I’ve been posting a bit about
content for ipods and MP3 players, and it occurred to me I’ve been very podcentric in my postings. So I thought I’d
take a moment and post about some of the other MP3 players out there that are worth checking out. I did a lot of
digging around, and just got back from CompUSA where I checked out several players. Here are two of the best
that I looked at:
Before my ipod, I had the Creative Nomad and loved it. While the memory was nothing compared to the gargantuan 20, 40,
60, etc. gig iPods, my Nomad was small and with no moving parts, it never skipped or froze…which is a lot more
than I can say for my ipod. The new Zen Micro is a great upgrade to the Nomad,
even if it, too, now comes with an internal hard drive (4GB, 5GB, or 6GB). The Zen runs for 12 hours and, unlike
the iPod, uses removable batteries. I love the fact that the Zen Micro comes in 10 colors. It also has a built-in
FM radio, a voice recorder (trust me, this is a great feature). I tested one of these and found the sound
quality to be exceptional. This is a winner The Zen Micro runs from $200-$250.
SanDisk’s Digital Audio Player
From the makers
of CompactFlash and removable memory, the Digital Audio Player is a
solid contender among MP3 players. Available with 256MB, 512MB, or 1GB (about 240 songs) flash memory,
the device has a readable screen and an FM radio, something the iPod should really consider. The DAP plays for 15
hours on a single AAA battery, pretty amazing. Sadly, you can’t create playlists, but it offers solid sound
and comes in a very pleasing form factor (i.e. its pretty small). The DAP runs from $90-$180.
I’m continuing to look around for other MP3 players and accessories, not to mention content for these devices, so
stay tuned.