Creative Technology ZEN Vision:M (30 GB) Black Digital Media Player

First Impressions

I guess first you should know that I have read a lot of reviews about the Creative Zen Media Version and had decided to initially stay away from it. I had suspected that I would come home with a new Apple IPOD Media Version. However, after talking with multiple people at four different electronic stores who highly recommended the Vision over the IPOD, I decided to give the Creative Zen M a shot.

Quantity of Video and Audio

What amazed me about the Zen was that over 96 CDs fit into less than 1 gigabyte of its space. That means on the creative’s massive 30 gigabyte hard drive you could store hundreds of thousands of CD's on it. But as a movie person, I was more interested in the 48 DVD movies that would be responsible for keeping me entertained.

No Lag Time - Exceptional Video Quality

Unlike the reports I had read in other comparisons of the ZEN to the IPOD, the Zen never was showed in lag time during movie playback. The video clarity was also exceptional when compared to the IPOD media player. I mean, the video playback quality was really, really, exceptional.

VIDEO

I never once found the size of the screen a distraction and once I began watching a movie it was like watching a movie on a big TV.

FM Radio, Digital Audio Recorder, file Storage, Camera Backup
I have not used these features yet.

Audio Playback

The audio features for the Zen are wonderful with all kinds of features. I personally stuck to playing a particular album and didn't use the DJ, shuffle, play list, etc. I did however love its equalizer and bass features. When I was not watching movies, I used the Zen primarily for music everywhere I went.

Photos

Since the Zen has such an excellent digital screen with awesome clarity, showing photos on it is ideal. I loaded up three digital archives from my computer on to my ZEN.

Navigational

While it did take a about a week to become really familiar with the navigational controls of the Zen, it was pretty simple once I got the hang of it.

As a traveler to places like Mexico and Japan, I 100% enthusiastically recommend the Creative Zen Media Player, especially if you are a movie addict.
I will personally never travel without it again, especially on a 15 hour flight internationally.