[omendelovitz]

Ok, so I am 'testing' my new ZVM and am loving it - I'm not a big fan of the iPod, however, having come into contact with the issue of battery replacement on a unit such as my old X5, I'm wondering if I should just bite the bullet and swap the ZVM for an iPod, whose battery will be easily replaceable when it gets older.

What I want to hear from those of you who have owned Creative DAPs without the easily replaced batteries (such as Zen touch) - how easy is it to find a battery once this unit's battery starts to crap out? I've already found a site depicting how to disassemble the ZVM easily - this site showed how easy it is to swap out hard drives and/or batteries from the ZVM when the time comes; I just want to know how easily I'll find one online (I don't want to have to send it back to Creative as it is just too much hassle).

Thanks for the help!

 

[scorpian007]

Creative replace the battery out of warranty for something like $70 but you should be able to do it yourself very easily

 

[omendelovitz]

thanks for the reply - My concern however mainly focuses on how easily I will be able to find this ZVM internal battery when the time comes to change it. How easy has it been in the past?

 

[scorpian007]

There are Zen Xtra and Zen Micro batteries all over ebay. I've seen the Zen Touch battery for sale on many online stores so I guess its only a matter of time

 

[IpaqMan]

Your concern was the same as mine when I considered a new player.

I own the old Jukebox 3 for which batteries are practically impossible to find at a reasonable price. I also have two Muvo2s which fortunately use the same battery as the Zen. There is 3rd party support for this battery. Of course, users bought spare batteries thus increasing the demand.

If the Zen V M is a good seller then there will be 3rd party support. However, if Creative keeps changing its style and models, support a few years from now will be negligible.

I bought the Ipod Video because its sales have already guaranteed future support by other vendors. You can still buy batteries for Ipod gen 1.

 

[omendelovitz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IpaqMan Your concern was the same as mine when I considered a new player. I own the old Jukebox 3 for which batteries are practically impossible to find at a reasonable price. I also have two Muvo2s which fortunately use the same battery as the Zen. There is 3rd party support for this battery. Of course, users bought spare batteries thus increasing the demand. If the Zen V M is a good seller then there will be 3rd party support. However, if Creative keeps changing its style and models, support a few years from now will be negligible. I bought the Ipod Video because its sales have already guaranteed future support by other vendors. You can still buy batteries for Ipod gen 1.

I unfortunately have come to the same conclusion as you. It's a shame b/c the ZVM is quite a nice design. Also, rockbox and lossless clinched it for me with the iPod.

 

[scorpian007]

Personally, the way I see it is that in 2-3 years when the battery has run its course, I will probably want a new DAP anyway. I've been going through about 2 DAPs a year.

Last year: Zen Touch + Zen Micro + iRiver H320
This year: Zen Micro Photo + Zen Vision:M

 

[IpaqMan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scorpian007 Personally, the way I see it is that in 2-3 years when the battery has run its course, I will probably want a new DAP anyway. I've been going through about 2 DAPs a year. Last year: Zen Touch + Zen Micro + iRiver H320 This year: Zen Micro Photo + Zen Vision:M

I will also want a new DAP, too. However, my older HDAPs are still in use for special apps: H120 for portable recording and as a backup player, NJB3 for home use and recording, the Muvo2 FM for FM recording, and the Rio Carbon for audiobooks. Newer DAPs don't seem to be as flexible as the H120 and NJB3, so I presume that I will want to sell DAPs when upgrading. Parts availability will increase the resale value of older DAPs.

 

[aaroncort]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scorpian007 Personally, the way I see it is that in 2-3 years when the battery has run its course, I will probably want a new DAP anyway. I've been going through about 2 DAPs a year. Last year: Zen Touch + Zen Micro + iRiver H320 This year: Zen Micro Photo + Zen Vision:M

Holy Cow! I run my DAPs into the ground. I had a Nomad Jukebox 3 that lasted me 4 years. It still works today but only 3 lines of the LCD screen still work. Just enough for me to see what I'm playing, and only becuase I know the GUI very well. Since 2000 I've only owned 3 DAP's.

I currently own an iPod 4G 40GB and am not really all that please with it. iTunes is slow a resource hungry. It takes a full 2 minutes for itunes to recognize my ipod and freezes durring those 2 minutes. It can only sync meaning that if you want to take music off of your computer but keep it on your ipod you can't do it. It will automaticly delete from your ipod the next time you sync.

I'm also not a fan of how the iPod sounds compaired to my NJB3. my portable set up is a Sennheiser HD650, RSA SR-71, and a turbodock II with a silver/copper mini/mini. I find that the ipod has a smaller soundstage, not by miles but imediatly noticable. To me it seems like the ipod is always EQed or very colored compaired to my jukebox 3. Some passages seem to me to be very unconvincing. I'd at least try to find somebody that willl let you borrow thier ipod before you buy it.

Sorry to be so vague. I'm not very articulate when it come to describing what I hear.

 

[IpaqMan]

I was not an Itunes fan for the longest time. I only used it to fill a Shuffle with some Audible books and a few tunes, so I was not aware of its capabilities nor did I really care.

However, after getting an Ipod Video, I have been using the Itunes rating system, the bookmarking, the Music store (free stuff), podcasting, and more. It runs on my notebook (XP SP2) and does not seem to freeze up. It does take a minute or so to see my Ipod but I think that Itunes is reading in the Ipod playlist.

My opinion of Itunes has changed positively, but it is a resource hog.

 

[omendelovitz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IpaqMan I was not an Itunes fan for the longest time. I only used it to fill a Shuffle with some Audible books and a few tunes, so I was not aware of its capabilities nor did I really care. However, after getting an Ipod Video, I have been using the Itunes rating system, the bookmarking, the Music store (free stuff), podcasting, and more. It runs on my notebook (XP SP2) and does not seem to freeze up. It does take a minute or so to see my Ipod but I think that Itunes is reading in the Ipod playlist. My opinion of Itunes has changed positively, but it is a resource hog.

mediamonkey. does all itunes can and more. Also easy on the resources.

 

[ILikeMusic]

There are aftermarket replacement batteries available for most all common players with internal batteries... Apple, Creative, etc. But if you take care of them the original battery will last a solid 3-5 years in my experience and replacement batteries for new models (such as the Vision:M) don't usually appear in the marketplace until a few years after the product is introduced, because there isn't much of a market for them before that time.

 

[Cocobean]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILikeMusic There are aftermarket replacement batteries available for most all common players with internal batteries... Apple, Creative, etc. But if you take care of them the original battery will last a solid 3-5 years in my experience and replacement batteries for new models (such as the Vision:M) don't usually appear in the marketplace until a few years after the product is introduced, because there isn't much of a market for them before that time.

I agree. Think have to wait a couple of years before battery replacements for vision m comes out, I'm sure that some 3rd party will come out wif it.

Also in terms of performance the creative zen vision m is giving Ipod a run for his money, to me the ipod's really overrated.

The sound's so mediocre compare with creatve etc.. I'm not really happy with my Ipod as I'm a victim of their mass marketing.