Portable CD MP3 Player

Creative Zen Vision:M (30GB, green) Reviews   CNET has reviewed Creative Zen Vision:M (30GB, green) and writes   The good: Available in five colors, the Creative Zen Vision:M has an incredible screen, a simple interface, excellent video battery life, an FM tuner and recorder, and a voice recorder. It features a customizable Shortcut button, and it supports a wide range of online music stores and subscription services, as well as video formats. It has excellent audio and video quality.   The bad: The Creative Zen Vision:M has no iTunes-like video content–yet–or support for Audible content–yet. Some will find the touch-pad controller frustrating. The black model scratches easily. The documentation is skimpy. You must use an adapter for transfers and power, meaning that occasionally you need two cables and the adapter. A dock and an A/V-out cable are not included. Finally, the Zen Vision:M isn’t as elegant as an iPod.   The bottom line: The dazzling, DRM-friendly Creative Zen Vision:M gives the iPod a run for the money as the current high-capacity WMA champ.

PC Advisor has reviewed the Creative Zen Vision - ‘ Creative isn’t new to the portable media player market – the Vision:M represents its third model with video playback capabilities, while arch-rival Apple is still on its first with the fifth-generation iPod. Creative was quick to embrace Microsoft’s Portable Media Center format with the Zen PMC and followed it up with the Zen Vision a little over a year later. Just three months on, and it’s launched another video capable player, which addresses many of the shortcomings of the previous models…’, ‘While the iPod has a couple of advantage over the Vision:M – namely thinness and price – it’s beaten on almost every other score. Creative almost undoubtedly has a runaway hit on its hands.’

About.com has also reviewed the Zen Vision:M. They write ‘In all, the Zen Vision:M is an awesome player. As a competitor to the ubiquitous iPod, it’s certainly formidable (though lack of seamless software integration with an all-in-one program like iTunes sets it back a bit). Another small problem with the Vision:M, when pitting it against the iPod, is that the Vision:M doesn’t yet have the reach of the iPod, so for the moment you don’t have the equivalent of the iTunes store for downloading video content. Look for this (hopefully) to change with time. If you want the functionality of the iPod with the flexibility of a player that supports DRM’d WMA files and subscription services, along with support for several different video codecs, then the Zen Vision:M may be just what you’re looking for. ‘

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