Group test: Portable music players

Portable music players are smaller than ever and even enable you to view videos, images and text. Here are six for under £160

Anthony Dhanendran, Computeract!ve 26 Sep 2006

When Apple brought out the first iPod, it cost several hundred pounds and was basically a portable hard disk that happened to have a music player attached to it. It also only came with 5GB of storage.

Nowadays, that much storage is available for far less money and in a much smaller package. In this group test, we’ll look at six of the best portable music players, all of which cost £160 or less. That amount buys at least 2GB of storage – some of our players have as much as 8GB. As a rule of thumb, 1GB provides space for about 250 songs.

While the first iPod contained an internal hard disk, many modern players, including the iPod nano, use flash memory instead. This makes for a smaller and faster player, although it can be more expensive. We’ll look at both types of player and see their pros and cons.

One of the problems with flash memory is that it can be used a limited number of times. That number is fairly large – it’s usually around one million on modern devices. That does mean, however, that music players based on flash memory will eventually stop working. Similar problems affect hard disks, which have moving parts and will eventually fail, but modern hard disks are built to last, and should last as long as flash memory players.

Batteries are another question. All the players we’re looking at have internal batteries, which are technically not replaceable by the user. Because there’s such a large market in iPod accessories, it’s possible to buy replacement batteries although they cost nearly as much as the player. For other players, that’s unlikely to be an option, and in any case, by the time the battery runs out (they should last a few years) it will be just as cheap to buy a brand-new player.

This article is part of a group test of portable music players.
See also:
Apple iPod nano
Creative Zen V
Iriver U10
MSI P640
Sandisk Sansa e260
Sony NW-A1200
The table of features can be read via our pdf downloads above.
Editor's choice is on the next page

All MP3 Players

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Verdict

All the players use a USB connection to the PC, although only the MSI and Creative players use standard leads, so if the others break, it could mean an expensive replacement. The difference between hard disks and flash memory is small in use, so the two hard disk players in our group test have the advantage, capacity-wise.

All the players use similar menu systems for locating tracks, but the iPod’s scroll wheel is by far the easiest navigation tool, a method Apple protects with a patent. Only the Sandisk Sansa comes close, while the others are all hamstrung by some aspect of their navigation.

The screen sizes are similar, except for the smaller screens on the Apple and Sony players. The Sony player is the only monochrome screen, but this won’t matter too much as the player can’t show images anyway. All the others can, and in addition the Iriver, MSI and Sandisk players can play video in specific formats.

Because the merits of the iPod nano and Sansa e260 are so closely matched, we have awarded two Buy It awards. The Sansa has a microphone and recorder, and plays video, while the Apple is sleeker, slimmer and easier to use. For most it will be down to personal preference.

On a similar level is the MSI P640, which has a decent navigation system, a good screen, and lots of storage. Finally the Creative and Iriver players are worthwhile buys, although none of them reaches the level of the Sandisk and Apple devices.

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