- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 25 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"The best Zen player available"
Pros: Wide gorgeous screen, plays most of the video formats I want, plays MP3s about as good as an iPod, radio and picture viewer, removeable battery, compact flash card reader
Cons: Big screen sacrifices size, weight and a little bit of battery life; still a bit pricey at $400, but worth every penny
Summary: I'm a fan of Creative ever since the SoundBlaster 16 sound cards back in the mid-90s. I've practically owned most of their sound cards, but this is the first time I ever bought a consumer electronic product from them. Before purchasing the Zen Vision W, I was using the 5th generation iPod (the one with video capabilities). I loved my iPod, but I was still disappointed that I can't watch videos with the iPod unless I convert all my videos into Apple's proprietary MP4 format. So it became primarily just an MP3 player, but it's still a damn good one, and I don't ever regret buying it. But after 2 years with the iPod, I really wanted an all-in-one device, and thankfully Creative designed the Zen Vision W.
The Zen Vision W is all I could ask for in a PMP/MP3 player: it plays DivX, a competent MP3 player, a picture viewer; you can output to a TV without buying optional equipment; a compact flash card reader; and a gorgeous screen with a very nice looking menu system. Other Zen Vision models are okay, but the screen is too small, and it's bulkier than the iPod. Now, I understand that what I said was a bit contradictory, but given the Zen Vision W's large screen, I can easily forgive this particular model's bulkiness compared to the other Zen's.
Though it's a great system, the Vision W had to sacrifice weight, size and battery life (though not by much) in order to have the widescreen and massive 60GB space. Nonetheless, these things are easily overlooked, especially for the functionality this device offers.
I highly recommend Creative's Zen Vision W to anyone looking for an awesome "almost all-in-one" PMP.
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