Price: $249. Additional 32-MB flash card: $89(16-MB cards not supported).
Grade: B
Bottom line: Some great features, but lack of storage and inability to round-trip by uploading MP3s to your PC are serious drawbacks.
Creative Labs' Nomad is the slickest player to behold, with its silvery magnesium case and arty packaging. The player comes with a cradle that holds it when you're moving data to and from your computer, doing double duty by recharging the Nomad's batteries. Thirty-two megs are on board (expandable to 64 meg). There's a mike for voice memos and a nifty leather carrying case, and you can transfer any data file to the player.
However, it won't upload MP3s from the player back to your PC. In other words, you can't go to your friend's place and download MP3s onto your Nomad, then take them home and dump them into your PC. Pretty much anybody who wants one of these players wants this feature, so this is a major deficiency. So is the shortfall in storage–surprising for a latest-generation player. On the other hand, it does have an integrated FM radio, giving you something else to listen to if you've already played all your programmed tracks and aren't within downloading range of your desktop computer. One more cool thing: With an accessory, you can plug this player into a car's cassette stereo system. Now that's nomadic.
The Nomad from Creative Labs.