This could be exhausting for some folks to fathom, however there are digital music gamers made by different firms beside Apple.
However earlier than you assume I am about to put in writing some kind of heresy — iPod is just not the very best? — here is the purpose: The iPod has eager competitors, if you happen to look.
There may be good causes for not choosing an iPod.
One, different gamers typically embrace an FM radio; iPods don’t.
Two, the next units labored simply on
Microsoft Home windows, as does the iPod, and every discovered and arranged the music information I’ve scattered in regards to the Hewlett-Packard laptop computer I used for this evaluate.
Three, worth concerns: Some supply distinctive worth.
Nonetheless, with regards to digital music gamers, how issues stack up towards the iPod is a good take a look at as a result of Apple made it really easy to make use of and constantly innovates with new options resembling touch-screen controls.
So here is what I stored in thoughts as I examined these gamers: How straightforward is it to make use of out of the field? Is the software program that manages the music cumbersome or intuitive? What options stand out? How easy is navigation?
Let’s begin with the exceptional Sansa Clip, a sensible, small and really purposeful system from SanDisk that provides 1 or 2 gigabytes of storage, or roughly 250 to 500 MP3 information.
The very best characteristic? It is $40 for the 1GB model and $60 for 2GB. It is available in 4 colours (black, blue, pink and crimson), may be clipped to a belt or purse and weighs lower than an oz. It sounds darn good and appears cool too.
In contrast to the costlier iPod Shuffle, with 1GB of storage for $79, this system contains an FM tuner, a voice recorder, a hyperlink for a subscription music service and a display to navigate by way of artist names, music titles and albums. You could have decisions the Shuffle does not supply.
Setup was easy. The software program downloaded simply. Within the mannequin I examined, the music software program, supplied by Rhapsody, linked to the net music retailer operated by Greatest Purchase. (The blue, pink and crimson fashions are bought solely at Greatest Purchase.) The Rhapsody software program discovered songs from Home windows Media Participant and routinely moved them over. (It additionally checked for an iTunes library, the place it could have accessed MP3 information loaded from CDs, however I haven’t got iTunes on that laptop computer.)
It helps music companies from eMusic, Napster, Rhapsody and others.
My one grievance: navigating the menus was a bit of complicated. However that is minor contemplating I may select between enjoying my favourite CDs, listening to the radio or, when inspiration struck, report a voice memo.
When you have been pondering of getting a Shuffle, I counsel the Sansa Clip as an alternative.
The problem for Microsoft Corp.’s upgraded Zune is fairly easy: Will customers take it critically?
They completely ought to, as a result of my exams with the brand new 80GB mannequin have been merely pleasant, with one exception.
Loading the software program was quick, importing songs and albums from the opposite music applications on the HP was a snap (iTunes MP3 information will switch over), and the upgraded software program used to handle one’s music was straightforward to be taught.
From a bodily standpoint, the 80GB Zune ($250) is barely smaller and thinner than final 12 months’s 30GB mannequin ($200). The navigation pad has been modified, too, permitting you to maneuver across the system with a contact or a agency faucet. The pad is also used on the flash-drive primarily based 4GB ($150) and 8GB ($200) fashions.
Microsoft included a pleasant shock within the 80GB mannequin: higher-quality headphones. They’re in-ear fashions and sound a lot better than what ships with the iPod. The headphones on the opposite Zune fashions are normal, nevertheless.
This is how setup works:
Patrons go to Zune.web to obtain the software program. Just like the iPod, the music participant doesn’t ship with software program. Over my normal DSL broadband connection, the obtain took six minutes. After quarter-hour, it was put in on my pc, and it started gathering all of the music, movies and photographs I had on that pc. (I did this whereas holding a child, in order that’s a clue as to how easy this setup was.)
Then I plugged the Zune in through USB, and all that content material moved into the system in roughly quarter-hour. It was iPod-like in its simplicity and about as trouble-free a setup as I’ve had with a tool able to enjoying music and movies.
Then it received higher: To check how the system would import music after preliminary setup, I loaded (ripped, if you happen to want) 10 extra CDs onto the laptop computer. Most of those CDs had whiskers, too, some not less than 10 years outdated. So it was a pleasant shock when the Zune software program acknowledged the discs rapidly, sooner than on iTunes, and imported monitor names and art work.
The software program kinds your music by date, so the final disc ripped is the primary one you see. That is good as a result of one assumes folks wish to play their most up-to-date additions.
Then I hit a snag. One new characteristic is wi-fi syncing, that means you needn’t join the system to your PC through USB cable to switch over new tunes, resembling the ten CDs I simply ripped. I arrange the Zune to work wirelessly, and it acknowledged my dwelling community and the pc with the Zune software program. Every thing appeared to arrange simply effective, however the music wouldn’t switch over.
I fiddled with the settings a bit extra, however I by no means may get it to work, regardless that it regarded as if it ought to.
Regardless of that disappointment, Microsoft is getting it proper with the Zune. This system was a pleasure that I wish to spend extra time with to find different options, together with the Zune Market, the place you purchase music and join a subscription service.
This subsequent participant, however, is a head scratcher contemplating its excessive worth and lack of options in contrast with its friends. It does not play movies or embrace an FM radio, for example.
It’s Bang & Olufsen’s second MP3 participant, the BeoSound 6, and it sells for $600, with solely 4GB of storage. That is $400 greater than the 8GB iPod Nano or Zune.
The very best characteristic could be the leather-based case it ships with, or maybe the very snug headphones. However as a music participant to compete with the iPod, Zune or Sansa, it falls up to now brief I can’t advocate this system.
It sounds higher than another MP3 gamers I’ve examined, however not $400 higher.
The improved sound is what you’d anticipate from an organization that provides high-end audio gear. B&O explains that “acoustic engineering” and a “high-performance signal-to-noise playback” are the the reason why. But it surely additionally gives customers a mouse-click possibility within the software program to import songs at a better bit fee, which I did. (You are able to do this with different gamers too; simply verify the settings.) The upper the bit fee, the much less compressed the music file and, therefore, a extra strong sound.
One other good contact is the A8 headphones that ship with the system. These wrap behind every ear, and the ear buds may be moved up and right down to create a agency match. However you should purchase these individually for $160, which I might contemplate an affordable buy.
The BeoSound 6 is good-looking, with a brush-metal entrance, and it’s easy to function. However it’s not definitely worth the worth contemplating how little music, regardless of how good the sound, it holds.
Eric Benderoff writes about expertise for the Chicago Tribune.
SANSA CLIP
Storage: Roughly 250 to 500 MP3 information Price: $40 for the 1GB model and $60 for 2GB General: It is a actually good various to the iPod Shuffle.
ZUNEStorage: 80GB (producer says it would maintain as much as 20,000 songs) Price: $250 General: Microsoft did an excellent job making this a quite simple system to make use of. However the reviewer had hassle getting the wi-fi synching system to work.
BEOSOUND 6Storage: 4GB Price: $600 General: It sounds nice, nevertheless it’s method too costly.
