Creative Zen Vision:W

[Zeus's Uncle]

If anyone around here ends up getting this player, holla!
http://www.epizenter.net/comment.php?comment.news.179

I'd love to hear the thoughts of anyone who gets this player, especially if you've been going for high capacity player in the past. I stayed away from things like the A2, NW-HD5, and X5L because they couldn't match 40 gigs or more. I was already at capacity with my 40 gig ipod, so anything that had serious video capability would have to at least equal that since I'd want both a lot of music and a lot of video on it. Compact Flash slot is rockin, I wonder what else they'll cram into that thing for release.

[Martinp]

I dunnow, I don't think it looks that good to be honest. You might want to have a look at the Archos 604. I think that will be available in a 160 GB version too.

[Zeus's Uncle]

Whawhawhaaaaaa? 160? I would so be into that. My friend has had an archos player for like 5 or 6 years, those things last.

Edit: Man, I thought that was a typo, but ... http://reviews.cnet.com/Archos_604_30GB/4505-6499_7-32027903-2.html

Removeable battery, that was one thing I like about my friend's archos, it runs on AAs.

[afruff23]

This is more of an A2 comparison than an X5 comparison.

[Zeus's Uncle]

Perhaps the device has more features inline with the feature set of the A2, however I'm interested in what X5 users who get a chance to see, use or buy the ZVW think of the player. Specifically those of us who are high capacity nuts, as I pointed out in the original post the A2 didn't make the grade for me due to it's lower capacity. So if any of you X5 users, or those of you who are generally on the prowl for high capacity audio players decide to check out this player if/when it hits the market, let us all know what you think.

PS - I read all replies to my topics.

[Zeus's Uncle]

Looks like the link in my original post doesn't have the picture anymore, I'll leave it up in case it comes back, but creative has a product page for the ZVW now ... though only the 30 gig has a price tag, and boy is it high.

http://sg.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=15752&nav=0

[Martinp]

Moved the post to the A2 forum for the simple reason that this is really the appropriate place for this thread.

[mssx]

nope. still not upto the mark as the A2 and the new korean pmps! i was surprised to see they stuck a 480 x 272 screen capable of showing only 262400 colors...a big screen like this should at least show 16 million colors...

there is no USB OTG feature. u have to buy the optional CF card reader for file transfer. we can do that with a 'cheaper' card reader.
battery life is 4.5 hours for video in the creaivr site..so in reality it will be like 3.5 or 4 hours max.
i like the idea of the IR remote and the fact that it can play drmed WMA.but we have fairuse now!! ;)

i would pass. i would even go for the archos 604 but not this. i saw a LOT of bad experiences with the ZV by users in their forum

oh and i forgot..theres no video or audio recording and no OGG or FLAC playback. its not a divx certified product.... nah this isn't for us...

[Scarpad]

If anyone around here ends up getting this player, holla!
http://www.epizenter.net/comment.php?comment.news.179

I'd love to hear the thoughts of anyone who gets this player, especially if you've been going for high capacity player in the past. I stayed away from things like the A2, NW-HD5, and X5L because they couldn't match 40 gigs or more. I was already at capacity with my 40 gig ipod, so anything that had serious video capability would have to at least equal that since I'd want both a lot of music and a lot of video on it. Compact Flash slot is rockin, I wonder what else they'll cram into that thing for release.

I considered it sice I own a Zen M and wanted something Larger, I ended up ordering the A2. The W is Nice and for a little bit more $100 you can get a 60gb, but I liked the A2's Recording option I'm not sure I'd use it but its nice to have out side the box. I was impressed how users said the screen looked great even in bright light, and also how I can use it with my Mac Mini and My PC, something I definately cannot do with the Creative

[omjeremy]

The price on the Creative site is in singapore dollars. It's about $420 when converted to USD.

[thomasfletcher]

I really think Archos should hire someone to do better designs, theyre so vile and almost "2nd world war shrapnel" looking..... I guess if i was a big butch with a lust for techno music and shitty actionflicks, i would buy Acrhos. Ofcourse i understand that people buy them fro functionality, but hey their design is so 90´s.

But i guess im shallow.... concerning creative i think their biggest problems are their build quality. Everyone i know who has either zen micro or vision:m are complaining. Ofcourse vision:m is better built.... also the way they launch firmware is ridicolous.

[mssx]

yup, i also think their designs should be improved. that was one of the major reasons for me not to buy the Archos AV500.(and their poor music quality compared to A2)

[T.p.M]

Every new PMP that cames out to the market makes me happier cause the A2 is so good!!!! there are no competitors to COWON.. (:
The only player which will be better than the A2 will be a COWON'S successor "A3" or something.

Glad to be an A2 owner **** Archos and Creative ((:

[thomasfletcher]

I agree...... i think its a massive sign of quality and status (beyond the actual device, which reeks of consumer respect) that noone has matched the a2 yet. kudos, to cowon for that.

[mssx]

yeah i won't be going for any of these PMPs and not even the ones from Korea cos they are not as famous or that good in the customer service part. plus the sound quality iAudios can produce. it's either the A3 or nothing

[thomasfletcher]

Im not too impressed by vision w, it looks so thick. Atleast. And im not really into creative anymore, theyve dissapointed me for years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBP_3OM82LU
http://www.guidedbyformat.com/shit/zen/1.jpg

PS: notice in the video how the player skips when playing video from the beginning 0.4sec to 0.7sec, and how long it takes..... hmmmm, kinda sad.

[austinv]

i like the design a lot but the codec support is lacking, as usual from Creative. it doesn't do AC3, OGG, or FLAC.... meaning it's useless to me. too bad. easy to fix, although i doubt they will.

[Zeus's Uncle]

It might look thick, but it's not. Comparing the 30 gig to the 30 gig, it's the exact same thickness as the A2 (22 mm). Naturally, if you want 60 gig this does increase the thickness to 26.4 mm. The A2 & the ZVW have almost the exact same dimensions, except the ZVW has a larger screen (4.3" instead of 4"). The ZVW is also lighter, the 60 gig version is lighter than the 30 gig A2. So when looking at the physical measurements, I think the round goes to ZVW.

A2 dimensions (30 gig) : 133 X 78 X 22 mm
ZVW dimensions (30 gig): 134mm x 75mm x 22mm
ZVW dimensions (60 gig): 134mm x 75mm x 26.4mm

A2 weight: 298g
ZVW 30 gig weight: 276g
ZVW 60 gig wegith: 297.1g

Edit: PS - I checked the prices on newegg, ignore that $649 price tag on creative's website, newegg has the 30 gig of both for the same price.

[hobo]

THe device looks good except for the fact that i don't like the interface anymore. Creative uses the same interface on nearly all their products now. I think Creative should be well more creative. I would love to see something new. To me the new vision W is just a wider vision M.

P.S. It still cannot do line-in video

[thomasfletcher]

It might look thick, but it's not. Comparing the 30 gig to the 30 gig, it's the exact same thickness as the A2 (22 mm). Naturally, if you want 60 gig this does increase the thickness to 26.4 mm. The A2 & the ZVW have almost the exact same dimensions, except the ZVW has a larger screen (4.3" instead of 4"). The ZVW is also lighter, the 60 gig version is lighter than the 30 gig A2. So when looking at the physical measurements, I think the round goes to ZVW.

A2 dimensions (30 gig) : 133 X 78 X 22 mm
ZVW dimensions (30 gig): 134mm x 75mm x 22mm
ZVW dimensions (60 gig): 134mm x 75mm x 26.4mm

A2 weight: 298g
ZVW 30 gig weight: 276g
ZVW 60 gig wegith: 297.1g

Edit: PS - I checked the prices on newegg, ignore that $649 price tag on creative's website, newegg has the 30 gig of both for the same price.

what i was trying to say, but failed to say was: The Zen Vision W looks "CHUBBY" and "VULGAR" where the a2 looks "CUTE" and "SLIM". The same thing with their Vision:m, it looks "CHUBBY" and feels that way too..... maybe creative should start thinking about some vertical striped clothing than can make their devices look skinnier....he he.[cool]

[hobo]

chubby stuff can be an advantage. You can hold the player better and anyway i have a zen vision M and it isn't that chubby. They needed to increases its thickness to add stuff which the ipod doesn't have such as a fm tuner and voiice recorder.

[roger767]

Whats up with these PMPs that can't play ac3?

[PerlAddict]

I love the CF slot, but I won't even consider a PMP without line-in and AC3 support now.

[Ctrl Freak]

I swear...it's either the Zen Vision W or he A2.

I like the 16M Colors and the huge battery life, but a little worried about the non-replaceable battery, I plan to keep this for more than 3 years since I don't have a rich amount of money. Ar...so hard to choose!

[hobo]

I haven't yet seen anyone on this forum who has got his/her battery replaced. I have had mine for a little less than a year now and the battery hasn't even changed a bit. I listen to music 5 hours a week and at the end of a week only a bar has gone.

[jaqian]

I own a Zen Sleek and I have to say its a great mp3 player but there are a few things that annoy me about it:

1) you have to use their software to transfer music to it
2) hardly any FW updates
3) horrible support (maybe they are trying to emulate Apple too much)

But its still better than an iPod :)

Cowon though just blows me away. The amount of FW updates, codec support etc are amazing. Also draging and dropping the files is so handy.

[Ctrl Freak]

Noob here, what is Ac3?

I contacted Cowon and they said a replacement battery would be around $55-$65 US. Not bad considering Creative charges $80...

So, with the double battery life would it last 5-6 years since the most PMP's say 2-3 years?

[Zeus's Uncle]

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

All lithium-ion batteries are going to drop in their capacity due to storage charge levels, storage temperature, charge cycles, and simply time (even if not used). If you use it at about 80 degrees F, you can expect to lose about 20% capacity after a year. But once you run through a lot of charge cycles and increase the internal resistance of the battery significantly, it doesn't matter how much charge it originally stored, the resistance is going to be too great for it to deliver the current you need even though the battery can actually hold a significant amount of charge.

AC3 is a version of the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 sound codec. It goes by tons of names, Dobly Digital, AC-3, Adaptive Transform Coder 3. It's just another audio codec, but one big advantage is the 6 channels (often called 5.1 for center, front right, front left, back right, back left, and low frequency or subwoofer being the point-one).

[mssx]

hey ZU thanks for the info about Li-ion batteries. but are you saying that in colder countries the battery should last longer?

[Zeus's Uncle]

It's simply a matter of ambient temperature when stored, so yes, it should last longer. Check out that link for a further details, but if it was always 80 it wouldn't last as long as if it were always 40. I mean it's not exact, and small differences will likely have less impact than other factors. If you read that page and other pages on that site a couple of times you'll get a better understanding.