Creative adds a speaker to the Zen Stones
(Credit:
Creative)
Like day side of Mercury, ultracompact is so hot right now. Creative seems to be aware of that fact, as the company's only major portable audio announcement for CES is an update to both of its Zen Stone lines of MP3 players. The new Stones "with Built-In Speaker" (yes, that's the official name) are pretty much exactly what they sound like--the itty-bittiest of Zens with a single, integrated external speaker. That's not the only difference, though. The new players also offer an updated color scheme; it's a brushed-metallic look with your choice of baby pink, navy blue, pearly white, or black. The control pads are clear, which is also a bit of a different touch. Overall, the updated paint job makes the Stone just a bit more elegant and less toylike. To make room for the speaker, Creative made the devices slightly chubbier, though I think this gives them a more substantial feel--plus, they still fit comfortably in a coin pocket of a pair of jeans, so who's counting?
(Credit:
CNET Networks/Corinne Schulze)
Naturally, the mono speaker doesn't sound fantastic, but it gets surprisingly loud, and I must say that I'm keen on the idea of walking around with my own theme music for the world to hear. With the headphones plugged in, you can expect the same excellent audio quality that the Zen line has been delivering for years. The players, which are due out at the end of this month, also offer an enticing price point. The screenless Zen Stone comes in at $49.99 for 1GB, while the Plus version (with 2GB of memory, a screen, and an FM tuner) will set you back $59.99.
(Credit:
CNET Networks/Corinne Schulze)
(Credit:
CNET Networks/Corinne Schulze)
On Sale Now:
$89.99
View the latest prices for Creative Zen Stone w/ Speaker (2GB, black)
For more than five years, Jasmine France has covered a variety of tech products for CNET--from scanners to keyboards to GPS devices--but she's happiest where she is now: sitting atop a pile of MP3 players, "testing" every music service known to man, and jamming a variety of earbuds in every shape and color into her absurdly small ears. E-mail Jasmine.
View complete CES 2008 coverage from CNET.
Apart from that I own a zen touch, and when it came out it had the best sound on the market and a 24hour non stop battery life before it needs to be recharged, I still use it today mainly because I travel allot and I often don't get a chance to charge the player for stop overs so the extended battery life rules, yet I have not seen anything on the market beat or exceed these standards, its because they all now have colour screens, and finally some at a decent viewing size, however 4 hours of battery life on a big flight won't cut it for me, and since new regulations are now in effect you can't bring spare on board the plane to replace the used battery, so now extended battery life is at the forefront of the market trend and not to forget the entailing safety issues,maybe I could by a handful of stones!!!! =P
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by boopiejones
January 9, 2008 8:44 AM PST
- even the author said "it gets surprisingly loud, and I must say that I'm keen on the idea of walking around with my own theme music for the world to hear." not sure if she was serious, but many people are serious about having their own "theme music." thankfully i have noise isolating headphones, but i feel sorry for all the poor souls that do not.
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