Let’s face it – not everyone has over $200 to shell out for a MP3 player with a huge hard drive and a designer label name. There are plenty of quality players out there, created by well known companies, which can fulfill the music need without breaking the bank. Most players under $200 use flash memory, which means they hold far less music then your typical iPod. The tradeoff though is you have money left in your pocket to purchase music online or in the stores to transfer to your player.
Apple’s iPod nano, now in its second generation,picks up right were the first generation left off. While offering three different storage capacities, two of these three (2GB, 4GB) come under the $200 mark to hold up to a total of 1,000 songs. Multiple color body choices offer a small rainbow of choices. The iPod nano sports a 1.5-inch color LCD screen housed in a body which is just a little over a quarter of an inch thick. Besides being able to play music, the nano can also carry one’s digital photos so that they can be viewed on the go. Other features include the familiar Click Wheel and playlist support.
The Creative Zen MicroPhoto borrows iPod nano features and puts them in a slightly larger body. Capable of storing upwards of 4,000 songs (8GB model), the Zen MicroPhoto offers up to 15 hours of music playback via its rechargeable battery. It can also display one’s photos on its 1.5-inch color OLED screen. Other features include eight different background screen color options, a FM tuner/recorder, multiple body colors and a vertical touch pad for music and photo selections.
The Sansa e250 is the 2GB model (holds up to 960 WMA songs while reportedly getting upwards of 64 hours of playback) of SanDisk’s current flagship e200 MP3 players. With a stylish design and a 1.8-inch TFT color screen, the e250 offers a lot of value for the dollar. It supports Microsoft PlaysForSure subscription music, offers expandable memory via a microSD memory card slot, has FM tuner/recorder capability, has voice recording and supports video playback.
The iriver clix is the latest player from iriver to grace the marketplace. This flash memory player has a bright, 2.2-inch color LCD display and is controlled by pressing the four sides of the display. It can support a variety of audio, video and digital photo file types, including secure WMA music files downloaded from Microsoft PlaysForSure compatible online music subscription services like the new MTV Urge. It also gets upwards of 25 hours of rechargeable playtime with its internal battery.
The Apple iPod shuffle, now in its second generation, is the least expensive member of the iPod clan. This cleverly constructed player, which is extremely tiny and lacks a LCD screen like its competitors, is built around the notion that users like to hear their music in a different order each time. A switch allows you to flip music playback between “random” and “play in order” depending upon your mood. Other features include a weight of .55 ounces, storage for up to 240 songs, up to 12 hours of rechargeable battery playback and a built-in belt clip.
Creative’s Zen Nano Plus, which comes in 512MB and 1GB storage sizes, is a tiny player with lots of colors to choose from. Ten to be exact. Ranging from purple to yellow to black, the Nano has a color of the rainbow for everyone. It offers up a weight of 2.2 ounces, up to 18 hours of AAA battery audio playback, MP3 and WMA (including DRM) music file support, Audible audio book file support, USB 2.0 high speed file transfers, a blue backlit LCD, FM radio/recorder and built-in microphone.
The Samsung YP-U2J is a USB plug style MP3 player which has a “slim crystal design with light effects”. This player, which can store over 500 songs, gets over 30 hours of playback on its rechargeable battery. It supports MP3 and WMA/subscription based WMA music files and sports a 4-line LED display which shows song information such as title and artist. Other features include voice recording and a FM tuner with automatic presets. The YP-U2J measures 0.96 x 3.39 x 0.49 inches and is lightweight.
iriver’s ultra portable T30 series comes with up to 1GB of memory, which means it can store and play up to 34 hours of music. Like similar players, the T30 can play MP3 and WMA/subscription based WMA music files. It gets up to 24 hours of battery life on a single AAA battery. Other features of this unit include voice recording, enhanced 3D audio, in-line audio recording, USB 2.0 high speed file transfers and support for Audible audiobooks.
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