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6.9 out of 10

Creative Zen Vision:M

First seen: 19 january 2006

Information found in: from 90 sources in 24 countries.

Great Deal: $412.99

  • User Score (631)
    8.7 8.7 from 631 reviewers
  • Expert Score (50)
    7.3 7.3 from 50 reviewers
  • Design (58)
    6.4 6.4 from 58 reviewers
  • Value for money (46)
    6.5 6.5 from 46 reviewers
  • Features (37)
    6.7 6.7 from 37 reviewers
  • Ease of use (124)
    6.1 6.1 from 124 reviewers
  • Performance (3)
    6.8 6.8 from 3 reviewers
  • Sound quality (96)
    7.3 7.3 from 96 reviewers
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Pros & Cons

  • a simple interface, excellent video battery life, excellent audio video quality, great video battery life, great navigation controls
  • the documentation is skimpy, mediocre audio battery life, fewer more accessories, upgraded the headphones, strange program to many

Project your videos onto a big screen ZEN Vision:M video cable creates a multimedia center in your home! Use the video cable to connect to an TV or external display and enjoy a slideshow of your latest vacation photos or crazy home videos with your family and friends.

Specifications

  • Capacity:
    30GB / 60GB hard drive
  • Size:
    104 x 62 x 18.6mm
  • Weight:
    163g
  • LCD:
    2.5" TFT LCD at 320 x 240 Color Display 262,144 colors
  • Songs:
    30GB 15,000 WMAs/ 1,000hrs (at 64kbps) 7,500 MP3/ 500hrs (at 128kbps) 60GB 15,000 WMAs/ 1,000hrs (at 128kbps) 15,000 MP3/ 1,000hrs (at 128kbps)
  • Video:
    30GB - 120 hrs 1 60GB - 240 hrs 1
  • Photos:
    Tens of thousands of Photos
  • Audio Battery Life:
    Up to 18 hrs playtime (MP3, 128kbps, 4mins/ song)

Release Date

  • First seen
    19 January 2006

The new Creative Zen Vision:M is Creative’s answer to the 5G Apple iPod. Specs for the unit are very comparable to that of the Apple 5G including the 2.5 inch screen, but Creative did manage to squeeze roughly four hours of video playback on its 30 GB hard drive. Roughly twice as thick as the iPod, the unit offers 11 hours of audio recording. On the plus side, the Creative Zen features an FM tuner, voice recording options, and handles a wide variety of play formats including MPEG-4, WMV, Motion JPEG, Div…

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The new Creative Zen Vision:M is Creative’s answer to the 5G Apple iPod. Specs for the unit are very comparable to that of the Apple 5G including the 2.5 inch screen, but Creative did manage to squeeze roughly four hours of video playback on its 30 GB hard drive. Roughly twice as thick as the iPod, the unit offers 11 hours of audio recording. On the plus side, the Creative Zen features an FM tuner, voice recording options, and handles a wide variety of play formats including MPEG-4, WMV, Motion JPEG, DivX and XviD. At a cost of 330 bucks, it is easy to see why this unit has become a great rival for the 5G Apple. Negatives do exist, primarily on the proprietary feature side. Those include the proprietary dock connection and a proprietary video cable as well. Yet another issue is the non-removable battery. But the greatest issue is that you cannot simply plug the unit into your computer and just drop music onto without installing software. In addition, your computer must feature Windows XP.

Overall, the Zen Vision:M is a great personal media device. The ability to play back most popular video file formats, especially DivX and XviD, are particularly attractive (you will not have to spend a lot of time converting video formats). The audio and video quality, especially the bright screen, are excellent and a fully charged battery allows for at least one movie, perhaps even a second while traveling. Its proprietary video cable and the needs for the Windows XP software to operate could get in the way of someone using a different operating system but the Creative Zen Vision:M is easily considered the top video rival to iPod. The high quality viewing screen and a battery life twice that of 30GB video iPod make this the ideal choice for many.

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  • Reviews of Creative Zen Vision:M

  1. Creative Zen Vision:M

    Reviewer: Windows A to Z!
    10 January 2007
    Overall 8
    8.0
     

    Portable media players are quickly becoming all the rage among music listeners and video watchers that want an all-in-one device. The Apple iPod 5G (aka- iPod Video) has become a hugely popular handheld device for both watching videos and listening to music, but some complain that the iPod's screen is too small for watching videos, so does this video/music player from Creative beat the iPod in quality? It just might, but we'll break it down for you and tell you which is... Read more

  2. Creative Zen Vision:M

    Reviewer: Mp3.com
    8 February 2006
    Overall 8
    7.9
     

    The dazzling, DRM-friendly Creative Zen Vision:M gives the iPod a run for the money as the current high-capacity WMA champ. Read more

  3. Creative Zen Vision:M Portable Media Player

    Reviewer: Sound & Vision Magazine
    16 May 2006

    Let's be honest: The Creative Zen Vison:M portable media player is an iPod knockoff. There are MP3 players, and then there are iPod knockoffs — players so similar that it can't be pure coincidence. Announced just a couple of months after Apple introduced its video-enabled fifth-generation iPod, the Vision:M also aims to be a high-capacity music player with decent video capabilities. And, as you'll see, it performs those functions very well indeed. But it also eerily... Read more

  4. Creative Zen Vision:M

    Reviewer: TechReviewSource.com
    10 May 2009
    Overall 8
    8.0
     

    Portable media players are quickly becoming all the rage among music listeners and video watchers that want an all-in-one device. The Apple iPod 5G (aka- iPod Video) has become a hugely popular handheld device for both watching videos and listening to music, but some complain that the iPod's screen is too small for watching videos, so does this video/music player from Creative beat the iPod in quality? It just might, but we'll break it down for you and tell you which is... Read more

  5. Creative Zen Vision:M (60GB, black)

    Reviewer: CNET
    26 January 2006
    Overall 8
    8.0
    Design 7
    7.0
    Features 9
    9.0
    Performance 8
    8.0
     

    The bottom line: The dazzling, DRM-friendly Creative Zen Vision:M gives the iPod a run for the money as the current high-capacity WMA champ. Read more

  1. A Must Have

    Reviewer: brwnwood, Msn
    6 November 2006
    Overall 10
    10
     

    This is a great product if you can afford I suggest you buy this one, it also comes in 60gb now. also suggest you to cnet.com which has a lot of information to read on this if you still not sure Read more

  2. "Still great a year later!"

    Reviewer: CNET
    9 July 2007
    Overall 9
    9.0
     

    This tough box travels with me everywhere. We bought the Zen Vision M and an iPod Video at about the same time a year ago. The iPod has been siting in a drawer for most of that time while the Zen has about 150,000 frequent flyer miles on it. The Zen battery still goes a good 4hrs after year it plays perfectly. Creative got this box right the first time while Apple is still coming up with "new improved" versions. With mpeg4 compression, the 30GB Zen still holds more... Read more

  3. I'm apparently outdated

    Reviewer: smiffy, Pricerunner
    23 August 2007
    Overall 2
    2.0
    Value for money 6
    6.0
     

    I volunteered to load music onto the brand new Zen for a friend who loves music but has no PC. Just glad I didn't buy this for myself. Well, sorry Scotty, we're too old -fashioned for Creative. I guess you'll just have to carry on using the gramophone.... or take it back to Argos & swap it for an iPod (now I KNOW they work... only hope Argos will waive their returns policy on mp3 players??) I certainly will NOT be recommending this product & neither will I personally be... Read more

  4. Creative Review

    Reviewer: Amazon
    30 June 2009
    Overall 10
    10
     

    Order came in three days, product works as expected. I have many playlists, movies,and about 100 audio books already downloaded. Bought used but it's in perfect condition with good battery life. Read more

  5. Reviewer: PC World
    30 November 2007
    Overall 2
    2.0
     

    I purchased two of these last Christmas. One doesn?t get used much and works fine. But my 17 year old got the other and it works OK for a month or two... Read more

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