Fourteen Digital Music Players Reviewed

prostoalex writes "The PC Magazine reviews 14 digital music players that can play MP3, WMA or AAC files. The editor's choice among the models compared includes Apple iPod Mini and iRiver iFP-390T. The editors decided to conduct a single review of both Flash- and HDD-based music players. Of special interest is the battery life test as well as sound quality test. Even though the entire article is published online in HTML, the summary of the features is available in PDF only."

Comments

Ogg Vorbis?Ogg Vorbis?Ogg Vorbis?

[monstroyer]

And out of the 14 that are reviewed ZERO play Ogg Vorbis.

Marketers, manufacturers, and capitalists: LISTEN UP!

* I'm 29, single, and work in the computer industry. Therefore, I like gadgets and have disposable income.

* I'm a hobbiest musician and I have been encoding everything, no exception, in OGG VORBIS since 2003. Like the teenagers say, so last year.

* It is feasible to port the Vorbis decoder/encoder to a platform without floating point support.

There's your demographic. Stop reaching for the teenagers and start making products for people who can afford them and desperately need them.

Your profit margins will thank you.

PS: I'm posting this from an iBook. I won't buy an iPod until it supports OGG!

Re:Ogg Vorbis?Ogg Vorbis?Ogg Vorbis?

[American AC in Paris]

Oh, get yerself a Rio Karma and quitcher whinin'. I'm a video freak, and you don't see me bitching about how hardly any consumer TV sets support anything more exotic than RCA component in, do you?

The manufacturers have heard the Cry of the Hardcore Ogg Fan, and they've responded with a collective "meh." Most of them simply don't give a damn about your niche. Rio does. Support Rio and quit acting like you're all downtrodden.

Re:Ogg Vorbis?Ogg Vorbis?Ogg Vorbis?

[dasmegabyte]

Wait -- that's better looks? It looks like a Samsonite briefcase from the 1980s, and what's up with that scroll control? Was it designed by Ed Wood?

Furthermore, 20 gig for $400 MSRP isn't cheaper -- it's the SAME PRICE as the iPod. I know, street prices are cheaper, but MSRP was the comparison used in this article as well.

The FM tuner, voice recorder, Vorbis support and optical out are worthwhile features for some, but then again so are AAC support iTunes integration, iTMS support, FireWire and the seamless design with only three ports.

The size -- both physical and storage -- is dead on, as is the battery life. And I'll give you this: while the iPod looks kind of like a cross between a plastic Easter Egg and a shaving mirror, this thing looks like a high tech cell phone. If you don't like the looks of the iPod because it's too postmodern, this is what you want.

This is no iPod killer. But is an agressive iPod competitor. That's good for us iPod fans as well as the detractors.

Rio Karma

[Dante]

Christ where is the Karma? My Karma just kicks ass, It uses USB 2.0 and Ethernet. Supports Linux. Sounds great, gets loud when I want it to be. Came with decent earphones Sennheisers no less. Has amazing battery life and weights just a few ounces, and holds 20 gigs.

And get this, it does ogg and flac, why would I want anything else?

Strange Selection

[jhage]

No Rio players at all (either Nitrus, Karma or any other). One Creative. Whole bunch of really odd choices (Sony MD player?). Given what they reviewed, I guess the iPod would come out on top.

FM support

[Dark Paladin]

I'm rather interested in seeing some of these that support FM radio. I hadn't really thought about it, since other than NPR I haven't listened to much radio for the last 18 months (why bother? It's the same damned stuff they were playing 3 years before that!).

But it makes some sense - most walkman's, even CD based ones, have AM/FM radio support. A MP3 player shouldn't be that different.

Though, maybe there is a very small portable XM radio player. Hm - something to look into.

Missing choices

[wizarddc]

I know they could review only so many devices, but I'm disappointed they didn't review any Archos products at all. I've had my Jukebox Studio 20 for 2 years and it still works great. It might be a little heavier than most, but battery life has never been an issue for me. This thing rules. Why did they review 9 Memory players, and only 3 HD ones? What gives?

Who else had their favorite player ignored in this?

other mp3 player review source

[hackman]

It seems like it is hard to find factual reviews of mp3 players. This might be useful to some of you, check out the playerblog site which has postings of mp3 player reviews.