What is it? Ultra small and simple 1GB MP3 player available in multiple (6) colours for a very cheap / reasonable price of £28. This compares well to Apple's Shuffle at around £47. You can also buy numerous accessories for it allowing you to use it as a keyring, armband, or clip-on mp3 player.
It comes with a very short USB cable - this is used for charging and used for transferring music (and files if you so wish). The player doesn't come with any drivers or CD, it simply shows up in Windows as a removable device, like a USB pen drive. It comes with a starter guide, warranty information, earphones, the USB lead, and the player.
So far it doesn't seem great in the car (using a jack to tape adapter). Lacking bass. (although a CD vs mp3/mp3 player/tape adapter isn't exactly a fair comparison)
But using the earphones so far with limited listening seems good - better than my mobile phone anyway. The earphones provided are obviously just cheap ones - the ones I've got from my ipod sound and fit much much better and have much better bass and sound quality.
It doesn't let you continue playing while it's connected to the computer charging, but charging should only take 2 - 3 hours for a full charge, and should give 10 hours of playback time.
You can shuffle all songs or play them in order, or skip folders, it automatically repeats all. Flicking the switch back to play seems to start the player off at the beginning of the folder, or skips folders if you have more than one. System requirements are Windows XP or Vista, and USB1.1 or USB2, USB2 allowing quicker transfer of files. The player doesn't automatically pause when you pull the jack out (unlike the ipod), and there doesnt' seem to be any way of locking the buttons. If you're used to a screen on your MP3 player, then it may seem a little strange not knowing the name of the track currently playing, but it doesn't take too long to get used to.
Overall, I like it, it's good value for money (cheaper than similar Sony and Apple MP3 players), is very simply to use, charge, and transfer music to. It can go very loud (far too loud for in-ear earphones!), which could be dangerous, or useful for other speakers / amplifiers. It feels like a solidly built, high quality product, and feels much better than other "cheap" MP3 players, and it's much more stylish than a lot of other players.
Buy it from / More Links: Creative, Amazon , Trusted Reviews Creative Zen Stone Review.
Comments