Creative ZEN Vision:M 30GB MP3 / Multi-Media Player - Black

The unit is sleek (if a little thicker than the iPod), good looking with a truly fantastic screen (far better than any Apple) and outstanding sound quality, even through the provided earphones. The user interface is a breeze - it takes about 2 minutes to get familiar with it, even without the manual - and has some nice touches such as the DJ functions (most played, album of the day etc.). Viewing photos & videos is excellent and the player can handle a great number of audio, picture & video formats which is a real plus. No need to be tied to a particular content provider (unlike Sony & Apple) - which in my view is an excellent thing! The built in radio (another reason for buying) is excellent with 32 presets and good sound quality.

If I have a few minor gripes, they would be:

1) The "Search By All artists" lists absolutely every artist, including each artist on a compilation album - it would be good to limit this to just the main artist of an album
2)The plastic finish on the front will get tiny scratches quite easily. Personally I think that Creative should have used their "satin" finish on the back of the player for the whole thing - it is lovely and doesn't scratch at all
3)Lack of accessories - still fairly limited accessories - though with built in radio etc., this is not a big deal.
4)Trouble loading software - it took me a while to get my computer to recognise the player, though Creative's excellent support forums and e-mail support quickly resolved my issues
5) No Screen Lock - this would be an excellent security addition and should be easy enough to programme - there is, after all, the option to have "hidden" folders with a 4-digit lock code. Come on, Creative - give us this in your next firmware upgrade!

All in all, I'm delighted with my purchase - this is a fantastic bit of kit. If you, like me, want to avoid being an iPod-following sheep, then buy the best player on the market!


It's Like Perfection In Your Palm   February 6, 2007
D. Covington (Buckinghamshire, England)
28 out of 28 found this review helpful

I had been meaning to get an MP3 player long ago, back in the days of the black and white ones. I never got round to it until one day i found the Zen Vision:M - It just grabbed my attention straight away. I didn't rush into buying it, i did my research and eventually purchased it. And its possibly the best buy i've ever made.

For me it just looks amazing, i know some people prefer the ipod look and the fact that its slimer but the zen looks more stylish and the extra thickness just makes it feel more reliable and sturdy.

- Price
The price of this 30GB player is phenomenal compared to some players out there.

- Charging
Some people are annoyed that it has to be plugged in to the PC to charge but i have found that with the majority of my friends that own this, that they have found something in their house which will charge the Zen. For me the PSP charger worked just fine.

-Ease Of Use
Its so easy to use its ridiculous. I changed the touch pad to "low" sensitivity and its very accurate while scrolling the menus. The buttons require a firm click but this is good becuase you can't accidentally click one of them. The only annoyance i found was that i kept accidentally tapping the touchpad (which is the select function) and found myself jumping all around the menus. However i was a bit over eager and this happens less lately.

- Screen Quality
The colour is very vibrant and depending on what sort of quality video you put on the Zen it can give a very high definition output. The videos that come with the player, whilst not very interesting are very good quality.

-Battery
I have found this player to charge in about 2 hours but this maybe just luck on my part. Regardless it charges fast and holds the battery well.

-Software
I havnt even used the software (only to install the player) and also it doesnt even work with my PC (which i knew before purchase) however its so easy to use i have just taken it to friends houses and copied and pasted their entire music collections. Its THAT easy.

Customisable menu's and a very good quality microphone along with a great radio make this a world class player. If your even slightly intrigued by the Zen Vision then reward your curiosity and purchase it now. You wont regret it.


Simply put... its just way better than the i-pod   February 22, 2006
27 out of 27 found this review helpful

When it came to buying an mp3 player my TV, Radio and internet screamed ipod at me! However, I never buy an electrical product without thorough research. For those reading these reviews who are on the brink of buying the latest ipod but considering their other options, heed these cold hard facts:-

1) The vision m will last up to twice as long as the ipod when watching video. 4hrs compared to 2 hrs.

2) the vision m has far superior video quality than the ipod. 262,000 colours compared to 65,000 on the ipod.

3) the vision m has an in built radio, the ipod does not.

4) the vision m supports way more video and audio file types than the ipod including WMA, WAV, MP3, JPEG, MPEG-1/2/4, WMV,AVI, DivX, and XviD

there are 4 simple facts that should immediately make you ditch the ipod for the vision m with no arguements. and i have not yet mentioned the software prison that is i-tunes.

Basically if u get an ipod you have to use i-tunes to add content to your ipod. Whenever you plug ur ipod into ur pc it immediately synchronises itunes with ur ipod, sound cool? Not when you consider that if you lose all you music files on your computer due to a virus or woteva, the next time you plug ur ipod into ur pc, it will immediately be wiped of all data due to there being no music files in itunes. You are also tied to one computer if you use itunes meaning you cannot use your friends itunes to add content to your ipod.

The zen vision m is simply brilliant, easy interface both on the unit and PC wise, NO ITUNES!!, Video quality has to be seen to be believed, sound excellent... just go buy one!


Brilliant   May 23, 2006
T. Halligan (Liverpool, UK)
46 out of 47 found this review helpful

I wanted an mp3 player to save me lugging all of my CDs up to my new house in September (student), and since I had heard bad stories about the iPods, I opted for this.

It's a little more expensive but is definately worth the extra money. The player is very simple to use, although a quick browse through the manual will definately help you out since the menu system can seem pretty bizarre at first.

The picture and sound quality is absolutely amazing - I was expecting a slightly above-average mobile phone screen, but after watching a few music videos on this thing I was stunned.

The firmware for me was a bit tricky to upgrade, and I had to reset the player once I had done it because it got stuck in the 'Docked' state (ie, it thought it was connected to the computer), but pressing the reset button only tells the player to turn itself off completely and then back on, so you don't lose any of your files.

You can customise the player's menus and settings very easily through the system menu, and you can even set your own wallpapers, which is a nice feature (pick a good contrast one though, since you can only change the text colour by changing the whole theme).

The sound quality is superb, you won't tell the difference between the player and an ordinary CD, and the radio is pretty good too. It's not a DAB radio though, which would have been a brilliant feature to have, but if you're within the range of a radio station the quality should be ok. You can record the radio too, which is always good. I haven't used the built in mic yet but other reviews have said it's good quality.

My only gripe is that the player doesn't come with a decent protecting case. Seriously, you'd think they'd come as standard now. Instead you get some stupid looking leather pouch, which is basically useless since you have to take the player out completely to use it, and you can't even attach the pouch to anything anyway. Absolutely no reason for it to be included. The 'screen protector' which is stuck on by default is one of those little rubbery things you sometimes see on wrist watches and gameboy screens etc. Mine came with two little air bubbles which don't really interfere with the display at all, but I'll have to live with because there's no way I'm taking it off until I get a decent carry case for it. Just read other reviews to see how easy this thing is to scratch, I've been lucky so far and it's in mint condition. I would recommend you buy a decent carry case / screen protector at the same time as you buy this.

Overall it's a fantastic player and the software works flawlessly, even though my brother has a different Creative mp3 player installed too. No conflicts whatsoever. Oh, but do turn off your antivirus while you're installing, as it will slow right down. It's very easy to sync, (just click 'sync', how hard is that?), and you can also download 'ZenCasts', which are essentially podcasts. You can also flag tracks to buy from ZenCasts, by pressing the bottom right button and then scrolling down. I assume it works by opening up the store the next time you connect the player to your PC.

Definately buy this over the iPod, you won't regret it.