So, It’s my first review in a while. My GCSE’s are on at the moment, and I’m right in the middle of them, but I thought I’d better right a quick review just to let you know I haven’t given up with Ciao! As soon as the GCSE’s are up I will be writing reviews as often as possible.
I recently decided that I needed a new MP3 player. I had the original Creative Zen MP3 player. That was a fairly big and bulky player, that had 20GB of space for music, and it was a pretty good player. But I recently made the mistake of charging up the battery when it was nearly full already. This caused a problem with the battery, so now it would only play for about an hour on a medium volume, and even less if any louder. So I decided it was about time for a new player.
My Dad had recently told me of a player that a colleague owned at work. He described it as “really cool” and about “the size of your thumb!” He told me its name was the Zen Stone, so I went on the Internet and did some research about the player, and I instantly wanted it! Read on to find out why!
In the box… The things that come out of the box are…
> The Zen Stone MP3 Player > A pair of earphones > A set of instructions > A USB Wire
Looks The Zen Stone comes in a wide array of colours, and at least one colour is sure to suit every person! The available colours for the player are
Black, white, pink, lime green, blue and red! I couldn’t choose between getting the black player or the white player, but I decided since the Creative Zen was black, I would go for a change and get the white one!
All of the colours available have a glossy finish, and this gives the player a fantastic look! The shine that comes off the player looks very stylish!
On the front of the player, there is a very small LED light, and also the word ‘ZEN’, obviously to let you know what make it is.
On the back of the player there are the words ‘Creative’ and ‘ZEN STONE’ and also ‘1GB.’ This is obviously to let you know the type of player and also how big memory is inside it that holds your songs!
The looks of the player are greatly helped by the size of it! It really is tiny. You could say that it is the size of a matchbox, but it is definitely thinner, and I think it a bit smaller than most matchboxes too! I’ll continue with the size of the player in the ‘Design’ part of the review!
Design So, I’ll carry on with the size. If you know the dimensions of a matchbox on the top of your head, you’ll know whether it is smaller than a matchbox or not. But the dimensions of the Zen are around 5.3cm long, 3.5cm wide, and 0.7cm in depth. It really is one of the smallest MP3 players I have ever seen, and it is a really pleasant change from the really bulky Create Zen I had for such a long time!! I struggled to fit the Creative Zen in my pocket, now with the Stone, I sometimes forget that it is in my pocket, because it is so small!
But anyway, enough with the size, I’ll carry on with the rest of the design.
The player does not have a screen on it, but this is really a shuffle type of MP3 player, and they do not have screens, you aren't meant to have a choice with which order you listen to songs, everything is random, so it not having a screen is not really a bad thing!
The main control panel for the player is on the front of it (as it normally is with MP3 players). It is on the right half of the front, and the shape it is most focused on is a circle. There is a larger outer circle, and depending on where you press, you control the volume, (turning it up and down), and also the song selection, (hold down to rewind or fast-forward through or song, or just press and release to either go back a song, or continue to the next one). Then in the middle there is a smaller circle, which you press to either play or pause. The controls are very ergonomic and easy to use!!
There is a USB port on the bottom of the player, and this is where you plug it into your computer to be able to transfer songs to and from the player, (more on this later)!
You plug your earphones into the top of the player, and there is also a tiny reset button (you will need a sharp pencil or a compass to be able to press this) in case the player malfunctions.
And also on the top of the player there is a small sliding button. With this you can do set your player to play with a different play mode! You have a choice of three different play modes! You can go into the next folder of songs, (if your songs are separated into folders), you can set your player to shuffle songs, or repeat shuffle!
The player has 1GB memory capcity, which means that it can hold hundreds of your favourite songs!!
There are two small holes on the left hand side on the back of the player, and this is where you can attach accessories, (more later)!
that came in the box, I thought that the sound quality was very good! But then I tried it with the earphones that came with my Creative Zen, and the sound quality was a whole different experience. The music seemed to be that bit louder, and with a bit more bass! What you think of the sound quality really depends on your preferences on what you want your music to be like, do you want soft quiet songs with no bass, or are you really into heavy metal music. If you are the latter, you may want to look for a different pair of earphones. But hey, you may be satisfied with the ones in box, it’s totally up to you! File Transfer With the Zen Stone, file transfer is really easy! The most inexperienced MP3 Player owners would be able to get their favourite songs from their computer onto the player. All you have to do is open up the folder that has your songs in, open up a window with your Zen Stone, and then drag your songs into the Zen Stone file. That’s it! Easy eh?
Battery time So far, I have not had to charge up my player, but I have definitely been listening to it for a large amount of hours! The Internet suggests that the battery will last for 10 hours with continuous playback. Now, I’m not sure if this is true, or what volume the music is been played at for 10 hours. I will have to try this out and find out, and then put it into this review for all the people interested!! Oh, and you don’t get an adapter to plug into your mains to charge up the player. You plug it into your computer with the USB wire, and it charges up through the power from your computer!
Creative Media Lite If you feel the need to really enhance your Zen Stone experience, you can download the Creative Media Lite program for free of the Creative website. With this program, you can do a number of functions to really make your Zen Stone better! For example, you can convert CD’s to MP3 format, you can set a safe volume setting, (so that the player’s volume will not go over a certain volume, which is great if you are buying this for your child or other young relative, but want to protect them from going deaf from listening to their music far too loud)! You can also easily transfer songs to and from the player if you don’t want to do it with opening the files manually. You can also see what the battery status is of your player (when it is plugged in) and watch it charge up, (if you’re really into sitting at a computer screen watching a % slowly move up)! I will take a screenshot of the program in action so you can get an idea of what it is like!
Accessories There are also many accessories that you can buy to go with the Zen Stone. You can buy a key ring attachment, a silicon case, and an armband holder, where you strap the armband around your arm, (obviously) and there is a little pocket on it for you Zen Stone to go into. This is quite helpful if you want to listen to your music if you go running or go to the gym, etc. Most of these accessories cost around £10, but you might be able to find them for less on the Internet.
Price The price of the player sometimes depends on which colour you decide to go for from the six available! The more popular colours such as black or white are the more expensive, ranging from between £25 to £30, but the less popular colours from the six can be between £20 and £25. So really it depends on which colour and where you decide to get it. But it should not be over £30, and it is unlikely that it will be under £20!
Best part of the player I think that the best part of the player is the overall size and style of it. It is a great looking MP3 player, and will look stylish wherever you take it!
Any bad parts To be honest I do not think that there are any really bad parts to the player. I certainly have not encountered any to date. If I happen to find any bad parts of the player, I will add them to the review!
Overall So overall, I feel that the Zen Stone is a fantastic little MP3 player. It has the perfect balance of style with brilliance, and does not go for one over the other, like other players have done! I think that this could be one of the most popular MP3 Player releases of the year, and rightly so!!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
(+) 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...
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...
Jun 10th, 2007
exceptional by (8%):
very helpful by (93%):
