Creative Zen Vision 30GB vs. Consus PMC-300 20GB
Introduction
Last year, Creative launched the first Portable Media Player, the Creative Zen Portable Media Center, or Zen PMC in short. It was developed jointly with Microsoft, and featured a Microsoft-driven OS (Operating System). It was a pretty cool idea. In a relatively small device (compared to a laptop, for example), you could watch your favourite movies on it. It had several flaws. First, it only played Windows Media video and music files. Transferring any other format requires the file to be transcoded, or re-encoded to the Windows Media format. This is generally a lengthy process. Converting a full-length movie would take hours. The second problem was its price. It simply wasn't worth the price tag when you compare its features. Plus, it didn't look too good and was a tad too big to comfortably fit in the pocket.
As seems to be the case with Creative, a slew of Portable Media Players started to enter the market. They offered one thing the Zen PMC did not have: multi-format support. MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, XviD. After all, how many people actually have videos in Windows Media format? Currently, one of the most popular product is the Archos AV420 Pocket Video Recorder. This player has been the undisputed king of Portable Media Players. There are also other offerings, such as iRiver's PMP-120 and Samsung's YH-999.
Singapore's Gajah International also released their Consus PMC-300 at the same time as the Zen Vision. Gajah kindly loaned us the PMC-300 for this head-to-head review.
Creative Zen Vision
Package Contents
Creative opted for a colourful box for the Zen Vision.
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Inside the outer box is a familiar sight, as Creative since to have kept to their usual packaging style.
Right on top are the manual, a few quick sheets, warranty information, installation CD, as well as a trial version of Video Vault PVP, a software to convert DVD, VCDs and other video files to play on Portable Media Players.
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Below that is the Zen Vision itself.
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A black, velvet pouch just like the Zen Neeon's.
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The AC adaptor, video and audio cables, USB cable and EP-480 earphones. The earphones are same as the ones bundled with the Zen Micro and Zen Neeon, and definitely sound better than any other bundled earphones with other brands' players.
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Here's a shot of everything in the box.
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