Creative ZEN Vision:M 30 GB MP3 and Video Player (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've had my Zen M for about 2 months now so I think I have a good feel for what it's pros and cons are. Here you go:
Pros: Beautiful and Bright Screen (displays thousands of more colors than the Ipod video by the way). Even at 50% brightness (which is default setting out of the box) it looks bright!
Ability to Customize most of the features. This includes being able to set your own photos for the wallpaper, custom equilizer, custom brightnes setting, custom shortcut button, organization of folders(audio, photo, video folders)...etc.
Great Sound! This isn't a surprise because Creative develops sound hardware/software like soundcards.
Good User Interface: The thumb scroller interface takes a few days to get used to, then it's pretty user friendly. You can customize the sensitivity of it too.
Ability to play lots of different video files like Divx and Mpg4.
This was a big selling point for me. The screen is perfect for watching cartoons and anime on.
Good Size. I'm refering to it's physical size. It's actually the perfect size and feels great in your hand. Still pocketable and still feels rock solid and not fragile.
Displays Album cover art! I had trouble with this function in the beginning only because in order to get it to display the album art correctly, you need to rip the Cd album with a program that automatically downloads album info including art. One program that does this is Windows Media Player.
--For the techies that don't want to re-rip everything to get the album art to display, just download a small jpeg image of the album cover that is about 150 by 150 pixels, rename it folder.jpg, make it a hidden file and place it in the folder of the correct album. When you move it to your player it will ask you whether you want to move it to the photo folder, make sure you select "no" and leave it where it is.
Cons: There isn't a lot about this player that is negative. But one aspect which is really annoying is that to charge it or plug it to the computer you have to use this tiny seperate adapter that comes in the box. It's the white adapter/attachment that looks like a dock connector. What the heck were they thinking! I have to carry the separate item everywhere I go just in case I need to charge it or upload music. It sucks man! Why the heck didn't they just build all of the ports into the player itself!!
Also, they should've included the video output cable instead of selling it separately! Or at least made it use a standard video cable! Also, the battery is not removable... at least not meant to be.
These are the only reasons why I gave this player 4 out of 5 stars. Otherwise I would have given 5 out of 5! All in All this player really rocks and is worth every penny! ... and is a much better buy then the "other" competition out there.
Hope this is helpful to you guys. If it is, please give me a vote. Thanks!
For more electronics and technology reviews, visit my site at:
http://newtechnews.blogspot.com/

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The ZEN Vision:M MP3 and Video Player lets you take all your movies, music, and photos in a light, pocket-sized device that is loaded with 30 GB of memory. At this capacity you can carry tens of thousands of photos, 120 hours of movies (500 Kbps MPEG4-SP), or up to 15,000 songs (WMA encoded at 64 Kbps), all in the palm of your hand. You can also tune in the radio (32 station presets), record your favorite talk show, or make personal voice memos with the built-in microphone.
Today's big-screen blockbuster, yesterday's picnic home video, and even your favorite TV shows--they all now fit in your pocket and are ready to be shared. ZEN Vision:M supports many video formats, such as AVI, DivX 4 and 53, XviD4, MPEG-1, -2, -SP, WMV9, and Motion-JPEG, which simply means you have more choices and less restrictions. Instead of busting out your wallet to show snapshots of your kids, you can enlist the ZEN Vision:M to give viewers a glimpse of your precious memories--tens of thousands of them. In 262,144 vivid colors and 320 x 240 resolution, complete with a thumbnail gallery, this device makes it easy to scroll through your entire photo collection. Of course, music files are a big portion of anyone's digital canvas. Perfect for taking with you on the road or just around the house, this device makes all your music sound as good as the ZEN Vision:M looks. And with eight preset EQ settings and 97 dB signal-to-noise ratio, you can fine-tune your listening experience for any musical genre.

You can also connect the ZEN Vision:M to a projector or TV with the included AV cable, and put on a big show from this little device. Synchronize music files with photo or video montages for a taste of spectacular, personalized big-screen magic. Viewing images on this device is a pleasant experience. The 2.5-inch, high-definition LCD screen features a 320 x 240 resolution and hundreds of thousands of colors. What this means is you see crisp, clear detail in every movie and photo, even under bright light.

Creative didn't skimp on design, either. The ZEN Vision:M features an ergonomic design with an innovative touchpad control that enables quick, comfortable access to menus and settings. And you'll get loads more playback time with the built-in rechargeable battery. Enjoy up to 13 hours of music or 4.5 hours of movies on a single charge. The optional extended-life battery pack lets you double playback time, so you can enjoy days of uninterrupted entertainment. Other features include a personal organizer that you sync with Microsoft Outlook and an integrated voice recorder that can store hundreds of hours worth of recordings. Take a closer look at all the ZEN Vision:M features.

The ZEN Vision:M MP3 and Video Player uses PlaysForSure technology. Look for the PlaysForSure logo if you're shopping for a portable music or video device and you want to make sure the digital music and video you purchase will play back on it every time. Match the PlaysForSure logo on a large selection of leading devices and online music stores. If you see the logo, you'll know your digital music will play for sure. Choose from a large number of digital music and video stores, including MTV's Urge, Rhapsody, Yahoo!, MSN Music, MusicMatch, MusicNow, Napster, Wal-Mart Music Downloads, and many more.

What's in the Box Creative ZEN Vision:M, earphones, sync adapter, USB 2.0 adapter, pouch, user's guide, and installation CD. Note: As of July 2006, Creative no longer ships the ZEN M with the AC power adapter.

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Creative Live Cam Video IM Pro Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this camera as a low cost security camera, I also tested its use as an eBay auction picture camera, and IM chat webcam.
The software has the following problems:
1) Drains system resources
2) Frequently freezes
3) Uses lower than advertised resolution and frame rate*
4) Installs processes and services that run on startup that the software can't be used to disable**
5) Lacks streaming video***
Installing the software takes more than 30 minutes, and you are better off not using any of the CDs that come with the cam. Download the latest version of the software from the website, if you don't the update feature will make you download them and install them, save yourself the time and go to Creative's website yourself.
The website is not very easy to navigate because there is no Live Cam Video IM Pro listed, there is "WebCam Live! Pro" and "Live! Cam Video IM," but no "Live! Cam Video IM Pro." This is one of the many support annoyances you will face with this cam.
I suggest not installing the software and installing only the drivers that you download from the support website. The software has remote monitoring, motion detection, and some otherwise useful looking applications, the problem is I had the motion detection and remote monitoring hang on me during a 24hour test. I did not get the software to run for more than 12 hours continuously.
The FX features are interesting (well about 3 of them are) such as the ghost, psychedelic, and fire. But they don't work very well because the face tracking is not very accurate if you have a forehead, glasses, or a mouth. I have all three, and I am fairly certain any reader seeing this has at least two of the three.
*: While recording with the camera I captured 640x480 and my fps dropped to .53 at the moment I walked across the camera's field of vision. I was staging a burglary and this critical failure caused the video of my burglary (taking 3 boxes out of a basement) to not record my face. I warp across the field of vision as the fps fluctuates between .53 and 6 fps.
If you use motion detection it takes a second or two to kick in and depending on how close the camera is to the subject (closer images get better resolution of the facial features) you subject may have walked past the camera before it begins to capture video. A security cam should not miss the subject and then deliver only blurry pictures of limbs.
**: When you install the software you are not asked when it also installs StartFX and CTLCMgr, these programs insert themselves into startup. Calling tech support didn't help. They didn't know that the software did this, they were also unable to tell me how to disable the features (I used msconfig and manually disabled them). Software should not lack a menu option that disables startup processes. These slow down startup and waste resources when you are not running the camera. I also asked tech support to list the processes, but they failed this test, they were unable to 'research' the issue. They have no idea about their own software.
***: You can get streaming video only through a third party website, Orb. Orb is not entirely free, and Creative does not stand behind it whatsoever. I was able to get Orb working and stream my camera over the internet for a short time before it crashed. Something about the Orb site bothers me, I feel they are collecting a bit too much personal information and that they are trying to sell you something. Also, Orb secure or whatever it is called on the box of the cam is not what you get. I kept looking for the red icon and special orb secure features only to find that orb 2.0 is what you get.
Creative teamed up with Yahoo to bring you advertising in your box. Keep your eyes peeled during install so that you don't inadvertently infest your computer with annoying toolbars and adware.
BUY THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE FOR THIS CAMERA. The sooner you abandon Creative as anything but a hardware company with no real warranty, the sooner you can enjoy what this cam can do.
The low light performance is so poor, even if you are 3 feet from the camera, that there is almost no point in using it. I have not explored if other software can help improve lowlight performance by using effects that more intelligently handle contrast (making gray scale noticeable to human eyes).
If you use the software out of the box you better setup nice lighting, artificial lighting works well if it is evenly distributed and not too intense. Flip the lights on and off and the software responds slowly and poorly. You can enjoy the floundering attempts to capture images every time there is a change in lighting, this will only last for 1 to 5 seconds and then the camera will resume its poor quality performance in inadequate lighting.
DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA. The detector isn't that good, the software is abysmal, the USB cable is poorly shielded and suffers from interference. Adjusting the focus doesn't work, there is one focus and if you change it you make the image blurry, so you can play with degrading the image all you want but you can't make it better than the one size fits all. The lens also feels very cheap (wiggles in and out and rotates farther than intended) when you try to adjust it and it lacks fine control.
If I find software that deals with these problems, or a method of insulating the cabling cheaply and efficiently, I will post them here later.

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Live! Cam Video IM Pro lets you chat with sharp, smooth and clear video. It comes equipped with a high-speed USB 2.0 connection so that you can enjoy faster frame rates and ultra smooth videos. At 30 frames per second and VGA resolution, you'll feel as if you are chatting face-to-face. Don't worry about lighting and brightness adjustments. Creative Auto Tuning handles it for you, so that you'll enjoy the clearest picture possible. Sit back and have more fun by adding a wide range of special effects and backgrounds to your video chat with the included software, Advanced Video FX.Platform: WindowsPackaging: Box

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