MP3 Players by Creative

Latest product update: Creative Zen Vision M - Rated Best in Show at CES 2006!

Despite the design similarities to iPod, the Zen Vision:M has a better screen, more features, and even more choices of colors. The Vision:M's displays a whopping 262,000 colors on a 2.5-inch, 320x240-pixel LCD screen compared to the iPod's 65,000. Consequently, video and photos are more vibrant than on the iPod's screen. The Vision:M also has an FM radio tuner and recorder, a voice recorder, and sync tools for carrying around your Outlook data. Moreover, Creative's player supports DRM-protected WMA files,  which means you can download songs purchased from any number of online stores. The Vision:M supports a much wider variety of video formats including: DivX, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WMV, and XviD among them. Users who already have a library of videos will find it relatively easy to copy them to the player: Creative's easy-to-use software automatically converts the files that require it. Battery life is rated at 14 hours for audio and 4 hours for video, which is nearly twice the iPod's video battery life.

Creative is one of the top brands that competes head-to-head with Apple in the MP3 players market. CNet, the best source for mp3 player reviews, has consistently given their product high marks both for music playback ability and design. Many of them come in several slick colors, including lime green and tangerine. The Zen Micro Photo,  center below, was one of their top three non-iPod MP3 players for 2005. Here are a few of the company's top-rated products.

Creative MP3 Players
Zen V Plus  Flash-based player intended to compete with Apple's iPod Nano 1, 2 or 4GB of hard drive space Very compact Plays video, shows pictures and has an FM tuner.	Zen Touch Very easy to hook up with other devices Sleek design in varying colors Long battery life and great sound quality Comes in 20GB and 40 GB options	Zen Micro Photo Well-rated by CNet for both music and photo abilities, but has trouble doing both at once Features voice recorder, photo viewer and FM tuner Holds up to 8GB	Zen Vision Competition for the iPod G5 with a horizontal design Features photo and video viewing options Offers 30 GB digital storage	MuVo Micro N200 Alternative to the iPod Mini Features a tuner, WMA playback ability and a recording feature Holds up to 1 GB