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Mp3 players are handheld devices that can store music, and sometimes photo and/or video files. Mp3 players have, in recent years, proven themselves to be one of the most popular entertainment tools available. Creative Labs adds to this market its line of Zen mp3 players, now Apple's top competition against the iPod.
Zen mp3 players come in many shapes and sizes. The players in the Zen line are the Nano Plus, the players in the V series, the Vision: M, Vision W, and the original Zen. Among these players is a storage capacity range from 512 megabytes to 80 gigabytes. Another aspect of variety among the Zen mp3 players is the area on which emphasis was placed during design. While all of the players play music, this is the only task performed by the Nano Plus. The Vision: M and the players in the V series, however, are designed to play music and videos. While the Vision W and the original Zen also play music, their area of emphasis leans more toward video watching, as is made obvious by their large screens.
It is safe to say that nearly everyone has considered purchasing one of Apple's notorious iPods. Many people, however, instead end up buying a Creative Zen mp3 player. This can be attributed to several factors. First is the software. To transfer music, pictures, and videos to an iPod, one must use the iTunes software. With the Zen mp3 players, however, the user may choose between Creative's Media Explorer and Window Media Player.
Another reason why one might choose a Zen mp3 player over an iPod is the compatibility of video files. Whereas it is extremely difficult to transfer any non-iTunes purchased videos to an iPod, the process of transferring such files to a Zen player is on of great ease. In addition to this, Zen players come in a vast variety of colors, giving consumers more of a choice in the looks of their player.
How much do they cost? Zen mp3 players are seen over a wide-span price range. The Vision: M and the Nano Plus are very closely related in cost to their close cousins, the original iPod and the iPod Nano, respectively. These players range from less than $50 to around $300. The video players, like the 80GB Vision W, are on the upwards side of the range, at more than $300.
For a little over a year now, I have been the proud owner of a light blue Creative Zen Vision: M. So far, my experience with my player has been one of great delight. The only problem I have had with my mp3 player was with the album art, but this was fixed with a simple software update. One other complaint about the Zen line is the software which comes with the player. Unlike many programs, such as iTunes, the media files on the player are viewed in a window much like Windows Explorer, and, like Explorer, are seen in a file view, rather than as Artists, Albums, or Track Titles. However, with the software update comes a new organizing program, in which my preferred view is available. Overall, I would greatly recommend Zen mp3 players to any who wish to veer from the popular iPods.
The popularity of Zen mp3 players, while still underneath that of iPods, is hastily increasing. Chances are we will soon see the Zen players in more and more hands as Creative spans their production and advertisement aims.
Raymond Sabo brings to you the views and knowledge for the Zen Vision mp4 players and more.