Stretch your tech $$$ at Dell.com
Donald Bell,
Senior Editor
May 15, 2009
For better or for worse, MP3 player manufacturers are tripping over themselves to add touch-screen navigation to their portable MP3 and video players in an effort to compete with Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. There are plenty of benefits to using a touch-screen interface instead of traditional button navigation, including increased screen real estate, a cleaner look, and the potential for new ways of manipulating data using dragging, pinching, and swiping gestures. In practice, however, no one does touch-screen media players as well as Apple. In fact, we've seen some spectacular failures.
With the exception of the $99 Memorex TouchMP, many of the MP3 players shown here also include some type of wireless capability to complement their futuristic touch interfaces. Whether it's the integrated Bluetooth of the Samsung P3, Iriver Spinn, and Cowon S9, or the Web browsers found on the Sony X-Series Walkman or Archos 5, these iPod Touch competitors have more to offer than pretty looks.
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| Price | Check Prices | Check Prices | $199.99 to $204.99 | $189.99 to $253.57 | $268.88 to $349.99 | Check Prices |
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| Review date | July 07, 2009 | April 07, 2009 | January 20, 2009 | September 30, 2008 | September 25, 2008 | May 07, 2009 |
| The Bottom Line | The X-Series is a superb choice for audiophiles who want a luxury device with an excellent touch-screen interface and plenty of other bells and whistles. | The Samsung P3 is an excellent multimedia device that packs a grand amount of features into an impressively compact package with one of the best screens available. Plus, it sounds superb, making this a top contender for audio enthusiasts. | The Cowon S9 is a sexy-looking gadget with exceptional audio and video quality, but its construction quality and user interface pale in comparison to the competition. | Until Iriver lowers the price on the Spinn, it will remain a luxury portable media player best suited to an early adopter with a penchant for unique gadgets and a library of lossless music. | The Archos 5 boasts an improved screen size, image resolution, and sound quality over its predecessor, but its Web browser and Flash media playback are disappointing for a product marketed on the strength of its Internet media capabilities. | The Memorex TouchMP is the first MP3 player we've seen that combines touch-screen technology, useful features, and an attractive design, for less than $100. |
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