Customer Reviews
don't do it ! 
2008-07-01
when it was working it was great but these creative products don't seem to last very long. in the past 4 years i've had 4 of these creative player different ones none of the seem to last i just do not want to buy an ipod so i keep giving these people a play but not any more
Creative > IPod 
2008-07-01
I've always been against IPods, and buying a Creative has cemented that stance. I first had a Creative Zen 20gb, but unfortunately that one died from excessive exposure to static electricity. I tried to use CD Players, but after 8 months, I decided to give MP3 players another shot, and came across the Vision:M. 2 years later, it's still running like it came fresh from the factory. Battery life easily exceeds 10 hours, which is more than long enough to make it through a normal workday for me, and it can hold my present music collection, plus some videos. I can only hope that the newer Creative Zen is as reliable as this one is.
Hard drive died after two weeks 
2008-06-11
Just buy the freakin ipod. I wish I would have. Now i have a 200 dollar piece of plastic.
BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2008-06-05
First unit we purchased had to be replaced, tech support STINKS. Replacement unit had to be replaced. These units lock up constantly. Creative is constantly putting recovery tools on their web site for you because they are unable to staff tech support that can help you through your unit's many problems. I would not purchase one of these units. BE SMART and don't throw your hard earned money away.
Player is good until Creative Customer Support comes into the picture. 2008-05-30
This is a great player for what it cost (at the time, $250). Better than an iPod, for sure. However, the LCD breaks easily, and Creative Customer Support is some of the worst in the country. At least iPod stands behind their products; Creative doesn't. I was going to get the new flash-based 32GB Zen as a replacement, but I decided on the Microsoft Zune 80GB because I'd prefer to deal with mediocre software over miserable product support.
These are my experiences so far with Creative:
1.) I had a Creative Labs Zen Vision: M that served me well up until it somehow wound up with a cracked LCD. Customer support said it was because of pressure put on the screen, although I kept my baby nowhere near anything that could have done that kind of damage, i.e. book corners, sharp objects, etc. I actually think it was the long walks in cold air . They wanted me to pay $86 to fix it because it was "customer error". However, after some research, I found that this screen cracking was a very common problem; I found a page on Google looking for a way to repair it myself, and there were a few hundred comments from people all suffering the same thing with no clue as to where it came from. There's proof everywhere, but Creative absolutely refuses to stand behind their product and admit fault in shoddy workmanship.
2.) My uncle loaned me his Creative Labs Zen Sleek Photo while I saved money to buy a new player. After suffering problems with this, too (player just suddenly wouldn't be detected by the computer after two months of working correctly, another apparently common problem, and a day and a half's worth of trying to rectify the problem did nothing), I contacted customer support. However, because it was beyond a year after the purchase date of the player, -Creative no longer offered email support for the player.- Instead they turned me to their customer support section (which I had already been through multiple times), offered a $12.99 per half hour service with an "expert" on the phone, and recommended searching for third party websites. Finally, they had the nerve to plug one of their products at the end of the email.
Buyers, heed me: Creative product support is completely and entirely useless for anyone that doesn't have a warranty, and apparently anyone that does, too. I can understand not getting a replacement or free phone service for not being under warranty, but to outright not help customers and even penalize them for Creative's own poor workmanship is just ridiculous. I have gotten far better service for far less expensive products. Even Microsoft gave me a free month of Xbox Live as an apology after my out-of-warranty Xbox 360 kicked the bucket.
Buy your Zen, but remember that the point where your money is handed to Creative is the point at which Creative's interest in you ends.
Great, until your warrenty expires 
2008-07-23
So I bought my Zen in March of 07. It was amazing, I loved it! Easy interface and program. Until a few weeks ago when it stopped connecting to my computer. It would charge and not do anything else. Couldnt get music on or off of it. Of course my warrenty was expired, so customer service was very unhelpful especially when they told me they couldnt fix it becaue they didnt make the Vision M or its parts anymore and told me i had to buy a new one. So, now I'm thinking Ipod but I don't want one. I loved my zen and i miss it. it was a little too bulky but oh well.
I love the Zen 2008-07-14
I have had my 30GB Zen for a few years now, and I still love it. It has more features than an Ipod: FM Radio and ability to connect to a TV to view movies just by buying a cord. An important feature to me is that you don't have to have Itunes to add music. You can drag files to it like you do any other file on your computer without having to open up a specialized program, so you can visit friends and put their music files on your Zen very easily. There was a period about a year ago that it was acting glitchy, but I think it was just going through its adolescence. It's been fine for a long time now, and if this one ever gives out, I will absolutely buy another. True, there aren't as many accessories designed especially for the Zen as for the Ipod, but there are plenty of generic mp3-compatible accessories that fit the bill: cases, portable mini speakers, stereo systems, etc.
ZENS SUCK!! BUY A ZUNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2008-07-09
I began by purchasing a 8 gb Zen, it broke within the first week and became inoperable! Luckily I returned it and was given a credit. I then took the credit and purchased a 30 gb vision, which broke within the extended warranty period, so I returned it and was told it wasn't covered under the warranty, so I was out 249. I purchased another 30 gb Vision and only used it for a handful of times, as I also had aquired a Zune and much preferred it to the Zen, well this one broke, was returned and they then sent it to an address in Buffalo, NY, instead of my home here in Florida!! What a bunch of incompetent imbeciles!!! Their product sucks and so does their customer service!!
Best MP3 but long in the tooth 2008-07-03
Ok I have had this player for well over two years and I have an Ipod and Bottom line up front, it's slightly better than the Ipod as a player and more importantly it's free from the control of Apple Itunes. The Ipod has that cool wheel which is a little easier to use than the slide and the Ipod has some games, which the Zen doesn't. But the Zen has some better futures like the video play features and some better less confusing menus, which make accessing your stuff easier. Finally, the Zen has an FM radio recorder (mono only good for NPR) with an open-air recorder mic for memos and lecture recording. That all by itself trumps the Ipod all to heck! When you combine the features with the fact that you can score your movies and audio files from any source and you aren't bound to the whim of Itunes and Apple software "upgrade" scares, I know you'll find the Zen a superior product for a cheaper price.
Now if you're like me and like better rather than just what everyone else is carrying then the Zen is for you and has been for over 2 years.
But I did say its getting long in the tooth right? Yep it needs upgrading.. Blue tooth for headsets and download would be a nice start. The addition of a module that lets it use WiFi for downloads of movies and music would be cool too. Improvement to the slide would be nice but not a make or break point. However, a touch screen with a video keyboard would really help go to features and songs quicker and give some better more" custom controls. All these things that might change the size and price point of this awesome device but, they are the next logical steps.
Oh and a word about durability and quality. My Ex girlfriend could break anything! She broke 2 razors phones in 2 months, my F150, twice, her Ipod nano in a $30 plastic case in 2 weeks and the suspension on her 2 year old car... but in the last 2 years she hasn't been able to break my Zen... Scratch, dent the plastic? Yes. But not break it.
Would not buy it again if I had the chance 2008-07-01
I have experienced two big problems with this player: 1) It freezes up a lot. This usually happens if you fast forward to the next song "too fast". The player will stay stuck, paused on the song you didn't want, and you are unable to use any functions. You cannot even turn it off and it will eventually drain the battery unless you Reset the player. To do this, you have to stick a paper clip or other similarly-sized object into the Reset hole. 2) The shuffle feature does not really play songs in much of a random order. You can choose to play an entire Genre in shuffle mode and still hear nearly the same songs in nearly the same order every time. It will mostly choose from a small selection, yet leave hundreds of songs unplayed. Never seen anything like it, not even from my 17-year-old Pioneer CD player which has a somewhat-predictable shuffle play mode.
Another HUGE drawback is a design flaw. To do any charging, whether it be via USB or an AC wall charger, you must first attach the "dongle", which is a small interface piece that fits on the bottom of the player. Really an annoyance to have to deal with.
I believed a lot of the hype about this player and feel now that I'm paying the price as a result. Save your money!!
