New Creative Zen

ongarite

As eo980 mentioned a while ago the Vision M has been discontinued and this is the replacement. Its thinner, lighter and smaller in size and storage; 4GB-16GB but it has an expansion slot for future upgrades.
http://epizenter.net/news.php?extend.321

Gran Hermano

Mactard provided the link to the site yesterday with the pics.

More info here, including accessories
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9767400-1.html?tag=blog

Video of new Zen on Creative site.

ongarite

Doh.. Sorry didn't see thread title with info on it.

Gran Hermano

I haven't seen any reference to a TV out port for playing back
video from the new Zen on a TV - the most useful feature of the
old Zen M in my opinion.

dulpit

What's the story with the black swipe on the right? I thought it was just the picture first, but it's on both.... Looks funny...

Kintarō Hattori

What do you think, will it be the success the Vision M was or will it sell even better for Creative? Having a flash based drive I wonder will they improve the reliability?

ongarite

I not too sure, the Zen Vision M sold well on word of mouth. Everyone who had one told friends how good it was.

pleasant Co.

While I like this (AAC is a major +1) I currently own a Cowon D2, buying this would be a slight step down, I'm tempted all the same.

The Bollox

you can't get Vision M's anymore? they are brilliant media players, I haven't had any problems with mine, the only drawback I find with them is the scroller isn't the best, I prefer the iPod wheel.

does anyone know a place I could get decent, affordable (oxymoron, I know ) portable speakers which are compatable with the Vision M?

Kintarō Hattori

The Bollox wrote:

you can't get Vision M's anymore? they are brilliant media players, I haven't had any problems with mine, the only drawback I find with them is the scroller isn't the best, I prefer the iPod wheel.

does anyone know a place I could get decent, affordable (oxymoron, I know ) portable speakers which are compatable with the Vision M?

Unfortunately accessories for Creative players aren't as big a market as they are for the iPod so anything you'll get will work with the Zen Vision M but won't be designed for it, so they won't dock with each other.

I reccomend the JBL On Tour Speakers. They sound great for portable speakers, are neat and tidy and have decent battery life
http://www.peats.com/cgi-bin/test_new/catalog.cgi?view_product=1&id=8174

The Bollox

do they come with a plug?

they look good, but I'd prefer something a little easier on the wallet

ongarite

I can recommend these Saitek speakers. Novel design with pop-up bass module.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/A200-Portable-2-1-Speaker-System/dp/B000BPNUDS

Kintarō Hattori

The Bollox wrote:

do they come with a plug?

they look good, but I'd prefer something a little easier on the wallet

They do come with a plug and are battery operated too. Unfortunately it's actually hard to get decent travel speakers and any good ones tend to be a little pricey like the JBL's and the Saitek ongarite reccomended.

rc28

Are people sure this is replacing the 30 and 60GB zen vision M. I find that very hard to believe-I know there are advantages to flash storage but who would trade 60GB for 16GB? On creative's website the vision M is stil shown as a separate product to the new zen;
http://www.creative.com/products/mp3/

muckwarrior

Gran Hermano wrote:

I haven't seen any reference to a TV out port for playing back
video from the new Zen on a TV - the most useful feature of the
old Zen M in my opinion.

qft

BostonB

rc28 wrote:

Are people sure this is replacing the 30 and 60GB zen vision M. I find that very hard to believe-I know there are advantages to flash storage but who would trade 60GB for 16GB? On creative's website the vision M is stil shown as a separate product to the new zen;
http://www.creative.com/products/mp3/

Apparently theres little profit margain in the HD players vs the flash players. So Creative has made comments recently about focusing entirely on the flash player market.

muckwarrior

Any word on whether prices will be cut for the Zen V? I've been holding out buying one since they cut the prices in the states a few weeks ago.

sioda

A 16gb player would be no comparison to my 30gb Zen which I have constantly filled.

Think concentating on the flash player market might give apple even more market share

pleasant Co.

16 + 8 (SDHC) = 24gb, not that bad really.

Boggles

Nice looking player, but a complete step backwards from the Zen M, which is a fantastic bit of kit.

Was looking forward to seeing what they would come up with after the Zen M, new product has no tv out and uses flash memory cards(terrible).

Lets just hope the next few firmware updates add more scope for different codecs.

thehomeofDob

I'll be getting this, or the iPod touch, when the touch is reviewed.

boardsofdublin

hi all, new here, always read the board though.

Yeah getting this myself. its out on the 28th i think. looks hot! was going to get the new ipod classic but after seeing this ipods suck as per-usual.

Looks better too.


what price will it be here? its $299 in the US for the 16gb. will it be the same here?

also SDHC are releasing a 16gb card in january so memory will not be a problem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital_card#SDHC

BostonB

I'm thinking I'll get one aswell. More info here...
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=261118

projectmayhem

interesting timing... my vision:m just bit the dust so i'm "in the market" as it were.

i've only ever used creatives so this could well be my next mp3 player, but 16GB for that price is a lot to ask. it's the same price as the 80GB iPod... is there something i'm missing here or is this the price i'll have to pay for a new machine?

conzy

projectmayhem wrote:

interesting timing... my vision:m just bit the dust so i'm "in the market" as it were.

i've only ever used creatives so this could well be my next mp3 player, but 16GB for that price is a lot to ask. it's the same price as the 80GB iPod... is there something i'm missing here or is this the price i'll have to pay for a new machine?

Im in the same boat, My vision M just died so Im looking at getting a Zen..

I considered an iPod Classic momentarily but the amount of video codecs supported on the Zen / Vision M is awesome..

Who wants 160gigs of storage when you have to convert every video

BostonB

conzymaher wrote:

..
Who wants 160gigs of storage when you have to convert every video

People with 160GB of music and no video?

Royale with Cheese

Like the look of this, apart from the capacity. Whenever they start making 60gb+ flash players I'll think about upgrading my zen vision m.

projectmayhem

conzymaher wrote:

Im in the same boat, My vision M just died so Im looking at getting a Zen..

I considered an iPod Classic momentarily but the amount of video codecs supported on the Zen / Vision M is awesome..

Who wants 160gigs of storage when you have to convert every video

tbh right now the iPod classic is my best option. someone already said creative would lose custom with this move and i'm a loyal creative user who's been completely abandoned by them. i can't spend time rotating my library on the zen. i like having half my collection on the mp3 player so i can shove it on random and hear things i haven't heard in ages...

i could get the W but you're paying a lot of money for video stuff that i don't need.

all the interweb research i've done suggests the Classic is where to go. the video converting will be a bitch if i use it, but i think i only used video on my vision:m 4 or 5 times, and even then i had to convert them anyways!

cheers creative, now i have to use itunes

BostonB

I was all for getting a Classic for the same reasons, but then theres this...
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?p=3299302#post3299302
I'll probably get one anyway, for music theres nothing else as usable with the capacity.

projectmayhem

BostonB wrote:

I was all for getting a Classic for the same reasons, but then theres this...
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?p=3299302#post3299302
I'll probably get one anyway, for music theres nothing else as usable with the capacity.

did some interweb trolling to read up on this. it appears mid-range sounds are the issue here. so some harmonics and bits and pieces will be a bit less pronounced then they should be... but it's not going to be noticeable enough to warrant the device a disaster sound-quality wise. i usually listen to music with an emphasis on high freq ranges, and crank it up.

it seems the hardware isn't at fault anyway, as it's improved over the last ipods... so a firmware update could solve it...

conzy

I use my Vision M primarily for watching tv shows so I will be staying in the Creative camp I think

theCzar

Ack.

I just wandered over here to find out where the market was at the moment. My much beloved Zen Touch is starting to go a tiny bit senile in its old age and has locked up twice in the last week (only locked up once in the previous 3 years I've had it) and its now full of stuff I don't really want to delete.

I've scorned Apple to my Ipod lovin' friends for too long to run crying to Steve Jobs now!

I'll await the feedback on this new player, the memory seems a bit paltry, and creative were always about function over form which is what won my loyalty

theCzar

eo980 wrote:

They do come with a plug and are battery operated too.

Not according to the creative website, which only lists a USB cable.

Kintarō Hattori

theCzar wrote:

Not according to the creative website, which only lists a USB cable.

You didn't show my full post which would have shown that I was talking about travel speakers and answering a question The Bollox had in relation to said item.

The Bollox's question
My answer
A furthur question by The Bollox relating to the above
My answer to his second question

Why only quote half of what I said?

theCzar

Sorry, missed the context. I thought the post was in relation to the new Zen, not the speakers. Only quoted what was relevant to what I perceived to be the point... Can we still be friends?

Kintarō Hattori

Absolutely- next pint is on me.

boardsofdublin

just a quick post to say, i got a creative zen vision m in argos in jerves shopping center. the only place that has them now!! got a 30gb one..

going to wait a good while untill the flash palyers are alot bigger.

happy with my CZVM:D

swingking

I was looking at this player, which is available in Beyond 2000 in Chatam St, and I was impressed!!

The resolution of the screen is beautiful, better than anything I've ever seen before.

It's a really slim slick device that looks very sexy.

The man in the shop said that the expandibility will win out with this player. Acccording to him, there is a new type of flash card that the player will support and it will come in large sizes.

I'm not writing creative off just yet

robinph

Has anyone seen a release date for the 16G version of this anywhere? I've seen it listed on the US Creative site for $249 but as unavailable at the moment and any other stores either only list the 4G and 8G models or none of them.

I'm thinking of getting my mum to bring one back from the US for me in a couple of weeks but not sure which shop to send her to yet as no websites are listing it.

Gran Hermano

Looks like the 16 GB is only for pre-order on both Amazon US and Creative US
sites at the moment with no date for expected stock. I don't think you'll
have much look finding it in a shop you can walk into in the next couple
of weeks. Plenty of 4 GB and 8GB models out just no 16GB yet.

Keep an eye on both Amazon and Creative, you could always get it shipped
to the hotel if they get it in stock.

Edited to add the 16GB model isn't even listed on the Creative site for Singapore which
tends to be where most of their products are available first.

robinph

If I knew that it was to be released, and shipped, before the end of october then I'd order one and get it sent to my brother over there already. Not much point if it's only going to come out after my mum has left though.

Trx

It is available in xtra vision... Not sure how much tho....

BArra

i have the mag from XV... it says

4gb €149.99
8gb €199.99

no price listed for the 16gb

spurious

They have the 16GB in Beyond 2000 on Chatham St. €299.99

pleasant Co.

I saw the 16gb model in Curys for 299 too

robinph

Mactard wrote: »

I saw the 16gb model in Curys for 299 too

Just asked for the price of the 16G in Dixons, which is effectively the same shop as Currys, and they wanted €389.99 for it. :eek:

SUNGSAM

Hi

The camera centre have the 16gb version for EUR 269.00 on their website, not sure if they have them in stock at the moment but worth a call in the morning??

http://www.camera.ie/Product.php?Product=849

pleasant Co.

robinph wrote: »

Just asked for the price of the 16G in Dixons, which is effectively the same shop as Currys, and they wanted €389.99 for it. :eek:

lol, someone ****ed up there I think.

robinph

Mactard wrote: »

lol, someone ****ed up there I think.

I did ask him to repeat the price to me three times before I was sure exactly what he said.

pleasant Co.

robinph wrote: »

I did ask him to repeat the price to me three times before I was sure exactly what he said.

It's most likely an internal clerical error, like that's €100 over retail price... they'll sort it out hopefully... maybe you should go back to them and mention that that cannot be the correct price?

BostonB

How well does it handle compilations?