Advantages: A fantastic, stylish little MP3 player!
Disadvantages: None really, no screen, but you don't expect one on this type of player!

...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. And today, my review is on the fairly new Zen Stone MP3 player. 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... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Small, Simple and Shiney!
Disadvantages: Battery life, Boot up and no volume fade in

...The Zen Stone is a nice little MP3 player. 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... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap, Easy to use, Software highly intuitive
Disadvantages: No screen

...As far as budget mp3 players go, very few strike a balance between price and quality like the Creative Zen Stone. I bought mine for £24.99, and to this day I consider this one of my shrewdest buys. Although capacity is limited, this little piece of kit does everything you could want from an mp3 player. It's a very small piece of equipment (the size of my friend's iPod screen alone!); easy enough to unobtrusively slip into a pocket, and the additional accessories available such as the wrist strap make activities such as jogging a pleasure. The only gripe one could have is the lack of screen. However, the 'skip folder' button eliminates the need for one, making it easy to get to your desired song in no time at all. Customer Support for the Zen is also good. The website provides support for any queries and problems which may arise... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Small, looks good, light, cool, FM radio, voice recorder
Disadvantages: Slow navigation and general responsivness

...The Creative Zen Stone 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... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Very cheap, very easy to use. Very durable and good quality music.
Disadvantages: very limited features. scatches easily

...This product is great for kids awaiting their first MP3 or runners, wanting their small, compact, durable gadget for exercise. My first impressions of using the Stone were that its quite easy to use. The only thing you need to remember is what the device is trying to tell you. You have to know which type of light on the device means what basically. Uploading songs is a doddle as it is used just like a memory stick where you can just drag your music files into the Drive that appears on 'My Computer' after you plug it in. I was looking for a small simplistic MP3 when i stumbled across this neat gadget at HMV one day. After having acquired the bulkier Zen Version M for day to day use, I found myself being very uneasy with it's mass and how fragile it might be if dropped or handled carelessly. Version M being Hard drive based while... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Simple , Good value for money
Disadvantages: No screen

...THE GOOD- Good price for first time byers , good choice of colours(6) good sound quality , easy to use has a mini usb port for syncing and charging. It supports Audible files and has a Skip Folder function that makes it easy to skip through groups of tracks. The bad: The Creative Zen Stone has no screen, no extra features, and no built-in clip like that of the iPod Shuffle. The rated battery life is unimpressive 10 hours although that is still a fair amount of listning time but compeard to others in its range e.g sony mp3 for £35 has a battery life of over 24hours. The bottom line: The Creative Zen Stone is a fantastic choice as a secondary MP3 player or for first timers on a budget who want a simple, great-sounding device with limited features and a bargain basement price tag. I am very happy with it for its price basically... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Small, elegant, cheap, gorgeous.
Disadvantages: No mobile power, small buttons.

...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... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Simple, SMall, stylish with excellent sound quality
Disadvantages: only 1GB

...Almost unbeatable for the price tag (between £25 and £40) the Zen stone is an excellent mp3 player that comes highly reccomended. The Zen is easy to use, both in terms of connectivity to computers/laptops for the transfer of music, or whilst out and about on the go. The sound quality is as good as any other mp3 player on the market, and thankfully the zen has a universal headphone socket, meaning broken headphones don't mean disaster! The display is clear, concise and well illuminated, and is even easy to read in bright sunlight, something I've noticed is often difficult on other players. The zen also features a stopwatch (though i've yet to use this feature) and a FM radio (which is as good as any competitors models) The battery is long lasting, and charges through the usb connection to any computer or laptop so further... Read review

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Advantages: Stylish, easy to use and very cute
Disadvantages: Charging is by computer

...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 looks like a black polished stone, hence the name so the other half explained to me with that look of "does she ever listen to a word I say?" The size to me was a bit of an issue and I was proved right as it took us 3 days to find it this week because eldest monster had put it down and then complained he couldn't find it (it was under the couch!) I must admit it does look stylish as I have said it is pure black, it has the Zen name in white on the front and a circle with the play, pause button in the middle and the volume control and forward and back buttons on the outer circle. On the top is a tiny slide bar that you can use to shuffle, repeat all tracks or skip folder. There is also a little light bit that lights up... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Tiny, lightweight and easy to use.
Disadvantages: no screen and no mains adapter

...I had to buy a new mp3 player after having my old one stolen. So I read some reviews 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 music collection. However there is a button that allows you to skip forward a folder at a time. So you just need to save music in folders by artist or genre and then easily search through them until you get to the one you want to listen to. The set up is really simple. Most of the buttons are arranged... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful