Home » Entertainment»Portable Audio/Video

Creative Zen Stone

Ameya Dalvi, Jul 20, 2007 1832 hrs IST

Creative Zen Stone is as basic and simple a music player as there can possibly be. And did I mention tiny, ultra-light and cool?

Expert Rating:

Cool looks, Light and compact, Great build quality, Good sound quality, Plug and Play, Easy to use.

No FM Tuner, Slow transfer speed, Pricing could have been more aggressive.

E-Mail Print

EXPERT REVIEW

You never know what one might draw inspiration from. A little river rock would certainly not top the list, would it? Well, for the designers at Motorola, it did. So much so, that they created a phone that looks like a pebble, and named it the same. Now it seems like the inspiration has spilled over to the Creative camp, and the result is the Zen Stone. While the Creative Zen players are known to be loaded with features, this one defies the trend and has simplicity as its central theme. Creative Zen Stone is as basic and simple a music player as there can possibly be. And did I mention it's tiny, ultra-light and cool?

For starters, the player resembles a small polished pebble (or stone), but doesn't weigh like one and is smaller in size as compared to a popular glucose biscuit. It is available in various vibrant shades; but the one we received was glossy black, and for me it's the best shade of the lot. It has 1 GB capacity. The dimensions stand at 2.1" x 1.4" x 0.5" (L x B x D) and weighs almost nothing; just about 20 grams, if you wish to know. The protective plastic casing it arrived in seemed heavier than the player. The Previous, Next, Play/Pause and Volume Up/Down buttons are arranged in a circular manner with the Play button at the centre, which also doubles up as a power switch when kept pressed for a few seconds. Along the top edge, you find a switch for selecting Normal, Shuffle or Repeat modes as well as switching between folders. A mini-USB port is located along the bottom edge.

The player has no screen - that rules out checking the track title, songs list and other info. It is advisable to span the music files you load in this player over multiple folders for quicker navigation, as you can skip to the next folder with just a push of a button. There's a multicolored LED located on the face of the player that provides the user with vital information like battery level, song incompatibility, player status and more. The information is conveyed using a mix of 3 LED colors - Green, Amber and Red, and one to three blinks of the same. What each color and the number of blinks stands for can be found in the manual provided with the player. Along with the manual, you also get a pair of earphones, and a small USB cable.

USER COMMENTS

I bought zen stone 2day,,its awesome for its price(Rs.1500,Croma),looks gr8(better than shuffle :) ) n its features r cool n easy 2 use.Also the software is gr8.WOULD RECOMMEND IT 2 EVERY1 who need a ECONOMICAL n BRANDED Mp3 player.

by vivek kumar, mumbai, on Mar 08, 2008 10:54 PM, Report abuse Reply

What is the Bass Response of this tiny player?

by Sanjeet Singh, Delhi, on Nov 18, 2007 05:38 PM, Report abuse Reply

i want this pink i pod but u have it with display

by AMIT, DELHI, on Oct 30, 2007 01:46 PM, Report abuse Reply

Where can I buy a zen stone plus or a zen stone in delhi ?

by vikas kohli, new delhi, on Oct 07, 2007 05:58 PM, Report abuse Reply

TRANSCEND SERVICE CENTER IN MUMBAI: NO.23872034, 23895333 OPP. GRANT ROAD POLICE STATION LAMINTON ROAD CONTACT.PERSON : SAMEER

by TRANSCEND, mumbai, on Oct 02, 2007 11:28 AM, Report abuse Reply

Hi, I see lot of comments on pricing of ZEN stone. You all need to understand that with all TAXES and Duties total calculation $ to rupee retail is X 65 this becomes the local India landing for distributor then there are at least then there are costs of local distribution and margins for retialers which are roughly contribute about 50%. India is no more a country of cheap goods and labour costs are high. Also any product is India specially electronics never sold on MRP there always discutns customers ask freebees customers ask for. Also the price of 3299 is inclusive of a key chain which is packed free

by anmol, pune, on Jul 23, 2007 07:09 AM, Report abuse Reply

i want to buy mp3player which company product become good my budgget is up to 5000 rs i want vedieo optionsin that player with large sreen(2inches)please give me the information

by ramu, yellapur, on Jul 24, 2007 12:17 AM, Report abuse

I see u have collected a lot of facts for such purchases. Thanks buddy.

by Bipin Desai, Navsari, on Jul 27, 2007 06:47 AM, Report abuse

i want to buy this product how to buy please provide me address of shop. who sell this product

by shashikant, mumbai, on Jul 26, 2007 12:59 PM, Report abuse Reply

There is a new version available now with a screen

by Saurav, Lucknow, on Jul 23, 2007 11:10 AM, Report abuse Reply

what is the cost of that product

by ramu, yellapur, on Jul 23, 2007 11:53 PM, Report abuse

yes f shuffle can be accepted @ 4000+ pricing whynot stone....

by anmol, pune, on Jul 23, 2007 01:52 PM, Report abuse Reply

Another much delayed response to the Shuffle, the least worthy in the IPOD range. Something we could have done without. We really need expandable capacity and/or USB host functions.

by Mark, Kochi, on Jul 23, 2007 11:54 AM, Report abuse Reply

Over priced is correct comment- it is not understandable- why creative has to price its stuff specially high for us Indians- Yaaron Indian duties are not 100% so that U should charge double of US price here in India- & just think India could be the biggest market for a reasonably prices MP3 Player ? Buy then for its stupid pricing policy ( perhaps the distributors like Compuage-Inspan etc are taking a big bite!), creative is taking all kinda wrong decisions for Indian Market. For my money- it is worth buying Zen Stone- 1 Gb for 3.2k?better buy is a good Creative Muvo V200 1GB MP3 Player, FM Radio & Voice Recording with display & capable of using a single chargeable AAA battery for 2k from sifyshop.

by vijayshimla, Shimla 171001, on Jul 20, 2007 08:00 PM, Report abuse Reply

I totallly agree Vijay the lack of screen makes the STN totally mad at the price range and ohh ya apple is going to cut shuffle's prices to about 3.5k in indian market so u as well can get that...

by Ajai, Shimla, on Jul 20, 2007 09:38 PM, Report abuse

i agree with vijayshimla,creative is making their own life tougher with their price tag.The fact is people today are increasingly looking at replacing their MP3 players with mobile phones thus eating MP3 players market share.even market leader like apple have realised that and iphone is a good example.

by sachin, goa, on Jul 21, 2007 10:32 PM, Report abuse