Criteria
Comments
Rating
- Sound quality No comments
- Video quality No comments
- Ease of use No comments
- Portability No comments
- Battery life No comments
- Media support No comments
- Capacity No comments
Detailed review
Creative. I just don't understand you. You had one of the best PMPs on the block (several, actually; there was the wide screen cousin to the Vision:M, the Vision:W and the mini swiss army knife that was the V Plus) and yet you failed to keep it current with the rest of the market. Instead, you were content to release the buggy piece of crap that was the Zen. It's just sad...
Anywho, back to the Vision:M. It plays video. It plays almost any codec. It plays those files with no conversion. Just drag, drop and go (in most instances - there are a few breeds of DivX it doesn't love and MKV packaged files are right out). Music-wise, it's fine. Pretty standard stuff there. And like the V Plus, the menu is almost completely customizable. Available in capacity up to 60 GB, it's the perfect sized theater on-the-go. And when you get to where you're going, it's easy to hook it up to a big screen with the included dongle and separately purchased composite A/V cable.
Problems: It never had a flash memory successor (subsequent Creative models lacked the codec support the Vision:M enjoyed). It's battery life is nothing to brag about - good in the yesteryear of the 5th gen iPod, atrocious by today's standards. The capacitive touch strip scroller was overly sensitive most times. And the fit and finish wasn't the best: overall it was a solid device, but the face buttons tend to feel flimsy and it scratches as easy as the 5th gen iPod did.
In looking at what has come out since, I'm not sure there is a viable competitor to the Vision:M in terms of versatility. However, being that it is HDD based and has a non-removable battery, the lack of a Vision:M successor means that this great PMP will, sooner rather than later, fade into gadget history.
Anywho, back to the Vision:M. It plays video. It plays almost any codec. It plays those files with no conversion. Just drag, drop and go (in most instances - there are a few breeds of DivX it doesn't love and MKV packaged files are right out). Music-wise, it's fine. Pretty standard stuff there. And like the V Plus, the menu is almost completely customizable. Available in capacity up to 60 GB, it's the perfect sized theater on-the-go. And when you get to where you're going, it's easy to hook it up to a big screen with the included dongle and separately purchased composite A/V cable.
Problems: It never had a flash memory successor (subsequent Creative models lacked the codec support the Vision:M enjoyed). It's battery life is nothing to brag about - good in the yesteryear of the 5th gen iPod, atrocious by today's standards. The capacitive touch strip scroller was overly sensitive most times. And the fit and finish wasn't the best: overall it was a solid device, but the face buttons tend to feel flimsy and it scratches as easy as the 5th gen iPod did.
In looking at what has come out since, I'm not sure there is a viable competitor to the Vision:M in terms of versatility. However, being that it is HDD based and has a non-removable battery, the lack of a Vision:M successor means that this great PMP will, sooner rather than later, fade into gadget history.
good review!
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