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Recently, due to my father’s friend who was worked within Creative, I managed to get my hands on a Creative Zen Vision W. I must admit, my initial reason for buying it was because of the huge discount I would get, and I was not sure what kind of device I was getting myself. After a while, it became apparent what it had to offer, and what it could not, against the portable media player giant of today, the Apple iPod.

The very first thing which struck me when I managed to actually use it was the sheer size. At a bulky 134 by 75 by 22 dimension, in terms of millimeters (or 5.27 by 2.95 by 0..85 in inches), this device is a giant compared to other media players I frequently see. Weighting in around a staggering 276 grams, its shape alone makes it something you would not want to lug around in your pocket wherever you go, defeating the main purpose of a “portable” player. Furthermore, its size already poses some safety issues. Personally, I would not feel at ease standing on a moving train holding a rough rectangular block which does not fit snugly into my hand, defeating the purpose of bringing it about.

Despite physical first impressions, the Creative Zen Vision W does have a few positive qualities. Firstly, a 4.3-inch wide screen display is a bright and comfortable change compared to the small screens one would usually expect, a remarkable feat matched by the PSP, which was not designed to stream videos in the first place, and a few Archos players. Instead of trying to compete with the iPod head on, Creative tries to, no pun intended, be creative and target a different market, people who are sick of having to squint at a small screen. In addition to that, powerful built in speakers are also a fresh change to the trouble of having to bring those annoying wired headphones.

However, despite its size, it lacks in a few physical departments. Its battery life, despite its size, can only last for roughly 4.5 hours on video and 13 hours for music, a modest amount at best. Also, contrary to its size, it loses out to the smaller iPod in terms of size-to-hard disk space ratio, coming in either 30gb or 60gb versions, but this can be countered due to its ability to use Compact Flash cards.

My main problems with utilising it so far has been how not user friendly it has been. Being unable to play MPEG-4 videos, it leads to the hassle of converting videos you would want to view into another suitable format. Yes, it does provide an installable program for your computer which includes an auto video converter, but it is buggy and unstable, forcing me to rely on third party programs. The upload speed is also nothing to be proud of, due to having to go through a troublesome procedure to add anything, compared to easier and simpler programs, for example, iTunes.

It may lose out in in a few categories, mainly portability, but the Creative Zen Vision W is still a decent gadget despite being much older then the other players (2006). Although there have been a few technical setbacks, I do not wholly regret purchasing it in the first place though, with solid graphic qualities, backed up by a larger then average screen, it still is a viable choice today.

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