The Anti-iPods 


A roundup of the next generation of pretenders to the digital music player throne. 


In the wake of Hewlett-Packard's  ( HPQ ) announcement that it will be distributing a branded version of the iPod , and that HP Pavilions, HP Media Centers, and Compaq Presarios will come pre-installed with iTunes jukebox software as early as this summer, I think a post-CES recap of yet-to-be-launched music players is in order. The imperious iPod already accounts for about a third of all MP3 players sold, and with the combined megaton blast of the HP deal and the launch of the iPod mini, Jobs is once again storming the Gate.

The iPod mini will be released in five colors in February, at the still-rather-steep price of $249 for 4 gigabytes of storage (or about 1,000 songs). We'll be giving it a first look in the March issue of the magazine, but before you spring for one, consider a few of the other palm-size players slated to hit shelves in the first half of this year. The Toshiba Gigabit, which I fondled behind closed doors at CES, is a boxy 20GB player that has a minimalist stainless-steel finish and is about the size of the larger iPod. The most important improvement is battery life. The Gigabit, due out in June for about the same price as Apple's 20GB version, claims an impressive 11 hours of continuous tuneage -- much longer than my iPod (which hums along for about half that time on continuous playback). But the Gigabit has the same problem as all of the ersatz iPods: inelegant scrolling. The buttons are placed on the side and don't offer any easy way to plow through the 5,000 or so songs you'll be loading up. The other anti-iPod that caught my eye was Samsung's slick black 20GB Yepp-1030, which hits stores in February at the very attractive price of $319. But if I were you, I'd hold out for Samsung's portable media center (the YH-999), with its supercrisp video screen; lush, round sound; and small footprint. That should roll out in July, along with a Creative Labs player that combines digital music , video, and still images. Dubbed the Creative Zen Portable Media Center, it has bright Gen Y styling, a slightly larger footprint than the Yepp (approximately 5 by 3 inches), a large LCD , and a hard disc that will stow hundreds of hours of songs, videos, and images. I only saw production models of the last two jukes, but they loudly blazoned the coming age of the enhanced media player.

In other words, the iPod may be topping the charts now, but video may kill the MP3 star later this year.
 

Posted: Wed - January 28, 2004 at 04:53 PM        

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