Customer Reviews
Useless and Creative's Customer Service Department stinks 
2008-02-05
If this is your first venture into MP3 players like it was mine DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT buy this device. First of all, there is no legally downloadable music to play on this thing. Nothing is compatible. But, go to their website and click on the "Fill Your Zen" link from the Zen Stone Plus 2GB webpage and it gives you all kinds of links to compatible services. Go to the service, sign up for it, and Guess What? It's not compatible. But wait!!?? They advertised that it was? Now try to get help from customer service. They talk in circles, oh yea, by e-mail only... and then to top it off you have to wait at least 24 hours between e-mails to get answers that get you nowhere. In the last e-mail I got customer service finally told me..
"[We] Apologize for any inconvenience caused from this experience. Please allow me to assist you further in resolving the issue.
Prior sending us an email, our website suggested some solutions for the issues that you are having. Some information that I provide might be repetitive, but I want to get you the solutions that have highest probability of resolving your issue.
I regret to tell you that Zen Stone Plus doesn't support Online Music Subscription Services. Therefore you won't be able to transfer any of the online music that you have subscribe whether it is itunes or Yahoo!Unlimited."
Well now, there's some help. All that stuff that they linked me to on their website, its not compatible. And I'm not comfortable downloading pirated music. So now what? I've got a device that does not do what the website said it would do. I call that false advertising and, Oh Yes...hmmm, its a piece of junk.
stay away 2008-01-22
I ordered three of these (in green) and NONE of them worked. They performed when plugged into the computer, but failed to hold a charge once disconnected from the PC. This was after the tech-support recommended "all night" charging.
By way of background, I'm fairly computer savvy, have a new PC based system, and spent hours on the phone with Creative tech support trying to fix the problems. Ultimately, I had to return the units.
Stay away.
My review: Zen Stone Plus 
2007-11-23
I am very happy with this product. It's light, compact, and easy to use. There are many different features that are convenient to have. The sound is great and the program to upload the music is very user-friendly. The music occasionally skips, but not often enough to complain about. The battery life is good, getting me through an entire 8 hour shift at work.
Creative Zen Stone Plus 2GB - Decent Value and Performance 
2007-11-17
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!!!
Good, but not exactly as described 2007-10-24
9.5 hours battery? This thing wont even make it past 6 hours. Maybe they were expecting me to have the volume on 1. Music sounds great if you have good earphones or headset. The buttons and menus are not hard to memorize and use. However, there is lag if you are playing a song and try to access menus, there must be some processing limitations. The charging light indicator does not do what it should be doing as the manual says, so that adds a bit more to my confusion. This thing is light and great for running (if creative strap is bought). Default earphones are not out of this world, so do treat yourself to better ones. I bought this specifically because it does not use hard drive storage; they tend to break if you shake them too hard. Plus my friend sent his stone plus through wash cycle and dryer and it still works. Easy and fast file loading. Sturdy feel to it as well.
You lost 1 customer 2008-04-08
I thought highly of Creative Labs, being 1 of competitive brand along with Sandisk and the Apple Ipod but I guess not. After 1 month of using this seemingly perfect product, it just stop responding. Probably I got 1 of the defect but it still means I have wasted my money which makes me upset as it is hard earned money. One thing I can say for sure Sandisk has never failedCreative Zen Stone Plus 2 GB MP3 Player (Black) me yet.
good little mp3 player 2008-03-30
I really like this little mp3 player. It's small, about the size of a box of tictacs. It's good to have an option that is small but still has a screen. I use mine for mostly audiobooks and it holds at least two novel sized books and quite a bit of music with room to spare. The only problem I've had with it is the menu can be hard to use when trying to seek a track but it's never been a huge problem just clunky. The software creative media lite is really simple to use for a non tech person like me.
creative zen stone plus 
2008-03-12
great mp3 player at a great price.music clarity is far better than the ipod shuffle.creative rocks
Not as good as the 1GB Zen Stone 2008-03-03
I got this to replace the 1GB Zen Stone I ran over a couple weeks ago. The OLED feature is great, and it's nice to have that extra 1GB of storage space, but other than that, the Zen Stone Plus is inferior to the Zen Stone.
1. The shuffle feature is horrible. When I turn it on, it'll finish playing whatever song I left off at, and then it will jump back to the first song it played after I first put it on shuffle, and from there it just advances through the songs I heard the first time I put it on shuffle. At first I joked with husband that, boy, the Stone really likes Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's "Rifles" and Goon Moon's "Hardcore," but the joke's not funny anymore. I can list the songs it'll play from memory now. I'm always driving along going, "skip, skip, skip," trying to get to a song I haven't heard ten times. SOMETIMES it plays different stuff all on its own, but inevitably it will end up back at "Rifles" before long, and then "Hardcore," and then "Disposable Teens," etc., etc., etc.
2. Slower start-up time. From the time you push the power button to the time you hear music is at least twice as long as it was with the 1GB Stone.
3. Slower button response time overall. When I want to skip, I have to hit the rocker button twice--the first press, I guess, "wakes" the device up.
I would trade the FM, microphone and even the OLED screen for a 2GB Stone that had a working shuffle feature.
Super Cool But Not Super Convenient 2008-02-07
I had this player for a week now and used it regularly. It comes in cool colors and really is light weight. Really easy navigation, but something is missing; you can't browse through your music files easily. You have to go through them one by one instead of going through a list of your music files. And it'd be great if you had choices for browsing; according to artist, group, or genre. ZEN lacks that, but it's a great player anyway. That, and, I have to say, nothing beats the sound quality of SONY. The sound quality on this player is good, but not as good as SONY.
If style is one of the most important things to you in a player, ZEN is great, but if more important to you is the sound quality, then opt for SONY players. This is a good player anyway.
