Zen and the art of iPod killing

Creative finally delivers a portable media player that trumps them all.

No company has worked harder than Creative to challenge Apple’s iPod. While it’s now hard to find any tech manufacturer out there without an iPod clone, Creative were in there from the start and have built up a range of every conceivable shape size and format of portable music players.

The early Zen range is capable, but cannot compare to the slick design of the iPod and its clever interface. For video playback, the pioneering Zen Vision is arguably the best large-screen (640x480) video player, competing only with products from Archos in that category. But large screen video players have not caught on to anywhere near the degree smaller music-only players have. Only with the recent iPod Video have the two platforms of sound and video converged.

We have always been a little disappointed with previous Zen players. They are the little players that tried, but couldn’t. The design feels rushed and incomplete, the interface (both the PC software and the buttons on the players themselves) have been slow, sloppy and irksome. Ultimately, for pure ‘sexy’ the iPod runs away with the prize every time.

All that has been turned upside-down now. Within just a minute of playing with the new Zen Vision: M you know that this is the player to own all players. It is clear that Creative invested heavily in making the Vision: M the very best possible player. This is not a rebadged Chinese clone, it is not a hobbled together gadget from off the shelf parts. It is an exquisitely designed and engineered product that, finally, towers over every portable media player currently available.

It’s dead sexy, and I mean drop dead gorgeous. This is the sort of gadget you know you just have to have the moment you see it, much like the PSP was, but even there Creative teaches Sony some crunching lessons in style and user friendliness.

The 2.5” screen fills the top half of the unit, with the control below. It’s exactly the same size as the iPod Video. We tested them side by side and the Zen’s video quality was noticeably better, thanks to its 262,144 colour support compared to the iPod Video’s paltry by comparison 65,000 colours. If you intend to spend any amount of time actually watching video on a portable player the Zen Vision: M is the only choice right now, while the greater colour depth also helps the onscreen displays look brilliant.

Apple’s slick and simple menu and interface is a hard act to beat, but we found the Zen Vision: M superior in almost every way. Navigating is instant, and I mean instant. Previous Zen’s lagged for a couple of seconds between selection screens, this one is a perfect delight to use. The menu screens make great use of the colour screen without being over the top. The look is sophisticated and mature, far showier than the iPod’s austere look. A selection of themes is there for all tastes. It’s a joy to use and scores show-off points that nothing else can touch.

Creative persists with the  Touch Pad control which is still over-sensitive and is the unit’s only Achilles Heel. If you own one you’ll get used to it eventually, but Apple’s wheel is superior for regular use. Creative’s Touch Pad makes it all to easy to overshoot your target track as you navigate. New for this Zen is that the Touch Pad also has a left and right selector. 4-way, in other words.

Surrounding the Touch Pad are four click buttons for play, menu quick select, back and a customisable shortcut key. It would be very cool if they too were touch sensitive instead of clicky, but the risk of accidentally hitting the wrong button at the wrong time when the lock isn’t selected dictated that design decision, I assume.

All up it is a tight integrated design that is as practical as it is beautiful. Our test unit was gloss black and was a stunner. The buttons light up in sapphire blue and in even in bright light look sweet. There’s also versions in white, lime green, salmon pink and turquoise. None of us here liked the coloured models one bit, but that’s ok, everybody who buys one should get the black one, it’s just too sexy to choose anything else.

The Zen weighs in at 165 grams, the iPod Video is 134 grams and we really couldn’t tell the difference in everyday use. The Zen is twice as thick as the iPod though. Again, it didn’t bother us one bit, both are svelte little things but if you really are driven to pick the iPod video purely because it’s thinner, all power to you, but you’re missing out on what we consider to be the most important real advantages.