Creative Zen Vision:M 30 GB MP3 and Video Player (White)
by Creative
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List Price: Our Price: $160.00 You Save: $89.99 (36%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Network Media Player 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: Creative Zen Vision:M
Summary: 5 Stars
Since most of the reviews of this product are either a) out-of-date or b) really more of a review of amazon's shipping techniques, I felt it necessary to write a cohesive, up-to-date review of this product.
Summary:
The Creative Zen Vision:M is a multi-award-winning mp3 player for good reason. CNet, one of the market's leading reviewers, gave this the award for Best In Show in the Mp3 and Portable Video Category, as well as the Best of CES and Editor's Choice award, all for 2006. The Apple iPod Video was one of the other products reviewed. Overall, the Creative Zen Vision:M is a better product than anything else on the market. And while it did cost more than the iPod originally, the price has come down to equal, giving you few reasons not to buy it.
The Interface:
The interface of the Vision:M is extremely ergonomic and easy to use. The touchpad's sensitivity is easily adjusted and comfortable to navigate through any menu. Holding down on the top or bottom of the touchpad will activate fast scrolling and smaller movements are controlled by running your finger up and down. Selections are made by tapping the touchpad. In addition, the Vision:M has six buttons: One for play/pause, a next/previous arrow on either side of the touchpad, a menu button, a back button, and a customizable shortcut button. In addition, all the menus are fully customizable so you can maximize your own browsing preferences.
The Performance:
The Vision:M's screen is incredible. With six times as many colors as the iPod, the difference is easily visible. I compared the same video clip on my Vision:M to my friend's iPod and could easily tell which screen was better. In addition, the battery life when playing video is up to four times that of the iPod, meaning you can watch feature-length films without charging, and still have enough battery life for hours of music. To test it, I charged the battery fully and then watched The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Extended Edition with the maximum brightness settings. When the movie was done, I listened to an hour and a half of music before the player ultimately died on me. The sound quality is also supurb - something you can expect from a company that specializes in digital audio equipment (chances are the sound card in your computer was made by Creative).
The Features:
In addition to the features offered by the iPod Video, the Vision:M offers a radio am/fm tuner and a radio/voice recorder. While these may not sound that useful, I've used them more than I thought I would, especially the voice recorder. Another incredible feature the Vision:M offers over the iPod is complete compatibility and integration with Windows. You can transfer songs, tags, and album art from your Windows Media Player library as well as sync a calendar with Outlook to carry with you. It also comes bundled with its own software for transferring files. Unlike the iPod, the Vision:M offers support for a large library of filetypes - where the iPod only supports its own formats and has to reformat your files to make them compatible, the Vision:M rarely (if ever) has to do so - even Xvid/DivX formats will play! Unfortunately for you Mac users, Creative has yet to release a set of drivers for Mac OS, but reports say they're currently developing them.
The Quick Review:
Pros:
Ample battery life
Clear, bright, colorful display
Customizable menus
Ergonomic interface
Comes in five colors
Excellent sound quality
Same price as iPod
Cons:
Slightly thicker than the iPod
Not Mac compatible
Only comes in 30GB - iPod offers a 60GB model
Few accessories (can find more on eBay, ship from overseas)
The Bottom Line:
The iPod comes with a huge culture identification behind it that the Vision:M just doesn't have, so if you're looking to be a part of that culture regardless of the quality of the product, there's no reason not to buy the iPod. It's still a good product. Also if you're looking for a massive library of accessories, the Vision:M isn't for you. But if what you're looking for is a high quality, affordable media player that won't let you down and will consistently outperform the competition, the Vision:M is your best choice.
Customer Review: good mp3 player marred by horrible horrible control problems
Summary: 4 Stars
I ordered this from another site and it arrived today. My first reaction was "where is the AC adapter?" The first page of the manual shows you how to change out the international plugs, and several pages later, there is a diagram of how to plug it into the wall. However, nowhere on the box or the literature does it say that the adapter is sold separately. This is very sneaky on the part of Creative, in my opinion. I wondered for several minutes if my package had a missing part, since every electronic device I've ever purchased came with an AC adapter.
They only tell you to install the software (XP only) before trying to plug it onto the USB plug, and this is on a separate foldout guide. Sneaky indeed. It takes 6 hrs to charge by USB vs 3 for the AC ($30).
As far as design goes, I'll come out and say what Creative won't. This is a blatant knockoff of the iPod. The Zen is one of the **least ugly** mp3 players I've seen, so it played a factor in my purchase. It looks almost the same as the black U2 iPod if you were to see it head on. They're trying to capitalize on the shape and appearance of Apple's player, down to the 2-toned shell (Creative's is white and black instead of metal and white), the smooth plastic face, and scroll pad. The headphones resemble the iPod's "ball on a stick" look, except the Zen's is much bigger and more conspicuous. (I won't be using them in public due to embarassment).
The buttons are my biggest beef with the Zen and they have substantial dsign flaws. I've only had it for about 3 hours but the control mechanisms are already driving me crazy. They must've been designed by a mental patient because only the insane would make something this difficult to use. They are absolutely awful awful awful. Creative tried to copy the iPod's scroll wheel, and for legal reasons, can't completely knock it off, so they settled for a really badly executed midpoint.
In the middle of the Zen is a verticle thumb-sized touch sensitive pad that has only up and down motion awareness. If you try to slide your finger horizontally, it won't register. On either edge of the touch pad are arrow buttons but no up and down arrows.
Pushing on these buttons in most cases does nothing. Instead, it advances or repeats the song, if one is playing. Intuitively, pushing either of these buttons should advance the menu 1 level deeper, or go back up a level. e.g.
Photos > Pictures > Folders view
where pushing forward or backward would go up or down a submenu. But instead, tapping advances while pushing a button on the lower left side goes back (looks like upside down ENTER key).
The touchpad is extremely sensitive to taps, even at LOW sensitivity setting. The slightest touch or pause may be interpreted as a tap. Having to hit a separate BACK button off to the side is very annoying, especially when you see a left arrow on the edge of the touchpad (which does nothing)! Creative should've made the confirm click a spring loaded button to offer users tactile feedback and resistance, like a mouse button. Additionally, there is a MENU button, which has extra menu items that somehow couldn't be designed into the main menu scheme. Moving your finger along the pad while the clock is up makes clicky sounds but nothing happens on the screen.
The scroll wheel on the Apple is superbly designed and functions very well. The touchpad on the Zen is a hobbling midget with his legs broken and his crutches pawned off to buy food. It is simply aggravating to use and very prone to errors.
I bought this player because 1) I refuse to buy an iPod despite owning several Apple computers for work. I didn't want to be participate in yuppie chic like so many sheep 2) it offered native Divx and Xvid playback and that was the main reason for buyng this. I tested a movie on it (700 MB DIVX) and it ran great.
FM radio playback is also a feature, but you'll probably never use it. There are MANY MANY design flaws with this player which prevent this from being a great product. The features list is impressive and if you're willing to put up with the clumsy interface, this may be worth the tradeoff. I am still undecided.
Customer Review: iPOD is the one to get - unfortunately.
Summary: 3 Stars
Update - After owning it for 3 months I am loving it even less and wish I could take one more star away. It is a great piece of hardware, but that dongle thing really kills me. I am sitting here with a dead player since I left the blasted dongle home.
The ads claim that this is mpeg 4 compatible - and so does the writeup at amazon. I don't know what they mean by mpeg 4 - but it is definitely not H.264 compatible and I am yet to come across any vodcast that will work with this device without going through ultra-slow conversion. H.264 is THE standard going forward and one all vodcasters will use. Make sure any device you buy is compatible with this standard.
Yes - I own this and the Gigabeat too... I bought Creative since this they really make good products but of late, it seem that their marketing MBA's are running riot over their engineers and designers. As a result, you will get a great piece of hardware with Zen level stupid implementation in some areas.
In terms of hardware, the Vision M could not get much better. Its 5 stars all the way. Good sound, fantastic picture quality, built in radio and so on. Videos converted using Divx 6.4 and its associated converter, work fine on this device. It may be slightly thicker - but that only makes it easier to hold.
Alas, hardware is not everything. If you haven't bought the Zen already, better look for a deal on an iPod!
The reasons are as follows -
1) I want to watch video podcasts such as bbc news. However podcasts DO NOT work with this device without the software undertaking painfully slow video conversion while on an iPOD the same podcasts go straight in. Now you'll be spending hours converting podcasts to work. With the iPod, video podcasts are almost guaranteed to work. No fuss - just enter the appropriate link into iTunes.
2) The software (compared to iTunes) is pretty lightweight.
3) The touch pad implementation is not great. To move one track backwards and forwards, you need to press the touch pad right or left. When trying to do so, you can bring the volume control up or land up "tapping" the pad for some other option. A bit irritating.
4) The biggest irritant is this (and which the iPOD I guess shares). I am sitting out of town unable to listen to this thing. Why? Because the battery has run down and I forgot to get the dinky plastic adapter to which the USB plugs in and which in turn plugs into the zen. What could be more stupid? Making you carry a fragile piece of plastic at all times so you can charge your Vision M? That IS Zen Stupid. Incidentally, putting a silicone skin on makes the adapter hard to connect properly at the base of this device (design issue)
5) Lack of accessories. Even in Singapore (home of Creative), it is iPOD all over. I could not even find screen protectors that were specific to the vision M at a store that sold ONLY screen protectors. Now when I go to my local stores here, I'm lucky to catch a glimpse of one or two accessories for the Creative while the iPOD has a wall full of them. It won't even dock with a receiver I am planning to buy while the iPOD would and be controlled directly by that receivers remote.
6) You cannot use it has a portable HDD without first setting aside this space.
What will transform this product (IMHO)-
1) Windows explorer drag and drop.
2) Direct USB connection.
3) Charging port.
4) A 4 way controller with a button in the middle
5) ACCESSORIES - such as IR remote dock station, receiver dock - etc.. and reasonably priced. Not $40 for a piece of plastic with a connector (like the current dock)
6) Factory installed scratch resistant plastic on the screen - if you do this at home - it is almost impossible not to trap a dust particle or two and you will never get this to lay exactly square on top of the display.
7) Compatibility with the most common music and video formats out there.
8) User replaceable batteries.
9) Optical output (to connect to your home stereo)
10) 16:3 screen (most video is already moving to this format)
Customer Review: Reality...
Summary: 2 Stars
I've had the Creative Zen Vision:M for about 6 months now. I admit that when I received it in the mail and started using it I immediately fell in love. It was much better than the Ipod to me (and still is) and it was so easy to use. I primarily was using it as an audio player when I traveled and worked out at the gym and I had not one single problem with it. So let's start with the good:
-The screen is bright and colorful and easy to view
-The touchstrip control takes some getting used to, but it's much easier than other players on the market
-The sound quality is excellent with various EQ settings including a Custom setting which many other players lack
-Easy to transfer music whether you drag and drop or use the included Zen software
-Great battery life
Lately I've been reading reviews all over the web praising this player and showering it with various accolades. I've become convinced that the reason for this is reviewers only used it for a short amount of time and never had the opportunity to run into any problems. The player has locked up on me a couple of times...forcing me to do a reset. My data was retained, but I shouldn't have to worry about the player locking up when I want to use it. The biggest issue, which I recently discovered, is a slowdown in playback. I went to Creative's website and research the issue. This is what I found:
"Audio quality of MP3 or other compressed files are primarily determined by its recorded bit rate, measured in kilobits per second (Kbps). The higher the number, the higher the audio quality, and the more space necessary for recording and storage.
If you experience any distortion with an MP3 player, please verify that the bit rate of your MP3 files. When the bit rate is too low (less than 64kbps), the audio quality will be low because of lack of audio data; when the bit rate is too high or it is beyond the supported range of an MP3 player, the playback will be dragging and slow.
To improve the audio quality, it is recommended that you encode these files again with an reasonable bit rate, for example, 128 kbps."
If I pay $200+ for an MP3 player, it should play my MP3s no matter what quality they are encoded at. This is truly unacceptable. I think it's also a matter of storage space. When you start getting close to 30GB of data, the player has a much harder time processing the data properly. The site doesn't indicate that however and it's just my theory. If I had known in advance about this problem, I would have never bought the player. I used to have all my MP3s at 128kbps...until I started noticing the difference in quality. Now I don't have any MP3s at a quality less than 256kbps. I used to have them at 320kbps, but had to bump it down to maximize space.
Other issues:
-Touchstrip is sensitive and you end up selecting menu items you didn't mean to. The sensitivity can be adjusted, but it's still a pain
-Startup tends to be slow when you have a large amount of data stored
-Occasionally when a new track starts, you'll get an annoying buzz in playback. Restarting the track will eliminate it, but it shouldn't happen in the first place
-If the player has been off for a while, it will return you to the last selection when you turn it on again. However when you try to go back one step, it takes you all the way back to the start screen as opposed to say an artist's folder. More of annoyance than a problem.
All in all the Creative Zen Vision:M is a good player, but it's hampered by problems that an PVP should not have. I can't imagine what kind of issues I would have if I were using it to watch videos. There is a new 60GB model (only available in Black right now), but it's thicker and costs more than other 60GB models. I've been doing lots of research and plan on moving on to something better in the near future. If you don't plan on storing lots of music, then this player may be right for you. If you like taking all your available music with you, then I would choose something a bit more stable.
Customer Review: This manufacturer has no concept of support and service.
Summary: 1 Stars
To be fair, before trashing this manufacturer completely, I purchased a 60 gig Creative Zen Vision M a few months ago and was/am very pleased. Easy to use, great picture quality, and have raved about it. So much so, that my wife wanted one in white. After not finding one and calling US sales and learning there were no plans to sell the 60 gig in the US in white(?), she opted for the 30 gig.
First it took a couple of weeks and an email complaint to have it shipped. Then the unit did not work - it would not power on, recognize a USB port or charge. We returned it to Amazon (great service by them) and had a second unit in a couple of days but it had the SAME PROBLEMS. By this point I felt that I should go through Creative for help - not Amazon's fault, why should they continue to pay for shipping etc.
Here is my warning - terrible customer/tech service. To start, their website, when it worked, was not user friendly or helpful. Secondly, you can't find a number to call when you click the 'contact us' button. Finally, even if you click the 'send an email' button, you get sent around in circles to 'list your problem' and never get to send an email for help. So, I opened the literature in the box, found a number, had to pay for the call and I ended up with a tech guy in Singapore. Though he was very nice - he did not solve or even seem to understand the problems. As my 60 works just fine through my computer, my USB ports are not an issue, yet he continued to tell to disconnect them and reconnect them. Then he told me to do the reset - great, but one itty bitty problem - to do the reset the battery has to be charged...it charges through the USB port...which it won't recognize and therefore won't charge. Hmmm.... Finally, he said I should update the firmware...once again that pesky little issue with NO USB CONNECTIVITY. So, they did not solve my issue. His suggestion, send it back. OK, do you want my address for the call tag? No, you (the customer) have to pay to ship it. WHAT?
I requested that someone from customer service in the US call me. I got a call from Singapore by a friendly lady who informed to try all the same things I had already tried. The really frustating part was that she was even reading my case file from the previous call and KNEW that those things did not work. She then told me that they would be happy to take back the Zen and run a diagnostic on it and either replace it or fix it and ship it back, BUT I had to pay the freight both ways. I hit the roof - and have requested a manager to call me on Monday. I'll let you know if that even happens and what transpires if it does.
So, as my wife is really wanting her MP3 player, I did another return on Amazon tonight. Only to get an email that they will now NOT send me a third unit (can't blame them really) because there is possibly a widespread problem with these units. They are telling me to wait a couple of weeks and order again. Oh, how happy this makes my wife who was so excited about it FOUR WEEKS AGO when I ordered AND still doesn't have an MP3 player that works.
SO, suggestion - wait for a while or save yourself the potential frustration and buy something else. Maybe their help and customer concern will get the message. I want to return my 60 gig to Creative and have them buy all the accessories we purchased. I want to get all my money back and go iPod at this point. Which is sad because my not being a fan of the proprietary nature of iTunes etc. was the whole reason I chose the Zen in the first place. But at this point it seems the lesser of two evils because the help and customer service at Creative has me boiling. Good luck.
UPDATE : MAY 1, 2007 : Creative did have a manager call. He was polite, but not helpful in resolving the problem. In fact, they deny that there is a widespread problem, it must be my bad luck to receive two units with 100% dead batteries. So, my wife gave up and purchased a 30 gig iPod today. She seems happy.