FreeLists / blindipod / [blindipod] Re: a new iPod shuffle clone from Creative , the Zen Stone

[Woody Anna Dresner <wadresner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Arnaud and Jeff,

Thanks for letting us know about this great player.  I'm writing a 
blind buyer's guide to portable MP3 players and book readers, so I 
had to try one out, and it's great.  They're available for $38.76 at 
Walmart, so I was able to get one yesterday.  By the way, don't buy 
directly from Creative; they wanted to charge me $38 for UPS Ground 
shipping!!  I was amazed; I live in Hawaii, but UPS Ground still 
shouldn't cost anywhere near that much.  I'd be interested to know if 
they're charging a more reasonable amount for shipping on the mainland.
Anyway, the player is great.  The folders make it so much nicer than 
the Shuffle - being able to quickly skip to the album you want.  I 
wish it handled Format 4 Audible, but that's my only complaint.  It 
works great with Windows Explorer, Audible Manager (you add the Zen 
Stone as a device first), RealPlayer, Windows Media Player 11, and 
Overdrive Media Console (for books from Unabridged and other online 
libraries that use Overdrive).  I haven't used the free Creative 
Media Lite software to transfer anything, but I did use it to rip a 
few CDs, which were automatically transferred to the Stone after 
ripping, and update the firmware.  I had to use my screen reader's 
auto-label graphics feature to do this, and it was a little tricky 
because the buttons for doing these things sometimes disappeared when 
I tried to focus on them.  But once I pressed the buttons,the dialogs 
worked pretty well.  I had to click some buttons with the mouse 
cursor, but it was doable.
One of the nicest things about Creative Media Lite is that it shows 
the percentage of battery charge at the bottom of the screen.  This 
is easy to read.  I think it's the first time I've ever been able to 
find out the charge of the battery of a mainstream device, with the 
exception of the iPod running Rockbox.  So I heartily recommend this 
player for Overdrive books, Audible 2 and 3, and music.  Nice job and 
amazing price!
Cheers,
Anna