Creative’s Zen VisionM is a
great Apple iPod alternative.
We tested a 30GB shipping
mod el of the videoready
music de vice, which
possesses the finest color
screen we’ve ever seen on a
portable player.
The VisionM sounded
great, too, though audio co -
dec support is a bit weak—
with support for MP3, WMA,
and WAV, but not for AAC,
FLAC, or Ogg Vorbis formats.
Still, the player works nicely
with PlaysForSure subscription
ser vices such as Napster.
In addition, it carries an
FM tuner/recorder and a
voice re cord er. The VisionM
does more than play music. It
supplies a raft of options for
photo and video viewing on
the unit’s beautiful 320-by-
240-pixel screen. The device
supports enough video
codecs to keep video enthusiasts
happy, and an included
dongle lets you link the
player to a TV.
This means that you can
easily store any movie in
the player and watch it on
your friend’s big screen television—
without lugging
around your DVD player.
We had no trouble navigating
fi les on the VisionM,
thanks to the player’ s
touchpad in ter face. With
the touchpad at the default
sensitivity setting, a few
quick flicks of the thumb
allowed us to move through
lengthy lists of artists and al -
bums, though landing on a
specifi c selection was sometimes
challenging.
Unfortunately, the VisionM
has a few drawbacks when
compared to the 30GB videoready
iPod. For starters, it’s
about 1.5 times as thick, and
you need a dongle to charge
the player and sync fi les to it.
Also, its MediaSource application
needs work, especially
when matched against Apple’s
slick iTunes. If you can look
beyond these fl aws, however,
you’ll fi nd a capable portable
media player with useful features
and a stellar screen.
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