Here's a news flash re: the Creative Screenless Zen Stone Mp3 player: Absolutely no Best Buys or Comp USA's here in KC are going to carry it. What I finally ended up doing is ordering through Amazon. There's a section of Amazon called Amazon Anywhere, and it's highly accessible. You'll qualify for Super Saver Shipping if you order this; take advantage of it, as your total will end up being around $43.00 by the time you head for check out. Bottom line: if you want this player, which gets 4 and a half stars out of 5, you'll need to order it online. Kimberly -----Original Message----- From: real-eyes-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:real-eyes-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jose Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 6:44 AM To: real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [real-eyes] Re: FW: New Accessible Screenless MP3 Player for $40 hay I sent this along to Cathy cause I think this should be one of the prizes at the picnic. From Jose "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you." Psalm 32:8 IBM: Incredibly Bullying Menace ----- Original Message ----- From: Reginald George To: real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 11:11 PM Subject: [real-eyes] FW: New Accessible Screenless MP3 Player for $40 This player does remember where you are in files and has the unique ability to get you easily to your folders. It also has a rechargeable battery and the price is very right for a almost throw away player with a lot of neat accessible features! * Review of Screenless MP3 Player Date: Mon, May 21 2007 6:04 pm From: "Parker at Vip conduit" Since we receive frequent requests for accessible MP3 Players we are passing this on. This is all the information we currently have. Subject: Creative Screenless Zen Stone MP3 player Creative Zen Stone Review By: Grahm Skee - Anything But iPod Published on: 5/10/2007 11:13 PM Creative Zen Stone 1GB MP3 Player- Black Creative dropped the Zen Stone seemingly out of nowhere to compete head-on with the iPod Shuffle, doing so at half the price with more to offer. Creatives screenless player is a very basic offering - only audio playback and data storage. However, the player does step out of the current Zen lineup feature set by offering up true MSC drag and drop, catering to all operating systems. The Zen Stone makes a great secondary player to your audio arsenal, handy for the gym or any place you need a simple, truly portable music solution. Read on for a look at all the features Creative has managed to pack into this player, as well as a peek at the Stones insides, disassembled for all to see. Quick Specs list of 8 items . Size WxHxD: 2.1" x 1.4" x 0.5 . Weight: 0.88 oz . Storage Capacity: 1GB (250 songs 4 minutes per song at 128 kbps mp3) . Battery Life: Up to 10 hours continuous playback . Battery Type: Rechargeable Li-ion Polymer . Playback Formats: MP3, WMA, WAV and Audible . Connect Type: UMS/MSC . Available Colors: Black, White, Pink, Blue, Red, Green list end Accessories Included in the package is the bare minimum: the Zen Stone itself, a pair of earbuds, standard USB cable, and a quick start guide. Creative is also rolling out a few accessories to go along with the Stone, like an arm band, neoprene keychain holder, speaker dock, and silicone clip case. Third parties will be releasing their own cases and accessories as well, so you wont be short changed on available accessories. Design The Zen Stone is coated in a hard, smooth plastic giving it the feel of a nicely polished river rock. The plastic is the same material found on the Zen V Plus and is fairly scratch resistant; it will scratch but not easily under typical use. It is pleasant to hold in your hand and lends to a very useable design - small but not too small to use for bigger hands. A nice touch added to the left side of the player is a place to connect a lanyard for wearing around your neck. The standard USB plug is found on the bottom with the headphone jack located on the top. On the left face of the player is an LED that will indicate the status of the player and the battery level with various flashing sequences and LED colors. Controls Controls are very basic. The center play button operates as the on button, as well as the off with a long press. The directional up operates volume and the directional left and right operate the skip/scan forward and backward. On the top is a switch that allows you to select either standard track-by-track play or shuffle-all-music play. The switch also slides to the right, which advances you to the next file folder. This is a very nice touch for allowing better control and organization on a screenless MP3 player. (More on this below under Music Playback.) Transferring Music The Zen Stone is MSC (UMS) meaning that it will work with any modern operating system without installing software, including Windows, Mac, and Linux. Music is as simple as dragging and dropping music files and/or entire folder directories of music files. I have zero complaints about this method; it is the purest, easiest way to get music onto an MP3 player. If you are interested, Windows Media Player will also work with the Zen Stone, as it's compatible with any type of removable media. This may be useful for using features that will shuffle or randomly select 1GB worth of music to the player. [Also note that since the player is MSC, you are able to use the player as a flash drive to store documents, photos, and other file types.] Creative Media Lite Software Although not packaged with the Zen Stone, Creative Media Lite software can be downloaded for free on Creatives website. The lite version of their Creative Media software is designed for the player to transfer music, rip CDs, organize folders, and manage some extra features you could only do on a player with a screen. The main screen shows you the percentage of battery left on the player as well as the firmware version, which is also updated though the software. There is also a volume limit feature that allows you to set the maximum volume limit and password-protects the ability to change it. This is useful for protecting your childrens hearing. Disassembly Cracking into the Zen Stone without damaging it may be a bit difficult. The face of the player is snapped into four places near each of the corners. However, all of the edges seem to be glued or fused together. I was not able to get it apart without causing serious cosmetic damage to the outside casing. There is nothing user-serviceable, so breaking into the Zen Stone is merely for the sport of it, anyway. Music Playback There are two different play modes: repeat all and shuffle all. Repeat all simply plays all the files on the player in order. The order is alphabetical by track title but also by folder title. For instance, if you have a few folders and a few songs in the root directory, the player will start with the tracks in the files in the root directory (files not in a folder) then move through the folders alphabetically. The Zen Stone has no limit to the number of folders but limits the depth of the folders to three. There is also a file limit of 1000 total files. The player has a folder skip button that is activated by sliding the switch to the left. This will allow you to skip though one folder at a time. This is nice for when you want to load entire albums onto the player where the button will allow you to flip though the 10-12 CDs you ripped to the player. It could also be nice to make folders for different mixes. For instance, you could make a folder just for the gym or a folder for a party mix. Sliding the switch to the right will put it in shuffle mode. This will shuffle through all songs and all file folders. Sound Quality Sound quality is pretty good and typical of Creatives line of Zen players. I found that the frequencies are well balanced, having a flat response. EQs are always nice, but the Stone can get away without having one. Conclusion The Zen Stone is an extremely basic screenless 1GB MP3 player. Without a screen, Creative added some nice features that allow you to easily and blindly navigate your tunes. The Zen Stone works with all modern operating systems and doubles as a standard data flash drive, making loading music and other files as easy as it gets. I really have a hard time finding a reasonable complaint for a screenless MP3 player priced at $40. If you need a simple music solution or something to accompany your other player, pick one up. You wont be disappointed. ---- Blind Bargains http://www.blindbargains.com/ ============================================================================ == You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AccessibleDevices" group. 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