Creative Zen Vision:M

INTRODUCTION

Sometimes life isn’t fair. Several companies including iRiver, iAudio and Creative have been selling great MP3-players for quite some time but when Apple goes and releases the iPOD everyone suddenly goes ga-ga and acts like Apple invented the MP3-player.

Since the launch of the iPOD in its various incarnations life have been tough on other companies and their MP3-players. Regardless how great their MP3-players are they always will be overshadowed by the iPOD’s.

Creative have been working hard to get out of the shadow and created some fine products. My last MP3-player was a Creative Zen Micro, which I was satisfied with. It might not have looked as snazy as the iPOD Mini but the sound quality was brilliant and it had FM-radio, a feature I like.

With the Zen Vision:M creative is aiming directly at their latest video playing iPOD and this time they have created a MP3-player that doesn’t have to be ashamed for its looks when compared to the iPOD. Could this be the MP3-player that finally will break the iPOD-dominance in the MP3-player market?

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

The Creative Zen Vision:M is a very feature-rich MP3-player.

120 hours of movies¹
Big screen blockbusters, yesterday's picnic with your best friends, and even your favorite TV shows⁴. They now fit in your pocket and are perfect for sharing. ZEN Vision:M supports many video formats, such as DivX™ 4 & 5⁵, XviD5, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG4-SP, WMV9 and Motion-JPEG, which simply means more choice and less restrictions on the types of video formats you can use.

Tens of thousands of photos
View precious memories - tens of thousands of them - in 262,144 vivid colors at 320 x 240 resolution. Featuring a True Resolution image display, you can now view any photo you import without loss in quality or having to resize it. Take a closer look at your photos with the Zoom function, or scroll through your entire photo collection easily with the touchpad.

An amazing 15,000 songs²
Perfect for taking with you on the road or around the house. Your music will sound as good as it looks, thanks to Creative's world-renowned audio clarity, custom equalizer and 8 preset EQ settings.

Movie and Photo Slideshows
Connect the ZEN Vision:M to a projector or TV, and delight friends with big screen movie magic.

2.5" high-definition LCD screen
Watch movies and photos in their full glory on the large 2.5" LCD screen, even under bright lighting. Displaying up to 262,144 vibrant colors, get crisp, clear detail in every image in high-definition 320 x 240 resolution.

Vertical Touch Pad
Ergonomically designed, the innovative touch pad control enables quick, comfortable access to menus and settings.

Rechargeable Li-Ion battery
Enjoy up to 14 hours of music³, or 4 hours of movies with the rechargeable Li-Ion battery. Perfect for watching an entire movie non-stop anywhere you are.

FM radio & recorder
If 15,000 songs aren't enough, listen to more with the integrated FM radio. 32 station presets let you switch stations whenever you want.

Personal Organizer
Store and view all the information that's important to you - daily tasks, contact lists and even a calendar. ZEN Vision:M syncs easily with Microsoft Outlook, and lets you edit your information with Creative Media Explorer.

Voice recorder
Meetings, lectures, even voice memos to yourself - record them all with the integrated voice recorder, which stores hundreds of hours worth of recordings.

Full access to online music stores
Select from more than a million songs from a myriad of online music stores - Napster To Go, Yahoo! Music Unlimited, Rhapsody To Go, and so much more. With PlaysForSure support, you will always be able to play any digital music you purchase.

Fits your life perfectly
Select from an extensive line of accessories that make ZEN Vision:M the perfect companion. Pamper and protect your player with the chic leather case and LCD screen protector. Or choose from the wired remote, docking station, and car adaptor kit designed to make life easier.

1 Based on 500Kbps MPEG4-SP format.
2 Based on 4 minutes per song at 64kbps WMA.
3 Audio at 128kbps MP3, in locked mode.
4 For converting TV programs recorded using Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition, it is recommended that you have Cyberlink PowerDVD™ or Intervideo® WinDVD® version 6 and above installed in your computer.
5 DivX and XviD encoded files are playable if they are encoded as standard MPEG-4 Simple (SP) or Advanced Simple Profile (ASP) without GMC support. This product is not certified by DivX Inc. May not play all DivX 4 and 5 files.

As you see it supports a lot more formats than the iPOD making it less necessary to convert stuff before using it on the player.