Creative Zen Vision:M 30 GB MP3 and Video Player (White)
by Creative Labs
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Creative Zen Vision:M 30 GB MP3 and Video Player (White)
Customer Review: Almost perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had this product for about two years now.
The good:
- Durable, I have dropped it a few times and it's fine.
- Good sound
- Smaller than my last MP3 player (a Dell Jukebox)
- Beautiful - it comes with nice-looking preset themes (6) and the the outside is attractive
- Cheaper than an IPod for the same amount of space (30 GB)
- Can function as a planner, calendar, and can do two-way transfer with music and video, as well as can be a (albeit large) flash drive. This feature I LOVE and it kicks IPod's butt.
The bad:
- As mentioned, the touchpad IS very sensitive, but I don't find it bad. Ater you get used to it, even if you mess up the setting, you just tap it twice and it goes back.
- Kinda big. It is heavier than most IPods, and if you want to go running with your music on your arm, this is not the device for you.
- It doesn't come with a charger - we had to buy it separately. Charging using the provided USB cord takes FOREVER and you have to have your computer on at the same time, which wastes energy and is obnoxious. But I bought the charger, problem solved.
- Because it's not an ipod, it's harder to find accessories for it. Also nothing cool is compatible with it (eg an i-trip), but that's why I have a CD player in my car.
Customer Review: Great product but customer support from company sucks!
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had this mp3 for three years and I love it.My problem has been with customer support; my FM turnner does not work any more and the battery doesn't stay charged as long as it did when new. I tried to contact the company to see if they could replace the fm and battery and they won't return my e-mails. what's the big deal? All I want to know is if it can be done. Any help out there?
L
Customer Review: Durable and reliable
Summary: 4 Stars
I got my Creative Zen 30 GB as a replacement for my 40 GB Zen from Best Buy. I have had it since 2006 and through many bumps and bangs later, it still works as good as it did as when I first got it. The battery life is excellent. I only have to charge it once every week and a half, which is great considering I use it constantly. I would recommend putting it on the quickest idle settings for longer battery life. It has taken quite a few droppings and heavy bumps and survived with hardly a scratch. The CD artwork and capacity for pictures is excellent for a shutterbug like me. The screen is clear and vibrant and the sync time is astonishingly quick as well as charge time.
The only cons with this is that the headphones that came with it suck. I'd say get the Skull Candy headphones from Target for it. The video quality is very pixellated and it is not as compact as some other players, so depending on what kind of pants pockets I have, I am out of luck.
All in all I would recommend this player to anyone. The cons are small but would not deter me from getting another one.
Customer Review: I Own Both iPod 160GB and Creative Zen Vision:M and More, Let's See Side-By-Side
Summary: 5 Stars
I have owned my Apple iPod classic 160 GB Silver (6th Generation) since Dec 2007. Before this iPod, I butght Zune 80 GB Digital Media Player (Black) , but I finally returned it to the store due to its shorter battery life. I also have a Sansa e250 since August 2007.
I really love the sound quality of Microsoft Zune, it makes the sound of my iPod 160GB like a cheap toy when I listened to both of them side-by-side, using the same earphones. But that time I didn't know the reason Zune ran out of battery so fast was that I kept the Wi-Fi on. Microsoft Zune also features RDS (radio data service), so you can see the titles of the songs and the names of the singers when you listen to FM stations that support RDS.
I like my iPod for its big memory, its interface and its battery life (even though its sound quality is a joke for a $350.00 MP3 player). But I need the FM radio, the decent sound quality, and a recorder, so I use my SanDisk Sansa e250 2 GB MP3 Player with microSD Expansion Slot (Black). The sound quality of Sansa is better than my iPod, and the battery life is also longer, but the 2GB memory is way too small.
Then I turned to iRiver; I bought iRiver E100. The functions are great, (it includes Line-in, built-in and FM recording, text viewing and built-in speakers) but I was disappointed with the sound quality. iRiver used to be famous for their excellent sound quality (I have iFP 395 and iFP 895), but the sound quality of iRiver E100 is terrible, just as bad as my iPod, and the volume is weak when connected to amplifiers or cheaper earphones. So the search continued.
Then, I saw Creative Zen 4 GB Portable Media Player (Black) on Amazon. After reading its reviews, I decided to give it a try, and I realized that it is not so great either. The sound quality and battery life is better than my iPod, but it does not have FM recorder.
Finally, I saw Creative Zen Vision:M 30 GB MP3 and Video Player (Pink), I was tempted to get it. And, YES, IT IS WONDERFUL -- the SOUND QUALITY, the FM radio, the voice and FM recording, the USB storage function, the drag-and-drop option (no need to be stuck with a certain program and computer, free to add music elsewhere without the only computer that contains your music library), the color and resolution of photos, the two-tone, pink-white body, the warmth (the metal of iPod is so cold in hand *_* ), the costumized wallpaper (you can choose your favorite picture or family photo as the background for the whole system, so you can always see it on the screen and change the photo whenever you want).
The color of the photos on Creative Zen Vision:M is very saturated and bright. When I compared it to my iPod, the same photos on my iPod looked faded and pale.
Since I no longer have the Microsoft Zune, I am not sure the sound quality of Zen is better than Zune or not. But I am so sure that the sound quality of Zen Vision:M is way better than my iPod. If the Pink Zen Vision:M had 80GB memory, I would give my iPod Classic away or sell it.
If you need 80GB plus memory, long battery run time, and you don't care for sound quality, FM radio, voice and FM recording, iPod Classic may be fine for you. But if you want to enjoy beautiful sound quality and multiple functions, iPod is the last choice.
I still love my iPod, especially it shows every single picture I paste on my mp3 files. That says, if you have 12 tracks on an album, you can put 12 different pictures on each song, and it will display them all. You can even put more then one pictures (including your own photos) on one song by using the Artwork of "Get info" in iTune, and switch them back and force as you wish. The ZVM , however, only shows the first photo of each album.
Having and using both iPod Classic 160GB and Zen Vision:M, I can see that ZVM falls short in battery life, memory size, and mutiple album arts display. But its screen color, its sound quality, its voice recording, its FM radio, its FM recording, its costumized wallpaper, its color choices (pink, blue, green, black, white), its solid and warmer feeling of the body -- all outweight my iPod Classic. Especially the sound quality, isn't it what we want for a portable music player -- Listen to the sound of music it should sound and enjoy it wherever we go?
By the way, after buying all kind of mobile charger, I also found out that Duracell Mobile Charger With 2AA And 2AAA Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries, CEF23DX4N does not work for big MP3 players like iPod 160GB and ZVM (it charges cellphones and smaller mp3 players). And Xantrex Technologies 852-0281 XPower PowerSource 100 Watt Inverter works fine but it is a bit heavy for travel or on-the-go. I finally tried Tekkeon TekCharge Mobile Power and Battery Charger -- it works and it is very small and light-weight.
Hope you find this review helpful.
Customer Review: Awesome player
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had this player for about two or three years now and it still works like the first day I got it. Tons of storage space, very durable, the screen looks awesome. Just take care to keep it in a protective case as it will get smudged/scratched very easily -- unless your not like me at all and don't take it everywhere you go. Before I got mine I read complaints that the touch pad was too sensitive, but you can adjust that first of all, and second of all it really isn't. The auto scrolling feature is great. Battery life is great. It's a little bulky compared to something like an ipod, but that never bothered me. I would definitely recommend to anyone.