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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fine little MP3 Player, 19 Oct 2007
This review is from: Creative Zen Stone Plus 2GB MP3 Player - White (Electronics)
The Creative Zen Stone Plus is a fine little MP3 player.
It is very lightweight and a bit plasticky but this actually hides what is a very competent player for a good price.
Storage is fine: not enough for an entire music collection but easily enough for well over 400 high bitrate tracks I own with a little space left over for podcasts.
Even with the standard earbuds supplied, sound quality is good (it is churlish to expect concert hall performance from a tiny MP3 player) with very clear vocals, bass boost and, most impressive to me, perfect silences where appropriate. There is even a customisable graphic equaliser, which is a nice touch.
Navigating around the menus is fairly straightforward, although not all of the possibilities are explained in the somewhat disappointingly brief quick start guide so just experiment and see where you get! I particularly like the full range of shuffle options provided, for instance.
The FM radio is a welcome bonus (but I have, so far, not bothered with the stop watch which others may find useful).
Like all MP3 players, the Stone Plus has its quirks. The power button needs to be depressed for some time before the player springs into life, a quick press won't do. Worse, when docked into the Travelsound mini speakers (sold separately), this button, which also doubles as the pause button, cannot be accessed at all, which I find strange. Also, the menu screen will only display folders containing tracks so, although the player supports up to three levels of subfolders, these will not all be visible on the little LED screen.
It is possible to download software (Media Lite) from the Creative site but there is no real need to. Tracks can be transferred from PC to player (using the supplied USB cable) using drag and drop in Windows.
Finally, take note of the compatability offered by the player. It plays MP3s and WMAs (and Audible - voice - files) and also DRM9 protected WMAs. This means it should be fine for tracks purchased outright and downloaded from online music stores but it will not play DRM10 which is what you are likely to have if you have paid for a subscription service to a store.
All in all, odd quirks aside and bearing in mind that I cannot comment on the longevity of the player, I am, so far, delighted with what is a neat and competent MP3 player.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
perfect, 2 Aug 2007
This review is from: Creative Zen Stone Plus 2GB MP3 Player - White (Electronics)
I can only recommend. 2GB of music for 45 pounds. Cool design, light and easy to hold in one hand and control. Simple "belly-button" to play music, browse directories, turn on bass boost or radio. It`s easy. You can even create a shortcut to a function for a shortcut button. And it`s so small. Yet it plays long hours, you don`t even know you have it somewhere in your pocket.
The design of original circular display is very cool and useful. The way how the time, day and date is displayed is neat. Big numbers, easy to read. To connect to USB, there`s a cable coming with player, it was good decision not to put the connector as part of the player, because it would come in way to other usb connectors which don`t have to be disconnected, as it happens with all the fat flashdisks and some other usb players.
Nothing in this player dissapointed me, it`s all it should have and it works.
From creative website, you get the software for your Zen to upload music and rip CDs and also easily update device firmware. It just checked for new version and updated like quickly. So your player still improves.
It wins over iPod shuffle. Ipod Shuffle is £75 and no display. This is much cheaper and has got much more stuff.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great player - plus/minus review, 16 Dec 2007
This review is from: Creative Zen Stone Plus 2GB MP3 Player - White (Electronics)
Here's my review of plus/minus points on a scale:
+3: The sound quality. Cannot be bettered, so superior to the iPod Nano in this regard that it's laughable.
+2: It charges to full very quickly, even though it's a USB charge. Seems to charge from flat to full in less than an hour which is pretty quick compared to other players.
+1: The FM radio is actually useful, much better than a lot of radios on larger players like the Zen Micro, which I struggled with.
0: Doesn't come with a mains charger. Not necessary though, as it charges from USB, but USB mains chargers are available separately.
-1: Slightly concerned about the flimsy feel of the buttons. Only a minor point, but would've been nice to have a more solid feel.
-2: Display is either LED or some kind of coloured LCD. It is near impossible to see in bright daylight.
-3: Worst thing for me is that the controls are not very responsive. When cycling through the menus, it can take half a second for something to happen, by which time you've pressed the button too many times. We've come to expect instant response from a lot of players and the sluggishness of the stone can be frustrating.
This has to be one of the best players around at the moment despite the small niggles. It's certainly far superior to its main rival, the iPod Nano.
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