Creative Zen Stone (1GB)

Creative's Zen Stone is an "us too!" attempt to knock Apple's iPod shuffle from the throne of teeny MP3 king. At just S$69 (US$49), it's almost half the price of the shuffle, but is it too cheap to be any good?

Design
The Zen Stone looks more like a pebble than a chunk of stone, and the glossy finish is identical to that used on Creative's Zen V Plus. It's absolutely tiny, although marginally larger and heavier than the shuffle at 13mm thick and weighing 19g.

There's no screen, which means navigation requires patient reliance on the player's ability to play appropriate songs for your mood. You skip through your little 1GB collection of audible treats with four-way controls that are as pleasant to use as something of this size could be. Unlike the shuffle, there's no clip, although there is a hole for a lanyard.

Features
Thanks to its ludicrously low price, the Stone's main feature is its distinct lack of features. It's a simple player that does a simple job--playing music. There are no equalizer options, no playlists, no quirky extras. This really can be a positive thing, though. If you're after something where you can just hit play and forget about it, this diminutive little contraption may be for you.

Supported music formats are MP3 and WMA, although copy-protected music files from online music stores are not supported. Like Creative's other players, the Stone will play Audible content. Audible is a popular online retailer of audiobooks, but they're delivered in a format compatible only with certain portable players.

Songs can be added using drag-and-drop in Windows, or by using Windows Media Player.

A little switch on the top of the player lets you shuffle the playback of songs or repeat them all in a pleasant continuous loop. The folder skip button jumps to the next folder of music stored on the Stone, so if you don't want to hear an album you don't need to skip through all of its tracks to reach the next.

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