Creative Zen Vision W reviewed
We were all stoked about the Creative Zen Vision until we discovered what a let-down the screen turned out to be. Therefore we're understandably wary going into this one, but apparently Creative noted our concern, and the Creative Zen Vision W comes out looking like a champ. CNET got their hands on one for a review, and seemed quite enamoured with the brightness, color and viewing angle of the new 4.3-inch widescreen, though a bit of sharpness was lost in comparison to the Zen Vision. Otherwise the Vision W doesn't have a lot of surprises. The size has definitely bulked up, since both the length and thickness of the player have been impacted by the new screen size and extra storage. Format support is juicy, like always, though CNET had a few problems with certain DivX files. Other familiar perks include a CompactFlash slot, near identical -- and quite tactile -- buttons, radio and voice recording, and A/V out. The lack of video recording ability is a bit lame, and while the standard Zen software has received a bit of a bump with the DJ, Smart Volume, virtual keyboard and Outlook features, the Vision W doesn't quite do as hot as the Vision:M without the latter's touchscroll. Happily, the Vision W does manage a quite impressive 18 hours and 28 minutes of MP3 battery life, with 5 hours 6 minutes of juice when playing video -- both well exceeding Creative's battery ratings. Overall the player seems like a hit if you can handle the bulk -- and don't quite have to patience to see if Apple is finally busting out an iPod video on the 12th.
