The main reason I bought the Creative Zen Stone Plus with built in speaker(pink) was the radio and that built in speaker. The radio is a waste of time though. Reception is very poor even though I live in an area with a very strong FM signal. All the other radios in the house have crystal clear FM reception (including the FM radio on my partners Sony Ericsson K750i mobile phone). If you have the patience and can put up with very loud static while you shuffle about the room seeking that elusive hot spot, you might eventually find one. Don't move though or you'll lose it. No good then for listening while walking the dog. I wondered if my player was faulty and contacted the Creative Support Team two days after purchasing it to discuss. After some rather stilted and weird email communication from them (they didn't read my email properly regarding the problem nor did they actually answer any of my queries) I took it back to the store and they happily exchanged it for another one. The… more »

The main reason I bought the Creative Zen Stone Plus with built in speaker(pink) was the radio and that built in speaker. The radio is a waste of time though. Reception is very poor even though I live in an area with a very strong FM signal. All the other radios in the house have crystal clear FM reception (including the FM radio on my partners Sony Ericsson K750i mobile phone). If you have the patience and can put up with very loud static while you shuffle about the room seeking that elusive hot spot, you might eventually find one. Don't move though or you'll lose it. No good then for listening while walking the dog. I wondered if my player was faulty and contacted the Creative Support Team two days after purchasing it to discuss. After some rather stilted and weird email communication from them (they didn't read my email properly regarding the problem nor did they actually answer any of my queries) I took it back to the store and they happily exchanged it for another one. The reception on the new one is slightly better but not by much. I have decided to live with it (even though i am not happy and have since noticed that somebody else has notified of the same problem on the Creative web site user discussion forum) because I really love that speaker...it really is fun! Obviously it's a thin sound but never harsh. Music or spoken word you find yourself getting totally immersed in the listening because somehow, despite its size it manages to deliver real ambience. The microphone is ok for recording as long as the source is right next to the mic. Anything else it doesn't pick up. No good for recording lectures as I have seen bandied about by the manufacturers! As you might have read elsewhere, the way files and menus are managed on the Zen Stones is not ideal. However, as far as i know no other player has this built in speaker so there's no other option if you want this feature. Supplied software is excellent and easy to use, the player feels gorgeous tucked in your hand as so small and screen very clear. Creative should sort that radio out though because it really is not acceptable. I have had to take this into consideration with my rating.