Electric Ode 2: Zen Vision M

Welcome to the second part of this electronic ode feature: today's review is the Zen Vision M (30GB). I've had this since 2006, which is nearing 6 year. It was given to me by the insurance company after a Vietnamese taxi driver mugged me, but that's another story. Since then, it has been dropped, kicked around, had liquid spilt on it, travelled to at least 12 countries, had all its information wiped, both deliberately and accidentally, but it remains reliable and durable: I still love it.

A sleek and seductive beast, no? (Click for source)

The sound is excellent, and because it isn't an Apple, you can use .wma files instead of .mp3 (I tried to convince myself I wasn't a nerd earlier). The result is twice as many songs as an apple iPod, at similar quality. The sound quality is great, and the music comes with lots of personal options. For example, there is an 'album of the day' feature, which chooses an album at random. However, the only real downfall is the fact  that it seems to go through a cycle of the same ten or so albums, no matter how many you have.

The video screen is great. I remember thinking, 'Wow! Now I can watch soft-core porn on the bus' when I first got it. The screen is about two inches square, and has a good resolution, which means you can watch 'The Apartment' (1960) and several episodes of Samurai Jack on a screen the size of a testicle. You can also use it to store photographs,  Generally, the picture is very impressive, and even half a dozen years on it still looks great as a media player. When it came out, it was the boss, especially as it was the replacement for the Zen Micro, which was good, but not great. The video quality is still fine, as this wonderful screen grab shows.

Christ knows what the people I got this picture were doing videoing Snow White at Disneyland, but I'm sure God will forgive them in time (Click for source).

Alongside the video and sound quality, there is a great level of personalisation available: you can change the font, settings and background, to an amazing degree; my background is of a dog of a mate's which I used to walk, and has been for five years now. There are some drawbacks, however. For example, when I first got it , it had the habit of freezing and needing to be reset, the only way to do that was to put a pin (or earring from a mate) into one of those reset holes, and allow it time to reset. However, that seems to have passed.
Other than that, the battery life is great, and I use a protector to stop the screen getting damaged, the result is, after all this time, the screen still has the original film on it. Who says there are no more heroes?

 Rating:
Sound: 4.5/5
Pictures: 5/5
durability: 5/5
Battery life: 4/5
Size: 3/4
Sentimental value: 5/5

In conclusion, I wish that all electronic gadgets were as impressive. It's outlasted an almost 5 year relationship, and a number of others, and still takes pride of place whenever I head outside. I will have a real 'Ol' Yeller' moment when I have to get rid of this slick beast. I have met a few people who also have it, and they seem to be as smitten as I (although not as smug as people with apple things).