Introduction

History

The DAP market is currently at a crossroads, with many consumers switching from hard drive players to demanding flash players with higher capacities. It was just a year ago that microdrive players such as the Creative Zen MicroPhoto were a hot commodity. However today as flash players are meeting and exceeding the capacity of those microHD players, they have become a dying breed.

Surprisingly, with these increases in capacity, we are also seeing a consistent drop in the prices for these players. This change really gained momentum when Apple released the 2 and 4GB iPod Nano. It was the first time we’d seen a 4GB flash player, and the rest of the industry certainly took notice. Major movers and shakers like Sandisk, iriver, and Samsung came out with what they believed to be their “nano killer” in the months that followed. There was just one major company that hadn’t joined the party yet: Creative. It wasn’t until March of this year that they revealed info about their candidate(s) for the “nano-killer” title.

Find Your Zen



If you happen to spot a Creative advertisement, you will see one of their latest slogans says “Find Your Zen”. Their goal is to make a player for everyone’s needs, and no product shows that better than the Zen V line. We are given not one, but two players to choose from; the Zen V, and Zen V Plus. Aside from the name, what’s the difference? Well, the Plus version adds an FM tuner, as well as video playback to your player. Here are the features for both players:

Capacity		Dimensions		Display
1, 2, and 4GB		43.5 x 67.5 x 15.9mm (1.7” × 2.66” × .63”)		1.5” OLED display (128x128 pixels)

Audio Formats		Video Format*		Extras
MP3, WMA (and WMA-Protected), Audible, and WAV		DIB (motion-JPEG) 15fps (Plus only)		Line-In recording, Voice Recorder, FM Tuner*(Plus only)

Battery Life		Other Info		Pricing
15 hours rated (using 64kpbs WMA)		MTP Device, USB 2.0, Album Art support, Scratch Resistant coating		Zen V: $89.99, $119.99, and $159.99 (add $20 for Plus versions)

Now, many people were confused as to why there wassn’t just one player. The reason is simple. Some people just want a music player and not much else. These people now have the choice to save some money and get the player with just the basics. This same trend is being seen in the gaming industry as well, as consoles such as the Xbox 360 are selling in two different configurations. The difference in pricing aren’t as disparate as those consoles however.

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notes:

It seems like Creative is starting a trend with letters. The “M” in Vision:M stands for “mini” and the W in Vision W stands for “widescreen”, but what does the V in Zen V stand for? I would have said video, but that’s only available in the plus version. It also cannot be a shortened form of vision, as there’s already a Zen Vision out there. Hopefully all these various letters won’t bring the general public into a state of mass confusion. That would certainly be against the whole “Zen” movement.

Not to confuse you further, but I’ll be using these acronyms interchangeably with their full names:

ZV – Zen V
ZVP – Zen V Plus
ZVM – Zen Vision:M
ZMP – Zen MicroPhoto

article index
page 1 - current : Introduction
page 2 : Packaging
page 3 : Build and Design
page 4 : Comparison Pictures
page 5 : Controls and Navigation
page 6 : Graphical User Interface (GUI)
page 7 : Software
page 8 : Audio Playback
page 9 : Video Playback
page 10 : Extras
page 11 : Battery Life
page 12 : Accessories Overview
page 13 : Value/Competition
page 14 : Conclusion