As a cheap, small, easily portable MP3 player with a large enough memory to stop me from listening to the same songs every 5 minutes this serves it's purpose very well.
Pros: - it looks cool; - it holds around 500 tracks depending on their size; - it's tiny; - sound quality and volume are good (even with the radio) - software allows for easy drag-and-drop quick uploads (although once you upload from one folder you can't upload more tracks or browse any until the upload is finished)
Cons: - you need to download the software from the internet, so if you don't have a connection you have to risk using windows plug and play USB mass storage device route, which appeared to work ok for me as well, but I didn't test it thoroughly. - only the track name is given in the scrolling display, why? - when you browse music it is by folder (playlist) only and it automatically starts playing the selected folder. To find a specific track then takes a while if you have a significant amount of tracks within one folder, as you have to skip through each track in turn (slowly) and each one plays each time you do this - very annoying! Why they can't set the firmware up to allow you to browse without immediate playback is anyones guess. - lock/hold system is rubbish. Really poor thinking on Creative's part. requiring you to scroll through a menu to the penultimate choice in order to lock the controls, taking ages. - the controls in general are slow to respond making navigation a nightmare at times - playlists are folders so you copy tracks over to a named folder and a playlist is automatically created with the same name. This does mean however, that you can't use Windows Media Player to manage the Stone very well as it dumps everything into one folder, and the Stone does not recognize normal playlists, so you have to manually compile your favourite playlists by the slow and painstaking method of finding individual tracks by hand which can be frustrating. - a mains charger with the miniUSB cable is extra which is annoying as without one you have to turn your computer on and make sure that when out and about you have the correct cable with you otherwise you won't be able to charge your player
In summary, the Stone Plus has a good all round spec, let down a little by some fiddly and slow controls. However, despite these niggles it is still a competent player ideal for Running or the Gym, but don't expect miracles on the functions front.
Hopefully the problems described above will be ironed out by software and firmware updates from Creative, which you can set for automatic download every time you plug your player in.
Here is the official product website: http://uk.europe.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&s ubcategory=214&product=16696
And a shot of my black Stone Plus: http://images.europe.creative.com/iss/images/artwork/A5_RGB/ZEN_STON E_PLUS_Black_EP_F.jpg
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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Spot a new keychain with the ZEN Stone Plus Keychain Case. Tailoredto fit your ZEN ... more
Stone Plus it is also lightweight andlong-lasting. Housing both the player and your keys you can besure you have your two must-haves in the world with you everywherey
Postage & Packaging:£3.95 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Dec 8th, 2007
very helpful by (100%):
