Creative Technology - Zen Stone Plus 2 Gig MP3 Player Review

Having gone through a parade of MP3 players, I've resigned myself to treating them as a "disposable" product, needing to be replaced on a semi-regular basis, as they fall prey to inexplicable loss (perhaps they elope with the sock we all invariably come up missing some laundry day?), or simply up and stop working for no apparent reason, as so many electronics these days seem to do.  As such, I'm wary of investing too much hard-earned $, so the Zen Stone Plus fit the bill.  At under $50, it had all the features I wanted, plus one I had, til that point, never really given any thought to: a built-in speaker.  My first thought when it arrived was "C'mon, how good could a mono speaker the size of a dime really be?" Surprisingly good is the answer. Even having used this sturdy little player for six months, I'm still amazed at how good a speaker like that can sound. While I use it mostly with earbuds, knowing that I have the speaker option is helpful, and I do actually use it a fair amount, particularly in conjunction with the player's microphone memo/record function - one of many handy features. Transfer works flawlessly on every laptop and PC I've had occasion to plug it into, and navigation through the screens is intuitive and easy to use.  My only complaint echoes that of other reviewers: woefully short battery life. Even so, it's the MP3 player I've grown fondest of, and I hope it's a good long time before it's crushed/misplaced/abducted by aliens.