Creative Zen Vision W (30GB)

Pros: Great screen, excellant sound quality, CF card slot, wide collection of functions

Cons: A bit bulky, would like to see some firmware changes

Summary: Originally, I was looking for a pda, a portable hard drive to download photographs, and an mp3 player, not only for music but for ebooks and podcasts. When I stumbled across the Vision W, it was a lot more expensive than I had planned on for any one of these gadgets, but put together, it seemed to make sense.

I have to say that I am very happy with my choice. I have only had it for about 2 weeks, but I have listened to an ebook, listened to daily podcasts, loaded and listened to some music, referred to the calendar and task and contact lists that I synched from Outlook (would love to be able to update these and synch back also), recorded memos to myself, loaded and shared photos for viewing, and listening to FM radio-- all the things I bought it for. Although some of the menus are a bit confusing at first--getting used to which button to use for what in what mode--I have to say that I figured it out vbery easily, which is good because the documentation that came with it is lacking in this area. I also think the headphones that come with the Vision W are surprisingly comfortable and the sound quality is very good. I may replace them because I find all earbuds annoying, but I feel no great preassure to do that right now.

Overall, I am very happy with my choice. I have not taken it on a long trip yet, but I do a fair amount of walking every day and I really enjoy slipping it into a pocket and listening to any one of a number of things to pass the time.

Some of the things I would like to see improved are:

* Firmware updates to allow input into the calendar, tasks and contacts lists.

* More customization of menus possible or hot buttons that allow you to access often-used functions more easily

* Longer battery life

* A slipcase with a belt clip

* Better documentation, including some information on keeping the screen clean and navigation
* The ability to move things around once they are on the machine.

In conclusion, this is the first "mp3" player that I have owned, and certainly it does that very well. But that is not the reason to buy this pvp. If you are looking for the video capabilities and/or the combination of features that the Vision W offers, playing MP3s is gravy, and this is certainly a very good choice.