Creative Zen Vision:M

[Lee`]

I have recived a zen this morning, does anyone else have one and have any tips or usefull advice for when using them? So far I'm pretty impressed, apart from it being pink, but it was cheap

[Darth]

lol pink When i got my mp4 player it was one of the ones i took into consideration as they do look very smart. But in the end i decided on the Archos 404 camcorder

[starbuck]

get a decent pair of ear/headphones. The player has awesome sound but needs a decent set of phones to get the best out of it.

Get the latest firmware from creative website.

If you go into the menu > system > display settings > configure menu, you can choose what options you have in the menu so only have the things you use the most.

With the latest firmware(and for the past few firmwares) you can record from the inbuilt radio directly to the player's HDD.

Also in under the system menu, you can configure everything else. Player settings is a great menu where you can set sleep timer etc but also change touchpad sensitivity. Get the sensitivity right for how you use it.

When off or when you're not gonna touch the player for a while(eg when listening to a playlist), lock the player by switching the power button to the right(when looking at the player face on). This turns the screen off and saves battery power.

Depending if the player is new or not, you need to condition the battery to get longest life out of it. If it's not new, then let the battery FULLY discharge(as in dead dead) then FULLY charge it. by doing this, it will get battery at full capacity. Once done, you can keep topping up the battery if you want to and it will still keep it's full capacity.

If the player is new, you need to do the full charge/discharge 3 times before topping it up.

For video, loads of programs/sites that will convert and size video properly for you. Look on vcdhelp.com for more help(best compression prog I have found is autogk).

For all other info/help with the player, try searching for a website called epizenter(as can't remember exact address), it keeps up with all latest info/firmware etc and has info on best way to get video onto player.

The video quality kicks ipod's a** and is amazingly clear, just need to get balance between quality and size.

I always manually transfer video to the player, it appears as another hard drive in explorer, just go into it and find the video folder and put any files in there.

If you go onto the creative website, you can find a link to another website for zencasts which are video podcasts and offer quite a wide range of things(think everything is free as well).

In terms of the music, as with any mp3 player, the better tagged your files are, the easier they are to use and less space a file takes up(if you cut out anything you don't use like publisher, album art, comment fields etc).

If it ever freezes(very rare but happens like anything else), reset button is a hole next to connection jack thing at the bottom, just need a pin to do it.

Best accessory I have found is docking station most useful as easy to just drop your player in and it will charge it and connect to your pc.

You can normally get a plugin for the player for your favourite pc mp3 plater.

[Lee`]

Very good post.

I'm very much enjoying the zen, though I've not been taking it out of the pouch in public. I've still been using podcasts and just transferring them over and letting the software convert them. I jsut found the zencast a bit rubbish for me. (science stuff) I've not really had a chance to use the video part of the zen, as it mostly use it for when I'm walking to and from class though I think it'll come in handy when I'm travelling to and from home.

Where is the best place to pick up a AC charger?

[starbuck]

creative's own site isn't bad for prices. Another place to look(apart from froogle.co.uk) is ebay, creative even have their own shop on their so should be cheaper than their own site.

I got an ac charger with it. was your's new?

[staffsMike]

if the battery runs down to completly flat it wont charge from usb you will need a 5v power supply...found that out the hard way this week.

[Lee`]

Yep it was new from dabs. It only came with a usb charger cable and the thing you plug into the the bottom.

[julikat]

Hi there - first post, so please be gentle! Any help would be greatly appreciated as I can't find the answer anywhere. Sorry it's so long, but I just got the Zen Vision M 30GB, and only have my Sony NW-S706 and a friend's Zen Touch for comparison, and I'm having weird volume issues with certain headphones. This is going to be a really long incoherent rambling, so unless you're bored. . . or want to help

OK, If I use my Shure E4 (rated 29 ohms) on the Vision - I have to turn the volume up to 22 out of 25 to get decent sound. i don't understand that at all, because if I use the Shure E4 on my smaller Sony which I think has an output of 16 ohms impedance (according to what I could drag out of Sony) - I only need to set the volume to 17 out of 30 to get the same volume as on the Zen. I seem to be almost at max on the Zen, and not even two thirds on the Sony. When I use the E4s on the older 'Touch', the Vision has slightly lower volume (although much clearer sound) on the same settings, even though it's a newer model.
So I'm really confused, because if I use regular 16 ohms Sennheiser CX300 on the Zen, the volume is much louder than with the 29 ohms Shure E4. In other words, they seem to drive lower impedance headphones louder than higher impedance phones. And the Sony seems to drive higher impedance headphones much louder than the Zen
I had the E500s for a while (faulty so sent back and replaced with E4) but they're rated at 36ohms. My Sony could play the E500s at volumes of less than 14 with good sound quality - but the Vision seems to have less power than the Sony - if they can't drive the 29 ohms, how will they drive 36 ohms E500s? I can't quite believe that a side-by-side comparison showed the Sony to be much more efficient in driving the E4s, and the sound overall was much fuller and richer. I'm really disappointed because I want to use the Zen, much bigger capacity and better value overall - but sound quality is of prime importance to me. Although the Zen only has a quarter of the battery life of the Sony, I'd rather sacrifice that if I could get the best from the sound.

I automatically assumed (naively) that because the bigger Vision was a HD, it would have a more powerful output than the Sony - so please can someone help to explain why I seem to be the only person in the whole world that can't get a decent volume on the Vision with the E4s. It's quieter than the Sony and the older Touch and I'm sure this shouldn't be - should it??
So, to cut a long story short. . . The End.

Is the impedance of the headphones relevant to the output of the Vision and the Sony?

Why would Sony play E4s (29ohms) at 2/3 of the volume - and play at 22/25 almost max on the Vision?

And what of the 36 ohms E500s!!! If the 'pattern' continues like the E4 - then the E500s won't be able to get loud at all - and remember I only set the Sony to just over half for general listening, which gives me plenty over if I want to go louder - but I've only got one bar left on the Zen volume for the same listening level - so nothing to play around with.

Rant officially over. Please help. I have googled everything I could, but have found nothing - so, can anyone please help me???? Thank you

PS I really want to keep the Zen, and I'm sure if anyone else was having the same problem, it would have come up. So it just seems to be me, so if there's anything you can suggest that might help. . .

Firmware I'm not sure about, I know mine ends in an 'e' which apparently might mean it's been capped so I'll start there!

[julikat]

I downloaded the updates exactly as per instructions - and now unable to get past the recovery screen. Have reset, reformatted, uninstalled, re-installed etc etc - nothing!

Oh woe is me and it's 2am - have no idea what to do next

[aioiddy]

many thanks for the valuable information
-------------------------------------
Video Converter

allvideotools.com

[starbuck]

Not sure about the impedance of the E2's I use but it gets quite loud for me about 10.

If you download the firmware from the us site and install that, it will give you an uncapped volume level.

On my one which has the US firmware, in the settings, I can turn a volume limit on or off. Don't know if the european version lets you do this.

can also depend on the volume level of the music you are playing was recorded at. you can level the volume of all your tracks and increase the db they are at.

[julikat]

Thanks for the replies. The music I have is all ripped at WMA highest quality VBR so it's all about 300 bitrate, and the volume is plenty loud enough on the Sony.
Looks like I'll have to send it back as am 'locked' in the recovery mode. I downloaded the US firmware but didn't even get a chance to install it on the Zen because of the lock up.
Thanks again

[starbuck]

have you tried pressing the reset button with a pin at the bottom of the player?

[julikat]

Hi, yes I pressed the reset button and everything. I fixed it finally by putting the Zen into a computer that had no Zen software at all - (I had already downloaded the firmware update to my own computer but had not been able to install it). I put the download onto a flashcard and then once I plugged the Zen into the other computer, it recognised it - and I was able to carry out the update which reset the unit.

I've seen info on line about this so if anyone else wonders if the plugging the Zen into a computer (without ANY Zen software on it), it worked for me!
Thanks for everyone's help