2008 spring preview

MP3 & portable video players

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MP3 and portable video players

Poor Punxsutawney Phil: He just can't seem to things right lately. Despite the groundhog's prediction of six more weeks of winter, March is unseasonably warm. Luckily, the weather doesn't affect the yield of the MP3 player crop. Spring is generally a busy season for portable audio, because this is when the products announced at CES start to hit retail shelves. If you followed our coverage at the beginning of the year, you're probably aware of the trends for portable media players: high-capacity flash memory, Bluetooth functionality, and big price drops. Find some examples in the products listed here, then head over to Download.com Music to stock up on some fresh new tracks.

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Product

Type of device

Price and availability

The outlook

SanDisk Sansa View (32GB)	Flash PVP	$349.99; March 15, 2008	The Sansa View has already been out in lower capacities with mixed reviews, but the addition of more memory makes it even more feasible as a video storage and playback device. Plus, it accepts 12GB MicroSD cards, making for a total memory potential of 44GB.
SanDisk Sansa Clip (4GB)	Ultracompact, budget flash MP3 player	$79.99; March 2008	Only 80 bucks for 4GB of storage? What's not to like? The lower capacity Clips are great, and we suspect this one will be, too.
iRiver Clix+	Flash MP3 player	$149 (4GB)/$199 (8GB); March 2008	The latest generation of Clix takes an already excellent player and improves upon it slightly where possible. That's always a good idea.
Sony NWZ-S710F	Flash MP3 player	4GB ($150)/ 8GB ($200); end of March	Aside from the addition of active noise-cancellation, the NWZ-S710F is essentially unchanged from the NWZ-S610, and will be available in silver, red, and black.
Philips GoGear SA5200BT	Flash MP3 player	4GB ($129)/ 8GB ($169); April 2008	The GoGear SA5200BT features a 2.8-inch screen, Rhapsody subscription music integration, FullSound audio enhancement technology, and Bluetooth integration. Another player going wireless is definitely not a bad thing.
Philips GoGear SA6500	Flash PVP	$200/July 2008	The Philips PVP features a 4.3-inch widescreen display, SDHC memory expansion, Rhapsody subscription music integration, built-in speakers, and an included pair of high-end, in-ear headphones.
Tonium Pacemaker	Hard drive MP3 player/DJ tool	$700/April	What makes the Pacemaker MP3 player unique is a set of touch-pad controls that allow professional DJ techniques such as cross-fading, filtering, EQ, and pitch control, along with 120GB of storage.

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