- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 52 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
5.0 stars
"A Great, Great Item to Own"
Pros: Everything About it
Cons: None (If you care for the screen)
Summary: Although I have not sampled every product out there, I am more than reasonably confident that the Vision:M is the best audio/video player on the market. I have never owned an Ipod and I am glad that is still the case, because it was researching the IPod Video that led me to the Vision:M. The iPod video is one good looking piece of equipment, but Apple is cheating the consumer (and likely themselves in the long run) by trying to control the distribution of content for their players and not opening up them up to the marketplace. For my Vision:M I am using Yahoo! Music Unlimited To Go (Napster, Rhapsody, and others I think have similar services) for $12/month with access to a 1,000,000+ song library where I can transfer an unlimited number of songs. There is no price per track (Apple iTunes is $.99 per song I think) and the license on the songs do not expire. If you want to burn CD's from the track with Yahoo!, you pay per track, but I don't have any need to burn because I am downloading them to put on my player. Also, you can get a Creative AV Cable for about $20 (or generic one on Ebay for a lot less) that will allow you play the Vision:M through your stereo or TV, bypassing the need for a CD or CD player. You can also play the Yahoo! tracks through your computer whenever you want. I think as more people know their options, Yahoo! Music and the other non-Ipod music and video stores will increase their subscribers and their libraries and content offerings will grow (even though right now I am COMPLETELY satisfied with what Yahoo! has to offer). The main reason that people will probably start to explore the Vision:M and others like it is because the iPod only plays their own format video files. The Vision:M, and others like it, play back all of the popular Video formats such as .wma, .mp4, and divx. This means that your content options are theoretically, if not practically, immense. True, if you buy the iPod video and use iTunes, you can now download TV shows, which is definitely cool. But it is probably only a matter of time before similar content is available from non-iPod download stores. Here are some of your videp options: I paid $20 for a yearly subscription to MSN Video Downloads for instance. It is awesome. I get 2-3 minutes news clips dowloaded automatically to my computer every day (about 20 a day) from sources such as Fox Sports, CNN, and MSNBC, which can then be transferred to my Vision:M with drag-and-drop. You can also rip any DVD to be played on the Vision:M. This is complicated and time consuming using the free software available on the internet if you do not have prior experience, but I found a GREAT pay-software alternative that is two programs called AnyDVD and CloneDVDMobile by Slysoft. They are very easy to use and amazing at bypassing the copyright restrictions that make ripping a DVD otherwise impossible. These restrictions are b*$$@#t if you are just trying to transfer a DVD that you already own to your portable device, or if you just want to back up your DVDs in general. During my 21 (or something) free trial I converted three seasons of TV show DVD's with the push of a button into divx files that the Vision:M plays back with no problem. My trial period has expired now and it just a matter of time before I pay $60 for the license that comes with amazing support (per reviews) and free updates for life for new patches that will help the program byass whatever the studios try to put on the discs. Apple does not have the ability to do this. All video content for the iPod has to be supplied by them. The only thing to be careful with the Vision:M is protecting the screen. I recommend doing everything in your power to leave the factory-installed clear screen adhesive on, and purchasing a case (I bought a silicone skin on Ebay for $12). If you are willing to think outside the box a little you will be doing yourself a big favor by purchasing the Vision:M.Updated
The Yahoo! Unlimited To Go song licenses do expire if you do not keep your subscription to the service. Periodically you have to "sync" your player with the Yahoo! service so as to update the licenses.
Where to buy
Creative Zen Vision: M (30GB, white):
$350.00
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$350.00 | Yes |
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