Test-Driving Creative's Next-Generation Media Player

Last fall, Creative shipped the Zen Creative Portable Media Center, the first video and music handheld based on a new platform from Microsoft. Reviews (such as PC World's) tended to find the device intriguing--but they also commented on its pricetag (high), size (unpocketable), and screen (not so great in some environments). Neither the Zen nor other PMCs from companies like iRiver and Samsung seem to have started a handheld video revolution.

Creative, apparently, was listening. I've been playing with a pre-production version of the Zen Vision, the follow-up to the Zen PMC. At $400, the Vision--which Creative plans to start shipping this month--is a hundred bucks cheaper than the original Zen, yet its 30GB hard drive is 50% larger. It's strikingly more svelte, too--compact enough to squeeze into a shirt pocket. And while its 3.7-inch screen is slightly smaller than the first Zen's, it has twice the resolution and looks excellent indoors and reasonably good even in bright sunlight. And it has some new nifty features, such as a Compact Flash slot that turns it into a digital camera accessory.

[UPDATE: As commenter Walter points out, the Zen Vision, despite having a 640-by-480 screen, seems to do video at a maximum of 320-by-240. Despite that, it looked pretty darn good to me. I'll check in with Creative to see what the deal is.]

The Zen Vision (which I'll call the ZV for short) may be the successor to the Zen Portable Media Center, but it's not a PMC. Creative skipped Microsoft's platform this time around; the Vision is powered by Creative's own PMC-like software. It supports Microsoft's WMV video format as well as MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4 SP, DivX 4 and 5, and other video formats. And it's compatible with Media Center PCs and TiVo to Go.

On the audio side, the ZV does MP3, WAV, and Microsoft's WMA, including DRM-protected subscription services from companies like Napster and Rhapsody. I used Napster to Go to load up my test unit's drive with albums, and also copied over MP3s I'd ripped from CDs. The device also handles non-digital music, thanks to its FM tuner, and has a built-in speaker and a microphone. (It can record audio, although it doesn't have a line-in jack.)

Finding digital music to put on a portable player is a cakewalk these days, and you've got lots of options. But if--like me--you don't have a Media Center PC or TiVo to go, tracking down video isn't as straightforward. I checked out the downloadable offerings at CinemaNow, but didn't find anything that piqued my interest. (Typical selection: Bumfights 2.) With the right software, you can rip DVDs into formats that the ZV can handle, but compared to CD ripping, it's not a quick and simple process...or even one that's clearly within your legal rights.

I ended up snagging a few gigabytes of video from the Internet Archive, an amazing repository of worthwhile stuff that I (and probably you) haven't seen. Almost all of it easily transferred to the ZV via its USB 2.0 port, except for one file (an episode of the old Computer Chronicles TV show). The ZV said it didn't support that file's bitrate, and made me convert it using a feature in the included Zen Vision Media Explorer software. That eventually got it into viewable form, but the conversion took so long that at first I thought the software had stalled.

Once I had video on the ZV, I liked what I saw--the screen looks great, playback is smooth, and sunlight doesn't wash it out too much. You can also plug the unit into a TV using the included cable. (The videos I watched on my 27-inch Panasonic looked VHS-like...which is actually a compliment, given their low resolution.)

I did experience some quirks with video playback, the most irritating of which was that I couldn't bookmark my place in a video file, as I could with music. (The ZV does remember where you were in the last video you watched.) The device's fast-forward and reverse video modes didn't let me see high-speed playback as I jumped around. Actually, with my test unit, fast-forward and reverse occasionally failed to work at all, although this may be fixed in the shipping version of the device.

Like many other portable media devices, the ZV can handle photos and create slideshows based on them. Unlike most of its competitors, it has a Compact Flash slot, so folks with CF-capable cameras can download pictures directly into the player in a jiffy. If you're a serious shutterbug and don't lug a notebook everywhere, the ZV could be a handy way to offload images from your card, so you can fill it up with new ones.

An optional adapter lets you use the ZV's card slot with SD, Memory Stick, and other types of memory; other accessories include a docking station, a remote control, and a carrying case.

The preproduction ZV I'm trying looks and feels pleasingly classy, in part because of its black magnesium case and solid-feeling buttons. (The unit is also available in white.) Creative claims battery life of up to 4.5 hours of continuous video playback, and up to 13 hours for audio playback. I didn't keep track myself, but found I could use it heavily without worries as long as I remembered to recharge the removable battery at night.

Will the ZV manage to convince more of us that the time is right for portable video? I don't think teeming masses of entertainment fans will tote any video handheld until it's truly simple to get big-name TV and film programming onto such a device. That may not happen until the video equivalents of the iTunes Music Store and Rhapsody and such arrive. (Alternate scenario: Maybe we'll all have DVRs that can easily output video in portable-friendly formats.)

Even then, video to go may not have universal appeal, given that movies, unlike music, don't lend themselves to the type of multitasking that most of us do when using MP3 players. And not everyone will want to spend much time looking at any tiny screen--even one as impressive as the ZV's.

But if you're champing at the bit to put movies in your pocket, the Zen Vision looks like it'll be worth your attention. It's also worth a gander if you simply want an audio player that doubles as a digital camera helper.

The $400 price seems fair for a device this versatile, too. Hey, we've come a long way from the day (that would be back in 2000) when I spent $500 for Creative's first hard-drive music player, the original Nomad Jukebox. It sported 6GB of storage, was far too big to slip in a pocket, ran for barely three hours on a charge, and had no idea what video and photos were.

Stay tuned for a final verdict on the Zen Vision when we've tried the shipping version.