MP3 Players
August 8, 2005
When it comes to MP3 players, the iPod rules—it's Apple's world and we're just living in it. But not everyone has $300 to spend on this objet de tech. Apple's low-priced alternative is the iPod Shuffle, which at 512MB or 1GB ($100 and $130) doesn't have the capacity to hold your whole music collection, nor does it have a screen to tell you what's playing. It does have a distinct advantage, though: it can be loaded with songs from the super simple iTunes Music Store. (See our iPod Shuffle Gadget of the Week review.)
But if the bulk of your music collection is still on CD, or ripped and downloaded in the MP3 format, you can save your money and get an even cheaper player. Take the Iomega Mixx, for instance. For $60 on iomega.com, you get a 256MB player with three things the Shuffle doesn't have: an FM tuner, an integrated voice recorder and an LCD screen. It's cool looking, too.
Another value music choice is Lexar's new LDP-200 Digital Music Player. It costs $55 and has—get this—zero megabytes of storage. That's because it's compatible with any old SD memory card you might have lying around. Not taking pictures this week? Take the SD card from your digital camera, pop it in, and off you go. If need be, you can buy a 512MB SD card for as low as $30.
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