Review Of With Creative’s Zen Vision:M, The iPod Alternative

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With all the hype around Apple's iPod, I don't think many people are looking into alternatives. Recently I got my hands on Creative's Zen:M mp3 player, and think it's great. It has 30 gigs for music, videos, and pictures. Along with the typical media formats you can also use it as a storage device for any type of file. Its color screen makes watching music videos or going through your photo gallery on slideshow mode a breeze. It also has a very nice feature Apple's doesn't; an FM tuner. Like the Microsoft's Zune you can preset your favorite radio stations on one of its 31 presets. The reception is as good as a normal radio, meaning it comes in clearly in my basement, or driving down the highway. Its touch pad control in the center is nice as well, because unlike Apple's you can tap it once or slide your finger on it to get to the next song or menu. This makes it easier to get to specific menus without over shooting it.

The physical size of the mp3 player is a bit big, and it feels slightly bulky in your hand. The menu controls can be somewhat confusing sometimes, especially configuring the FM tuner. When you're listening to a song, and want to go back to the main menu, the song you're currently playing will shut off. I consider this a major downside because you can't search through your music while listening to a song. The ear buds that come with it are slightly more comfortable for your ears, but still hurt after a long period of time. I'm not sure which types of ear buds you can buy that don't hurt. For now I'll stick with older ones.

Overall this is a great mp3/video player. It has all the features of the iPod, with only a few downsides. Even the price at $200 is a great deal. The downsides are minimal and easily overcome. I think the FM tuner is a great addition if you're sick of the same old music as well.

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