Creative Zen Vision: M - MP3 Player Better Than iPod?

Before buying the Creative Zen Vision: M, I had a more archaic Creative Zen MP3 player. No vision to it, this player was bare-bones, merely listing the songs and artists and allowing you to create playlists.

The Creative Zen Vision: M, however, has all the bells and whistles that consumers look for in a MP3 player. It was the "vision" aspect that made me want to upgrade. The obvious question one might ask is, "Why go with a Creative player instead of the popular Ipod?"

First, I find a little girth to my player a pro instead of a con. While the Creative Zen Vision: M is only a bit larger than Apple's IPod, it's still substantial enough that I feel like I'm not going to lose it or let it go flying out of my hand. Second, I've never liked the fact that IPod insists on using an exclusive format for music while many of us are perfectly content with the mp3 and wma format. And with 30 GB of space, the Zen Vision has plenty of storage space for most users.

But, enough about the comparisons between IPod and the Zen. Here's a break down of the product, the good and the bad:

Easy Touch Pad Makes Play and Search Comfortable

With the Creative Zen Vision M's touch pad (the white oval in the center of the player's navigational buttons), all one has to do to scan through the songs, play or move around the interface is simply touch the pad. Moving your finger along the touch pad vertically allows you to scan through songs and menu options. Horizontal movement allows you to select options like "play", "add to playlist" and so on. Volume is also controlled easily through the touch pad by running one's finger along the touchpad vertically while the song is in play.

Crisp, Clear Screen Makes Viewing Films on a Small Screen More Enjoyable

Before buying the Zen, the MP3 player I'd previously owned didn't have the capability to play video. Could you really benefit from being able to watch video on an MP3 player? The jury's still out on that one as far as I'm concerned, but the Zen: M does provide the clearest picture I've yet to see on a digital music player. The colors are bright, crisp and easy on the eyes.

Customizable Interface

The upside of having a video-enabled MP3 player like the Creative Zen: M is that you can customize the look and feel of the screen. The Creative Zen: M comes with dozens of pre-installed photos that are ready to be used as your player's wallpaper. You can also upload your own photos and use them as your background. Want a Superman background? Simply upload a photo of Superman and set the photo as your background.

Optional Video Out Cable Brings Video to the Big Screen

With the Creative Vision Zen: M, you have the option of purchasing a Creative Zen Vision: M Video Cable which allows you to connect your MP3 player to the audio/video in outlets on your home television and feed the video on your player onto the larger format screen. Great for those little films you download online or viral videos you want to show to others through the benefit of a larger screen.

Power Charge Through Your USB Port

With Creative Zen's USB 2.0 cable, you can charge your player directly through your computer. No need for an extra AC charging unit. Though one is available if you desire. The Creative Zen Vision: M no longer ships with the AC charging unit as it once did.

Flexible Video Capabilities

The Creative Zen Vision: M supports WMV, MPEG, Motion-JPEG, DivX 4 and 5, and XviD, allowing you to play most video formats available through the web.

The Creative Zen Vision: M also allows you to record audio such as lectures and notes, synchronize your Outlook information with the player's calendar function and, of course, comes in five nifty colors: black, blue, green, pink and white.

A Few Nitpicks

This player has a tendency, every once in awhile, to get "stuck." This occurrence doesn't happen often, but more so than with previous versions. It's easy enough to fix, however. Simply take a straight pin or something of equal size and insert it into the Reset hole on the bottom of the player.

While the software is easy to use and understand, the simplicity of the former version's software offered a quick, down and dirty way to get the job done. Sometimes, on computers with lower memory, the software will have a tendency to slow up or crash, though this hasn't been a frequent issue.

Overall, the player is a great product that's not only feature-rich, but also easy to work with and offers exceptional sound and visuals. For the user who's more concerned with features and functions than size, the Creative Zen Vision: M is a perfect match.