Is the Vision:M a 5th generation (video)iPod clone? You bet… right down to the little green battery charge indicator in the upper right corner. Is it better than the 5th generation iPod? In my mind there’s no contest, but there are trade-offs. Judge for yourself.

Creative Vision:M, why is it better?
-Plays DivX and XviD video, as well as WMV-9 and MPEG1/2/4.
-Higher color screen (262,144 colors vs 65,000 colors)
-Natively plays MP3, WMA and WAV, without conversion.
-Better signal-to-noise ratio under same frequency response.
-Longer battery life (approx 4 hours video playback vs iPod’s 2 hours)
-Includes AC charger.
-FM Radio/ Recorder.
-Voice Recorder.
-Compatible with popular music services, like Napster.
-Customizable menu, with background image.
-Organizer features Outlook sync support; Contacts, Calendar & Tasks.
-Colors blue, green, and pink are also available.
-The back side isn’t made out of scratch magnets like the iPod.
-Natively acts as external hard drive in Windows.

Apple iPod 5th Generation, why is it better?
-Slimmer. iPod – 0.43in / Vision:M – 0.7in.
-Lighter. iPod – 4.8oz / Vision:M – 5.7oz.
-Clickwheel is still the preferred navigation input for many.
-Lots of first and third party accessories available.
-60GB version also available.
-iTunes support.
-30 USD cheaper.

If you’re in the market for a 30GB player and you’re considering the 5th generation iPod, give the Creative Vision:M a serious look. If your friends ask you why you bought a “generic iPod,” you can tell them with pride all the reasons why the iPod simply wasn’t good enough for you.

I received the first unit as promised. I immediately started loading this on it. It’s a little thicker than the iPod, but I actually like how it feels in my hand better (IMHO). The screen is beautiful, the file formats that are supported are great, the integration with WMP10 and the on-line stores is certainly better than the iPod. I just love it. I loved it so much, that when the second unit arrived, I decided to keep it for myself

I have used iPod many times before and I do like them. But they can coexist and the competition will make all the players better. If you love the iPod’s great. Again, I like them too, but right now I would pick this player. I have synched up CD music, on-line songs, even a bunch of my TiVo shows (via Tivo To Go TTG). I have taken those shows and played them directly on my TV too (with an A/V cable).

The currently availability of accessories is a bit frustrating, but livable – I am sure it will not match or surpass the iPod in that respect.

Like the iPod and other devices like this the screen scratches pretty easily. I immediately bought some Palm protectors and cut them to fit. I have customer shields ordered (from theinvisibleshield.com) but this will do for now.

This FM radio works fine. I personally like one integrated. It doesn’t take any more space and it’s nice on rare occasion. I have read other reviews that say having the FM radio is a “negative” of this player. Huh? Why? If you don’t want it, just don’t use it.

There is a reason why this little player just won the overall best of the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Even my friends that have iPods snap their heads when they see this. But again, this shouldn’t be a religious discussion of iPods vs. non-iPods. Buy what you like best and suits your use.

This one suits mine. I am even thinking about buying a third one. Why? I don’t want to share mine (or my wife’s) with the kids LOL

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/