- 30 GB multimedia device holds tens of thousands of photos, up to 120 hours of video, and up to 15,000 songs
- 4.3-inch WQVGA wide aspect, high-resolution TFT LCD screen delivers crisp, clear details
- Built-in Compact Flash memory card slot lets you transfer pictures directly from your camera
- Connect the Vision W to a projector or TV with the included AV cable
- Measures 5.27 x 2.95 x 0.87 inches (WxHxD) and weighs 9.7 ounces
The first thing you'll probably notice about this player is it's gorgeous widescreen. How big is it? Well, technically speaking it's 480 x 272 resolution, 4.3 inches wide diagionally, and capable of displaying about 262,000 colors(same as Zen M). For those of you who now own a Zen M, to illustrate how big the screen is on the Zen W: You can lay an entire Zen M on the Zen W, and the entire area of the Zen M is about the size of the screen of the Zen W. For you Psp owners out there, the Zen W screen is exactly the same resolution and size as the screen on the PSP. Although, the PSP screen is actually more advanced and can display over 16 million colors. Though both of these screens are much better than the screen on the video Ipods(which is only 320 x 240, and only display 65,000 colors). The screen on the Zen W does the job very well, and you can adjust the brightness levels. Even at %50 brightness, it's adequate. Though it outshines the Zen M in screen size, I noticed that it's not quite as sharp and the colors are not as vivid as on the Zen M. Also, I noticed that while playing Divx video, the Zen W doesn't play the video as smoothly as on a computer. The video frame-rate seems to look more jerky and less smooth. Although the pre-installed videos looked fine in Xvid, so this may only apply to Divx videos. Some other great features about the player are it's built in FM radio, voice recorder, custom sound equalizer, built in speaker, and Compact Flash slot. The built-in speaker can get surprisingly loud and is adequate for watching videos... But if you're an Audiophile, it's not good for listening to your music. It's sounds quite tinny and is only a single speaker. One huge improvement over the Zen M is that you no longer need to carry a stupid adapter to charge or upload songs or media. The mini-usb power, and A/V out ports are already built in to this player. Also the magnesium casing seems much sturdier than the Zen M's plastic casing... and probably not as prone to scratches. The thing looks and feels very solidly built. The interface is also simple and easy to figure out and very similar to the Zen M interface.
The only big difference is that the Zen W uses buttons instead of the touch thumb-pad on the Zen M. I think they should have tried to integrate the thumb-pad somehow because it worked so well on the Zen M. In this respect, the Zen W buttons seem like a step backward in progress. However, I do like the fact that they made all the buttons on the right side so you can effectively use the player with only your right hand. (sorry lefties).
The built in Compact Flash slot is also a very cool idea. You can backup your compact flash or microdrive photos onto the player with the slot. The only thing is that you can't use the compact flash as a secondary hard-drive... meaning you can't just slip a compact flash card with video on it and watch it straight from the card. You must import it onto the player first before you can play the media. You can't play mp3s or browse photos straight from the CF card either. All the files must be imported onto the hard-drive of the Zen W first. This seems pretty lame to me because you're not using the slot to it's full potiental. Hopefully there will be firmware upgrades that will let you do this in the future. Another thing about the player that needs to be improved is it's thickness. The second thing you'll notice (after the lovely huge screen) is how thick this thing is. I mean, it's barely pocketable. So it's not quite as portable as the Zen M. How think is it? Well, it's nearly an inche thick... a little less thick than a PSP. If they could cut the thickness in half, it would make this player much more portable.(not to mention sleek and sexy). Here's a quick run-down on Pros and Cons.
Pros:
-Gorgeous 4.3 inche (480x272 resolution) screen that displays up to 262,000 colors. Movies look so much better than on a 320x240 (Ipod)screen. And if you like to watch Anime, you'll have no more problems reading subtitles.
-Built in mini-usb port, power, and Audio/Video out port(for tv output).
-Sturdy magnesium casing and solid feel.
-Lots of extras like FM radio, organizer, calendar, voice recorder -Audio/Video cable included, plays Xvid and Divx files.
-Built in compact flash/microdrive slot for photo backup.
-Removable battery (yes, finally!)
-Optional wireless Remote control available (built in IR reciever)
-ZenCast organizer (allows you to download/organize Podcasts to Zen W)
Cons:
Pretty thick at almost an inche thick. (barely pocketable)
Divx playback (Frame-rate) a bit jerky. Screen not as sharp-looking and colors not as vibrant as Zen M. (I'm nit-picking, you may not even notice the difference...especially if you don't have a Zen M)
No video line-in for video recording. It would be great if they had this built in and you could record from any video source... don't know why they don't.
When viewing files on Compact Flash using CF slot, you must first import/upload files over to the Zen W drive first to view.
In conclusion, this player packs alot of punch for the money. And almost everything it does, it does very well. If you love movies and music like I do, you will definately enjoy this device. It's very impressive and looks and feels sturdy. The biggest flaw/turn-offs to me is it's thickness. A device made for portability should be ... well, more portable. In a world where other mp3 competitors are sizing down their players, creative seems to be sizing their's up. If they could somehow cut the thickness of this player to half while not sacrificing any of it's other features, it would be perfect. Still with it's minor imperfections, this player is still worth every penny and outshines it's competitors. If you value portability over video capability, I'd go for the Zen M. The Zen M still plays video...but on a smaller screen.(And it's cheaper too)
One last thing, the viewing angle on this player is great, unlike the first model zen vision media player that came out a few years ago. And since the screen resolution and dimensions are the same as the PSP, so you can buy a screen protector for the Psp and use it on this baby :) Cool huh?
Update: For those of you interested in a case for the Zen Vision W 30GB version, the Nintendo DS lite is about exactly the same size as the 30GB Zen Vision W so many of the cases for the DS lite work pretty well for 30GB Zen W as well. However the 60GB Zen W is a bit thicker and the cases probably won't work as well for it.
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Buy Creative Zen Vision W 30 GB Widescreen Multimedia Player (Black) Now
I just got my Zen Vison W yesterday. Pulled it out of the box and had it up and running within 30 minutes. The entire package is well thought out with an AC adapter, decent earbuds and a well designed software package for importing content into the player.
I took about one hour to import my music to the player and also used the Zencast service to import Rocketboom and other video broadcasts to the player with zero problems. The import process for RSS-driven videocasts (no, I won't use the i*od word, since a certain fruit-based company is using legal tactics to go after anyone who even utters the word now). The Zencast service that Creative sponsors is just great and really is simple to use for both the Zen Vision and Zen touch players I have. I hope Creative extends the service with more functionality and features over time.
I'm still working out how to load videos from my Directv Tivo, but overall, this is an amazing package. The only weak area I see is that the FM radio is a bit insensitive for folks like me who live further out in the boonies. I was able to pick up stations and feel that if I were closer in to the city, I'd do just fine.
Powerup switch is sort of unique with a momentary contact switch that takes a little getting used to. At first, I thought I had a broken switch and then it became clear that this was all designed in. I'm going to be careful when turning the unit on and off, since I never have liked momentary spring-driven switches They just seem to break unless you are very careful. I would expect that Creative used high-quality components for the switch.
Powering off uses the same switch with a momentary hold to signal the system to shutdown. The system powers off and on in a matter of seconds and despite complaints about similar units being slow, I don't see what the big deal is. Where else can you get this kind of performance, quality and sheer information storage? If it takes a second to get things to work, so be it Frankly, I think it is a very good balance that Creative achieved with technology, form, function and limitations. In other words They did great!
I was surprised that the sound w/o earbuds, using the inboard speaker was as good as it was. It can overdrive a bit, but honestly, it is just fine for watching videos in quiet locations and the sound is clean and just loud enough for most needs.
I was very pleased with the video quality. The screen quality is outstanding and the angle of view is *very* good. I have yet to try hooking the output to my Westinghouse LCD, but I'll bet it'll be amazing.
The photo section is great too I was able to transfer all my photographs quickly and the ability to play through the pictures is just great. Very nicely done. I also took one picture and zoomed in on a spot I liked and used that zoom picture for my wallpaper. Yep, they have wallpaper that can change just like on a PC and it really is pretty cool.
Getting data into the system is easy and just involves a USB cable and plugging into a standard Windows XP box. I was up and running in minutes. The battery charge time states 3 hours on the box, but it seemed like I was topped off in far less time, so I'll have to see how it goes over time.
The only weird thing is how to set the time and date. Takes a bit of fudging to work the menus and figure how to do it, but overall, it was pretty easy. The alarm feature was interesting too... I'd guess you really need to set the volume high to make it work and I'd suggest future versions of the Zen incorporate a small buzzer or pleasant chime to make this feature shine more.
Creative hit a home run with this unit and this should be the standard for all portable video. Huge screen, easy to operate menu and high quality. I'm glad I've always stuck with Creative they always give exceptional quality and functionality for a great price. I recommend this player highly and think you'll be glad you bought it if you go for it.
By the way, all my friends and family were blown away when they saw it... ;>) I'm happy with the product and will be using it for a long time to come.
Read Best Reviews of Creative Zen Vision W 30 GB Widescreen Multimedia Player (Black) Here
I'm a semi-professional photographer whose dSLR takes Compact Flash cards, and so I was very excited at the prospects of using the Vision W as a way to offload images from shoots (using the compact flash slot) and to free them back up so that I could continue shooting.
I was hopeful that I would be able to even use the W as a proofing device to hand off to clients directly after the shoot so that they could immediately delete the photos that they didn't like.
I also was looking for a new MP3 player and was very interested in having a video player.
After using all components of the Vision W, I have the following observations.
Good
-Almost everything about this player is good! It's very sleek, reasonably priced, it excels at almost everything it does, and is pure joy to use.
-The screen is gorgeous. It is easily viewable from any angle. Pictures and movies alike look great.
-I love the organizer feature and am syncing the device to outlook daily. This has gone very well.
-The options for video play back work well. If you're not watching something in 16:9 format, you can zoom in to fill the whole screen with a portion of the video, stretch it to fit the full screen, etc. I've used this more than expected.
-The formats of video that are supported are great! It's nice not having to worry what format it is. I appreciate that the software handles converting the video into a format that it can handle.
-The interface is very intuitive. I haven't yet picked up the user guide and have been able to navigate successfully around on it.
Bad
-Photos copied over from Compact Flash cards take a long time to transfer to the device and are very slow to load when cycling through them on the player. Granted, they're coming directly out of an 8.2 MP camera and so they are huge files, but I had hopes that they would load much more quickly. Also the thumbnail icons for these photos look distorted and load slowly, too. Photos copied to the device via the software (rather than directly from the compact flash card) do not have any of these problems.
-The headphone ear buds are too large to fit my ears. They literally fall out immediately because they don't fit. I had to buy a new, smaller set. (Note: I do often find that headphone ear buds run a little big these were even bigger than normal. If you generally don't find this to be the case then it shouldn't be a concern for you).
-Like another reviewer, I wish it had a stand for watching movies so that you don't have to hold it in your hand. It would have been nice to set it down on the tray table during a flight. (Update: I've had wonderful luck with a business card holder like this one that I bought for just a couple bucks at an office supply store I now have two of them one for my desk at work and one for my desk at home! It works perfectly the angle is great! I wouldn't recommend it on an unstable surface, but for most of the time it is perfect).
-When connected to the device from your computer, you can't interact with multiple directories at once. For example, I was copying over a large video file and wanted to recategorize images in a separate folder. I was not able to do so until the video had finished copying.
-I had hoped that there would be a setting to auto-rotate portrait orientation photos so that they would automatically show up sideways (thus making better use of the viewing area on the screen) but haven't found this feature. Instead, I manually rotate each picture.
-Deleting photos is not easy and intuitive enough for me to be able to hand the device off to a client. Overall, it's just not a robust enough photo viewer to reasonably plan to use it as a proofing device as I had hoped.
-There may be a way to do so, but so far I haven't found any easy way to quickly check what time it is on the device. Instead you have to go into the date/time submenu.
A couple other things that would have really put this over the top if they'd been able to successfully pull it off, but that I didn't really expect:
-Two headphone jacks, with one on each side for when two people are watching a movie together. We bought a splitter and that worked OK but a jack on each side would have been much easier and neater.
-AM radio tuner
-Slightly thinner body
-Inputs for other memory cards than Compact Flash.
Despite some minor complaints, I'm extremely happy with the device and strongly recommend it to anyone, especially anyone who uses a camera with a Compact Flash card.
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My Creative Zen player died on me (through carelessness on my own part) and I decided to get a replacement. I was looking for another mp3 player but spotted this instead. Afer much deliberation I only wanted to spend under $100 on an mp3 player, so I had to take in account the other features that come with this I decided to go for it. And I have not regretted it since.
Like I mentioned in review title, this is strictly non-technical, because I am as layman a user as you can get, so the technical stuff just go over my head. I will simply tell you what I like about this player and why I feel every penny spent is justified. I'm not someone who will read the whole manual, and I'd rather just start using and learn as I use the item. Only when I am stuck or something bad happens do I start looking through, therefore everything I say here is from my own experience with my player. This might be a good review for someone else like me.
My findings:
The screen is very good, the picture is clear and the angle of view is good. My friends and I crowded around it when I first got it, and everyone could see clearly what was shown on the screen. The sound on the built-in speaker isn't that great for songs, but for watching a movie, it works good.
It plays everything I have downloaded so far. When the format or file is unsuitable, the software automatically tells you to convert. All you have to do is follow the steps and the files will be changed to fit into the player. It will even transfer the file when the conversion is finished. Granted, conversion takes a while (I don't know what a standard time to convert a full movie file is though) but usually I leave it to convert and transfer while I sleep and everything's done by the time I wake up. I love how I can just leave it to work while I go away or to sleep.
The files you download, if under a folder, will automatically be transferred under a folder of the same name. I haven't worked out if I can move the files around in the player yet (when hooked to the computer), because I would like to just have all movies under one folder instead of having 20 differently named folders with 1 movie in each. But some people might like this aspect, so it's a personal issue for me.
A small thing that I like is that the album picture of the song you're playing will be displayed when you play the song. This is not the case for all songs, especially if downloaded from unknown sources online. But if you ripped it from your cds, it should display the picture.
I'm still a little confused about how the fast forward and rewind button works. It seems that for some movies it will simply skip to bookmarked points, whereas others it will work as if it's a VCR and you have to stop it. When in such a "VCR mode", picture doesn't run while in fast forward or rewind, so you'll need to get used and I bet you'll be able to estimate well with experience.
There are a few view modes on this player, Fit to Screen, Stretch to Full, Zoom to Full & Original Size. I find myself using Zoom to Full when viewing widescreen movies. The Stretch to Full makes everything look out of proportion, so I'm not touching that.
I tried the built in microphone once to record my friend snoring from about 2 feet away. I couldn't hear it when I play back on the built-in speaker but I can hear the snoring when I use the headphones. Another instance I recorded my friends and I chatting normally while sitting at different positions in a enclosed room, and we could hear just fine from the speakers when we play it back. So it might be ok for normal volume recording but most likely you'll use it for personal voice recording.
I don't know if it's a technical issue, but I'm bummed that you can't use the fm radio without using the headphones. It'd have been nice to be able to set it down and listen to the radio sometimes.
I haven't had the player go flat on me yet it charges up whenever it's plugged through the USB, so I never have to worry about it. I only plug it in with the adaptor when I am in a hurry to charge it up, otherwise I wait till I am transferring files on it. It gives good playback life, although I haven't really timed it. All I know is I bring it with me on the road and after watching 2 or 3 movies, it's still not out. The auto-shutdown feature is great because there will be the occasion when you just forget to turn it off and you'll be glad that it didn't run flat because of that.
I uploaded photographs and although the quality of the pictures isn't perfect (you get that compressed look), it's more than sufficient to be able to view the photographs in detail. You can even rate your pictures so that you can view only pictures from a certain rating that you wish. Of course, the slideshow feature is always a good thing.
Plugging the player into the tv was easy! Once plugged in, your tv screen will reflect what is shown on the player. All you have to do is select your movie/music/photo slideshow and play as per normal! It's that simple!
A lot of people have complained about the size of it, though I admit it is a little bulky, I don't see the point of having a tiny player which will come with a tiny screen and then you won't be able to view much anyway. So for my viewing enjoyment, I'll gladly accept the size :)
Hope this has been helpful to you!
I have the old Zen Xtra MP3 player and I thought that would suffice, but after doing research and reading reviews, I just had to get it! The Creative Zen Vision W, 30 GB.
It was packaged well, and very easy to set up. Amazon does an excellent job of being competitive on price and delivery. (where else would I buy it from :) )
Picture quality excellent for it's size.
Sound quality is excellent
fun to play around with and marvel at it's compactness and function.
Removeable battery
Seamless integration of MP3 files.
Ability to play video, music, and show pictures on a TV because of RCA wire.
Software that comes with it is really easy to use and it works.
Downside: (very little) but maybe because it is new to the market.
I still would recommend purchasing, and I love mine. But real love for something has improvement recommendations right? Where here they are!
No docking station (at least I don't see one yet)
no remote control
no practical way to carry it on your persons, at least I don't see a case. Who wants to carry around a small black bag?
no way of moving to the next song without getting the screen finger marked if in your pocket.
small buttons, not good for fat fingers, but acceptable, just wish it had fast forward, back, pause on the side instead of the front.
I would prefer it another type of media card acceptace, or 3 in one card, beside buying the adapter.
WiFi would be the ultimate
Gets pretty hot in temperature if on and playing.
I am so very pleased with Creative Labs innovation and quality. Please keep it up! I think that this will be better than the ZUNE from Microsoft.
I actually got this as a christmas present -and I haven't put it down yet.
