Creative Zen Stone MP3 Player

You'll find inner peace through frugality when pulling out your Zen Stone next to someone's iPod shuffle. This screen-less, matchbook-sized miniplayer stores a gig worth of tunes for ordered or random playback, but sells for half the price of Apple's wee flash based player. Switch out the included earphones if you want to hear any bass, but overall, the sound quality is better than decent. We loaded the same audio file on the Stone and a shuffle but didn't notice any difference-even with our $700 Grado headphones. Avoid the optional flimsy skin and clip accessory (two samples broke on us) it'll save 10 bucks and allow you to relish your thriftiness.

WIRED Small and light with sharp, minimalist design. Available in an assortment of shameless colors (read: no neon green). Handy "skip folder" switch. PC and Mac compatible. Supports non-subscription WMA-DRM tracks and Audible books. LED indicates battery level.

TIRED 10-hour battery life is so not impressive. Supports MP3 and WMA files only.

• Style: Audio
• Manufacturer: Creative
• Price: $40
Release Date: May 14, 2007