Creative Vision M
By Anne Ahira
When it comes to mp3 players or personal media centers, no one does them better than Creative Labs. They have gone the extra mile to bring customers all the features that they want and love.
Features
- 60 GB hard drive
- Holds up to 240 hours of video, 30,000 songs and thousands of images
- 2.5 inch screen
- FM radio with recorder
- Video supported – AVI, DivX 4 and 53, XviD4, MPEG-1, -2, -SP, WMV9, and Motion-JPEG
- Voice recorder
- 2.0 USB for faster transfers
Pros
Depending on how you feel about the subject, the size of the Creative Vision M could be a pro or a con. Since the invention of the IPod all other mp3 players are measured against it, the Creative Vision M is the same length and depth but wider than the IPod. This makes the unit a tad heavier however, for some people that just means it feels more substantial.
Browsing your media has never been easier; you can browse by artist, album, playlist or genre. This is a nice feature and one that is sadly lacking on many competitor models.
Play for sure certification means you can use the music you currently have from many of the subscription services like Yahoo Music or Napster. You also receive free CD ripping and transfer software with the Creative Vision M.
For lovers of all things Amazon you will be happy to know the Creative Vision M is compatible with UnBox. This is an application from Amazon that quest, downloads, organizes and plays your purchased media. The program easily recognizes the Creative Vision M for easy transfer of purchased materials.
Controls are customizable, if you are like some customers who did not like the random song button have no fear you are not stuck with it! Creative allows the user to set some of the controls to their own configuration.
Cons
The screen, while bright and beautiful has a narrow viewing angle. The 2.5-inch screen may not be large enough to suit some tastes.
As mentioned above the Creative Vision M is slightly larger than most mp3 players are and therefore a little heavier. This is an issue of personal taste as the player is not overly cumbersome.
Accessories for this and really any mp3 player that is not an IPod are sorely lacking.
Overall
This is a good all around media player. It has all the bells and whistles you could want and very little in the way of downsides, other than the price. The Creative Vision M 60 GB is listed on Amazon for $699 that is quite a bit of money for a portable media player! However if you want the top of the line many times you have to pay extra for it.
Compare prices on these and other great media players at these sites:
Check out my other guide on : Nextar mp3 player and Sansa 4gb

