Apple can be considered the reigning king of the world of portable audio players. Everyone has some sort of iPod, whether it's the Mini, Video, Photo, or Shuffle, Apple is the most well-known brand of audio players around. Although Apple's authority may soon be challenged by, Creative Lab's, Zen Vision:M, which contains many of the same features and abilities that the iPod has, and it also has features and abilities that the iPod does not have. Based on my personal experience with both the iPod and the Zen, I would have to say that I believe that the Zen is the better overall audio/video player.

First of all, the Zen is a breath of fresh air in the audio/video player world. Everybody has an Apple iPod, so those of you that prefer being unique might lean towards the Zen instead of the iPod. Both are high quality products with roughly the same features as each other, but I personally preferred the Zen, because it was different from the iPod and it distinguished me from all the iPod owners across the world. The Zen also has certain features, such as the ability to use it as a storage device that made the Zen the more appealing product to me.

The iPod as well as the Zen, have video playing capabilities, although I believe the Zen has the advantage in this area. The iPod Video screen looks pretty good when you first see it, although when you compare it to the Zen's screen it will lose its appeal quickly. The colors on the Zen appear to be brighter and more vivid than the iPod's screen. Although the Zen has more vivid and lively screen colors, I believe that both, the Zen and the iPod have the same screen resolution, so the picture quality isn't that huge of a difference, although I still give the edge to the Zen Vision:M.