[lip]

If you mean you picked up an ipod, good for you. "twice as bulky is why you lose" makes little sense to me. You are getting a much better screen, arguably better sound (if history is anything to go by), many more features and longer battery life. These players are so small these days. My nano is tiny and I'm often worried that it is going to snap in half...I'd much rather have something that feels durable. As long as it fits in the pocket, why care?

I have a nano and for this flash based arena, there is no competition for it yet.
However, there was and is tons of competition to the regular hdd ipod. Most of the competition is much better in one way or another.

I hope creative is going to finally create some real financial competition to the ipod and force apple to add some useful features to the ipod. I find the ipod lacking in so many basic ways that it is unfortunate that due to lack of real competition, apple doesn't do anything about it.

LIP

 

[PixelSquish]

i would take a smidgen less resolution, and maybe 5fps less for more battery life. im big into battery life.

its a nice player though. i wish it had USBOTG and OGG support. but it looks good. the colours are eh.

 

[DigDub]

ok. I just paid a visit to the creative hq. the zen m has a very good screen with vivid colors. I think the screen looks better than the ipod video's screen. color is rich and very natural. it is basically a 'vertical' version of the zen vision, which was on display too. the menu systems are the same, except for the M's touchpad. the 4 buttons are clickable, and not touch sensitive as speculated. that accounts for the gap - to make allowance for the buttons to move when pressed. the left and right buttons on the touchpad are also clickable rockers. the option to switch to album art view to choose songs to play is also a very neat idea. brings me back to the days of browsing through CDs in a shop. imo, creative has made better use of the color screen than apple. with the apple ipod, you feel there is basically only color added to a monochrome screen and words (except the album art), but with the vision M, the color and graphical capability is put to better use. its more than just adding color to a monochrome screen with the vision M.

the white is nice. the black does not look bad too, not as bad as I had thought. the green was kinda funky but does not appeal to me. the unit is not very bulky (certainly does not feel like twice the size of the ipod video). in fact, I prefer this thickness over the 60gb ipod video, which I thought was too thin and out of proportion. the zen m feels right size in my hands. unfortunately, the front scratches easily like the ipod too. I noticed hairline scratches, but I suspect it is not as scratchable as the ipod. the back has a rough feel to it, which helps in grip and preventing scratches.

I did not buy it cos video playing novelty has worn off for me. if I were to be choosing the ipod and the M, I would choose the M based on the sheer amount of video formats it supports, more video options and the features. but if itunes and scroll wheel appeals to you, the ipod video is a good choice too. if you are looking for good video features and playback, the vision M is a much better option than the ipod video, since the M is basically derived from the zen vision pmp. the zen vision is also very good since it offers a larger screen over the M and ipod, and has a 4.5 hrs video batt life, but the screen is not as good as the M or ipod.

overall, I would say the vision M is quite a good competition to the ipod video.

 

[GSTom1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DigDub the option to switch to album art view to choose songs to play is also a very neat idea. brings me back to the days of browsing through CDs in a shop. imo, creative has made better use of the color screen than apple. with the apple ipod, you feel there is basically only color added to a monochrome screen and words (except the album art), but with the vision M, the color and graphical capability is put to better use. its more than just adding color to a monochrome screen with the vision M.

This is awsome! I'd love to browse songs by album covers. Do you know how the album art is loaded? Is it similar to the iPod where you have to drag the album cover to iTunes first?

The multiple album covers, as shown here at DAPReview, is also really cool!

DAPReview Zen Vision: M Screen With Multiple Albums

 

[DigDub]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GSTom1 This is awsome! I'd love to browse songs by album covers. Do you know how the album art is loaded? Is it similar to the iPod where you have to drag the album cover to iTunes first? The multiple album covers, as shown here at DAPReview, is also really cool! DAPReview Zen Vision: M Screen With Multiple Albums

i have no idea how to load the album art, but i'd presume it is through the creative software that comes with it and should be embedded in the tag info.

 

[Chef Medeski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lip If you mean you picked up an ipod, good for you. "twice as bulky is why you lose" makes little sense to me. You are getting a much better screen, arguably better sound (if history is anything to go by), many more features and longer battery life. These players are so small these days. My nano is tiny and I'm often worried that it is going to snap in half...I'd much rather have something that feels durable. As long as it fits in the pocket, why care? LIP

I did pick up an iPod. I think the size is a huge matter. The battery really isn't an issue seeing that 14 hrs will get me through at least a whole week. I mean 10 hrs. is really the most I would care for in a battery, anything more than 20 and you never use it. Better screen? The ipod has a very nice screen for viewing pictures, anything more would only be nice for videos and the least of my concern is how good my screen looks when its in my pockets. Many more features? The sole feature that it lacks is the upgraded GUI which is very nice.

Now size though, that is very important to me. I don't wear baggy pants, so what fits in my pocket isn't a brick. I carry a very thin wallet and cell phone because anything more than about 1.5 cm starts protruding out of my pants and thats just terrible. My old iPod is the largest I would ever buy, and I would never upgrade to anything that wasn't at lest 10% thinner than that. I don't think thinness necessarily contradicts durability. I mean Apple will replace anything broken, its more of scratches which I am worried about.

 

[Jubei]

I just went to an electronics store and got my hands on the Creative Vision M today. The touch-scroll area felt responsive but not overly so. The four buttons were stiff - had to press hard, which I suppose might be preferable to being too easily pushed.

In terms of size and weight, I thought it was very reasonable. I'm using the iRiver H320 which is massive in comparison. The screen is VERY nice. I viewed some of the preloaded pics and the photos were very sharp with nice contrast.

Now, I just curious how the player sounds.

 

[skudmunky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jubei I just went to an electronics store and got my hands on the Creative Vision M today. The touch-scroll area felt responsive but not overly so. The four buttons were stiff - had to press hard, which I suppose might be preferable to being too easily pushed. In terms of size and weight, I thought it was very reasonable. I'm using the iRiver H320 which is massive in comparison. The screen is VERY nice. I viewed some of the preloaded pics and the photos were very sharp with nice contrast. Now, I just curious how the player sounds.

you'd better tell us soon. Whats the audio jack on the dock for? Is it a line out, or do I dream?

 

[lip]

What store?

I'm ready to send my karma back to BB as it's skipping all the time with the smallest of movements now...might be an interesting option.

LIP

 

[Jubei]

Broadway stocks it in Hong Kong. Only black is currently available.

I took a look at the snap on port - it has three connections. One for USB, one for AV out and one for charging. The AV out might be able to double for a line-out. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[Melik]

i'll definately buy this...

it has everything i need...

but it's pricey