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| epiZENter.net: Fansite for Creative Products :: Forums :: Zen Vision: M :: Cases and Accessories | |||
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 Topic: Review of a Battery Charger for the Creative Zen Vision:mGo to page >> |
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| K9 |
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 Joined: Mon Mar 13 (2006) 12:19PM Posts: 8 | Review of a Battery Charger for the Creative Zen Vision:m Intro: I recently bought an Battery Charger for my Zen Vision:m to extend the mobility of my player for long travels or hiking trips. In this review you will find details about this battery charger and most important how it performed in my tests. Specs, Features • Size: 124 x 40 x 19 mm • Weight: about 30g (+four AA-size batteries (weight around 100g)) • Plastic construction • On/Off – switch • LED Indicator • Dock connector • Uses four AA-size batteries • cost: ca. 10-25$ - depending on the country you buy it (available at ebay for shipping to nearly everywhere – just look for “battery charger” or “battery backup pack” Test Setup • Zen Vision:m • Battery Charger • Sony MDR-EX 51 • Four VARTA MAXI TECH Batteries 1.5V, 2800 mAh, about 8$ • Test-Video: a Movie (length: 2:05:43 including opening and ending credits); Video: 560x304, Xvid 1.0, 79K/s; Audio: MP3, 16K/s • Volume = 10 • Brightness = 50% • No equalizer or other special settings Performance • without the Battery Charger: ca. 5h, 28 minutes (large parts of the screen were always black because of the 560x304 video size – I guess that saved a lot of juice…) • with the Battery Charger: ca. 15h, 25 minutes (2,8 x normal performance) I didn’t test the audio Performance – obviously it would have taken ways too much time. I believe you can at least multiply the 16h, 41 minutes audio playtime (128kbit/s MP3, Bass Boost, player put on hold - [Linky]) with the same factor the video playtime improved - which would result in over 46h of audio playtime in total (of course these are theoretical numbers since you will often interact with your player and shut it down etc. in real life) I also tested two other Battery Performance parameters (without the Battery Charger): Volume and Brightness (beside the parameter which is varied all other parameters stayed as described in the Test Setup) • with Volume = 10: ca. 5h, 28 minutes • with Volume = 25: ca. 5h, 21 minutes (surprised me a bit…) • with Brightness = 50%: ca. 5h, 28 minutes • with Brightness = 100%: ca. 4h 25 minutes (well it’s obvious where you can save a lot...) In the review @ Monsternet.org nearly all other parameters which influence battery life were tested. The only parameter which hasn’t been tested so far (at least as far as I know) is the influence of the video codec (divx vs. xvid etc. and 1000kbit/s vs. 500kbit/s)…well perhaps someone out there wants to give us these numbers? Conclusion: The performance of the Battery charger really surprised and convinced me. Being able to watch over 15h of video should be more than enough even if you are out some days for hiking or on a fly around the world – especially because if one set of AA batteries is empty you can simply replace it by another one – well you won’t need to do this very often I guess. Keep in mind that the performance depends to a great extend on the type of batteries you use. Of course the battery charger is not really qualified for everyday use and also most probably not needed but at this price it offers you a lot if you need it. I also think that the battery charger will perform quite similar with other mp3-players (not this one because it has a special plug but similar battery chargers are also available with usb-plug etc.). So in conclusion I believe it’s worth a purchase if you are often travelling and want to watch more than two movies or listen to music loudly and with a bright screen – if not it might end as just another nice gadget which never gets used. By K9 2006-03-26 [ image disabled ] [ image disabled ] | ||
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| Jsax050 |
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  Joined: Sat Mar 04 (2006) 03:18PM Posts: 61 | Is this especially made for the ZVM? also where did you buy it, ebay? Zen X-Fi Zen Vision:M Archos Gmini 402 Rio Carbon | ||
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| K9 |
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Joined: Mon Mar 13 (2006) 12:19PM Posts: 8 | Hi, i got it at ebay ebay.de - look for "Battery Backup Pack für Creative Zen Vision M" ebay.com just look for “zen vision:m battery charger” and yep its specialised for the zv:m - has the special zv:m plug | ||
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| Jsax050 |
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Joined: Sat Mar 04 (2006) 03:18PM Posts: 61 | ah thats awsome, i've been hoping one of these would come out. thanks =) Zen X-Fi Zen Vision:M Archos Gmini 402 Rio Carbon | ||
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| Chahk |
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  Joined: Sat Mar 04 (2006) 12:56PM Posts: 136 | Very nice review. Make sure to PM ssjmichael and let him know about your review so that he can put a link to this post in the ZVM Information Portal. | ||
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| 3284lmm |
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 Joined: Fri Mar 03 (2006) 09:46PM Posts: 466 | Thats awsome, I may have to pick one off ebay. It seems that the majority of the ZV:M's accessories are coming from ebay sellers. Creative Zen Vision:m/Zen Micro/ Muvo Txfm --> Shure E2c's (moded) | ||
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| ssjmichael |
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   Joined: Fri Mar 03 (2006) 09:13PM Posts: 4086 | Excellent work K9, I've posted it on the main page as part of a little accessories entry. [ image disabled ] | ||
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| Jsax050 |
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Joined: Sat Mar 04 (2006) 03:18PM Posts: 61 | Is there any other place I could buy this or something like it besides ebay? Zen X-Fi Zen Vision:M Archos Gmini 402 Rio Carbon | ||
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| Trance |
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  Joined: Sun Mar 05 (2006) 08:27PM Posts: 512 | That is a GREAT accessory. Its nice that it runs on widely available AA battteries, especially since I already have rechargable ones from my canon camera. Thanks for the review, K9! | ||
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| tstarn06 |
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 Joined: Sat Mar 04 (2006) 10:19PM Posts: 176 | Can't find it anywhere on ebay. Anyone have any luck? Zen Vision: M (black), Zen V (black), Zen Muvo TX FM (white, 256k), Zen Muvo Slim Grado SR-80s, Ety ER4Ps, V-Moda Vibes, Yuin PK2s, Koss Ksc75s PA2v2, Cmoy (Penguin) | ||
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| mp3n00b |
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 Joined: Sun Mar 05 (2006) 06:03PM Posts: 42 | Hey I had NO idea such a thing even existed...thanks for the review/heads up! | ||
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| Jenn |
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 Joined: Sun Mar 12 (2006) 04:03AM Posts: 330 | Right now they have 21 of these chargers on eBay. I didn't check every listing, but it seems that most are for black chargers. Better for all the black ZVM owners out there  I will follow her on her path... | ||
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| K9 |
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Joined: Mon Mar 13 (2006) 12:19PM Posts: 8 | @ tstarn: look here: [Linky] | ||
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| tstarn06 |
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Joined: Sat Mar 04 (2006) 10:19PM Posts: 176 | Thanks. Just ordered one. Zen Vision: M (black), Zen V (black), Zen Muvo TX FM (white, 256k), Zen Muvo Slim Grado SR-80s, Ety ER4Ps, V-Moda Vibes, Yuin PK2s, Koss Ksc75s PA2v2, Cmoy (Penguin) | ||
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| heikk-i |
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Joined: Sun Mar 12 (2006) 03:11AM Posts: 27 | nice K9. But can you CHARGE your player with that? Or does it only extend playback time? That would be cool device on my summer gottage, but i wouldnt like to keep that connected to player every time i listen music. And if it can charge, how many full charges could you do with that? Thank you. | ||
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| Moderators: Austin Vaughan, ssjmichael, kingone, Raider Red, moorey, ramakandra |
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