback - (Version 9)
Video Formats: Motion JPEG Playback
Video Formats: DivX Playback - Version (4/5)
Video Formats: XviD Playback
Camera
Camera Type: Not Applicable
Optical Zoom: Not Applicable
Digital Zoom: Not Applicable
Interfaces/Ports
Interfaces/Ports: 1 x USB 2.0 USB
Interfaces/Ports: 1 x Headphone
Interfaces/Ports: 1 x Composite Video Out
Physical Characteristics
Dimensions: 2.4" Height x 4.1" Width x 0.
Amazon.com Review In its own right, the Creative Zen Vision:M is a very capable digital audio player, video player, photo viewer, FM radio, and more. Indeed, one could go on and on about how it has the right specifications to make it a constant companion for entertainment on the go. The really big news about this device, though, is that it's the first device to boast complete compatibility with Amazon Unbox, the new digital video and music download service from Amazon.com.
The Zen Vision:M has the features, ease-of-use, and power to become your constant media companion. See the Vison:M interactive demo.
Design Let's get things out in the open. The Apple iPod is the 800-pound gorilla when it comes to the digital media player business and, unavoidably, every other device is measured against it. In most respects, the Vision:M matches up pretty well, and there are few things you may even like better. Length and width dimensions are exactly the same at 4.1 and 2.4 inches respectively. When it comes to girth, though, the iPod has the Vision:M beat; the Vision:M is .7 inches thick, while the iPod measures .4 inches. The Vision:M is slightly heavier, too. These details aside, the Vision:M feels comfortable, yet sturdy, in the hand, with curved surfaces in all the right places.
Creative takes a somewhat different approach with the Vision:M's controls, answering the iPod's Click Wheel with a vertical touch pad--which allows you to scroll up and down menus and control volume--plus four buttons that offer navigation through the user interface. The contextual menu button on the bottom right is a welcome addition, allowing you to make quick settings changes and view information about media files on the fly--functions that are more cumbersome on an iPod. Creative could have made the buttons a bit more sensitive--they require a firm press that gives an overall feeling of clunkiness to an otherwise well-designed user interface. Another annoyance is the touch pad's over-sensitivity; it's easy to make selections unintentionally, sending you on a wild ride through the user interface.
The Vision:M's screen, which measures 2.5 inches diagonally, offers sharp details, vibrant color, and excellent response with little or no video ghosting during high-action sequences. The 320 x 240 resolution is to be expected from a device this size, and although it's small, you'll likely have no trouble enjoying video while you're sitting on the subway or a flight, or in the back-seat of a car. Our only nitpick was the screen's less than stellar viewing angle, especially when compared side-by-side with a video iPod. While this can be good for maintaining privacy, the narrow viewing angle also means that friends beside you will struggle to see anything other than a black screen.
Music, Videos, Photos, and More The Vision:M's music organization scheme is standard fare; you can browse playlists, artists, tracks, albums, and genres. Equalizer settings are robust, with a nice range of automatic settings, plus a custom equalizer that's easy to control. The music library's "DJ" function is a nice touch, allowing you to listen to your most popular tracks. It can also pull up the tunes you listen to least frequently--in case you've got some forgotten tunes lying around on the Vision:M's 30 GB hard drive. Sound quality is everything you'd expect from a top shelf digital audio player, and DRM'd Windows Media files played without a hitch. The device fully supports a whole range of "PlaysForSure" download and subscription services, such as Napster and Yahoo Music. Creative also ships a CD-ripping and music transfer application called MediaSource with the Vision:M.
Playback of Windows Media DRM'd video files (WMV9) was also hassle-free. Purchased videos delivered crisp colors and detail, with no frame drops. Video playback consumes a lot of power, bringing Creative's claim of four hours of video playback into serious doubt. Expect under three hours when watching videos continuously. Thankfully, if you need to come back to your video later the Vision:M's software remembers the timecode of where you left off--unless you power the device down between viewing sessions. In addition to protected and unprotected WMV files, the Vision:M can play MPEG 1/2/4, Motion-JPEG, DivX 4 and 5, and XviD formats, making it a very flexible device with respect to encoding options.
The Vision:M can also store thousands of photos, letting you browse through them or set up a slideshow. The device's TV-out option comes in handy here, as you can present slideshows on a TV or projector. Videos can be displayed this way, too. An FM radio with easy preset tuning functions and great signal reception, plus a voice recorder feature, round out the extra media features. There's also a handy tool to format a portion of the drive for use as a USB 2.0 mass storage device, letting you set aside up to 16 GB for data storage.
Connectivity and Synchronization A Creative Sync Adapter ships in the box with the Vision:M, making it a snap to connect the device to a USB 2.0-capable PC. With the connection made, Windows XP recognized the device right off the bat and Windows Media Player immediately asked us if we wanted to load the PC's music onto the Vision:M. Music management and synchronization has come a long way on the PC, and the experience of organizing and transferring music to and from the Vision:M was, barring a few curious click-through boxes, pretty seamless. The Vision:M also supports synchronization of your Outlook contacts, calendar, and tasks, in case you want to use it as a personal organizer of sorts.
Amazon Unbox Integration To be truly successful, the Vision:M has to be more than a great media device, it has to integrate with Amazon Unbox and make the process feel like second nature. Although the Vision:M was tested using a beta version of Amazon Unbox, things are looking good already. Amazon Unbox and the Vision:M go together like peas in a pod, making the process of purchasing, downloading, and enjoying content on the go a real cinch. The Amazon Unbox Video Player, which queues, downloads, organizes, and plays your purchased movies and TV shows, recognized the Vision:M right off the bat. An icon for the Vision:M appears in the devices panel of the application, and you can immediately begin transferring downloaded content to the device. Once you're all loaded up, the Vision:M offers a great way to bring Amazon Unbox entertainment along for the ride.
Pros
Crisp, vibrant color screen is great for video
Generous video format compatibility
Excellent sound quality and music management functions
Cons
Narrow screen viewing angle may be a problem for some
Finicky controls for some functions
Slightly more bulky than other competitors
What's in the Box Creative ZEN Vision:M, earphones, Sync Adapter, USB 2.0 cable, pouch, user's guide, and installation CD that includes Creative MediaSource and Creative Media Explorer software. Note: As of July 2006 Creative no longer ships the Zen M with the AC power adapter.
Amazon.com Product Description The Zen Vision:M MP3 and Video Player lets you take all your movies, music and photos in a light, pocket-sized device that is loaded with 30 GB of memory. At this capacity you can carry tens of thousands of photos, 120 hours of movies (500 Kbps MPEG4-SP), or up to 15,000 songs (WMA encoded at 64 Kbps), all in the palm of your hand. You can also tune in the radio (32 station presets), record your favorite talk show, or make personal voice memos with the built-in microphone.
The Zen Vision:M can hold thousands of songs, photos, and movies in its 30 GB memory. View larger.
See the Zen Vision:M in 3D.
Today's big screen blockbuster, yesterday's picnic home video, and even your favorite TV shows--they all now fit in your pocket and are ready to be shared. Zen Vision:M supports many video formats, such as AVI, DivX 4 and 53, XviD4, MPEG-1, -2, -SP, WMV9, and Motion-JPEG, which simply means you have more choices and less restrictions. Instead of busting out your wallet to show snapshots of your kids, you can enlist the Zen Vision:M to give viewers a glimpse of your precious memories--tens of thousands of them. In 262,144 vivid colors and 320x240 resolution, complete with a thumbnail gallery, this device makes it easy to scroll through your entire photo collection. Of course, music files are a big portion of anyone's digital canvas. Perfect for taking with you on the road or just around the house, this device makes all your music sound as good as the Zen Vision:M looks. And with eight preset EQ settings and 97 dB signal-to-noise ratio, you can fine-tune your listening experience for any musical genre.
You can also connect the Zen Vision:M to a projector or TV with the included AV cable, and put on a big show from this little device. Synchronize music files with photo or video montages for a taste of spectacular, personalized big screen magic. Viewing images on this device is a pleasant experience. The 2.5-inch, high definition LCD screen features a 320x240 resolution and hundreds of thousands of colors. What this means is you see crisp, clear detail in every movie and photo, even under bright light.
Creative didn't scrimp on design, either. The Zen Vision:M features an ergonomic design with an innovative touch pad control that enables quick, comfortable access to menus and settings. And you'll get loads more playback time with the built-in rechargeable, battery. Enjoy up to 13 hours of music or 4.5 hours of movies on a single charge. The optional extended-life battery pack lets you double playback time, so you can enjoy days of uninterrupted entertainment. Other features include a personal organizer that you sync with Microsoft Outlook, and an integrated voice recorder that can store hundreds of hours worth of recordings. Take a closer look at all the Zen Vision:M features.
The Zen Vision:M MP3 and Video Player uses PlaysForSure technology. Look for the PlaysForSure logo if you're shopping for a portable music or video device and you want to make sure the digital music and video you purchase will play back on it every time. Match the PlaysForSure logo on a large selection of leading devices and online music stores. If you see the logo, you'll know your digital music will play for sure. Choose from a large number of digital music and video stores, including MTV's Urge, Rhapsody, Yahoo!, MSN Music, MusicMatch, MusicNow, Napster, Wal-Mart Music Downloads, and many more.
What's in the Box Creative Zen Vision:M, earphones, sync adapter, USB 2.0 adapter, pouch, user's guide, and installation CD.
best mp3 player i've ever ownedAugust 10, 2010 Sarah Bojorquez 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
i owned one of these for about 4 years (until i dropped it on a treadmill recently :P) and it was the best mp3 device i've ever used. i had owned an ipod before that and this is a great alternative, especially if you use subscription music like rhapsody like i do. videos and pictures look great, the screen is nice and bright, and the sound quality kicks ipods ass. you can even record radio which i thought was pretty cool. i'm so sad i dropped it but it was getting on in years for a music player, they just don't build things like this to last cuz they want you to keep going out and buying new ones. i'd dropped it plenty of times before but i guess this time was the worst.
a few drawbacks...it's kind of big and the interface is a little hard to get used to at first especially if you're used to an ipod, and the buttons take a lot of force to press.
but other than that, amazing player, it looks great too, my friends would always compliment it and ask to play with it. i'm going to have a hard time finding a replacement :(
OKMay 19, 2010 Haley Streetman This MP3 player is a good alternative if you can't afford an ipod. It has a good battery life and good sound quality but that's about it. Not a lot of features.
(The reviewer was compensated for posting this review. However, the opinion stated in the review is that of the reviewer and the reviewer alone. Further, the reviewer independently selected this product to review and has no affiliation with the product maker/distributor, Amazon or the review requester.)
A great entry level mp3 player with a lot of space.May 18, 2010 B. Shields(Ohio, USA) This product doesn't stand up to an iPod Touch but it is a great player for the mp3 space. The navigation is something to get used to but it is okay as well.
The reviewer was compensated for posting this review. However, the opinion stated in the review is that of the reviewer and the reviewer alone. Further, the reviewer independently selected this product to review and has no affiliation with the product maker/distributor, Amazon or the review requester.
It'd decent, but overpriced for the lifespanMarch 28, 2010 KENISALL(greater metropolitan united states) This unit falls into the "iPod wannabe" category... i personally held off the Apple wagon for a long time... Now having owned both, I can say that this unit has a touchy navigation pad, an lackluster menu system, and (this is the dealbreaker) after a bit of use i put it down for a few months, came back to start using it again as a storage device and the unit would not hold a charge nor run at all unless plugged into the charger...
Essentially a several hundred dollar paperweight...
horrible rip offMarch 23, 2010 onlytruth(texas) 0 out of 3 found this review helpful
My friend bought this player creative zen vision M 30 GB player as a gift for me after exhaustive comparison and reading hundreds of reviews between Ipod 30 GB and creative zen vision M 30 GB. It worked great for the few occasionally times I used. After not being used for a month, the battery completely drained and has never been able to charge ever since. I have tried charging it overnight through a computer. I have tried charging overnight with an AC adapter. Nothing works. I can only access its interface when its connected to a power supply. As soon as its taken out, instantaneously it dies out. I have even tried resetting it. No luck. I called the Creative customer service and they would not replace it as I do not have a proof of purchase as it was gift and my friend apparently did not care to save the receipt. I went online on Amazon and realized it costs over $250. I feel miserable that Creative refuses to fix a faulty product of theirs which is very much in warranty.
