MP3 players that hit the 32GB sweet spot

Donald Bell, Senior Editor May 20, 2009

At first glance, it seems a little insane that a 30GB iPod from 2005 retailed for $100 less than a 32GB iPod from 2008, but there's a rational explanation (beyond Apple's marketing power). The high-capacity hard drives that made up the bulk of MP3 players in 2005 have given way to the leaner, tougher, and more expensive flash memory modules found in today's mobile devices.

In spite of the sticker shock, I'm glad the flash memory revolution brought us slimmer, more reliable devices, but mostly I'm just happy to see a return to MP3 players with 30 gigabytes or more of storage. There's just something about that 30GB range that hits a sweet spot for a lot of users--especially as interest in video playback continues to grow.

Of course, after watching flash memory capacity double year after year, it's logical to wonder when we'll see 64GB flash-based players on the market. I have no doubt we'll see a product like the iPod Touch reach 64GB in the next year or so, but if the initial popularity of flash-based players taught us anything, it's that the importance of capacity can be blown out of proportion. Most people can live well-within 32GB, but if you really need tons of storage and can live with the extra bulk of a hard-drive-based MP3 player, a product like the 250GB Archos 5 can be had for about as much as you'd pay for a 32GB iPod Touch. Hard-drive players are typically heavier and more fragile, but they're unbeatable when you're looking at the dollar-per-gigabyte value.

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