Go Play AV: Portable Audio, Video, Media and Game Players

PC Magazine have reviewed the Creative Zen Vision:M and also found it to be a worthy iPod alternative, giving it 4.5/5:

Bottom line: The Zen Vision:M is our new favorite iPod alternative and should appeal to lots of people, but we have a feeling it’s still not going to sway the iPod-loving masses.

Pros: Good design. Excellent screen. Very good audio and video quality. Broad feature set.

Cons: Short battery life. Requires a dongle to sync, charge, and output to TV

Read complete article: Creative Zen Vision:M review by PC Magazine

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“Creative Zen Vision: M 30 GB MP3 and Video Player Black” (Creative Labs)

Technorati Tags: creative zen vision M, digital audio player, mp3 player, personal video player, portable audio, portable entertainment, portable media player, portable video

TrustedReviews provide a review of the Creative Zen Vision:M and liek everyone else, are quite impressed:

ou’ve got to hand it to Creative. Or at least feel sorry for it. No sooner had it helped create the portable digital media player market with its Zen Jukebox, when Apple swept in relatively late in the game to sweep up all the plaudits with its iPod, the latest version of which I’ll be looking at tomorrow. To add insult to injury, it turns out that Creative even owns the patent on the interface that Apple used to such good effect - only Apple slapped a nifty wheel on the front of its device and the rest, as they say, is history. The sales figures speak for themselves.

The Zen Vision: M is the best media player Creative has yet released and as such, demands attention. The quality of its display is its biggest asset over the fifth generation iPod, and it offers navigation innovations such as a shortcut button. It’s still not as stylish as Apple’s player or quite as effortless to use, but its the best case yet presented on why you should consider a media player other than an iPod.

Read complete article: TrustedReviews - The UK’s Premier Source for IT Reviews & News

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“Creative Zen Vision: M 30 GB MP3 and Video Player Black” (Creative Labs)

Technorati Tags: creative zen vision M, digital audio player, mp3 player, portable audio, portable entertainment, portable media player, portable video

Anything But iPod report that Creative have a podcast distribution portal for their Zen Vision players

Creative has fashioned a portal for their two video player, the Zen Vision and the newly released Zen Vision:M. The site indexes a lot of the popular video and audio podcasts. Additionally they have released a beta version of a software program they are calling ZENCast Organizer. This program will automatically fill up your MP3 player with new content as you subscribe.

Read complete article: ZENCast – Free Video and Auido Podcasts

Technorati Tags: portable entertainment, portable media player, zencast

Creative’s new Zen Vision:M has been favorably reviewed by cNet, receiving an excellent 8.2/10:

The good: Fast transfer speed; wide video codec support; brilliant screen; improved vertical scroll.
The bad: Stiff keys; bothersome sync adapter; thicker than the iPod.
The bottom line: There is a lot going for the Zen Vision: M, and true to form, Creative has just created yet another iPod killer to take on the incumbent

That last little bit is interesting “…yet another iPod killer…” I’m not sure how serious they are being. Ti kill the iPod you have to kill the iTunes Music Store too. This player is is not going to do that.

Read complete article: Creative Zen Vision: M (30GB) - Review : Music & Play - CNET Asia

Technorati Tags: creative zen vision M, portable audio, portable entertainment, portable media player, portable video

Hey what’s this look like? Creative have released a competitor to the fifth generation, video enabled iPod, called the Creative Zen Vision:M portable media player

Creative is finally releasing their answer to the latest Apple iPod video with the new Zen Vision:M Portable Media Player. With the Zen Vision:M, you’ll get 30 GB of storage space for music, photo and video playback. The Zen Vision:M measures 62mm X 104mm X 19mm and weighs 166g. It’s approximately the size of the new iPod although it’s roughly twice as thick as the iPod.

For video playback, the Zen Vision:M supports WMV9, DivX, XviD, and MPEG1/2/4 file formats. For audio playback the Vision:M supports MP3/WMA/WMA DRM file formats. The portable media player sports a 2.5 inch color screen capable of displaying 262K colors. In typical Creative fashion, you’ll get an integrated FM tuner, voice recording, and FM recording.

An iPod killer? We could answer flippantly but will bite our tongue. It comes in green, white and black.

Read complete article: Creative Zen Vision:M Portable Media Player : MobileWhack.com

Technorati Tags: creative zen, creative zen vision, personal video player, portable entertainment, portable media player, portable video, creative zen vision M

Pocket-lint.co.uk provide a pocket lint sized review of the Creative Zen Vision portable media player

WHAT IS IT?:
Portable media player
THE GOOD:
Large screen, easy to use menu system, 30Gb hard drive built in
THE BAD:
Only plays movies, music and images
WE SAY:
The Zen Vision is a nice piece of kit, we just can’t see why you would want to buy one over a PSP

Yep - that’s it. The whole review.

Key Specs:
Display size: 3.7″
Capacity: 30GB
Dimensions: 124.2 x 74.4 x 20.1 mm, 239gm
Audio formats: MP3, WMA, WAV
Video formats: AVI, MPEG4, WMV, DivX, Motion-JPEG, XviD

Read source article: Pocket-lint.co.uk Creative Zen Vision review

Lookup on Amazon: “Creative Zen Vision 30 GB Multimedia Player White” (Creative Labs)

Technorati Tags: creative zen, creative zen vision, personal video player, portable entertainment, portable media player, portable video

Another review of the Creative Zen Vision, this time by PC Magazine

Bottom Line
With a big, beautiful screen, the Zen Vision offers a compelling audiovisual experience, but it’s not without its drawbacks.

Pros
Large, high-resolution screen. Good included earbuds. Strong headphone output. Video and photos look great.

Cons
Narrow viewing angle. Background noise during some audio playback. No line-in audio recording. No repeat for slideshows. No sequential playback or playlists for video. Inadequate documentatio

This thing is getting almost as much press as the video enabled iPod - and rightly so. With it’s larger screen in particular, it does offer a viable alternative.

Key Specs:
Creative
Creative Zen Vision
Display size: 3.7inch
Capacity: 30GB
Dimensions: 124.2 x 74.4 x 20.1 mm, 239gm
Hard drive
Audio formats: MP3, WMA, WAV
Video formats: AVI, MPEG4, WMV, DivX, Motion-JPEG, XviD
PC Magazine

Read source article: Creative Zen Vision review by PC Magazine

Lookup on Amazon: “Creative Zen Vision 30 GB Multimedia Player White” (Creative Labs)

Technorati Tags: creative zen vision, personal video player, portable entertainment, portable media player, portable video

Tweaknews puts the Creative Zen Vision portable media player through its paces in a very detailed review, extending to 9 pages, with the reviewer, not surprisingly, suggesting you put the kettle on and settle down to read it with a nice cuppa.

With Creative’s second release they have really surpassed all expectations. They have a feature packed player released for a good price. Of course it’s lacking recording capabilities from external sources but if you wanted those the price would almost double and this would no longer be a media player but rather a portable media recorder. The screen is very beautiful even given the very narrow viewing angles. Sharing a movie is out of the question but viewing it on your own is fine.

Pros:

• High resolution screen that’s easy to view even in sunshine.
• Large number of codecs supported.
• Supported by a variety of useful accessories.
• Quality solid build.
• Outstanding audio quality.
• Brilliant audio/video out functionality.
• Mains and/or USB charging even when transferring files.

Cons:
• Software support is a bit limited (video conversion capabilities aren’t great).
• Little to no protection of the screen.
• LCD has very narrow viewing angles.
• Video and audio synching issues with some codecs.

Key Specs:
Display size: 3.7″
Capacity: 30GB
Dimensions: 124.2 x 74.4 x 20.1mm
Audio formats: MP3, WMA, WAV
Video formats: AVI, MPEG4, WMV, DivX, Motion-JPEG, XviD

Read source article: [TWEAKNEWS] - CREATIVE ZEN VISION 30GB PORTABLE MEDIA PLAYER REVIEW - PAGE 9

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“Creative Zen Vision 30 GB Multimedia Player Black” (Creative Labs)

Technorati Tags: creative zen vision, personal video player, portable entertainment, portable media player, portable video

Creative Labs Zen Vision is one of our favorite portable media players, with it’s elegant design, good size screen, and full feature set. Designtechnica provide a review of it, stating:

Creative Labs second iteration of their portable media player, the Zen Vision, follows in the footsteps of their Zen Portable Media Center, which failed miserably when it was introduced. Forget everything you know about the Zen Portable Media Center though, because the Zen Vision is a completely different product – one that you might actually want. First of all, the Zen Vision ditches Microsoft’s Portable Media Center operating system, instead opting for a custom, in-house solution. With a 30GB hard drive and a 3.7” color screen, the Zen Vision should have a lot to offer. The bottom line is that the Zen Vision is undoubtedly, a very cool product.

Read source article: Creative Labs Zen Vision 30GB Review - Introduction - Portable Audio & Video - MP3 & Media Players - Designtechnica Reviews - Designtechnica
Lookup on Amazon:

“Creative Zen Vision 30 GB Multimedia Player White” (Creative Labs)

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EHomeUpgrade announced that Creative Zen Vision has won the ‘Best of Show’ Award at DigitalLife 2005

Creative , a worldwide leader in digital entertainment solutions, announced today that the new Zen™ Vision MP3 player, photo viewer and digital video player won the “Best of Show” award in the “Portable Gear” category at DigitalLife 2005. Produced by Ziff Davis Media in New York City, DigitalLife is a three-day consumer event dedicated to educating consumers on what the digital lifestyle means in every aspect of life — at work, home and play.

It is certainly an impressive looking unit and well specced, with 30GB HDD, 3.7inch screen and support for various video formats. This could easily steal a march on Apple’s attempts to get into the video market.

Read source article: eHomeUpgrade | Creative Zen Vision Wins ‘Best of Show’ Award at DigitalLife 2005

Lookup on Amazon:

“Creative Zen Vision 30 GB Multimedia Player White” (Creative Labs)

Technorati Tags: creative zen, personal video player, portable entertainment, portable video