Creative Zen Vision W

I haven't had it very long and certainly not long enough for any conclusions but preliminarily I can say this Zen Vision W could very well be the "perfect product" Creative put out in the PMP line. It has perfect viewing angle with no issues whatsoever. I was able to drag and drop converted files to it with no troubles. The system allows for a number of screen-filling options for the movie that might be "Full Frame" and so forth. It has a speaker for when I don't want to use headphones. The screen resolution is outstanding, even with lower res conversions. I used a 320 x 240 res file and it looked great. That means smaller files on the 30GB internal hard drive. It has a Compact Flash slot for memory expansion but I don't know if the slot is compatible with Type 2 cards. If so, that means expanding to 32 or 64 GB CF cards.

That's all for now.

 

So far, through this whole day of messing with it, this Zen W is turning out to be a rather nice PMP. I've put a number of things at it that the other Creative PMPs I've tried didn't pass. This one, however, doesn't act like the others, it acts like a well thought out and engineered product. Maybe it's the size that allows it to function well, I don't know, but one could kind of surmise that since this PMP is so large and bulky and works so well and the other ones were small and didn't work as well that the capability of a Creative PMP is based on actual size. ...lol. I know that isn't the case but it's ironic the one PMP from Creative that works so well is also the largest of them all.

More than likely, though, the price of this unit is what makes it work so well. What I mean is Creative must have put a lot more money into the production of this PMP to garner such a high MSRP of $300. The more money thrown at a product, usually, means the better the product. That isn't always the case but with this PMP I believe it is and I believe Creative is the type of company to match quality with cost.

The screen seems to have the anti-scratch coating I love so much. I also learned, with regard to the CF slot, it is a type 1 & 2 slot. I saw a 32GB CF card for around $150 but I doubt I would handle card usage that way. More likely than not I would use a number of the smaller much less expensive CF cards for my movie collection. Probably a number of 4 or 8 giggers would do because of the way this player seems to handle the CF integration. It has a dedicated menu item for the slot or card and it doesn't need to be rebooted to get it to work. I would be able to pull one card out and replace with another and keep playing.

I love the feel and quality of the top switches. They seem to perform with genuine precision. The chrome directional pad leaves a little to be desired, though. It is too small and too closely placed to the buttons above and below. My thumb likes to press all the area buttons when attempting a directional control. As far as navigating through a movie or song, it isn't the absolute best but it is great. No need for holding down a direction to advance or reverse to a particular point. Just press the direction and let up. It will advance until the "Play/Pause" button is pressed. But more than that, pressing more than once increases the advance speed proportionally. The more presses, the faster the speed. The one thing I love about my Zune 80, that I would like to see on the Zen, is I can press a direction on the D-Pad and it will advance or reverse a certain adequate distance. Holding the D-pad efficiently speeds up the seeking action. I have yet to find a PMP as pleasing as the Zune, especially in this aspect, but this Zen certainly does well enough.

One way I can describe the control actions is to liken it to one that has adequate processing power. I have a number of other units that seem to be sluggish when commanding an action. This player must have the needed CPU power because it doesn't seem to be as sluggish. It seems to have almost the same relative CPU power as my Zune 80.

At the bottom of this Zen there are two ports, one mini USB and one proprietary type port. This PMP doesn't come with a cable that connects to the proprietary port so I'm assuming it is there for a dock. However, I've Googled quite a long time today and searched everywhere online for a compatible charging dock but the closest I've come was for a Zen Vision which is a certain amount smaller that the "W". If anyone knows of a dock, I'd appreciate the heads-up.

On the back, what appears to be a detachable cover, is the removable battery. And also this PMP comes with a charging adapter. No need to spend additional on one.

 

Here's a log of some pictures for perspective:

http://img03.picoodle.com/img/img03/4/2/5/lewislink/f_DSCF0674m_fa5a7f4.jpg
http://img32.picoodle.com/img/img32/4/2/5/lewislink/f_DSCF0681m_235bba6.jpg
http://img34.picoodle.com/img/img34/4/2/5/lewislink/f_DSCF0680m_4f41960.jpg
http://img26.picoodle.com/img/img26/4/2/5/lewislink/f_DSCF0682m_7a27884.jpg
http://img26.picoodle.com/img/img26/4/2/5/lewislink/f_DSCF0683m_7cafca5.jpg
http://img27.picoodle.com/img/img27/4/2/5/lewislink/f_DSCF0675m_edd01c7.jpg
http://img30.picoodle.com/img/img30/4/2/5/lewislink/f_DSCF0676m_e69aafa.jpg
http://img37.picoodle.com/img/img37/4/2/5/lewislink/f_DSCF0677m_41e5584.jpg
http://img30.picoodle.com/img/img30/4/2/5/lewislink/f_DSCF0678m_054b3d9.jpg
http://img30.picoodle.com/img/img30/4/2/5/lewislink/f_DSCF0679m_b390d22.jpg
http://img03.picoodle.com/img/img03/4/2/5/lewislink/f_DSCF0684m_a2af52a.jpg
http://img30.picoodle.com/img/img30/4/2/5/lewislink/f_DSCF0686m_7365f3c.jpg
http://img32.picoodle.com/img/img32/4/2/5/lewislink/f_DSCF0687m_325561b.jpg
http://img33.picoodle.com/img/img33/4/2/5/lewislink/f_DSCF0688m_421dcc9.jpg
http://img30.picoodle.com/img/img30/4/2/5/lewislink/f_DSCF0690m_8d11194.jpg
http://img03.picoodle.com/img/img03/4/2/5/lewislink/f_DSCF0691m_e73ac66.jpg

 

Well, I've spent a few days with the "W" and I have yet to be disappointed by anything functional. I would, however, like for it to be much thinner with less bulk. The movie playing and screen image quality is determined by what I want, which is what I like in a PMP. A lot of players will limit aspects of the player that causes the need to stick with a certain quality file but this player provides the goods to use whatever quality you desire, be it high end quality or space saving low end quality.

My Zune, for instance, allows me to determine the quality I want to use but even though I normally use the high end settings it just won't make the image any finer than when using a lower end quality setting. The image is great with beautiful colors and such but the low resolution can be a distracting factor. With the Zen W, there is ample reason to produce the highest end videos you can because the resolution is there and the images can only look better the higher you go...to the limits, that is.

It's nice to feel in control of what I see on the ample sized Zen W LCD. I can be conservative for space sake and make my videos at a medium or lower end setting. But if I decide a special movie needs a special treatment, I have the option of pulling out all of the stops and really bump up the quality and be rewarded for it. The higher I go on the Zune won't eliminate the pixel lines still visible at either end of the quality spectrum.

There is a down side, though. The unit is so large and bulky it's almost troublesome to pop it into a shirt pocket and walk around all day just listening to music. For that purpose I have other, smaller, lighter PMPs to fill the need. As far as the Zen W, even though it is such an exemplary video player, I'm having an incredibly hard time of it justifying keeping it.

When I go places that cause me to wait around I normally pull out one of my smaller PMPs and enjoy a good movie. I don't need to see the movie in image magnificence to be sufficiently entertained just for purposes of passing time. The smaller PMPs are very unnoticeable in my pocket and if I get to a point that I might need to whip it out I have that option. This Zen W cannot go unnoticed because of its weight and size. I always know its in my pocket bouncing around and ready to bounce out onto the cold, hard floor.

Even though I got such a great price, I may still take it back because it just doesn't have a niche with my varying needs.

 

The Zen Vision W is indeed a powerful device but doesn't suit many people (like me) because its too large. This player is still one of the best, but Archos also makes some powerful devices, with WiFi and Touch Screen.

Nice Review!

 

One last thing I need to say before closing the Zen W out, it doesn't read or stream from the CF card slot. There is no option to play any media from the card inserted into the CF slot. The only option is to copy to the player from the card. And you can't copy to the card from the player, either.

 

How about battery life?

As an avid audio book listener, I consider a battery life of 15hrs of audio playback as the absolute minimum.

My trusty IRiver does 40hrs+ (of playback) on a 2700mAh AA battery and I would never ever change it if it weren't for the small memory capacity (256MB).

 

I haven't yet studied the battery life but what I have seen so far is good. When using audio only, the W will last what seems like forever. When playing videos it will run down much quicker but I'll have to test to come up with some numbers. And I'll do that withing a week.

 

Thanks man, that would be much appreciated. I am tentatively looking for a new mp3 player (I'm not that much interested in videos but they would be a welcome addition), since the wife does not exactly share my enthusiasm for gadgets .

 

I had the "w" before my current 4 gig Zen. I loved it. I dropped it, jarring the hdd, & when I tried to fix it, I screwed it up even further. I loved it. It played avi's flawlessly, the battery lasted plenty long(4-6 hours with full video playback/ 20-22 hours for music only)
I am enjoying the new Zen, but it is very picky towards avi playback(size restrictions, if file too big, audio gets out of sync), so I usually convert to its preferred format of wmv(never any problems with playback). It doesn't read from the expansion sd card either(not like the sansa), but the picture is AMAZING!

 

Which Zen do you have? The one I have, an 8GB, has a separate menu item for the memory card. I click to open the card and there are my movie files and I just click to make it play.

 

The 4 gig...I mean it isn't auto integrated...any music on the card is only accessible from the sd card menu, not the music menu.

 

Yeah, okay, I see what you mean. Yeah, the Sansa does a better job of that. I'd like to find one those Sansa Views that are square like the Zen. The only thing I can come uo with is a listing at Mwave but I can't even Google one because any results always come up for the current View.

But anyway, here's what I mean:

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=4384341

 

they scrapped that model right before production. I looked at that too.

 

It would be safe to say the battery life will come close to 20 hours audio with MP3 @ 96Kbs.

But check the Zen thread for the vattery life I've found out about it.

 

Got it man. Thanks again.

 

I had a Vision M, still do infact, the video quality it not the best i've seen to be honest, it's only 18bit colour and that's pretty noticeable.

But the navigation and music playing was top notch.

 

I'm going to have a more precise measurement but this time I can only round out. I Did two tests and the first test turned up 16 hours of audio but the Zen W is in a leather case with a fold over flap that conceals the screen. The last time I looked at the screen to check the battery level....most of the time I don't listen to them when I'm testing them...I noticed the screen was on. I had forgotten to enable the hold switch which keeps th screen from staying on so I went ahead and let the test run through till the battery died and that was over 16 hours. I want ed to redo the test so I charged the battery up again and let it run with switch enabled and the screen off. When I checked it much later the particular day the battery was low and I figured I'll go ahead and listen to it till it dies. One problem, I fell asleep before it died and couldn't determine the run time.

I'm going to charge it up and redo the test and set it for a better time frame. I'll then report the numbers correctly and accurately. I should have a result tomorrow, late in the evening sometime.

You don't even want to know what the Sansa View has been turning in on results....strange, very strange...but I'll report on it when I can actually get a good reading from it.

Anyway, when all the audio is done I'll do the video. I'm doing a number of these things at a time and the last group were the Zen, Zen W and the View. The Zen impressed me.

 

I finally have some accurate numbers for battery life.

Test conducted with screen off, hold switch activated, earbuds attached and volume at 15. Battery fully charged.

Audio = MP3 @ 160Kbs
Sample Rate = 44KHz
Sample Size = 16 bit

Start = 10:00PM 2-24-08
End = 3:50PM 2-25-08

By my count that's 17 hours 50 minutes

 

Well, that sounds fine to me. My b-day is coming soon so... who knows