- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 399 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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31 out of 32 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Gotta set the record straight"
Pros: Plays everything I have put on it flawlessly
Cons: size, nothing new in the design department
Summary: This is a great all around player but first I have to address some complaints that have been posted by people who are biased or just didn?t bother to get to know the player.
1) I have read several complaints about people who just didn?t understand the button layout. READ THE MANUAL that is what it is for. Anyone who is into digital photography knows: More buttons = easier access to options. The less buttons = more contextual menus and more clicking around. One of the buttons can be configured as a shortcut to what ever you would like (awesome). Another button is the same as right clicking the mouse, you can access media info, bookmark, add to list, etc. etc. I think this player has just the right amount of buttons!
2) ?the touch pad is too sensitive!? Well if you bothered to setup your Vision M correctly you will see the TOUCHPAD SENSITIVITY option. You have 3 different sensitivity settings to choose from.
3) ?The screen is not better than the ipod?. That is just not true! See for your self at http://www.everythingusb.com/creative_zen_vision:m_30gb.html Big big big difference.
4) I put down the size of the player as a draw back because I think for some people it will be. I am a male and have large hands, for me it is perfect. I don?t like itsy bitsy things that feel fragile in my hand, but I know this is a matter of opinion.
On to the rest. The player comes with software that sets up quick and easy. Within minutes I had all my music and a whole season of my favorite show on the player. There are 2 options of software to use; I like the Media Explorer because it is just too easy to use. MP3 play back is amazing and the supplied headphones are much better than average. The player takes only about 2 sec to start playing media (even really long play lists) which is about average. I read some where that it adds a sec or 2 in between tracks but if it does, it is not perceptible at all.
The player plays every video I have put on it so far: mpeg, divx, xvid, avi. There is no buffer interruptions like mentioned in some reviews. I couldn?t find anything wrong with the way this thing plays movies at all in fact. Beautiful! The screen blows you away and you don?t need to resize your vids. That means, unlike ipod, when you connect your player to a TV with the add on cable, it will be a beautiful full size file.
I don?t want to repeat what other people have written so here are some things that I don?t think too many people mentioned. 1) Adjustable menus. You decide what you want on the main menu by checking and unchecking boxes. 2) Smart volume. All media plays at the same level. 3)Password protected folders and hide/show protected folders. 4) Up to 16GB removable drive setup. Setup your player as a mini hard drive. 5) Browse music by artist, genre, album, track or let the DJ play the album of the day. 6) Photos do not need to be resized to show on the screen but it will take a few seconds to display large formats. Zoom option in the photos section. 7) Charges in 2.5 hours
This is a great all around player. I love apple and own a MAC but I didn?t want a player that does 1 thing, no matter how well it does it. For me, I want the whole media package. The size is worth the extra battery life during video. I am only giving it a 9 because it doesn?t bring anything new in the way of design.
- 2 replies to this review
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I found your review very thorough and helpful. You noted at the end of your review that you are a Mac user. I am looking at purchasing a Mac for our only family computer - just a personal decision I have arrived at. Besides, the fact iTunes is so slick and the iPod syncs so well with iTunes, I have been leaning very strongly towards the new 5G iPod. But after researching the ZVM and reading a couple great user reviews here in cnet, I will definitely be looking into the ZVM over the iPod. My question for you, as a Mac user, do you interface your Zen VM to your Mac and if so how? I appreciated hearing back from you on this.
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I have one and I love it too, but I still think the touchpad is too sensitive, even though I set mine to "low". The big problem is that it often picks up my scrolling action as a click, and takes me to another screen, which can be frustrating. Regardless, I still thinks it's the best player on the market, and I'm glad I bought it
Where to buy
Creative Zen Vision:M (30GB, black):
$425.00
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$425.00 | Yes |
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