The Creative Vision:M Vs The Apple iPod

Talk about an epic battle of the Gadgets and this is probably what you meant. From the ever-popular Apple iPod to the Creative Zen media players, who would emerge victorious when it came to their features and just plain 'Shayne-durance' (put through their paces by yours truly – rough translation)? So I pitted these two players against each other, the Apple Video iPod and the Creative Zen Vision:M, both 30GB models and lets see what the outcome was. Who would emerge battle scarred but victorious in this, "The Battle Of The PMPs".

Design
Both players may be similar with respect to certain parts of their technicalities. For example, both are equipped to look like little portable hard drives with 2.5 inch QVGA TFT displays with a resolution of 320x240 pixels. They also have their 'Hold' switches and 3.5mm earphone sockets located at the top with the propriety USB connectors on the bottom. However the Creative sports 256k of colors whereas the iPod has only 65K.

The iPod's circular roll dial system does have its merits when it comes to maneuverability through the menus and the simplicity of having hardly any buttons at all, or having them all in one place does simplify the navigation. The Zen's separate key system with a vertical scroll pad also helps distinguish the varied options of the player, which makes it much easier to navigate and choose selections. But unfortunately the sensitivity of the pad is a problem, even after reducing it manually.

The menus are quite similar but the fonts vary a bit. The fonts on the Zen are a wee bit larger so that makes them a little easier on the eyes. The iPods are a bit small but clear - but this round goes to the Zen.

When it comes to the over all design shape and feel good factor when you have it in your hands, I’d have to go with the iPod. It just looks a whole lot sexier than the Creative, even though it’s limited to just two colors and the Creative has plenty to choose from. But hey, who can go wrong with black and silver right. Plus the Creative whose dimensions are - 4.89 x 2.93 x 0.79 inches and weighs 8.4oz is definitely bulkier than the slim iPod that has dimensions of 4.1 x 2.4 x 0.43 and weighs just 4.3oz. So taking all these factors into account, I’m going to have to go with the Sexy iPod over the cute looking Vision:M. Oh, and don’t forget there are tons of accessories ranging form cases to dock stations for the iPod but unfortunately there are hardly any for the Vision:M. Score one for the iPod.