I recently purchased a Creative Zen Vision W.
Usage
- To watch media while travelling. Yes, I usually use my laptop for this, but this specialized device allows a simplified experience, a nice interface, and a perfect size, allowing me to watch movies/videos even in cramped spaces. The laptop may not have room to open up, and causes too many hassles.
- MP3 capability, recording, FM radio. Not necessarily available in a laptop. =)
Initial comments
I never thought I'd consider a Creative device. Just never seemed good enough - always missing some critical features that I wanted in products. This one looks good on paper, and handles well. UI isn't awkward at all, surprisingly.
Build quality
- I'm impressed. Seems solid, with a decent Hitachi harddrive in it. Should be reliable, certainly if compared to Toshiba drives.
- Nice LCD - nice viewing angle.
- Buttons seem flimsy, but I'm used to a ThinkPad. These buttons won't fall apart - they just don't have the travel I'm used to. (Keep in mind, I use an IBM Model M keyboard.)
- Speakers – nice volume. Could be louder... but headphones are going to be used anyway. =)
Advertised capabilities
- 4.3″ WQVGA high-resolution LCD screen - View 480 x 272 resolution in a wide aspect screen at up to 262,144 colors or output video and photos to an external display at a maximum of 720×480.
- Holds up to 240 hours of movies - ZEN support formats such as AVI, DivX 4 & 53, XviD4, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG4-SP, WMV9 and Motion-JPEG
- Store up to tens of thousands of photos - Complete with a thumbnail gallery and zoom capabilities.
- Up to 15,000 songs - With 5-band EQ or 8 preset EQ settings and 96dB signal-to-noise ratio.
- TV output - Connect the ZEN to a projector or TV with the bundled AV cable for everyone to see.
- FM radio - Listen to more music with the integrated FM radio with 32 station presets.
- Personal organizer - Syncs your contacts, calendar, and tasks with Microsoft Outlook.
- Voice recorder - Record meetings, lectures, even voice memos.
- Long lasting battery - Enjoy up to 13 hours of music, or 4.5 hours of movies.
- Offload digital photos - Transfer pictures from your camera to ZEN without a computer
- Audio Playback Format: MP3, WMA, WAV and Audible
- Photo Format: JPEG, *GIF, *TIFF and *BMP *To be transcoded
- Video Playback Format: MPEG1/2/4-SP, XviD, DivX™ 4 and 5, AVI, MJPEG and WMV9
- Frequency Response: 20Hz - 20kHz
- Audio Output: 3.5mm stereo mini-jack
- Audio/Video Output: Composite TV, stereo audio out
- 5.27" 2.95" 1.04" (60GB)
- 10.48 oz (60GB)
- Up to 13 hours of continuous audio playback. Up to 4.5 hours of continuous video playback
Comments
- USB interface is nice and fast.
- The headphones act as antenna for the radio. Cool.
- It remembers where movies are stopped - even if you play multiple movies. Can't seem to find the "return to beginning option" - so you just hit rewind.
- Fast forward, etc works really nicely. Much better than what an iPod offers.
- A really nice UI. Clear status indicators on screen, and I always know where I am. Excellent HCI principles being followed, with easy navigation through long lists of movies sequentially and also alphabetically. I find the iPod's limited interface somewhat restricting sometimes; the additional buttons here are quite welcome. I quite like it.
- Usability: I have yet to open the manual. Enough said.
- Customizability: Menu customizations are possible - very cool.
- Unicode characters work - Chinese titles are properly displayed.
- Fast OS - bootup is noticeable, but once started, device is quite responsive.
- Outlook syncing, microphone record. Microphone is decent; the IBM ThinkPad's is better. I haven't tried synching yet... but it doesn't seem very useful. Maybe the contacts =)
- FM radio - relatively easy to switch frequencies.
- Battery life test - I haven't done any tests yet.
- I've charged the battery, removed it, and just run off utility power with power adapter. Kinda wish there was cover that could cover the back with the battery removed.
- Where’s the kickstand? Will have to prop this thing up somehow...
- Mentioned this earlier - Navigation buttons seem flimsy; they won’t break, just not the same kind of travel as with ThinkPad buttons, etc.
- Excellent screen - nice brightness, and nice viewing angle.
- Fingerprint issue on screen – unavoidable
- This model has a 60 GB drive – lots of space.
- Compact Flash I/II slot - use it to copy pictures onto the device. Nice to offload pictures off your camera.
- Sync directly in Vista and XP. Just drag files over. No dirty software; Vista has drivers. Just encode, and drag 'em over in Explorer; the device mounts as a drive with all folders fully visible.
- Compatibility
- Documentaries played instantly, most downloaded with MP3 audio played instantly
- No AC3 support. Argh. I've had to re-encode stuff - just the AC3 audio though.
- DivX and XviD works well, as far as I've seen...
- Encoding
- AVIs
- Virtual Dub to convert existing AVI DIVX/XVID AC3 to just MP3
- Ripped to WAV, and reprocess to LAME ACM MP3 with video direct stream copy
- DVDs
- Slysoft AnyDVD HD 6.1.3.6 to remove CSS/Macrovision on DVDs
- Xilisoft DVD Ripper Platinum to reencode VOBs into XviD movie
- Nice zoom features on screen/display. Works nicely to fit video on the widescreen.
- Hitachi 60 GB drive
- The drive, made by Hitachi, is a 3.3 v, 1.8″ Travelstar C4K60 Slim. Should be reliable.
- Hardware details
- E-Book reading - http://www.epizenter.net/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?6792
I didn't like
- The price. It is expensive. You get what you pay for though. It's not just a portable harddrive. Time was put into designing the interface. And it plays videos quite nicely.
- The navigation buttons; I miss my ThinkPad's UltraNav buttons. These buttons have no travel.
- The fact that there is only 1 headphone jack. I wish there were two headphone jacks built-in for sharing, or at least that it shipped with a splitter.
- The screen coating. Ship the things with a protective covering!
- The lack of a stand. How do I prop it up? How about a battery cover when you choose to play with just AC power with no battery installed?
- The lack of AC3 decoding of video. Most AVI clips are encoded with AC3 audio. This is a minor issue.
- Lack of audio file support: MP3s work fine. These don't seem to work: M4A, OGG, APE, and FLAC. Damn.
Final word
I like it. A lot. If you need to watch movies or listen to music, this is actually a very decent machine. It's just the right size. The UI is excellent - very good status indicators, and decent navigation buttons. Easy transfer of files - open standards with no DRM. You handle your own content on this device - and there are options to download DRM protected content. Support for a wide variety of codecs (video). Plug and mount. Copy over and go. Clean, and super fast USB 2.0 interface.
I'd recommend it - if your usage requirements are met. It's a perfect size.
Give it a try. =) Money is no object, right? C$431.99 from Canada Computers.