Not everybody has nor wants to jump on the iPod bandwagon so that they, like millions of others, can waltz around with their signature white headphones. If you’re one of those people that refuses to get an iPod but you’re still wanting a digital media player, there are plenty of great alternatives. Here are just five of the many available.
- Zune
The 30GB Zune is getting replaced in about a month with the new 80GB hard drive version and the 4GB and 8GB Flash versions, but it’s still a great buy, especially because there will really be no differences in terms of software between the “old” and “new” Zune’s. It’s got an intuitive interface, you can play audio, video, view photos, and even listen to FM radio. With the new versions coming out soon, you’ll likely find some great deals (like this one) this month.
- Creative Zen
Using the Creative Zen 16GB MP3 player you can watch 64 hours of video, or enjoy up to 4,000 of your favorite songs. You can also share hundreds of your photos on the 2.5 inch color display. It’s got a clock and alarm function, volume restriction, eight equalizer settings, and a USB hard drive mode. The Creative Zen 16GB model is priced at $249.99
- SanDisk Sansa e280
Unlike the iPod, the Sansa features FM radio and has an easily replaceable battery. It also has a voice recorder, and you can record from the radio. It’s got a great interface and uses a scroll wheel with four buttons to control the player. It’s flash based and has room for 8GB of songs, videos, photos, and voice recordings. The Sansa e280 is priced at $131.39.
- Toshiba Gigabeat 30GB Portable Media Player
Like most portable media player devices (excluding the iPod) this Toshiba player includes a built-in FM tuner. It’s got a 2.4 inch WVGA display, and will run about 20 hours per charge. This is a great player for movies, photos, and videos, and is priced at around $255.00.
- Sony 8GB Video MP3 Player
Priced at around $209.00, the Sony 8GB MP3 Player features up to 33 hours of battery life, high quality video playback at 30 frames per second, and includes an FM tuner with 30 station presets. Of course you can watch videos too on the bi-directional LCD display.
Warning: don’t buy a Zune if you suck at using the computers,the software makes you want to rip your hair out.
My brother has a Zune and says that he likes it better than the iPod Video he traded it in for. So I guess not everyone has troubles.
I was looking for an mp3 player to get, and I decided upon a cowon d2.
At 4gb and $180, it’s a bit on the pricey side…but it has an sd card slot, so it really has limitless space. It also has a 2.5 inch touch screen and supports avi video (which is great for people like me who download anime, since it’s almost always in avi format) and ogg (among most other standard files) for music….
I’m really not sure how many players out there support avi and ogg, but ocnsidering I have a good chunk of ogg and avi files, that makes the cowon a player that is hard to pass up.
I’ve also heard terrible reviews about the sansa. People say it looks great on paper but the sound quality sucks and the buttons and scroll wheel are hard to use.
That’s pretty cool that it supports SD cards because those are frequently dropping in price. You can get an additional 2GB for about $30 which is awesome.
Holy Crap it supports avi where do I sign up?!?!?
the creative zen vision m 60gb is a really good player…no transcoding required…..even the cowon audio player is good…
Circuit city has a 1gb player for 30$ from philips. I’m picking one up sometime this week.
Sounds like a decent deal, although I think I’ve seen 1GB players cheaper than that (probably without any kind of screen).