Creative Zen Vision: M user reviews (30GB, white)

Pros Quality, graphics, user interface, video quality

Cons Touch pad, manufacturer case, no video input, equalizer. included software

Summary In my opinion, this is an awesome media player. I have friends who own the Video Ipod, and this definitely is worth the few extra dollars. The colors are vibrant, the video quality is excellent. I find that you really have to watch how your mp3s are encoded because the high quality mp3s sound phenomenal, but crappy mp3s sound even more horrible. The preset equalizers did not seem to make much a difference, but that could have been due to the recording quality of my mp3s. The included software is abysmal. Some avis work, some don't. The included pc software for transferring will detect that and prompt to start a conversion to .wmv. The conversion is drastically slow and will frustrate you to no end. The pc media manager is horrible. I had to go through over 2000 files to change the id4 tags because it picked up on those ones rather than the id3 tags I had already edited before I bought the player. It does show album art.....unfortunately, if all your files do not already have the album art attached to the id3/id4 tag it'll on it's own, assign one of your other album art pics as a defult with no way of changing it unles you find the album are for each of your mp3s. The firmware is great, however the touchpad is a little too touch even on the lowest setting. Be prepared to by a case for it, because the included case sucks, and is a glorified sock for the player. I purchased a set of outside noise reducing ear phones and found that the included ear phones were much better quality than those. The a/v cables are an additional cost, but you can find them for way cheaper than what creative sells it for on eBay and it works perfectly. The face scratches very easily, so make sure you buy either a case or a silicone skin for it asap, and an invisible lcd screen protector. It'll save you the heartache in the long run. All in all, it is an amazing player and you will NOT be disappointed. Everyone around me is in awe of this find piece of gadgetry. Although it is a bit thicker than the Ipod video, it feels more solid, and is less likely to slip out of your hands. I give it a 9 regardless of the cons because the good far outweighs the bad. An added bonus...you can sync it with your outlook calendar and contacts to give you that extra edge in being organized. A+++++

Pros Wma, DivX support, customizable screen background/colors (with your picture), Microphone. Better sound output. Better software. Better firmware. Faster, easier navigation. Record FM.

Cons The screen was scratched waaay too easily. Little accessory's. Weak frame (dont drop it). The FM is uselless for the most part.

Summary First off i want to give a 9.5 but i cant on cnet, so i rounded up.

Everything is better than the ipod when it comes to the Creative Zen Vision: M. The screen has more colors, and when combined with the DivX video format it destroys the ipod. The wide array of formats outshine the limited capabilities of the dated ipods. It also has better sound quality then the ipod.

The navigation, while touchy at first, becomes seconed nature withing days. I raced a friend of mind with an ipod to find "Phil Collins" i beat him by 8 seconds. By clicking left and then using the touchpad to go down letters you can find artists a lot fast then the flywheel on the ipod.

Customizable screens using any pictures on your player and colors keeps it ineteresting a lot longer than the boring ipod white.

A customizable button on the player lets you instantly navigate to what you want. I set it to play all the track instantly.

The DJ feature on the firmware lets you see things you havent seen before. It picks a random album of the day. It picks the 20 least played songs on your player and 20 most in diffrent playlists (you can see how many times you've played it and other information of the song by using the dropdown options). It also has a playlist of 20 songs that havent been rated. The player has a 5 star rating system which affects the random play. The higher the stars, the more likely it will play. Rating is simple. One touch at the now playing screen will take you to to the rating where you can set the song rating. Finally Panic at the Disco will get some much need 1 star justice.
The software I like better than itunes. It gives me more control on what goes on my player and how, then itunes. Its not for beginner users. A cool feature is that any video/audio that you wish to add to your player would automatically be converted to the apporpriate format if needed to.

The downsides are quite few. The screen scratches way to easily and needs a screen protecter, which is sold in a lot of places. The frame is weak and will sustain miminal droppings before becoming buggy (after dropping it sometimes hitting again will get it going, but im not responsible if you break it SO you take the chance). FM is pratically useless but its cool if you want to record the fm. But these are extremely minor and with care can be avoided.

Pros Drag and drop loading, Stunning Video Colors, "Coolness" Factor

Cons Limited accesories, limited instructions

Summary After 3 years, my iPod died and I went looking for a new one. I came across the Creative Zen M and really did my homework before buying this. I wanted to wait for a while before writing a review in order to get over the "its not an iPod" feeling.

After much thought, I would have to sum up the Zen M as "different and slightly better" than an iPod. I do miss the navigation wheel of the iPod, and have a hard time with the touchy tactile aspect of the navigation bar of the Zen M.

Here are the deal breakers in my opinion to help you decide if the Zen M is right for you.
1. Zen M has STUNNING video quality. If this is of high importance, then choose the Zen M.
2. It has Drag and Drop loading capability, although this is not totally seamless and does require some tweaking to work right.
3. A deal breaker for me, is the "Hide Folder" capability, which allows content to be hidden. If you have R rated or higher video content, this can be kept hidden.
4. Longer Battery life. Again a deal breaker for me.
5. Good sound, with customizable EQ button on the player.
6. The ability to directly delete songs or folders from the player
7. Coolness Factor. Not a deal breaker, but important.
8. Supports many more Video formats than iPod, including avi., xVid, and Divx. This was a deal breaker for me.

Now, on the flip side, if any of these points are deal breakers, I suggest you get the iPod:
1. Very limited instructions on use. If you have never owned an MP3 player before, some features and instructions will be frustrating. However, if you have owned some type of player before, lack of instructions might not be a big deal.
2. Does not support aac format. If the bulk of your music is Itunes downloaded, dont buy this.
3. No games (not a deal breaker for me)
4. Some difficulty with creating playlists. It can be done, but it is not as fluid as with Itunes.
5. Cannot play when connected to computer, and computer is only source to recharge unless a separate power plug is purchased (same as iPod)

I would say that the positive deal breaker aspects outweigh the negative and make this player a smart buy.

Pros love the video, audio, storage and speed

Cons screen broke after 2 weeks.....

Summary This device was a joy to use for a short period of time. Then, in one evening, it froze on me, requiring a reset and a 20 minute rebuild of the library. Then the screen broke. I have always been gentle with electronic items, never broke anything like this. Cell phones, cameras, laptops all have held up in various conditions. But the Zen Vision M has a big weak point and it's not covered under warranty. Watch out!