Photo Viewer, Video Player, Audio Player, FM Tuner, FM Recorder, Voice Recorder - 3.7" 307200 Pixel Color LCD - 1 Day Audio - MPN: 70PF115100000
Strengths: Sound quality, screen size and quality, metal body, removable battery, A/V out (cables included), removable disk mode.
Weakness: Poor off-angle screen visibility, can't create or update tasks or contacts on the fly.
Bottom line....I got sick of carrying around CDs...and scratching them....and wearing out gears in my car's aftermarket CD player. I needed a portable player with an A/V output and excellent sound quality to interface with my high end car stereo. Creative Labs has designed outstanding sound cards for the computer and their reputation in sound quality attracted me to the Zen Vision. With a S/N ratio of 97db and a frequency response of 20-20000 Hz, after many weeks of research, I was most impressed with the specs and customer reviews of this unit.
Upon receiving the player, I was pleased with the style and "feel" of the Zen Vision. It is not a plastic "toy" like many other mp3 players seem to be. This is a strong, quality piece of equipment. The screen is clear and bright, however the color degrades drastically with off-angle viewing. The body is metal and, although somewhat heavy, it is a good heavy and feels confident while fitting my hand perfectly with my finger on the volume and thumb on the navigation buttons. The menus take a bit of getting used to but are easy to navigate and can be customized for user preference.
Since this unit will become my entire music library both at home and in the car, the most important feature for me was sound quality. And I must say that I am truly impressed by the sound of the Zen Vision. Using Exact Audio Copy and LAME set at preset Extreme VBR, the highs are sharp and clean, bass is deep and distinct, and soundstage is spot on. I didn't expect to be this satisfied with the mp3 format and I believe a lot of credit must be given to Creative Lab's ability to design excellent audio equipment. I can say goodbye to CDs and not miss a thing.
I don't use the video much but have watched a couple movies on it and am impressed by the video quality and smoothness. It is definitely hard for two people to watch at the same time since the screen goes grey when viewed at an angle. For some users this may be a big problem. But, in defense, direct viewing is absolutely gorgeous and viewable in sunlight. Pictures are unbelievably vibrant.
Battery life is acceptable....I'd say right on par with the specs. Also the battery is removable which is great. You can either buy a replacement, second, or extended life battery which is not an option on the newer Vision:M. Also, the unit's removable disk feature is very convenient for transferring files from computer to computer.
My only complaint is the inability to enter tasks or contacts in the organizer on the unit itself. Tasks and contacts must be synched from the PC. Therefore, the unit isn't much of a portable organizer. Hopefully Creative can fix this with a firmware update.
Speaking of updates, there is a firmware update as well as software updates on Creative's website. One updated feature is the ability to view album art.
Overall, I feel I got my $375 worth. Money well spent. I highly recommend this player for anyone who doesn't mind a larger unit and desires a quality product and wants to stand apart from the Ipod trend. Definitely an Ipod Crusher.
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TopStrengths: size, 30gigs, battery, best navigation ever, insanely brillent screen, removable battery, FM radio, resolution, speaker, infared.
Weakness: Doesnt come with a docking station but they are available for sale. No remote but is for sale. Not many accesories like to plug it into a sound system. Cant record TV.
The Zen vision rocks hardcore. The sound quality is great, and it has a long battery. Its fairly small but still looks awesome. The battery is removable which is a huge plus. As i said above it cant reconize avi which sucks but avi can be converted to divx. And im sure with a firmware update it could. The zen has the easiest navigation i have ever used. I recommend this to anyone who is moderatly smart with computers
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TopStrengths: -Very high quality video & picture -Removable Battery -User friendly -When listening to music & on HOLD, no screen display -> convserves battery -Has skip, FF at faster rates (1x,2x,3x), and skip 15 seconds
Weakness: -No folder navigation -Speaker volume is quite weak -Not enough accessories -Can't play Dvix3; but converter can convert Dvix3, MKV files -Bad vision from leftside viewing, must view from right side
Before buying this product, consider the strength, weakness, features, and other factors.
-Harddrive: High storage capacity, but do expect to freeze & delay. When FFing, skipping 15 seconds, or selecting different audio/video, there may be some delay of a few seconds or less from time to time.
-Battery: Although listed as 13 hrs of audio, 4.5 hrs of video, these are test due to minimal usage of player. If other factors are considered, such as backlight on, higher volume, skipping tracks, press buttons, brighter view, battery is less than listed. Approximating at 10-11 hrs of audio, and 3-3.5 hrs of video if other factors are included.
-Display: 3.7 inch scrren on the diagonal, IPOD video only has 2.5 inch. Technology of TFT, not LCD. Therefore, highest quality of all LCD technology (listed on creative website). Hence, high quality video & picture. But when vieing player from the left side, not able to see much due to glare reflections. But viewing from any angle of the right side, able to see everything. This may be caused due to how the TFT is built on.
-Cannot play Dvix3, but converter can convert Dvix and MKV files to WMV. Very few video files failed to convert, may be due to file encoding or so. Failed to convert Real (.rm/.ram) and Quicktime (.mov) files.
-Includes extra feature such as sound recording, FM tuning, data storage (same fucntion as flash drives), syncs with calendar, outlook, address book.
-Only 2 backgrounds (silver theme & dark blue) for display, cannot use picture as background. Dark blue is not bright, so have to increase brightness.
-Barely any accessories made for this product. Only one skin available, color white. Extended batter sold separately, but has 26 hrs of audio & 9 hrs of video. Due to the material on the outside, player gets dirty quickly, so will buy skin.
Purchased for 361 after $25 rebate, recommended if you want to watch videos and pictures in addition to audio listening. Worth the money!
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TopStrengths: Ability to view, photos,video and listen to music all on one device. USB connection for ease of downloading music from the internet. Compact Flash on board to load photos direct.
Weakness: Can sometimes be a little slow to load initially. Battery life could be longer. The screen is a little difficult to view in sunlight.
When I first purchased this I thought it was a bit pricey and wondered if I would use it enough. It runs circles around Ipod. I have found I use it almost everyday. At night I set the timer and fall asleep to music. I can take photos to show friends, set the device to slide show, let them pick a favorite song and they get a totally interactive experience. By simply plugging it in to the TV I can show a room full of people my photos or even watch a full movie with them. The software that comes with the product is very intuitive as is the device itself. Plugging the USB cable in for downloading music is great. Plugging the Compact flash card directly into the device to download photos couldn't be more simple. It also has an on-board FM radio and you can record from the radio or your own voice. Also included is an organizer. You can set sleep timers, choose a background and many other cool features. I can't say enough about this product. It is a must have for both geeks and creatives alike.
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TopStrengths: 30 gb, easy to use, great quality, easy to navigate
Weakness: no folder navigation, freezing, a little slow, fast forward
I like everything about this media player, the weaknesses are listed above. The fast forward button does not skip to the next video. The media player froze couple times already and it is brand new...
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TopStrengths: Everyting is super - except listed in weaknesses
Weakness: Using it as an external storage device is a little cumbersome. Recording (except notes) is missing.
I wish it could get pictures directly from my digital camera via USB. Other than that it is still the best product of this kind on the market. Bravo Creative!
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TopStrengths: 30 GB HD and Video
Weakness: Windows only
Great piece of equipment. I just downloaded an album fron ipod and ran a program to convert from m4p to mp3 then I transfered it to the Zen. Video, is a problem. Downloaded a music vid from apple and can't find anything that will work yet.
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TopStrengths: Make play lists on the go, Built in speaker, Great display, Controls are very easy to learn/use, Removable/replaceable battery, Video out also look very good. Unit has a built in fm radio
Weakness: Screen seems to get glares easily, Very easy to get finger prints on the screen. Nothing a Screen protector will not fix.
The Zen Vision Seems Like a better choice of mp3/media player. It plays most video and audio formats. I would suggest using the software from there site, Also upgrade the firmware. Video is superb compared to some other players I have had. Being able to take the battery out to replace/update is a Great option. A lot of other players do not have this option.
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TopStrengths: loads of pics , movies and songs you can keep at one place.
Weakness: battery life is not that much, only 14 hours.
impresses anyone who wants to carry all their digital entertainment files. The Vision W is for serious multimedia guys. Has an ENORMOUS screen that makes it seem like it's more of a video player than an MP3 player.
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TopStrengths: Good size, bright screen
Weakness: Viewing angle from the side is terrible, FM tuner is useless
I picked up the Zen Vision mainly to display photos and to play video. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed with this unit because, as other reviewers have posted, the Zen Vision has a poor viewing angle from the side. From the top and bottom the viewing angle is better. It more or limits this device to a single viewer.
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If you want to show your digital photos on the go and have a fair amount of video sitting on your hard drive, the Zen Vision’s excellent screen and slim design are well worth the price of admission. Thanks to a ton of improvements, the Creative Zen Vision is one of the best portable media players around. <p> <p>
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After the reasonably successful launch of its first mobile audio and video player, the Zen PMC, Creative now attempts to add sexiness to mobility with its second attempt--and the final result is not bad at all. A sleek design, a brushed-metal finish and extreme compactness all add to the Zen Vision's seduction. Think of it as an attempt to capture the iPod's look and feel, except it is a video...
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The PERFECT combination of form & function in an mp3...
Strengths: 1. High quality screen, 2. Thin, sleek design, 3. Supports variety of Audio/Video formats, 4. Removable battery, 5. Integreated Speaker/Voice Recorder/FM Recorder/Compact Flash Reader, 6. Easy to use
Weakness: 1. Limited viewing angle, 2. No zoom function for pictures, 3. Limited availability of accessories
The display is stunning. When I first turned it on, I was speechless! It has a 4x bigger resolution than an iPod video/Creative Zen Vision M: at 640x480 (VGA) and 3.7". My only complaint on this is the limited viewing angle. This becomes a slight problem when sharing with another person. But for invidiual viewing, it ian't a matter of concern.
The design is thin and sleek. At 0.9 inches thin, it's extremely compact for a PMP (portable media player). The controls are in the perfect location allowing for easy navigation with one hand.
A significant strength of this is the capability to play a variety of audio/video formats. It supports AVI, DivX™ 4 & 53, XviD4, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG4-SP, WMV9 and Motion-JPEG. I have transferred numerous video files and they all play without any need to convert! This saves a lot of time. If you go for an iPod, you'll have to deal with converting the video to its native supported format. Instead with this, all you do is transfer along the USB 2.0 cable and you're ready to go. Transferring a 350 MB file takes about 45 seconds.
It also includes a removable battery that allows for easy replacement. There is an additional extended playback battery available for those who want additional playback time. The stock battery runs for 4 hours for video and 9 hours on audio. With an extended battery, the playback times double.
Integrated into the player is a voice recorder that effectively captures sound. I've used it on numerous occasions and the quality and sound pickup is excellent. Also integrated into the player is a FM tuner/recorder. Using this feature requires the use of the stock headphones because they antennas built in. It also has a integrated speaker which is somewhat loud.
The compact-flash reader is a very useful tool for those who have a digital camera and seek to transfer, display photos. On my trip to Australia/New Zealand, I was able to transfer pictures off my 1 GB compact flash card to the Zen Vision. It is a great feature to have! For those who don't hvae a compact flash card slot on their digital cameras, they can purchase an optional 5-1 memory card reader that reads today's most popular formats.
This player is almost perfect. However, there are minor problems. There is no zoom function for pictures (if this feature is enabled, all you would need to do is upgrade the firmware). Also, the availability of accessories for this is limited.
Overall this is a great player and I would recommend it to others as well. If you're looking for a player that has the capability to play audio/video and view pictures, this is the one for you. For those who are looking for a DVR (digital video recorder), you will need to look elsewhere as this is purely a multimedia player.
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