Customer Reviews:
 Love It January 14, 2008
I bought this as my little everyday and workout mp3 player because the other Creative Zen W that I have is not that great to carry around with. i use it every day.
Pros: It has great sound, doesn't even need an installation CD, just plug and drag and drop, much better than the Zen W. The battery life (10 hours) is sufficient. Very light and compact. Love the display. The volume is very loud on high much more than the Zen W.
Cons: little delay when clicking the buttons. I wish the pause button would be on the front as well and not on top, because it takes a while to find, when it is in the pocket. I don't like that I just got this for christmas and a week later they are coming out with the same model that has double the battery life and a speaker, which is what I would rather have for almost the same price.
 Inexpensive and Easy to Use! December 26, 2007
I bought this MP3 player for my 7 yr old daughter for Christmas this year. She asked for an Ipod and I thought this was a better alternative than a pricey Apple Ipod with less storage capacity. I am so glad that I did! We got it out of the box plugged it into the PC USB port to charge and in a few hours my daughter was listening to music on her own MP3 player and extremely happy! I was very pleased with the ease of downloading software and the PC recognized it immediately and transferred over 80 songs in a matter of minutes. We were both ecstatic. I will probably be buying one for the rest of my family now that we know it is so easy to use and has great sound quality even with the cheaper earbuds.
Overall I give it 5 stars!
Nice Product, Terrible Headphones December 17, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I purchased these for two of my children. For the price, I think they are a great value, but the earbuds must be upgraded. I have a pair of $8 Sony earbuds that sound much better than the garbage that comes standard with these. The sound levels all blended together, produced static, and sounded muffled. That rant out of the way, upgrade the headphones, and this is really a nice little mp3 player. The equalizer works nice and this unit really does produce nice sound. I like it better than the ipod shuffle just because of the equalizer settings and the LCD display that allows you to see what song is playing, artist info... That being said, the LCD display does drain battery life a little quicker.
I bought $10 headphones for these, and still came in $20 cheaper than the shuffle, and there are some pretty decent inexpensive earbuds out there.
If the battery life was a bit longer, and they came with better earphones, I would have given this a full 5 stars. I am very happy, however, and my wife and I are considering picking one of these up for ourselves.
 Creative Zen Stone Plus 2GB - Decent Value and Performance November 17, 2007
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
The Creative Zen Stone Plus 2GB doubles the size of the iPod Shuffle and adds a monochrome screen for viewing track names and settings. Add in the functionality of a built-in FM tuner and voice recorder at $65 and you have a great value.
Pros -
+ good stereo sound
+ nice capacity for a decent price
+ light-weight
+ FM tuner with 32 presets ( though it's just average )
+ voice recording
+ simple design (no more click wheel!) with more color options
+ great navigation and sorting features
+ Nice format compatibility (MP3, WAV, WMA, Audible)
+ USB 1.1 and 2.0 connectivity
+ Can be used as a USB drive / mass storage
+ Can sync music with drag & drop or via Creative software
+ Nice extras like stopwatch function
Cons
- average battery life of 10 hours (OLED screen sucks the battery)
- mediocre backlight ( but it can be disabled )
- some DRM song transfer issues with some firmware versions
- not expandable - few size options 1GB and 2GB
- Creative software is buggy
- larger than the 2nd and 3rd generation iPod shuffles
Creative's Zen Stone line was meant to be the upgrade to the Zen nano, aka Muvo mini. Unfortunately, the 1GB Zen Stone had some quality issues. With the new 2GB Zen Stone Plus, Creative has tried to improve on previous models and compete with the Sandisk Sansas.
I love the new Sandisk Sansa's. The Sansa Express has the advantage that you can plug it directly into your USB port without a cable. SanDisk Sansa Express 2 GB MP3 Player (Black) Still, the Creative Zen Stone feels nicer in the hand. It's not as sleek as the Sansa Express and doesn't have all the cool cache' of an iPod shuffle or iPod nano. But it is priced very attractively and has some NICE features. It's good for a starter, workout unit, or gift for a kid.
The Creative Zen Stone Plus is lighter than the competition, but is still larger than the new iPod Shuffle 2nd and 3rd generations. Unlike the shuffle, you can actually see your track names! The OLED screen is perfect for a player this size but does suck more power and shorten the battery life.
The controls are an improvement from the Zen nano days. While I didn't mind the toggle wheel, it has been replaced by intuitive buttons for the standard functions (select, up, down, play, pause, forward or reverse). There's a headphone jack, microphone hole, and a USB port.
Another change from the Zen nano days is the Lithium Ion battery, which gives you about 10 hours if your lucky. This is less versatile than the old battery operated unit, but more convenient.
What about sound? The sound is great, and it comes through in pure stereo. As usual, you will hear complaints about the earbuds. Most people replace their standard earbuds so I won't hold that against Creative.
The Zen Stone doesn't have larger storage options. For those needing more space, you will have to explore the Creative Zen, Sandisk Sansa or new iPod Nano. All of those units have higher price tags.
Creative Zen 4 GB (Black)
Creative Zen 8 GB (Black)
Creative Zen 16 GB (Black)
Sandisk SDMX4-4096 Sansa e260 4 GB MP3 Player with SD Expansion Slot
SanDisk SDMX4-8192 Sansa e280 8 GB MP3 Player (Black)
Apple 4 GB iPod nano AAC/MP3 Player Silver (3rd Generation)
Apple 8 GB iPod nano AAC/MP3 Player Black (3rd Generation)
This unit is ideal as a player and not for those who primarily want to use it for recording. The built-in microphone is nice for short reminders.
The price isn't a give-away, and the plastic case could be more durable. Still, this is a nice starter unit that can last you a while. Check it out. Enjoy!!!
 A nice thought of a player, but lousy battery life... November 1, 2007
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
When I bought my Creative Zen Vision:M, I became a rabid Creative fan. So when the Stone Plus came out, I was very excited. This excitement has just become disappointment... more on that later.
It's a nice looking product, and though it feels cheap, it's well-built. Uploading songs is a snap, as easy as drag n drop. With the armband, it's also a very nice workout companion, with good sound quality and easy operation from the arm.
Navigation on the device itself takes some getting used to but it's manageable. I wish it were easier to bounce back and forth between the stopwatch and the music. No big deals here.
... but the battery life sucks! After two uses in the gym (like 3-4 hours?) the battery is dead! Also, battery life is not well-preserved if the player is not used for a couple weeks. Even if it was fully charged before, you'll find the batter dead in a matter of a couple of weeks, even with the unit shut off. Perhaps I have a defective battery, but I've read other online reviews complaining about the battery life.
Anyway I'd take a look at the Sansa Clip player... it's exactly the same size as the Creative Stone Plus, and clips on you just like the new iPod Shuffle... only this one is better, with a nice color display, and excellent sound quality.
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