ZVM Owners: Any problems with your device?
May 9, 2006 at 3:16 AM Post #16 of 47
Quote:

Originally Posted by GreatDane
My ZV:M does those 2 things ( #2 & #3 ) but not very often.


Now that you mention it, i do recall problem #2...but like you said it happens rarely, once in a blue moon.

as for #3 with the FM Radio going off on it's own, i've never encountered that problem before

try taking a look on Dells website dvallere, they should have Vision:M's for $299 and free shipping
icon10.gif
 
May 9, 2006 at 4:13 AM Post #17 of 47
Quote:

Originally Posted by EscaBoi
Now that you mention it, i do recall problem #2...but like you said it happens rarely, once in a blue moon.

as for #3 with the FM Radio going off on it's own, i've never encountered that problem before

try taking a look on Dells website dvallere, they should have Vision:M's for $299 and free shipping
icon10.gif



Not only that, but there are enough coupons out there to lower the cost to roughly $260 shipped. However, there's tax @dell.com. Also, buy.com has it for about $285 shipped with coupons, no tax, free shipping.
 
May 9, 2006 at 4:28 AM Post #18 of 47
I had a 5g 30gb iPod and sold that to get a ZVM. After a week of owning it, the radio function completely died and nothing I tried would make it work. I already knew that some others had this problem so I decided beforehand that I would return it instead of exchanging it for another unit if it happened to me as well. Luckily, I was able to nab a 60gb 5g iPod + a battery pack for even cheaper so I guess it all worked out okay in the end. It's a shame that there was a radio defect because I really liked the ZVM when I had it.
 
May 9, 2006 at 4:37 AM Post #19 of 47
Eh, I haven't listened to a radio since I started using MD in 1997. Won't miss that feature!

Amazon says they are "preparing my order for shipment" so I can't cancel or change it (not that I would have anyway). But boy, with tax it was pretty steep. I hate living in Washington.
 
May 9, 2006 at 3:33 PM Post #20 of 47
Quote:

Originally Posted by dvallere
Eh, I haven't listened to a radio since I started using MD in 1997. Won't miss that feature!

Amazon says they are "preparing my order for shipment" so I can't cancel or change it (not that I would have anyway). But boy, with tax it was pretty steep. I hate living in Washington.



So move
smily_headphones1.gif


I love living here, just order online from out of state, I did!

But yeah farking tax, at least we don't have state income tax though...
 
May 9, 2006 at 3:43 PM Post #21 of 47
Quote:

Originally Posted by ptaaty
So move
smily_headphones1.gif


I love living here, just order online from out of state, I did!



Nobody reputable out of state had them in stock and I didn't want to wait.

(Please accept my use of "reputable" loosely. I have had too many situations of dealing with "unknown" companies where returns were nearly impossible and was charged a restocking fee, blah blah blah. I try to stick with known good ones, Amazon, HeadRoom, Best Buy and so on...unless prices are insanely cheap elsewhere.)

Anyway, we're thinking of moving, but the Redmond paycheck is soooo nice...
 
May 9, 2006 at 6:18 PM Post #22 of 47
Quote:

Originally Posted by dvallere
I had a Zen Sleek for a while and sold it because it seemed more sensible to use SD cards in my PDA instead of carrying another device around. Well, bleah, I can't stand fumbling for SD cards all the time. My first choice to replace the Sleek would be a ZVM, especially since my music collection has grown. I like the Creative software; the ZVM looks nice; it has the right amount of storage for me (for the foreseeable future); it's in my price range.

However, over at the Creative forums there are a lot of people complaining about problems with the units freezing up, or losing tracks, etc. Several people have returned them to Creative for warranty issues - some people have done this multiple times, then given up and gotten an X5. The Creative forums are probably where most people will go to complain, so I'm hoping to reach a different "market segment" by asking Head-fi'ers.

Have you had any problems that have made youAs long as you are happy with the controls, I don't see any reasons not to buy it at the moment. rethink your purchase of the ZVM?

Thanks,

D.

(Reason why I'm steering away from the X5: money, and the fact that it's kind of old technology afaik...correct me if I'm wrong. I'd consider the M5, but it only has 20gb of storage.)




Having made your decision, I guess I'm just posting this because I've written it already
biggrin.gif



I never rethink my purchase of anything as I bought them to know them. I know now though that the ZVM will never be my main DAP.


1. The screen was something of a disappointment after all the comments about its superiority. However now, I've developed a theory as to why my two ZVM's so far may be 'bad', assuming that people taking pictures of their ZVM's aren't using a polarising filter. I am waiting to receive my third ZVM from Creative, after describing the problem as specifically as I can. Unfortunately they seem to have lost the player I sent back. We'll see what happens.


2. DRM flakiness. Yes yes DRM is evil but for subscription music services, I actually find it quite good. All the more shame than that the ZVM is frequently flaky with DRM services, leading to lots of unnecessary futzing on my part. I had put this down to Windows and Playsforsure, but since then my experience with players from other manufacturers leads me to believe that the Creatives have reliability issues with Playsforsure subscription implementations.


3. Controls. This obviously depends on what you're used to, but having an iPod I cannot abide unusable controls, and the Zen Vision M ranks among one of the worst thought-out controls that I've ever come across, because it requires an unnecessary high degree of dexterity and care from the user. Many players even with 'traditional' non-touch controls can have usability that rivals the iPod... The Rio Karma is a good example. However the mixed-up Zen Vision M is an object example in half-assed control interface design, even though it has in certain ways a superior firmware implementation for the user interface.


4. Lock-ups and how to deal with it. In heavy use, at times the player stops responding. I'm willing to allow that crashes happen on any player (my iPod crashes perhaps twice every month under heavy use) but on the ZVM it is not possible to recover from this situation without something to press the reset button. This is a problem common to some other players, but it seems that I have to reset the player slightly more often than some others. As a result I have to walk around with a bent paperclip.


The control as well as relatively small differences in the firmware implementation making the iPod easier to use on a daily basis for navigating a large library onboard the player and also filling it from an even larger library is really the deal-killer for me I'd have to say (apart from the software integration, but that's a different argument).


On the flipside, it offers much more functionality than the stock iPod and the MTP functionality may be a significant advantage to many... So I can't rag on it too much. Still, it wouldn't have been with me past the first month had it not been for Napster To Go. The Samsung YP-Z5 has been rock solid with Napster though and 4Gb is fine for Napster-only use, so the ZVM's days may yet be numbered.
 
May 9, 2006 at 9:02 PM Post #24 of 47
Quote:

The Samsung YP-Z5 has been rock solid with Napster though and 4Gb is fine for Napster-only use, so the ZVM's days may yet be numbered.


Hey, yeah... maybe the answer to all those having trouble finding a ZVM in stock is to just wait until that 4gb Samsung player gets around... that will kill the ZVM market for sure...
biggrin.gif
biggrin.gif
biggrin.gif


That's just too funny...
 
May 9, 2006 at 9:08 PM Post #25 of 47
Quote:

so the ZVM's days may yet be numbered.


Quote:

Originally Posted by ILikeMusic
Hey, yeah... maybe the answer to all those having trouble finding a ZVM in stock is to just wait until that 4gb Samsung player gets around... that will kill the ZVM market for sure...
biggrin.gif
biggrin.gif
biggrin.gif


That's just too funny...



Lest it needs to be said, may be numbered FOR ME. The majority of the footage I want to view on the move (i.e. DVD rips of movies I never get around to watching, PVR movies) requires transcoding on the iPod or the ZVM so using either is not a deciding factor. And while the iPod screen may lack the vibrancy of colour, for me it has certainly been a lot more visible in a variety of portable situations. Due to that my sole use for the ZVM has been for DRM music for some time, and the Samsung is much more reliable in this respect.


Obviously the answer to those having trouble finding a ZVM in stock is to look at a 5G iPod as well, or if video is such a heavy requirement that they consider ZVM as superior to the iPod, then to consider the Cowon A2 too.
 
May 9, 2006 at 11:23 PM Post #26 of 47
Eh...hubby works for Microsoft...I'm not even allowed to utter the "i" word in our house!

I don't need video at all, I use my PDA for that, but I do like to have all my music with me in case a mood strikes, and I would have eaten up my life savings in SD cards if I'd kept going with that idea. But I do have some DRM stuff, which is why the Cowon products are out - at least, last I checked their firmware releases, no mention was made of DRM compatibility. Plus they're just more expensive.
 
May 9, 2006 at 11:48 PM Post #27 of 47
Maybe I don't use my ZVM often enough, but I certainly haven't experienced any serious problems yet. One minor annoyance is that if your video folder is empty (let's say the tv folder), it takes forever to get back to the previous screen. Other than that, everything else seems fine.

Although I never liked the idea of watching videos on tiny screens, I still use ZVM's video capability quite often. I like to load videos on my ZVM, and watch it on a larger tv screen at my friend's house (i paid only 10 bux for the video cable). While I still had the iPod, I've rarely used its video feature (poor battery life, complex transcoding procedure, expensive cable, and low resolution).

As for its controls, I think it works OK. But I rather to have actual buttons instead of the touch strip.
 
May 10, 2006 at 12:49 AM Post #29 of 47
I've had a ZVM since December, actually had two. I had to send one back to Creative when the FM disappeared. No biggie, but I paid for it. Since then, new one is fine, but no real long term or hard use. Overall, I love it. And do occasionally watch ripped TV shows (from DVD), and a few videos, but not much. To small for use oldsters. Sound is great. I use WMP 10 to snyc non-DRM MP3s (thank the Lord for Allofmp3.com), and it's pretty good.
 
May 11, 2006 at 1:53 AM Post #30 of 47

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top