Any Zen Vision M 30 GB owners in Hyderabad?

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proloyc

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Hi All,

I have run into a problem. I recently bought a ZVM 30 from the US. My friend brought it along. However, upon its arrival I find that it neither starts, nor seems to charge. I have tried all the troubleshooting tips available on their website. Nothing works. It just looks like no current is flowing into the device.

I'm suspecting that it's either a faulty sync adapter that is needed to plug it in, or a dead battery. I contacted Creative customer support and they are asking me to mail the product to Singapore for warranty service. It's quite expensive to send it to Singapore and also has customs liabilities.

Therefore, I wish to verify once that it's indeed the unit that's faulty and not one of the peripherals. If it turns out that just replacing the adapter can work, I'll instead procure just that.

It'd be great if someone owning a ZVM 30 (in Hyderabad) could help me out by lending the sync adapter for trial. It's not available locally on ebay or other sites (lots of iPod connectors are there but none for the ZVM).

If any of you are willing to help me out, please mail me at proloyc@yahoo.com, or reply here.

Also, if you know of any authorized servicing centers for ZVM in India please let me know. The unit is very much under warranty -- it's a brand new piece -- but since it was purchased in the US, warranty service may not allowed here. However, I could pay to get it checked/repaired.

Thanks.
Proloy
 
err......1 small suggestion: try removing the battery and check the battery contacts. Have heard that in some cases the contacts are covered with a transparent sticker which needs to be removed before use.(dunno whether contacts on battery or on back of player so check both) I am sure you must have checked, but just to confirm :)
 
Thanks for your reply. However, the battery cannot be touched. The Zen Vision M is a sealed box. You can't get inside. There are no screws or slidable compartments.

There are some sites which show you how to open it, like this one: How to Disassemble the Creative Zen Vision: M

But it'll probably be good to attempt that only if the player is out of warranty period and no other help is at hand. Otherwise, if anything goes wrong they are certainly going to invalidate the warranty.

There are no stickers visible. There is only a loose plastic cover. But that doesn't get in the way of the adapter and the pin on the unit.

I had read about serious reliability issues with Zens when I read reviews on amazon. The percentage of reviewers reporting problems there is no less than 60 -- just check yourself. I still bought it only because it was available for a significant mail-in rebate during the period. (It's a new product, not refurbished, mind you.) I had told my sister (for whom it was meant to be a gift) that you have to be very careful using it. However, didn't expect that I'd be getting a complete lemon out of the box. A huge disappointment. Creative's manufacturing and quality-control processes receive a big thumbs down. The product may well-engineered, but not well manufactured. Anybody buying it is running a severe risk.
 
by the way have you checked the adapter as it is from the US the voltage thing must be lower,recently had the same probs with a cordless phone brought from the US once the adapter was changed everything is working fine
 
It's not a wall adapter.

It's actually an adapter for no particular purpose. It takes power from USB and feeds into a proprietary pin on the device. There is a USB A-B cable. The B side goes into the adapter. The adapter then plugs into the proprietary pin.

They could have simply given a USB-B input on the device itself; but then they will lose out on the service and accessory revenues if they make things too simple.

There are many others who have reported exactly the same problem as I have. No charge, no current. First Time Charging 30GB Zen Vision: M - MP3 Players - Creative Labs
It's dumbfounding how the company is taking buyers for a ride. It looks like their entire batch is bad, because the persons reporting it have bought around the same time as me. I'd like to put a complaint in a consumer forum. The Indian forum may not accept it as it was bought in the US. Anybody knows about the US equivalent body?
 
sorry, my bad. the tip i read was for the zen vision w, not the m. try putting it in the indian forum only. i foot think they will disallow it op anything. else try the support section of the creative US site. it has the forums link. i always thought all forums were common though. might ve been wrong. best of luck. my zen vision w worked first time out me the box. touch wood!
 
@proloyc: I live in Hyd and owm ZVM 30GB. I had similar problem just as you face now. The any thing but IPod forums had lotsa queries on the same regard.

Essentially the simple solution is to buy a DC adapter which does not cross 2.5A current at 5V voltage. I bought a light weight (Switch Mode Power Supply it seems) DC adapter with 2A current at 5V DC for 250-300 bucks from one of shops in Koti.

First charge with it and later on you can use your USB charger. That so 'coz ZVM's battery so depleted that it won't response to probing by a PC thru USB cable. Since the OS on PC cannot locate any hardware connected by that USB cable it does not supply enough power to start charging.

You'll love the DC adapter later on anyway as it is much quicker.
 
slightly OT but, isn't it that you must not go over the rated voltage but you can use a more aperage charger? the device only uses the rerquired amount of current if the current is in excess...isn't it?
 
@Kumar: I have idea about not going above rated amperage. Frankly, I just reiterated what I remember reading on anything but IPod forums. That's all. And for me even finding this 2Amp DC adapter took a lotta time as market is flooded with 1Amp ones.

Those rating have been taken as so from creative's own wall charger specs.
 
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Hey Skidrock,

Thanks for your reply. Do you mind pinging me on proloyc@yahoo.com? I'll get in touch with you.

Actually, I have at least three wall adapters whose output matches that of the Zen VM. Two LG mobile adapters (Reliance) and one Motorola one. All 5V, 1-2 Amp. However, the trouble is: they don't fit into the ZVM's DC slot. Too big for it.

Only yesterday I bought another adapter from Parklane, Secunderabad. It's an original HP adapter, 5 V 2A, center positive, which they said was from a portable DVD player. However, even this one doesn't fit. So am going there to return it today. I had high hopes yesterday that this one might resolve my problems, but unfortunately it was not to be.

I also figured out that Sony PSP chargers are compatible with ZVMs. Will check out at one of their outlets today, if they keep spare chargers. I also have an old Sony Diskman, which has an input slot which looks of the same size as the ZVM, though it's rated at 4.5V. However, I can't locate the adapter. My sister (who owns it) too says she has never seen the adapter. Probably it never came with it.

In the worst case, I may borrow the one that you've used successfully, for a day, if you don't mind. I am a bit wary of no-name brands of adapters, as one cannot be sure of the polarity, or even voltage and current. (I do intend to buy a digital multimeter too today.)

The problem seems to be not the adapters, which are available, but the pin and slot size. They are not matching. Damn lack of standardization....

Another fellow Indian replied to me on the Creative support site that not only would I need an adapter, but I'd also need to immediately flash the firmware for it to charge. Otherwise, it won't charge the battery at all. He had kept it connected to the wall for two days but it didn't charge. However, he said the comp can detect the device through USB once the wall charger is also plugged in. Pinning my hopes....

But, it doesn't seem to be a one-off case of battery depletion. It's a fast moving item and doesn't sit on shelves too long on mainstream stores. In fact, I had bought it from an online store (buy.com) and they could deliver only after a month, as they ran out of stock and had to order fresh from the company. So it's quite likely that the piece was a recent manufacture, that was depleted right out of their production facility. Which just shows what poor quality control processes Creative has. It's time customers stopped paying for their utter negligence and started taking them to task. It's a rampant problem. Just check Creative's forums -- almost every third guy reports that it couldn't be started for one reason or the other.
 
Just wish to let everyone know that Skidrock made my day! I borrowed the wall-charger from him today and for the first time in a month, my Zen breathed some sign of life! The LED flashed and the logo came up.

However, as I had suspected it didn't charge with it though it was on. I had to upgrade the firmware too (from version 1.4.02 to 1.6.03) via USB, while keeping the DC plugged in, and only after that it started charging. Kept it connected for about 45 mins to fill about 50% of the battery. Uploaded some songs, and it plays! What a relief!

Many, many thanks to SkidRock for his generous help! Thanks to the forum as well for giving a platform to air the request for help.

Will be buying the charger from Koti myself now, from the shop he bought it from. :-)
 
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