Creative Zen Vision Portable Media Player

The portable media player is no longer the revolutionary device it was a year ago when Creative released the Zen PMC. But the new Zen Vision brings to the table some new features.

It's smaller and more pocketable and the screen is fantastic! The TV Out works beautifully, and unlike the Zen PMC, it comes with the support for non-Microsoft video codecs like DivX, Xvid and MPEG4. It also comes with a CompactFlash II slot, so you can use it as a digital wallet as well as a portable 30GB hard drive. All at a price of RM 1699 (USD 460), which I find is quite reasonable for such a device.

Of course, it isn't perfect. The smaller size of the device necessitates a smaller capacity battery and consequently, shorter battery life. Yes, we could potentially buy extra batteries but it's been a year now and I STILL haven't seen Zen PMC battery packs being sold separately. A built-in battery with a large capacity is always a good thing to have.

In addition, I wish Creative could have provided a better carrying case, and of course, added the CompactFlash Memory Card Reader to the package.

But other than the points mentioned above and some other minor faults, the Creative Zen Vision is a pretty good portable media player, in my opinion. If you're looking for a portable media player that can also double as a portable storage solution, then you should definitely check out the new Creative Zen Vision!

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