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• Creative ZEN Vision:M 30GB Media Player - Black

• Price Range

  $144.99 - $224.99
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• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: leonardy_tan

  Updated:03-03-06

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: It plays video and music. Long hours of battery life.

  Weaknesses: N/A

  Overall Evaluation: I like the design and the color of the LCD of the ZEN. It also contain 30gb of space which can contain a lot of video and Music. It is also small and handleable with the hand. I try to hear the quality of the sounds and it is extremely satisfied with this ZEN. I will prefer ZEN than IPOD in my opinion.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: mclemm

  Updated:03-02-06

  Duration of ownership:8 Days

  Strengths: The right size for you hand, doesn't feel like it will break. The colors in the screen are great.Voice Recorder and the radio I really wanted that in the device. Comes in many colors.

  Weaknesses: will need a protection shield or case which they all do

  Overall Evaluation: I just love my zvm, I have not had any problems with it. i sounds great and great to look at. i have added tv shows movies mp3's and music videos and never once did it stumble. I love showing it off, you should see there faces. I would truly get another when the size of the gigs gets bigger.

• Overall Rating
  4 Star Review

  Reviewed by: jacknel

  Updated:02-13-06

  Duration of ownership:1 Months

  Strengths: All Rounder/Well Balanced Pocket Media Player - Sharpest video, FM Radio, Compatible Formats.

  Weaknesses: Battery not detachable(Unforgivable!), Wish for a direct USB interface instead of propreitary connector, Wish AV Cable was provided,Better Support needed, Wish it has better Drag and Drop capability.

  Overall Evaluation: I was waiting for a product which can play video as well as audio with better clarity and quality, and to be compact in hand for travel. That day finally arrived, and I am not sorry that I jumped. Purchased it for $330. It took me 30 minutes to figure out the navigation, without going over the accompanying manual. So the navigation was not 100% intutitive, but its ok once I figured it out. The sample media files provided were useful for assesing the unit immediately. The system freezed one time, and fortunately I was able to reset the system without losing the data. I dont think this unit is ready for rough and tough use (Try not to click on the buttons continuously faster during video play, as it might freeze the unit, which happened in my case). Wish there is a good cover for this unit. Hope somebody is ready with the accessories. Also wish there is some instructions on the website, as to how to change the battery with ease.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: chipthemunk

  Updated:02-11-06

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: -Plays nearly all video formats with minimal reencoding (will get to the missing format in a sec)-Easy to use software, drag and drop-USB 2.0 Charging and Data transfer-Very customizable

  Weaknesses: -Doesn't play Quicktime (must be a proprietary issue)-USB cradle needed (at times can't play and charge via USB if the system recognizes the player via software)-Proprietary peripherals

  Overall Evaluation: A great alternative to that other player! I love this player albeit some minor caveats, but the fact that it takes all my mp3s, most video formats, a bright, vivid screen...who could ask for anything more? Hopefully the popularity of the player rises with more peripherals developed solely for this player!

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: bobshel

  Updated:02-07-06

  Duration of ownership:1 Days

  Strengths: 30GB I love the vertical touchpad. Video looks awesome. Radio is strong Music sounds great. Album art

  Weaknesses: Figuring out the video is a bear. No accessories.

  Overall Evaluation: I have had my M for about a week. I paid $324 shipped so I was pleased with the price. It is an awesome player. I've had an assortment but never an IPOD. I tried a buddy's IPOD 60 and was very impressed with it. I'm just plain more independent than that and I wanted the additional video support.I bought an Invisible Shield, spent an hour and a half applying it only to be so utterly disappointed in the finish that I plan to remove it once my Mistic case gets in.I've been struggling with the video. My biggest want was to be able to rip DVDs into a playable format. I tried a few programs but they were quirky at best. I finally got one working but it couldn't take the security off of my DVDs leaving the picture scrambled. What has worked flawlessly for me is feeding a regular DVD player into my digital camcorder using the RCA lines and then connecting the camcorder via firewire. Using Nero capture has given me great video when set for SVCD mode. That may sound excessive but it's really quite simple. I figure out the duration of the main track, set the NERO timer, press play on the DVD, record on NERO and come back later. Video looks amazing.Regardless, this is one heck of a player.

• Overall Rating
  4 Star Review

  Reviewed by: Beef14

  Updated:02-04-06

  Duration of ownership:1 Days

  Strengths: excelent screen with stunning color and HD technology, very customizable (background, personlization in the system menu,)vertical touch pad, with 7 function and four button (1 of them is programable)

  Weaknesses: Not many accessories, or third party programs as of now, not very well advertised, Video doesn't quite work perfectly with all formats.

  Overall Evaluation: I just got a Creative Zen Vision:M and I must admit that it is far superior to the Ipod Video. I am listening to it right now and the sound quality beat compition, it might just be the headphones but I haven't got one skip or quality flaw in my 64bit rate MP3s. Another thing regards the size Ipod can go up to 60GBs this 30GB CZVM is fine for me I put most of my massive music collection and still have 14Gigs left for video. One of the reason I got it was for the compatibility with video format, but this is a little overrated in my opinion and that is my problem. I dropped some of .mpgs all of them work on my comp, but the Creative Zen Vision:M played about half of them and the ones it did play had flaws (sound cutting out, video glitches, etc.) Then I tried some .wmvs these had to go through some creative converter program first (it took an hour for 4 five MB videos) and after all that waiting they went on to my Zen Vision:M. Unfortunitely when I tried to view them they were slanted beyond recognition, with little yellow lines down them. Finally I got this program PQ DVD TO IPOD VIDEO earlier to get my old movies in Mpeg4 (which is supported by this player, well at least the box said that.) I say this because it wouldn't let me even get them onto the Zen vision this format is not supported by the player which contradicts your advertising. It didn't even give me a convert option, my friend a bit ago brought over his 5th generation Ipod Video and they worked. Overall though that is my only problem the USB 2.0 (USB2mini) is awesome (as long as I don't lose the connector.) I really hope this fantastic product goes more mainstream cause I want a case hopefully you will use this review to assist you in the purchase of the item. Don't be drawn away by the shear bulk of it bigger is better and it isn't very heavy (it still even fits in my pocket.) All those extra guts including the Radio and EQ shoots this item ahead in speed and comformability to your daily life style (plus my friend Ipoop freezes all the time!)

• Overall Rating
  4 Star Review

  Reviewed by: gambino

  Updated:01-24-06

  Duration of ownership:1 Days

  Strengths: This is hands down the No. 1 competitor to the iPod, things that significantly boost its value over the iPod:1. beautiful screen (320x240), 2. support of open formats (DivX, WMV, Xvid, MPG1, MPG2)

  Weaknesses: 1. Non-replaceable battery (like the iPod)2. Creative Tech support leaves a lot to be desired3. Thicker than the iPod4. Lack of accessories or 3rd party products

  Overall Evaluation: This product is very well positioned to be the No.1 competitive threat to the iPod, it has better battery life (4 hours) and a much better screen(242,000 colors), built in FM radio with 32 presets, a built in mic, a beautiful screen which supports 320x240 resolution and the most impt thing is that it supports OPEN formats vs. Apple's proprietary H.2341 codec. I can't wait to download some video on this and go right up to the Apple store and sneer at him after he laughed at me when I inquired if the iPod supported divX (a format he laughed off as saying is "only for pirates" -- ever heard of amateur home video or student films?).The potential pitfalls I see for this are namely 3:1. the battery -- why the hell they had to copy Apple and NOT make this battery replaceable is beyond me. Apple charges $50 as part of a battery replacement program, Creative may have to do the same (either that or pricegrabber may have to look for some 3rd parties who do this for Creative! ;-))2. Creative tech support. I previously owned a Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 (the first mp3 player out LONG before the iPod). It was bulky and a bit heavy, but the biggest gripe I had about it was the lack of tech support from Creative. Drivers and Firmware were never updated promptly (especially when Windows XP came out), will this be the case when Windows Vista comes out as well? Apple has the advantage, thru its stores and computers of completely integrating the iPod to work, Creative needs to overcome this to really reach the mass market.3. Third party support for add-ons/accessoriesAgain lack of standardization and homogenization as in iPod is what kills all of its competitors. Microsoft is working to solve this problem but is at least 6 months away. Can pricegrabber help here????I hope that this review proves useful.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: dbuckner

  Updated:01-23-06

  Duration of ownership:20 Days

  Strengths: Beautiful design, great sound quality, easy interface, awesome software.

  Weaknesses: Accessories not currently available on a wide scale.

  Overall Evaluation: I was traumatized after purchasing inferior products from Olympus & iRiver. It took me a few months to get over these experiences but I am glad that I waited. This player is awesome. I have used the ipod and must say that I like this one much more. In short, you get more for your money witout having to deal with the quaqmire called itunes. Great job Creative!

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: locoHost

  Updated:01-13-06

  Duration of ownership:3 Days

  Strengths: Beautiful and simple design, super easy to use, plays everything and connects to everything

  Weaknesses: None so far!

  Overall Evaluation: I'm not sure now is exactly the time to call the Zen Vision:M an "iPod Killer". A bit early for that perhaps? Lets revisit later this year. However I would certainly call it an awesome iPod alternative and competitor. In fact I just bought my very own Vision:M two days ago! Found it online for $309. I must say I'm only just beginning to figure out what all this beast can do. I can say the video looks amazing and the sound quality is brilliant. I do know by intelligently choosing the Zen, not only do I have a gorgeous, super easy to use PMP with many more features than iPod, and I most importantly have -far- more supported AV formats and -many- more choices for online music, videos, movies, and subscriptions. iPod users get -very- little to choose from. Only what Apple force feeds them. One or two choices maybe? Gosh I'm sorry about your luck iLemmings! ;-)

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Creative ZEN Vision:M 30GB Media Player - Black

$144.99(6 sellers) • Avg User Rating •Specs