Zen Stone Gets Torn Apart

[Chris Gohlke]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2007/05/creative-zen-stone-review.php' target='_blank'>http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2007/05/creative-zen-stone-review.php</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Creative dropped the Zen Stone seemingly out of nowhere to compete head-on with the iPod Shuffle, doing so at half the price with more to offer. Creative’s screenless player is a very basic offering - only audio playback and data storage. However, the player does step out of the current Zen lineup feature set by offering up true MSC drag and drop, catering to all operating systems. The Zen Stone makes a great secondary player to your audio arsenal, handy for the gym or any place you need a simple, truly portable music solution. Read on for a look at all the features Creative has managed to pack into this player, as well as a peek at the Stone’s insides, disassembled for all to see."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/cgg-zenstone-052207.jpg" /><br /><br />Nice review along with a gratuitous tear down to see the innards. Aesthetically I still like the Shuffle better, especially the integrated clip; but the stone has the one feature I consider essential. I REFUSE to buy an MP3 player that does not offer driver-less drag and drop loading. So here, the Stone gets it right.

[Jason Dunn]

Creative dropped the ball in a HUGE way by not including a clip...what the hell were they thinking? It was a NO BRAINER...!! :evil:

[jeffd]

lol, yea, clip should have been obvious. ^^

However I wouldn't stop my digital music choices to just those that come up as mass storage devices. There are many awesome devices that require some software.. and theres never been a time where I've been out with my mp3 player and been like "aww whats that song you have? sweet..lets go find a pc so I can copy if off ya!". Especially since I usually want to do a search of my own for a HQ version since most anyone I run into is kicking around with a crap mp3 version. ;)

[Jason Dunn]

However I wouldn't stop my digital music choices to just those that come up as mass storage devices. There are many awesome devices that require some software...

Yeah, I'm the same way - pretty much every Windows machine on the planet has Windows Media Player 10 or 11 installed, and that means any MTP-based MP3 player can work with it, so I'm not too picky. If you're running Linux, well, I guess you're screwed... ;-)

[Chris Gohlke]

I've just never really liked WMP. Does not seem as intuitive as using explorer to drag and drop. I would not mind loading one piece of software, but we have three different MP3 players, all by different manufacturers, and I sure don't want to load three different pieces of software on each of our three computers just to be able to use them. Hence my rule.

[Jeremy Charette]

I don't really "need" another MP3 player but...at $40 I'm very tempted. Drag and drop is hot.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Well, MTP does let you drag and drop, with limited functionality. I do that with my Vision:M all the time. I have never touched WMP for my synching needs.