Apple and Creative have a chequered past. Lawsuits fly between these two technology giants as fast as neutrinos between nuclear furnaces, and they battle it out with competing audio players as well as in the courts.
Creative has a history of producing highly featured portable audio players that easily rival the iPod in terms of functionality, although some have lacked in the looks department. Thankfully, the Zen Vision:M sports pleasing curved lines and is not much thicker than an iPod. It also comes in black, white and a cheeky lime green.
The Vision:M is overflowing with features. The 2.5-inch (6.1 cm) colour screen is bright and vibrant, with more clarity than its iPod equivalent. It has a 30 GB hard drive, enough for up to 15,000 songs. It also sports an FM tuner, voice recorder and can handle an impressive range of audio and video formats.
The interface is easy and intuitive. The vertical scroll bar and surrounding buttons are well placed and the menu logical. It might not be as funky as an iPod, but for features, the Vision:M is up with the best.
