The price is great. Between £25 and £30 depending on where you shop. That’s for 1 gig. The new ipod shuffle costs almost double that for the same amount of memory.
That already makes it a bargain!
Couple that with the fact that it doesn’t not need new software to be installed like iTunes and this becomes the better choice of MP3 player.
It comes in a range of colours and there are already a few nice accessories out there for it.
It charges via the small USB port so if you already have a blackberry or another device that uses the small USB connector then you’re ready to go. I use my PSP USB lead. It comes with the lead as well so if there’s no need to buy one if you don’t have one.
You get set of headphones with but you’re probably going to want to get some better ones. There not crappy but there’s definitely better headphones out there.
The Zen stone has the usual "shuffle" and "repeat all" functions like the ipod shuffle. However unlike the ipod equivalent MP3 player the Zen Stone has the ability to play music from folders. You can put your albums in specific folders and skip directly from album to album so don’t have to skip for ages to get to the next album.
There is no display to eat away at the battery either which is just as well as the battery life isn’t that great. Approximately 10 hours of playback on a full charge. That probably means you press play and don’t touch it again! Obviously that’s not how we tend to use these devices so the battery life will not be 10 hours for normal use.
It has a small multi coloured LED that tells you what is going on with the stone. Different light sequences and colours indicate various actions such as connected to computer or adjusting volume.
There is one flaw that really annoys me with the Stone. When you turn on the stone it takes around 7 seconds before the music plays. It also starts playing at the volume it was turned off. Put those 2 together and depending on what you were listening to when you turned it off you may be in for a blast in your ears. A volume fade in would have been a much better idea!!
All in all the Zen is a nice MP3 player. Enough memory for plenty of songs and perfect for the commute to work.
I take mine in the bathroom with a small pair of speakers!
Enjoy it!
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(+) Av Output to plug to a TV, built-in speakers, easy to use. Come with very good earphones (-) Does not come with power supply (easy to charge from the PC though), av cable is sold separately
The Creative Zen Stone Car and Home 2 in 1 Combo Charger with TipExchange is the essence ... more
of an all-in-one charging solution for all your travel needs. Designed to function as a high quality Rapid Car charger via a standard DC vehicle cigarette lighter...
Postage & Packaging: £4.06 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: cheaper than Ipod, simple, attractive, no sharp edges, light weight, does not use itunes Disadvantages: can only be charged from a computer, gets scratched easily, difficult to organise music effectively
TomJarvis-designer 06.10.2007 (06.10.2007)
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Review of Creative ZEN Stone 1 GB
May 22nd, 2007
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