Zen Vision:M owners

[Atheist]

I'm thinking about getting this player (in green ) to replace an aging Karma. I want to get your thoughts on the player.

How is the mp3 playback sound quality? The radio's?

What would you change about the player?

What made you buy the Zen Vision:M?

Do you watch video clips on the player?

Is it easy to navigate? Is the touch pad too sensitive?

Is the player durable or extrememly fragile? In any particular place?

What's your normal battery life?

Can you jostle the player without it locking up? (like running, putting it in your pocket while riding a lawn mower)

I see that the player does not have gapless palyback. Is there a noticeable gap?​

I want to get my hands on one at a store, but I'm on Oxycondone right now for a tonsilectomy, so I don't know when that's going to happen. And I don't want an iPod.

 

[badbadtz560]

How is the mp3 playback sound quality? The radio's?

My radio came defective.. i'll get that fixed before 1-year is up.. mp3 playback quality is as good if not better than ipods. It also has xvid and divx video capability instead of whatever lame thing ipods force u to use... or so i heard. (i've never owned an ipod)

What would you change about the player?

It's quite thick... very easily scratched... and definately needs accessories like a remote control. I hate the navigation interface on all these godforsaken mp3 players... i just want a file explorer thing... to have it organize my music by the folder name that its in... just like windows

What made you buy the Zen Vision:M?

cause it was better than the ipod video in every way

Do you watch video clips on the player?

I love watching music videos. On occasion, i'll load a movie on it and connect it to the tv for everybody to watch. It's like a portable hardrive that plays the movies on it.... this function alone makes it worth the price in my opinion.

u dl movies or tv shows onto your comp, load it to the vision M, and play it on the tv. The ipod video lacks the xvid and divx i believe

Is it easy to navigate? Is the touch pad too sensitive?

like i said.. i hate the navigation and organization, but the touchpad works great b/c u can adjust the sensitivity.

Is the player durable or extrememly fragile? In any particular place?

Very easily scratched. Other than that... I don't know.. i kind of baby the thing

What's your normal battery life?

enough to get from GA to china... which is all i cared about

Can you jostle the player without it locking up? (like running, putting it in your pocket while riding a lawn mower)

I dont' recommend running... riding a lawn mower i bet is fine tho

I see that the player does not have gapless palyback. Is there a noticeable gap?

hell if i know or care... it plays music just fine as far as i'm concerned.. i dont' notice those minor details

 

[Enrickey]

I see that the player does not have gapless palyback. Is there a noticeable gap?

Define noticeable. Some players like the iAudio X5 have a 1/32nd of a second gap, which, thanks to man's great ears, is noticeable, but it isn't annoying or anything. The only DAP which is fully gapless is the Rio Karma, but it is no longer manufactured, and it is very difficult to find.

 

[Atheist]

Yeah, I've got the Karma. It's a good player, but it's fragile, (and consequently partially broken) and lacks the features of newer players like a color screen, FM tuner, and video playback.

By noticeable I mean do you notice the gaps between songs when you listen to music on your Zen Vision:M?

 

[Blown 89]

How is the mp3 playback sound quality? The radio's?
The sound quality is fine. For being MP3's it's not bad, the EQ helps a tad too. I wish the EQ had a few more bands though. The radio reception is actually pretty fantastic. It's much better than two of my standalone FM players. I use the recording option a few times a week, great feature IMO, I just wish you could turn the screen off while recording

What would you change about the player?
Screen off during record.
More comprehensive EQ
Removable battery
Get rid of the stupid dongle connector. If you want a good alternative go to www.gomadic.com

What made you buy the Zen Vision:M?
It's the best video player on the market and better than the ipod by a country mile. The ipod has a 2 hour video battery life which is an absolute joke IMO, that and the screen were the deal breakers for the ipod. Divx/Xvid support were huge too. Let me just go on record as saying that everything it offers made me buy it over the ipod.

Do you watch video clips on the player?
I watch video more than I listen to music. In fact I just watched Smokey and the Bandit at work a few minutes ago. The video playback on it is awesome and the Divx/Xvid support is an absolute godsend since everything on the net is in that format.

Is it easy to navigate? Is the touch pad too sensitive?
The touchpad has variable sensitivity, I'm not a fan of touchpads but I''ve gotten used to it. The side buttons are a nice feature. Navigation is an absolute breeze. Everything is categorized and the speed scroll is very nice. I especially like the option to right click your touchpad to bring up the letter menu. ZZ Top is the last band on my player so I right click, go to Z and I'm there.....no scrolling down the entire menu like everyone on the net thinks you have to do. Go to www.anythingbutipod.com or the Creative forums and look up the list of shortcuts, there are a few that I can't live without. Check them out, they should be stickied.

Is the player durable or extrememly fragile? In any particular place?
The buttons scratch very easy but there's a nice alternative to that. Go to http://www.shieldzone.com/ and get the full body shield, that's the only protection I have on mine and I have yet to scratch it despite my best efforts. If it will hold up to a hard and purposefull scrap on a concreate sidewalk it will hold up to anything. I did drop my first one and the pain on the inside of the button broke off so I returned it. That's the only problem I've had, other than that I put mine through absolute hell and it keeps ticking.

What's your normal battery life?
I get 4.5 to 5 hours watching video but have no idea what the mp3 life is like since it's hard to measure something that lasts that long.

Can you jostle the player without it locking up? (like running, putting it in your pocket while riding a lawn mower)
I haven't had a problem with mine locking up but if you're going to do something like that I suggest picking up a flash based player too. You can get a couple of gigs for around $100. Any hard drive based player is going to hate life if you're banging it around.

 

[Atheist]

Thanks for the responses, guys. Once I get some funds freed up, I'll probably go get one of these.