Half the price of a shuffle (Creative Zen Stone 1 GB)

Name: sifair

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Product:	Creative Zen Stone 1 GB
Date:	16/06/07 (380 review reads)
Rating:

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 1GB of space which is suitable for 250 tracks and it is also a screenless player. The player just like the Shuffle is ideal as a secondary mp3 player because it is small and very portable, it can be taken anywhere without a problem as it is so small.

With the Zen Stone you get a few accessories but not to many as this is only a small player. 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 most notable and usable is the silicone clip case. It won't cost much and as the player lacks a clip this is an ideal addition that would be a useful addition to your Zen Stone.

As far as looks go the Zen Stone is fairly attractive, not quite as good looking as the iPod Shuffle in my opinion but it is still fairly attractive nonetheless. As you would guess from the name the Zen Stone looks like a pebble, its the perfect shaped Stone to skim across a lake, it has an attractive shiny gloss and nice looking rounded shape. It is made of plastic but it is a tough plastic that seems to be almost fully scratch resistant. The player feels looks good and feels well made in the hand. It is small but people with big hands will not have any trouble using this player as it feels small but not to small and it just seems suitable for everyone. As the player is well made it would be the ideal present for a child because they could store a small music collection without breaking the thing.

On the player there is a standard USB connection so the player can be connected to a computer. It is on the bottom of the player and cannot be seen most of the time so it isn't an eye sore on the player. On the top of the player there is a standard headphone jack suitable for most types of headphone or earbud. The only other thing other than the controls on the player is the Zen logo and an LED light that will indicate the battery level. It displays different colours to tell you when it's full and when it's running out. It is on the front so it is easy to see which is helpful.

The Creative Zen Stone is a basic mp3 player and with it you get a set of very simple controls, the player is very easy to use and it can be used easily without any instruction. The central button operates as an on and off button with a long press and as a play/pause button with a short press, the up and down buttons operate the volume level and the left and right buttons let you go between tracks and fast forward and rewind individual tracks. As you can tell navigating through tracks is easy and knowbody will have any trouble controlling there music on the Zen Stone. Other than the controls on the face, there is a button on the top which selects whether you have the player in shuffle mode or standard play mode.

There is no software that comes with the Zen Stone but that is alright as you can just drag and drop music onto the player on any operating system. If you feel you must have some software with the player you can download Creative Media Lite which will help you easily transfer music onto your player with it's many features. On the Creative website they regularly have firmware upgrades added to the site and you can upgrade your firmware by going to the website. The player has a 10 hour battery life and will last a few days with general use. The battery life isn't the best but you get what you pay for.

On the player the sound quality is fairly decent as you would expect from a Creative player. All the players in the Zen range have good sound quality and this is no different I am pleased to say. The sound is well balanced and although the player doesn't have any EQ settings it doesn't really need them. The volume level on the player is decent and there is a good amount of bass on the player. The headphones are good as well and you don't really need ones that are much better as you can enjoy the sound quality with the headphones that are supplied with the Zen Stone.

The Zen Stone is a basic 1GB mp3 player and should be used as a secondary mp3 player or an mp3 for a beginner user. At just £28 it is a better option than the iPod Shuffle as you can get two for the price of one. It offers battery life of 10 hours and can be used absolutely anywhere. It is a stylish player and will always look good, sound quality is excellent and this product offers a lot of value for money as well as being very durable. It's not the best mp3 player or the most feature packed but it achieves what it sets out to do and beats the iPod Shuffle hands down. Be sensible and buy one of these as it does the same as the Shuffle for half the price.

Summary: Get two of these instead of an ipod shuffle

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