Creative’s Sleek Zen Stone 1GB MP3 Player

Many, including ourselves, are of the firm belief that Apple – the company that so often gets it so right – got it so seriously wrong with the design of the wholly uninspiring and somewhat insipid Shuffle. And with a host of significantly better designed comparable capacity players vying for our attention, the iPOD Shuffle looks about as inspiring as weekend of my company.

Creative’s new Zen Stone 1GB MP3 player is yet another alternative to Apple’s iPOD much maligned Shuffle and, from the outset, even from the point of aesthetics alone, there’s simply no competition. Add into the equation the fact that the Creative Zen Stone 1GB MP3 Player also costs significantly less than the Shuffle and the choice becomes clear – you either buy the Shuffle simply because its an iPOD or you buy an alternative because branding alone should never be counted on to secure a purchase.

That said, we do have concerns regarding Creative’s Zen Stone Player as, having scrolled through the numerous product shots on Creative’s official Zen Stone MP3 website we think that this offering looks a little too ‘plastic’ for our tastes – especially when you look at the some of the MP3 devices on offer from the likes of iRiver.