Creative Zen M VS. Creative Zen W

Creative has become a serious competitor in the video mp3 player world. With two different styles presently out, the M and W, lets see how they compare. The Creative Zen Vision: M and the W can be compared as very similar yet at the same time, very different. The price, which your most likely most interested in, is going to favor the M at $220 a piece on Amazon and about $260 for the W. Depending on what your looking for, you might want to pay the extra $40ish for the W.

Both versions are the 30GB, so no difference there. And both of them have built in hard drives however the W has the feature of expandable memory. In terms of what types of file formats they support, the Creative Zen M and W support both WMA and WAV, they both obviously support MP3.

USB is becoming standard on MP3 players and these two are no exception. Both the Zen's have several of the general features available on them. They both support music, photos, and videos. Have a color backlit screen and video capabilities. Both have the FM radio with digital tuners and the very important play list editing for after you transfer your music. They have a voice recorder on it to record anything you please, even if the microphone isn't the greatest quality accessory.

The size of the players may impact what you like and/or want to carry around. In terms of height, the M is only 4 inches tall while the W is 3 inches tall. The M is 2.4 inches from side to side, while the W is a whopping 5.3 which is a good screen size for watching movies and whatnot. The depth between the two doesn't change that much but the W is .9 inches while the M is .7, so a mere .2 of an inch. Still with the average pocket its not that noticeable. Both come in their wide array of colors if you get them online but I have found that the M has better accessories and are more readily available in retail stores. I have walked into Circuit City and Best Buy numerous times looking for accessories for these two and the few times I can find the "W", the M has always had more to choose from. Personally, I like the M's controls far better than W. While both take some time to figure out, the M is easier, smaller and it's scroll/volume feature is better. The audio/video quality is about the same. Both volumes can get to a reasonably loud level on your typical headphones. Throw in a good pair of speakers and you can have yourself a house party. That seems to be just about everything from opinion to specs.

My opinion doesn't matter but I personally favor the M, as you may or may not of been able to tell. You may want to go into a Circuit City or Best Buy and try them out for yourself. The W is longer and gives you more of a widescreen look while the M displays more of a smaller fullscreen style. Unless you plan on watching a lot of movies on long trips, it's really not necessary to get the W. Something I left out is that it has a removable battery so if it dies it is much easier to replace than the M. Both of the included software is easy to use, however, again I prefer M's built in converter for movies and audio. Both also come with a 12-month parts warranty. So there you go folks, your basic rundown of facts about two seemingly popular mp3 players. That seems to be just about everything from opinion to specs. Hope I answered any questions