The Zen Vision W is not a “DivX Certified” device; that is, the good folks at http://www.divx.com have not given it their official imprintaur. If one uses, the DivX Converter tool, which generates a file with the *.divx file extension (in other words, a divx container file), that file will *not* play on the Zen Vision W, and gives you an error message. Based on my (ridiculously extensive) video conversion experience, my guess is that if you change the file extension to *.avi (an AVI container file), it probably *will* play on the Zen Vision. I did not test that, however.

Now, if one uses a different tool that *uses* the DivX codec but creates an AVI file, you are fine. So if you use Dr. DivX, or Lathe, or DVD Catalyst, or Pocket DVD Wizard, or some such, and that tool uses the DivX codec but doesn’t create a file with the *.divx extension then yes, the Zen Vision W will play that file. And my apologies to all for not being clear about that.

And Jason: With all due respect, man, I spent two weeks testing. I have a library of over 30 films, as well as a set of 5 test clips that I use at several different audio and video conversion bit rates. I use multiple tools and codecs to run my conversions, and I do them on two different laptops for comparison purposes. I used Dr. Divx, Dr. Divx 2.0, and DivX Converter. I use conversion rates that range from 500kbps up to 1500kbps, and audio bit rates of 80kpbs to 120kbps. While I didn’t test every single variant I could think of (I have a day job, after all), I got enough dropped frames, blurred images, film catches, and other issues at the 900kbps mark in live action scenes for it to be annoying. (The color blurring in “Cowboy Bebop” I found *particularly* annoying.)

Or to put it in its simplest terms: The *very same sample clips* that played *fine* on the Cowon A2 and on my Tapwave Zodiac *did not* play well on the Zen Vision W. And that was enough for me.

And let me add this: I *really wanted* to like this device. I really wanted to *a lot*. Aside from the fact that I liked its controls a whole lot better than those of the Cowon, it has PIM support, and that’s a *big deal* for me. But I kept testing movies, and they kept not playing back to my satisfaction. If the playback quality is fine for other folks, I have no problem with that. But it wasn’t fine for *me*.

But don’t accuse me of insufficient testing. Believe me, I banged on that baby plenty!

With regard to the music issues; I’m sure you’re right. As I acknowledged, I didn’t spend nearly as much time on the audio stuff as on the video stuff.

With regard to DivX support (or lack thereof), I just wanted to be clear: Creative does not state that they support DivX, and so I didn’t want to give the impression that they lied or misled me in any way; that wouldn’t be fair to Creative. But I agree; lack of support for DivX is a negative, absolutely.

It’s too bad, too; I really liked this device as a *gadget*. Ah, well! We’ll see how the Archos is. And the Apple iPhone. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but that device is looking pretty good, honestly. If it only had an SD card slot, and a page-down button . . .

That being said, Divx/Xvid support is absolutely essential in any PMP, so slamming it for that lack is not in any way a petty note.

—Ellen