Pros: Sound, features, value, quality of display, not an iPod
Cons: Heavier and thicker than iPod Video, needs extension module for charging
The Bottom Line: Creative knows a thing or two about media players and it shows. It is an excellent alternative in an iPod-saturated market dominated by mediocrity features and superb marketing.
benchpress's Full Review: Creative Technology ZEN Vision:M (30 GB) Black Dig...
Late last year, I started researching for a new MP3 player as my trusty Rio Carbon (http://www.epinions.com/content_177647816324) was getting quite dated and its 5GB capacity, once thought to be adequate, was nowhere near large enough to hold my music collection.
For this new player I wanted it to be HDD-based again with the following features:
- No proprietary transfer or management software
- FM radio
- Minimum capacity of 30GB
- Good battery performance - around 10 hours or longer
- Good sound quality
Given the horrible experience with my wife's Samsung YH-J70 (see my review http://www.epinions.com/content_412420574852) Samsung players were banned from my list. Other than the ever popular iPod, the selections were sadly quite limited.
I finally decided on the Creative Zen Vision:m 30GB, eschewing the thicker 60GB and the bigger Vision:w version for portability after some research.
Sound Quality
Though I am not an audiophile, I rank sound quality above all else when evaluating an MP3 player. Unlike consumers of younger generations, bass and loudness are not the major differentiators for me. The Zen Vision delivers crisp and richness without being overbearing when paired with my Sennheiser PXC250 Active Noise Canceling headset (see my review http://www.epinions.com/content_177692380804) for plane rides or Sennheiser CX500 (see my review http://www.epinions.com/content_418198163076) buds for the gym. This unit allows me to appreciate different types of music from classical to Rob Zombie in the privacy of my own head.
The unit has a number of equalizer presets as well as bass boost, Smart Volume and Restrict Volume. Smart Volume is a nice feature as it automatically adjusts the playback volume so that you won't be leaping out of your own skin while clutching the unit, trying frantically to lower the volume.
Form Factor
The unit is well built and looks slick. The bottom of the unit is made of metal. The top is dominated by a large 2.5" screen that is bright and sharp, with 4 large conformal buttons and a touch sensitive slider in the middle. Unfortunately, the top of the player scratches easily. I was able to scratch the buttons with my nails (which were short) in a matter of days. A screen protector and a silicon skin are highly recommended.
The on-off slider switch also acts as the "hold" button on the top of the unit. Ear phone jack is right next to the on-off slider. A blue LED embedded within the on-off slider will light up when the unit is on and blink when the unit is charging.
Battery Life
The unit is rated for 12 hours of continuous play for music and 4 for video. In "locked" mode with the screen turned off and no means to skip tracks, I am sure the unit can go over 10 hours on one charge. However, even at 50% brightness and 10-second back-lit illumination, the Zen usually lasts between 6 to 7 hours at the most.
Coming out of the box, the unit's battery was completely flat and required a full charging before I could start using it. It took over 4 hours to fully charge up the unit the first time.
The one irritating thing about the Zen is the "media extension" module that is needed in order to charge up the unit. The module is about the size of a small box of matches and it attaches to the bottom of the unit. This module provides the unit an USB port (for file transfer and charging via computer), a charging port for the external 5V wall charger (which does not come with the package) and a RCA Video/Audio port so the unit can be hooked with a TV. Without this attachment module, the unit cannot be charged at all! I guess Creative took a page from the iPod design manual and decided that proprietary port was the way to go with this product. Needless to say, I have to take the media extension on the road with me and thus increasing the logistics footprint for this player.
Video
Before I purchased the unit, I ridiculed my brother and his iPod 80GB when he showed off some video clips on his unit. I made a rather unequivocal statement to him that putting videos on MP3 player was a waste of time and that it was something better suited for the laptop or even my HTC P3600 phone.
Well, approximately 5 minutes after loading my music library onto the new Zen, I could resist the temptation no longer and transferred a bunch of video clips onto the unit - strictly for the purpose of testing it out, you see. The result was simply spectacular! Even at 50% brightness level, the screen was bright and crisp without a lot of blurry movements. I left a handful of video clips on the unit, if nothing else but to show off the unit's video screen.
Photos
Dumping pictures into the unit is easy with Zen Explorer. The 2.5" screen is sharp and bright enough to do a more than decent job displaying the pictures - much better than a lot of phones and PDAs. However, there is no getting around the size of the small screen so I will stick with my HTC P3600 (http://www.epinions.com/content_312540827268) or laptop when it comes to showing pictures of my kid.
UI
The unit comes with a racetrack-shaped touch pad surrounded by 4 buttons. With the touch pad you navigate (4 ways: up, down, left and right) and control the volume. It took quite a while for me to get accustomed to the touch pad but even at the lowest sensitivity level, I still find the touch pad a little finicky.
The rest of the user interface is easy to use with menus and options rationally laid out. The search function, however, is a little awkward. When you select the "Search" screen, you are presented with a QWERTY keyboard on screen. The up/down motions on the touchpad move the cursor horizontally through the keyboard, cycling through ALL the letters on the keyboard in the process. The right motion "selects" the corresponding key and the left motion erases the last character selected. It would have been 100 times simpler to enter characters by scrolling up and down the alphabet set sequentially instead of horizontally across a virtual keyboard! Needless to say, I don't use the search feature very often.
The unit allows you to build a play list on the fly and it also supports play lists created by the Zen Explorer software. It has an "Album of the Day" feature that randomly picks an album for your enjoyment each day.
Sync and File Transfer
I use Zen Explorer as the main sync application for the unit and I find it more user-friendly and much less cumbersome than WMP 9 or 10. The sync process is quick and painless. Similarly, the accompanying media conversion application is straight forward and effective, it converts video files (when necessary) and copies to the Zen without a hitch.
FM Radio
The unit has a built-in FM receiver and the headphones cable doubles as an antenna for the FM radio. I tried out the FM a couple of times but generally do not use it at all.
Other Features
-The Zen could sync up with Outlook to download appointments, contacts and tasks into the unit for viewing.
-The Zen could be used as a voice recorder.
-The Zen could be used a portable drive but I won't be throwing out the trusty thumb drives yet. It is possible to dedicated up to 15GB drive space as an external drive but the data transfer is a little cumbersome and slow.
Cons:
-Cannot listen to the unit while charging via USB with a laptop/PC
-Charging the unit requires the media extension module
-The unit surface scratches easily
-Does not come with a pouch/case
-Does not come with a charging unit
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 150 Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
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