Creative Zen Vision:M (30GB) + vs. iPod Video
Creative has announced the release of the Zen Vision:M. The Vision:M is trying to compete with the newly releases iPod Video.
In this post we not only give you the information on the Vision:M, but also put it head to head with the iPod Video and see who’s the real winner.
The Zen Vision:M will act as a video player, a mp3 player, and a photo viewer. It contains a 2.5 inch LCD screen with stunning color.
Creative claims that with the screen is 4 times as brilliant than the video iPod. Digital Tech Life has some screenshots of the Creative Zen Vision:M and the iPod. The Zen Vision:M definitely appears brighter and clearer.
Music
The Zen Vision:M has the capacity to store up to 15 000 songs. Creative has offered people more choice when it comes to where they want to download music with this product.
The player allows you to download songs from Yahoo! Music, Napster, MSN Music and AOL Music Now. It also, reportedly, works well with Yahoo! Music Unlimited, Napster To Go and Rhapsody To Go subscription services.
The Vision:M’s battery life for music playback is at a good 14 hours.
Video
The Creative Zen Vision:M allows up to 4 hours of video playback and the screen makes the video quality look amazing. It has the capacity to store up to 120 hours of video playback.
The player allows you to view movies you’ve downloaded from the net, or any TV show that you recorded on TiVo personal video recorder.
Photos
Lastly, you can view literally tens of thousands of photos of yourself and your friends on the Creative Zen Vision:M. You can even place a picture as your background. If you want, there is also a feature that allows you to output your images on your TV.
Other Features
The Creative Zen Vision:M also comes packed with these great features:
- An FM tuner with 32 presets
- Built-in microphone
- Password protection
- Organizer
- Touch pad
- . . . and more
Besides black and white, the player also comes in blue, pink, and green (hmm that reminds me of the iPod minis).
The Creative Zen Vision:M costs $299.99 (US) and comes with a protective pouch, USB cable, AC adaptor, and earphones.
Head 2 Head
Out of curiosity I wanted to see which player was better in terms of value and features. So, here it is. Creative Zen Vision:M(30GB) vs. Apple iPod Video (30GB)
| Feature | Vision:M | iPod Video | Winner |
| Storage: | 30GB | 30GB | Both |
| Cost Per Gigabyte(GB): | $10.99 | $9.99 | Apple |
| Price: | $299.99 | $299.99 | Both |
| Battery Life (music): | 14 | 14 | Both |
| Battery Life (video): | 4 | 2 | Creative |
| Display: | 2.5″ | 2.5″ | Both |
| Screen Quality: | 4 times better than iPod | 4 times less than Vision:M | Creative |
| Dimensions: | 10.4 x 6.2 x 1.86cm | 10.4 x 6.0 x 1.1 cm | Apple |
| Colors: | 5 | 2 | Creative |
| Weight: | 163g | 136g | Apple |
| Download music from: | 5 sources | 1 source | Creative |
Well, I think Creative did beat Apple in some important areas, but I still think that the Apple iPod video has a more value for its money.
If you are looking for the extra features that the Creative Vision:M offers than I think it is a great deal. However, I feel that the price is just a bit steep when someone can get most of the features with the iPod.
For more information, check out the Creative Vision:M on Creative’s Website.
Technorati Tags: Gazotto, creative, music, mp3.
Rate The Gadget
December 23rd, 2005 at 1:53 pm
That is a very good post. You have all the essentials of what people would be questioning between the two devices. You give an opinion, but allow people to choose. Nice job.
January 16th, 2006 at 5:54 pm
Great review.
My only objection is the value for the money going to Apple. The Zen includes an AC adapter. This is a $40 accessory for the iPod which pushed the iPod cost over the Zen.
Otherwise, great review. Thanks!
April 17th, 2006 at 6:06 pm
creative all the way all other ones suck. ipod is a sh*t out of a camel that’s wut it is.
May 27th, 2006 at 7:44 pm
the only reason people get ipods is becuase of the name and the size not because they want the right quality
June 2nd, 2006 at 12:53 am
Nice post, creative 30 gb is $299.99 now so id say teh creative is the new winner
July 1st, 2006 at 10:06 pm
Ipod - winner
Creative - loser
July 2nd, 2006 at 5:34 am
this is exactly what i needed to know….my bday money is goin to 1 of these players…you have made my mind….well..almost…
nice review….helped alot!….
July 17th, 2006 at 2:56 am
The price of the Zen Vision M is now down to 299.99. If money was the factor that made the iPod won, it’s gone… my money is going to Creative.
July 23rd, 2006 at 9:32 pm
the zen doesn’t have have a better resolution. its screen only has 2,144 more colors than the ipods. But, still is alot more.
July 25th, 2006 at 6:55 pm
lolo said the creative ony has 2,144 more clors but really the creative has 265,000 colors and the ipod only has 65,000 thats 200,000 diffrence. not even close to what lolo said
August 4th, 2006 at 2:28 pm
i just bought my Creative Zen Vision:M from future shop.. and it was prices at $350 (CAD) .. the exact same as the Ipod Video
when i went to go buy it.. there were 2 different kind of boxes to chose from. i was told they both came with the adapter. i believed them so i got the smaler box. BIG MISTAKE.. cause it didnt come with the adapter..
i then had trouble with my computer detected my Zen.. i thought it was the zen’s fault (turns out it wasn’t, my puter was just old and effed up, but what ever.)
so i returned it they asked me what was wrong with it. I Told them that i had problems with my computer detecting the Zen. then she said:
“this is only the 2nd Creative Zen that has ever been returned. and i have 27 Ipods waiting to be fixed.”
now knowing that the 1st creative zen vision:m i bought was broken at all.. menaing only 1 had a problem.. and 27 IPOD ARE IN LINE FOR REPAIR.. like holy cow..
i’m very happy with my Creative Zen im a big fan of their product..
last year when i was looking for an mp3 player.. i bought the Creative zen Micro and all my friends all bought ipod mini.. mine still works perfectly.. and all theirs have something wrong with it.
August 6th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Haha good to hear Angelina,
I had a similar problem with the Creative Muvo Micro being detected in my computer, but I found out that I simply needed to update my drivers.
Glad it all worked out for you in the end.
August 7th, 2006 at 9:50 pm
Never Owned an ipod, probably never will. all my friends have them, a little more than a year ago i bought a creative zen touch, it worked great…. for a while, i dont blame the manufacturing though, i smashed the hell out of it, once i left it sitting in the snow for two days… and the rain, and all this after having been flung out of my backpack 20 feet onto an ice encrusted pond…, well when i picked it up it turned on and played right away, i was pretty impressed, considering my sister dropped her ipod 3 feet while in a protective case and it completly died, anyway i just bought the zen vision m, its on its way, i hope its as good as it sounds…got it for 264$ on amazon.com….. so yea i would say the price war is by far over (i eventually got rid of the zen touch because the headphone chip split away from the main one and so the sound stopped working… the player itself still works fine)
August 11th, 2006 at 8:00 am
Ok… Contrary to what u all have said… Creative mp3 players have alot of problems… In both my players that i got, the headphone jack broke after a while… And the LCD screen screwed up for the zen micro… And btw i had warranty but when i went back to the shop, they said it wasnt covered… On the other hand, my friend with ipod had his for 3 years and it didnt have a single problem… Which is an exact opposite of u guys… Lol… Btw im from singapore, and if u din know creative is a singaporean brand… So u would think that the service here would be better right? Apparently not…
August 12th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
Hello everyone,
I did a lot of research before getting the Creative Zen Vision:M. A friend of mine has the ipod video and I must say the Vision:M is much better quality. Don’t get me wrong, the ipod is really nice, but the Vision:M video quality is outstanding. Plus, I had no problems getting everything situated on my computer, and it came with all sorts of free trials so now I’ve got a ton of free music to go along with my new pet! Imagine 30 days unlimited free downloading and transferring. Using the Vision:M is effortless. A dummy could figure it out. Lastly, it came with a beautiful leather pouch with is clearly iciing on this media cake.
Cheers!
August 22nd, 2006 at 3:34 pm
Hi everyone, the comparison will always go back and forth but remember apple ipods have been around for a long time and controls over 70% of the market. Creative labs will always play catch up. Microsoft have even entered the game which pissed off everyone (except apple as they don’t use windows) Rio (remember them?) threw in the towel as did Dell (remember the pocket Dj?) support for the ipod is the reason I got one. Any problem I just email an appointment and head down to my local apple store, even their helpline is understandable (it’s here in the US not over in India or some other forign country) and everyone speaks english. although I don’t use my ipod for much video if I did I may lean toward Creative but I just purchased a new ibook and not sure if Creative is Apple friendly
September 16th, 2006 at 1:47 am
what irratates me hear is that you posted that the ipod is more bang for your buck. you got it backwards buddy. way backwards. the zen is miles ahead of the ipod.
January 2nd, 2007 at 12:10 am
after hours of sitting around reading these damn reviews, its simple, zen-is-better, more formats, better screen, more battery, sexier look, etc.. The only thing that id ever get ipod related, is that “iPood” tshirt.
gudnight everybody!!