Creative Zen Vision:M 30GB ready to kick ass

Posted on Wednesday, December 07 2005 @ 15:24 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
Creative's Zen Micro was a pretty good competitor to Apple's iPod mini and today Creative launched an impressive new portable media player: the Creative Zen Vision:M which is a clear attack at Apple's new iPod 5G.

The design has been ripped off a little bit from the iPod but I must say it looks pretty good. The Zen Vision:M will be available in white, black and green and features 30GB storage capacity. The player measures 62mm x 104mm x 19mm and weighs about 166g with the built-in li-ion battery included.

It features a large 2.5-inch 262,144 colour 320 x 240 pixels LCD display and supports more video formats than the iPod. The Zen Vision:M has support for the WMV, MPEG1/2/4, DivX 4/5 and XviD video formats and obviously it also supports a bunch of audio formats including MP3, WMA and WAV. You can also use it to display JPG photos up to 8 megapixels.

Media support:
  • MP3 (320kbps VBR)
  • WMA (320kbps DRM)
  • WAV (16 bit /48kHz)
  • WMV ( 320x240/700kbps and 320x240/436kbps)
  • MPEG4 and DivX 4/5, XviD (- 720x480/3mbps and 640x480/2mbps)
  • MPEG2 (640x480/2.5mbps and 640x480/2mbps)
  • MPEG1 (640x480/1.15mbps and 352x288/1.15mbps)
  • Motion-JPEG (640x480/2.5mbps)
  • JPG (8 megapixels)
  • Other features include: FM tuner, voice recording, FM radio recording, USB 2.0 support, Microsoft Outlook schedule, to do list and calendar synchronization, ...

    The player has a battery life of approx. 14 hours for music and 4 hours for video files. Based on the features and the looks I believe it may be a very good alternative for the Apple iPod. The only drawback may be the size of the Zen Vision:M. The new player from Creative measures 62mm x 104mm x 19mm while Apple's iPod G5 measures only 61.8mm x 103.5mm x 11m. So the new Zen Vision:M 30GB is almost twice as thick as the iPod.

    Creative announced it today in Japan for 39,800 yen (approx $329) and I guess it will be available worldwide within a couple of weeks.


    About the Author

    Thomas De Maesschalck

    Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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    Re: Creative Zen Vision:M 30GB ready to kick ass
    by Anonymous on Wednesday, December 07 2005 @ 16:32 CET
    Nice i like the green Zen Vision.

    Maybe i'll get one if it's available soon.