Incredibly tiny, with incredible sound - that's the ZEN Stone. Available in a choice of six glossy colors, its looks match its performance, bringing you room for hundreds of songs... more
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six glossy colours, its looks match its performance, bringing you room for hundreds of songs and running for up to 10 hours on its rechargeable battery. You can nav...
music. Thanks to its 1 GB storage capacity, you can store all your favourite music in MP3 or WMA format, and the Skip function and navigational scroll make it ea...
A review by HungryHungarian on Creative ZEN Stone 1 GB June 7th, 2007
Author's product rating:
Sound Quality
Excellent
Ease of Use
Simple
Look & Design
Excellent
Range of Features
Diverse
Value for Money
Excellent
Advantages:
Small, elegant, cheap, gorgeous .
Disadvantages:
No mobile power, small buttons .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Hello all. First off, it’s literally been months since my last review (exams, don’t ask) but I’m back! I hope to be around a little more now I’m not pulling my hair out.
There’s always a story behind my reviews, this one’s a little sad. My lovely iPod died: 10 days after the warranty ran out. I was devastated as I really can’t live without music but for ages I went without. Then someone showed me the Creative Zen Stone and I rejoiced! This is the story of the little mp3 player that could.
The Good Things
---The Size---
It’s diddy. I’ve added a photo of it next to my thumb so you can get a feel for how diddy it really is (now that was a hard photo to take) and I should point out I haven’t modified it in any way, it really is that small. You can get about two fifty pence coins on it. It’s also very light – with my old 60GB iPod (which weighed a fair bit), if I dropped it the headphones would come out and the pod would fall to the closest surface below it (I do Physics, me). Apple included a lovely feature that the track would pause if the headphones fall out, but that’s not much use if the pod is in pieces on the ground. The Stone is so light that I can swing it round and round by the headphones with absolutely no worry that it’s going to fly off and break a window. In fact, it’s so small I believe I could swallow it without too much hassle.
---The Looks---
It’s so cute! I have the black one, which is highly glossy and just generally gorgeous to look at. It’s not over-styled like so many similar products nowadays; it’s just sleek and elegant without trying to show off. The controls don’t look complicated and the only writing on the front is the word “ZEN” is small white letters.
---Ease of Use---
Unlike certain other Creative products with strange touch sensitive controls that don’t work, this one does. It’s just 5 buttons on the front (4 in a circular shape for volume and track control, and one in the middle for pause/play) and a slider on the top to control the level on randomness. The buttons aren’t touch sensitive, they’re good old fashioned buttons which you have to push. The only problem is that you have to get used to which way round it goes (up/down, left/right) or you end up turning up the volume when you want to decrease it, or going back a track when you want to go forward. This doesn’t take long to learn.
---Money---
It’s cheap. Mine cost about £30 from Amazon with free delivery. This is a good price for what you’re getting.
---The Capacity---
It’s only 1GB. Wait, that’s also diddy, why is that good? Well, I realised with my 60GB pod (that could hold my entire music collection and then some) that I never listen to more than a few hundred songs. A 1GB capacity will easily store that, and it has the benefit of being cheap and light.
---The Software---
The software that comes with it is simple and easy to use, you just click and drag songs from your hard drive to the Stone, and it’s quite quick too being USB 2.0 (I didn’t intend for that to rhyme). The one thing with which I have a problem is the method of obtaining the software. You don’t get a CD in the package; you have to download it from the Creative website. What if I don’t have internet access? I may have an extensive music collection but live in an area with no internet access or perhaps I’m buying the cheap Stone because I don’t have the money to blow on things like internet or expensive mp3 players. Forgive the rant, that just annoyed me!
---Health and Safety---
Yes health and safety has reared its head again, in the form of a volume limiter. The maximum volume it plays can be set using the software, and can be turned on or off if you want. You’re not stuck with a tiny sound. I can see this being useful if you’re giving this to a child and want to protect their ears. To be honest I’ve deafened myself a few times without intending to, perhaps I should switch it on.
The Bad Things
---Charging---
While the battery life is good, the method of charging it is just irritating. The only way to power it is to plug it into a USB port in a computer which is switched on. The mini USB cable isn’t a standard mini USB cable so you have to use the one supplied. This essentially means if I go travelling without a computer I have about 10 hours of music in total – this is annoying and something I didn’t realise before buying. There may be some accessory available that allows you to plug it into mains, but I don’t think I should have to fork out the extra cash for it.
---Button Size---
I can’t think of that much to complain about, but there is one thing that stands out. If you have fingers of the chubbier variety, this is not the player for you. The buttons on the front are spaced rather closely to each other, so you’ll end up mashing volume and track buttons when you intend to pause it.
---Lack of Screen---
This is only a problem if you allow it to be. If you load only your favourite tracks and accept whatever comes along, then it’s fine. If you want direct control over exactly what the next song will be, get another player. On the plus side, everything in the directory on it is stored in folders, so I can have a “Queen” folder and then an “Alexi Murdoch” folder (if you don’t know the latter, read the review I’ll be aiming to write in a few days, you’re missing out!). It’s listed alphabetically, and once a track appears in a folder you want, you slide across the slider at the top to a different setting and it continues playing songs in that folder in order, no longer random. If you know all your songs you can also use this slider to skip to the next folder and get to the exact song you want like that. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than complete randomness.
Overall
I use my Stone at the gym – I can run with it, and since it’s so light it won’t jiggle around in my pocket. It won’t skip because it’s flash memory rather than a hard drive, and since there’s no screen the battery life is good and weight is kept down. I like it. For what it is it’s very good, but there are a few issues (not really with the Stone itself, but with Creative policy) that mean I can’t give it 5 stars, so it’s getting 4.
The photos are a little strange, I realise – I tried to capture the “spinning on headphones” thing. Trying to take a photo clearly whilst spinning it in front of me is not easy, as the photos probably show! (and my hand isn’t as broken, that’s just a very strange angle...) If you want a music player that’ll keep you entertained for a while for only a little cash, this is the one. It even comes in different colours. What more could you ask for than Barbie Pink?
Advantages: A fantastic, stylish little MP3 player! Disadvantages: None really, no screen, but you don't expect one on this type of player!
...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 ... ...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’ ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Reasonable Price, Simple to use, Sound quality Disadvantages: Not many features
Just recently Creative released the Zen Stone quite clearly to compete directly against the iPod Shuffle. Creative are one of Apple's main rivals and in the past few years they have released very similar products to each other. Creative up until now were not competing in the small mp3 player market against Apple. But they have released little player to compete against the iPod Shuffle. The player is a basic offering just like the shuffle that offers ... ...You get a pair of Creative headphones to match your player a USB cable so you can transfer music files across from your computer and a little guide which tells you a few bit of info on how to get started with your new Zen Stone. So you get a couple of things but as this is a fairly inexpensive player thats what I was expecting. Other than the accessories that come in the box there are several others you can buy separately from Creative. One of the ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Stylish, easy to use and very cute Disadvantages: Charging is by computer
My eldest monster was 11 in September and decided that he would like his own MP3 player, well it was a joint decision really because I had threatened him with beheading if he used mine again! We do have similar taste in music but it came to a head when he downloaded the killers onto my MP3 and deleted Guns N Roses!
So as I am not the technical one in the family it was down to the other half to find one for him, so as this was obviously a very important ... ...different sites to find the perfect one I left him to it. To my surprise this little box turned up a week later with this product inside, so had the other half found the perfect one?
SO WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
For me this is the most important bit! Not being into all the technical jargon if it looks good and not too many buttons then it's all right with me! I was actually quite shocked at how tiny it is I mean really tiny compared to mine. It actually ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Sound Quality
Ease of Use
Look & Design
Range of Features
Value for Money
very helpful
27.10.2007
Get stoned Review ofCreative ZEN Stone 1 GBby
freeridemtber
Advantages: Tiny, lightweight and easy to use. Disadvantages: no screen and no mains adapter
...on here and discovered the Creative Labs Zen stone. My budget was only around £30- £50 and this came in at a very reasonable £30 a year ago. The first thing that caught my eye about it was the size. It is absolutely tiny! It measures up at only 5x2.5x1cm. Definitely the smallest MP3 player I have ever come across. The only problem with it being so small is that there is no screen. So unfortunately it is not possible to search through a list of your ... ...the website, this file contains creative media lite where you can download music onto the player, and a user guide as well as a volume limiter. However I have found that I don't really need this file, as it is possible to simply drag and drop music straight onto the player. The only thing I can't do is limit the volume but to me this isn't really a problem.
The listing for this product is for 1Gb storage but the one I have is actually twice that ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Sound Quality
Ease of Use
Look & Design
Range of Features
Value for Money
very helpful
04.10.2008
(10.10.2008)
The Dog's Rocks Review ofCreative ZEN Stone 1 GBby
wholefruit
Advantages: Excellent Value MP3 Player Disadvantages: No Screen
...Stone MP3 Player 1GB♫♫♫
Creative was founded in Singapore in 1981 and are famous for making computer sound cards. Their most well known device has been the Sound Blaster series of audio cards which some of you might be familiar with. In recent years they have expanded into the graphic card industry and portable digital audio players. A digital audio player is a small device that plays music files. The most common file format ... ...Software, Help and Support
Creative Media Lite does not come with the device. Using your serial number you can download the software to use with your device. The software has a useful function that will lock the volume level to protect delicate ear drums; perfect for children. The device supports drag and drop. This means you that you do not need to use the Creative Media Lite software. If you already have MP3 files on your computer you can ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Small, looks good, light, cool, FM radio, voice recorder Disadvantages: Slow navigation and general responsivness
...The CreativeZenStone Plus is the 2Gb upgrade of the basic Stone, and as well as the extra 1Gb of space it has a small LED screen for viewing track information and navigating content, a voice recorder, and FM radio.
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...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
1 x headphones ( mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ), 1 x headphones ( mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm )
1 x USB ( mini-USB Type B )
Miscellaneous
Cables Included: 1 x USB cable
Software: Drivers & Utilities
Manufacturer's product description
Incredibly tiny, with incredible sound - that's the ZEN Stone. Available in a choice of six glossy colors, its looks match its performance, bringing you room for hundreds of songs and running for up to 10 hours on its rechargeable battery. You can navigate through your folders with the Skip feature and add some surprises to your listening with Shuffle playback. Friendly, simple and pocket-size, the ZEN Stone MP3 player is simply incredible!
Battery
Battery: Player - rechargeable - lithium polymer, Player - rechargeable - Lithium Ion
Battery Enclosure Type: Integrated
Included Qty: 1
Run Time (Up To): 10 hour(s), 20 hour(s)
System requirements
OS Required: Microsoft Windows XP 64-bit Edition, Microsoft Windows XP SP1, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP 64-bit Edition, Microsoft Windows XP SP2, Microsoft Windows Vista
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