Look at what I got! (Now with a 1 day impression of the Zen Vision:M)

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Normally I don't post these things, but I couldn't resist a dig. :P Click images for larger ones.

http://pixels.dysorder.org/visionmbox1_1.jpg (http://pixels.dysorder.org/visionmbox1.jpg)

http://pixels.dysorder.org/visionmbox2_1.jpg (http://pixels.dysorder.org/visionmbox2.jpg)

http://pixels.dysorder.org/visionmbox3_1.jpg (http://pixels.dysorder.org/visionmbox3.jpg)

http://pixels.dysorder.org/visionm1_1.jpg (http://pixels.dysorder.org/visionm1.jpg)

http://pixels.dysorder.org/visionm2_1.jpg (http://pixels.dysorder.org/visionm2.jpg)

http://pixels.dysorder.org/visionm3_1.jpg (http://pixels.dysorder.org/visionm3.jpg)

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Having used this for one day, I thought I'll give some impressions of the player. I'll start with the rants first:

Connecting the device is a bit of a pain. Like the iAudio/Cowan X5 series, the Zen Vision:M uses a dongle attached to its main port before you can charge or connect it. You'd think the size of the player would mean such an annoying contraption be unnecessary, but no... Still, the presence of the dongle has never hurt the popularity of the X5 series, with scores of zombies on digital audio forums on the Internet droning "Buy the X5, buy the X5!" whenever someone asks for a recommendation.

Upon connection, I thought I'd try to skirt around installing more software on my computer by using MTP to manage files on the player. Well, I thought wrong. MTP is a terrible way to manage advanced media players. It only allows copying over of music files it recognises, and movies cannot be copied with it. Also, like most protocols that give you a faux Explorer interface, there's very little you can do in there. For example, copying files from one folder to another for tidier file management is impossible.

Combined with the really retarded way the basic software (not Media Source, which I didn't install) handled the way of adding files to the Zen, I was left with an experience which nearly made me vomit blood, literally. Firstly, the Creative software adds files based on the directory structure present on your computer. So if say, you have E:\Video\1.avi and E:\Funnies\2.avi, you'll get directories of Video\ and Funnies\ on the drive. Problem now comes when you want to combine the videos into one directory, you simply can't. As a result I have almost just as many folders as video files (15 files in 10 folders), and going through them is a real pain as videos in the Zen use the file-directory structure for navigation.

On the topic of navigation, I much prefer that for navigating my music, but that's another rant. The Zen Vision:M uses an ID3 tag database to organise music, and while it's logically laid out for the most part, I do have an issue with how the player handles a particular way I use my music.Firstly, if you're in shuffle mode, and you start playing a song from a category (Artist/Album etc), it'll start with the song that is being highlighted. Not so random then. Thus you might think, why not start by selecting the category instead of dropping into it? Ah, but the problem comes as the option on the drop-down menu is "Add to Selected", which means your previous songs being played will remain in play, which oftentimes is something I don't want. So the tedious approach to how I'm selecting my songs is a multi-tap and scroll affair of going to the "Remove" option, selecting "Remove All Tracks", scrolling to the "Yes" option to confirm removing all the tracks, hitting the "Back" button a few times to get to the level I want in the Music Library, then finding the category I want, and only THEN I hit "Add to Selected" to start. :roll:

Geez, you'd think they should have the simple option of "Play This Now" or something.

Edit: Whee, now the Play/Pause button works for the purpose I was whining about. Odd that it produced no response when I tried it for the first time. Maybe the button was really stiff then. :P

Moving beyond the annoying aspects of the player, I must say the screen is really nice. Comparing some photos between my calibrated screen and the Zen Vision:M's screen, the Zen's screen is a touch more yellow, giving it a warmer feel. Other than that it is pretty much spot on. Anime is nice and fluid, but real life scenes might show slight banding, as sometimes even 262 thousand colours isn't enough.

The touchpad, I feel, is a step back from the Zen Micro Photo. While I do like the touchpad being able to rock left and right, allowing some really nice navigational capabilities like combing through your songs via the first alphabet, it's once again over-sensitive. Not as bad as the original Zen Micro, but not as good as the Zen Micro Photo. On the latter, I never had the device mistake a slight scroll as a tap, but it has happened a few times on the Zen Vision:M.

The good news though, is that the other buttons are now tactile in nature. While some complain about the stiffness, I like the feel the buttons have. Now all that is left to do is to follow Apple and have the "Select" function be tactile aswell and seperate from the "Scroll" area!

Sound-wise, it seems fine to me. That said, I thought the Treo 600 sounds ok too, though I'm sure the purists will disagree, and scream in aghst at me for not testing it with a headphone amp. Oh well.

Finally, if you buy black, you cannot escape its curse. It scratches just as easily as a black iPod. You have been warned!

To conclude, If you're chosing between the iPod 5g and this, it's a tough call, but for me, the thickness wasn't an issue, and the screen and the ability to navigate via jumping through the first alphabet only was a factor. The syncing affair is a pain, but then again, I wouldn't have used iTunes if I bought an iPod. The touchpad is probably where the Zen Vision:M falls; like I mentioned above, putting the scroll and selection functions to the same control makes for a somewhat aggravating affair at times.

Overall, it's still a nice device, and I'm expecting some tweaks to it as well as some third-party software will make me feel less aggrieved over the areas I mentioned above. I'm not regretting my purchase, but I'm thinking how much better it can be, if not for the little details.

[Chris Gohlke]

The earbuds pictured are not the ones that come with it correct? If they are, this player becomes a screaming deal because they cost around $100.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Yup, they were purchased seperately a while back. It'd really have been too good a deal if that were the case. However the bundled earphones shouldn't be too bad, I think. They appear to be Audio Technica OEMs, given the style. Perhaps they're based on the ATH-CM3.

[sojourner753]

Lee,

Do you have any experience with the ipod? I'm looking to replace a 2nd Gen 10GB iPod. If you're answer is yes, than I'd like to know what you're thoughts on how the overall experiences compare.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Lee,

Do you have any experience with the ipod? I'm looking to replace a 2nd Gen 10GB iPod. If you're answer is yes, than I'd like to know what you're thoughts on how the overall experiences compare.

I have limited experience with the iPod, and only from the 3G one. Also I never used iTunes (since they weren't my iPods to begin with).

The one thing I liked abou the iPods is that the selection and navigation controls are seperate. Use the wheel to scroll, and the centre of the wheel to select. On the Zen, the touch strip does both. Till now there are times the player thinks I've selected something when I justed wanted it to scroll down a line. Like I mentioned above, the Zen Micro Photo I used didn't have a hiccup, but the Vision:M did within the first few minutes.

Navigation can be a bit confusing. The Back button isn't quite as intuitive as the Menu button on the iPod, partly because when you combine it with the My Shortcut button set to go to the Music Library, the navigation history can go to many levels deep, as using the "Shortcut" button to bring up the Music Library menu is akin to starting a new level of navigation. Once I had to hit it 6-7 times before I was at the top level of the menus.

The Options button (which acts like a right-click) is something I like. It acts like a shortcut to some functions, or simply gives more options (as per the name). For example, I can switch views between Albums and all tracks while looking at an Artiste's music, or I can call the Play Mode menu while playing to switch between shuffling and repeat (or a combination). In a way it makes up for the shortcoming I described above.

Overall though, I think they're pretty much equal. Navigation is a bit better for me in the Zen, save for the touchpad's inability to guess my actions on occasion. I think it really boils down to a matter of preference, very much like cameras.

[sojourner753]

Lee,
You mentioned that you were expecting somet tweaks. Do you mean from Creative ?
Do they they have a history of updating their devices post release?
What software (if any) are you using to manage your music? Jason?

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Creative has a decent history of updating their firmware. Every major player they have has at least one update.

I use a system of folders to manage my music. It's simple and works for me. Which is kinda why I'm not too hot on ID3 tags for navigation.

[sojourner753]

Okay, that settles it. I've decided to pass on the Cowon X5 and just ordered the Zen:M for 319.00USD from Buy.com

[sojourner753]

My M just arrived. Here's my 1 hour impression. The Install CD wont run. It keeps saying that the InstallShield or Demoshield or whatever encountered an error.

I've unintstalled iTunes, but can't seem to get QuickTime off my machine. Its not in the Add/Remove list, and its uninstall under the Start Menu just runs and stops.

:bad-words:

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

That's odd! But if you're only interested in music, you can use the MTP way of transferring music for now (it's faster than the Creative software too).

[sojourner753]

That's odd! But if you're only interested in music, you can use the MTP way of transferring music for now (it's faster than the Creative software too).

I've had relative success just using WM10. By MTP do you mean just use file explorer? Sorry I just got it out of the box last night, and in true techgeek fashion I only skimmed the manual.

Edit: Okay, don't answer that. I got it. Apparently the device creates the ID3 database and not the desktop software. Thats good.

[sojourner753]

Okay so now that I'm happy with my M, where are all the cool cases? Ipods have designer cases the day after they're announced.

I'm over the whole naked M thing. :)

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

There are no cases beyond the Creative one that I know of in the market as of this post. The downside (or upside, depending on your POV) of not buying an iPod.

However, there is an InvisibleShield for the Zen Vision:M now. http://www.theinvisibleshield.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=335

[sojourner753]

I was browsing over at boxwave and found this Flexiskin case (http://www.boxwave.com/products/flexiskin/flexiskin-creative-zen-vision-m_1128.htm).

Oh, and this (http://www.boxwave.com/products/bundles/flexiskin-armband/flexiskin-with-armband-creative-zen-vision-m_1128.htm) one with an arm band.