Suhit Gupta
04-27-2004, 04:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcmag.com/print_article/0,1761,a=124130,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pcmag.com/print_article/0,1761,a=124130,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div>"With a dazzling array of colors, features, and capacities to choose from, the portable digital music player market is alive and exciting. Two devices rose to the top. We had begun to wonder if anyone could trump the Apple iPod at its own game. After all, Apple has had the best-of-breed hard-drive–based portable music device for several years running. It should come as no surprise that the only company able to outdesign the original iPod is Apple itself [with the iPod-mini] ... The Creative Nomad MuVo2 earns an honorable mention for its insane battery life (twice that of the iPod Mini) and its excellent price.<br /><br />Among the flash memory players, the iRiver iFP-390T earns our Editors' Choice award. It has a sharp design, a very easy-to-use interface, and a wealth of features that go beyond those we saw in other players ... We were also quite pleased with the caliber of several other flash players in this roundup. In particular, the Digitalway MPIO FY200 caught our eyes for its clever navigation abilities. The TDK Mojo 256F stuck out as well, for its fast USB 2.0 interface and cool overall appearance."<br /><br />The PC Magazine has a nice review of 14 digital music players that are both Flash based as well as hard drive based, and that can play MP3, WMA or AAC files . One of the interesting matchups is the Apple iPod Mini vs the iRiver iFP-390T. Each player also has a full review associated with it and the article concludes with a battery life test as well as sound quality test. I was very disappointed that the iRiver iHP series did not make it on their review bench. The final results are posted at the bottom, though are in PDF format only.