Creative Labs MuVo V100

If you’re willing to “think different” about your mp3 player, the Creative Labs MuVo V100 provides more storage space and fancier features than the iPod Shuffle and other flash players in the same price range.

Pros

Cons

The MuVo V100 is Creative Lab's latest update to the successful MuVo line of ultra-light flash players. At a street price of $79 for the 2GB version, the V100 provides more features at a better value than competitors like the iPod Shuffle or the Sandisk Sansa m240.

Plays Almost Everything

The MuVo V100 plays standard MP3 files as well as tracks protected by Microsoft's PlaysForSure digital rights management standard. However, music purchased from the iTunes store is off-limits.

Quality Sound, Poor Headphones

With its default settings, the V100 sports a clean, even sound, free of hisses, pops, or obvious distortion. However, if you want to get the best sound, toss the bundled ear buds in the trash and buy something better.

Long Battery Life

In real-world use with a standard Duracell battery, the player matched Creative's 18-hour battery life claim.

Built-in USB

The MuVo V100's best feature is its built-in USB interface. As with any USB drive, you can pop the V100 into an available port and Windows or Mac OS will recognize it as an external drive. While you will need Creative's bundled MediaSource software to transfer DRM-protected songs, you can copy unprotected music files to the V100 by simply dragging and dropping them to the drive.

Ability to Navigate by Song and Folder

The V100 allows you to shuffle through songs randomly, play sequentially by filename, or use its scroll wheel to move between tracks, or folders. Unfortunately, the scroll wheel can be difficult to use, because it serves so many different functions at once.

Who Should Buy the MuVo V100?

Anybody who wants an extremely portable player with great battery life, solid sound, and the ability to double as a USB key drive should consider the V100.