(Review) - If you are one of the few people in the market who haven't purchased an iPod family member yet for whatever reason, you may want to take a look at another Shuffle killer before finally giving in to Apple's power. The Creative Zen Stone, for what it's worth, is a strong contender, albeit with a few reservations that should be expected for the price tag. It's clearly not the most interesting looking device to hit the market, but for minimalists and tech novices, it will do wonders. And if nothing else, it should at least provide a cheap introduction to the iPod. Hey, for budding tech enthusiasts, this could be a great way to introduce them to advanced technology.

Creative's Zen Stone comes in a variety of colors, including black, blue, green, pink, red and white, making it one of the most colorful product lines in the market. It's a fairly simple product, though. With a glossy and display-free exterior, the Stone screams of its economic price tag. However, all may not be lost, especially since the Shuffle doesn't have a display either. The device has round edges and integrates a 3.5mm headphones jack and a switch for various play modes (Shuffle and Repeat) and Skip Folder setting. On the front, the unit has a click wheel that is similar to the one on Apple's Shuffle. Needless to say, Creative product designers have a fancy for Apple products. On the click wheel, you'll find the standard play/pause (also double as power button), skip forward/backward and volume controls. There's also the blinking LED light that lights up green, orange and red to alert you about the device status. A mini-USB port is integrated on the bottom edge of Stone for charging. The battery is rechargeable and is rated to operate at 10 hours. In our testing, we barely made it to that number, however. The battery life is acceptable at best.

In essence, the device is cute enough to please mainstream consumers, especially children, and rugged enough to withstand your average bumps and bruises. We must also mention that despite the lack of a Hold button, the controls didn't interfere with audio playback when the device was in our pocket. Nice!

Apple iPod Shuffle: A Strong Competitor to iPod Shuffle

From a features standpoint, things are relatively minimal, again. There is no FM tuner, voice recording or equalizer options for you to work with. The only way for you to organize music is work with Windows Media Player and drag-and-drop the files (WMA, MP3, Audible). Obviously, it's next to impossible to find a specific track once it's on the device, thanks to its display-less design. With that said, there is some room for organization. The Skip Folder option is available, but it will require you to organize all of your music on the desktop before moving it to the device. It's not much, but that's as far as you'll get.

The audio quality was surprisingly good, but unfortunately, you won't be able to tweak it due to the lack of equalizer options. Also, get rid of the stock earphones. They are absolutely terrible, and don't present the Stone in true light. We compared the stock earphones to Shure's SE530PTH, and the difference they made was amazing. Of course, we are pushing the limit combining a $40 music player with a $500 pair of earphones, but you get the point. Hardware has improved over the years enough where even the most basic of music players sound reasonably well. To conclude, the audio quality was warm, fulfilling and wholesome, though that may change from one genre to another slightly.

All in all, for $40, the Creative Zen Stone is a steal. For a device that costs nearly 50 percent less than Apple's almighty Shuffle, it's a great bargain that's simple, but very good at its core functionality - music playback. If you are looking for an inexpensive music player, we say go for it. It's wholeheartedly recommended.

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