Version: 2008
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Five great MP3 players with bookmarking

Jasmine France Jasmine France, Senior Associate Editor April 6, 2009

Perhaps most MP3 player owners never even have a use for bookmarking, but it's certainly a desirable feature for some--we've received more than a few reader e-mail messages asking for advice on which devices possess the ability to insert placeholders in audio tracks. Most users who desire this feature are audiobook enthusiasts who want to ensure they won't have to scrub through hours of the spoken word if their players' autoresume function fails, or who want to go back and forth between music and audiobooks. However, bookmarking can also be a handy tool for podcast subscribers and people who listen to long, continuous tracks, such as DJ sets. Surprisingly, relatively few MP3 players offer this feature. Most Creative and Archos devices include it, but other brands are less reliable. The five products below are all great MP3 players that offer bookmarking. These players should also be compatible with the protected-WMA requirements of the NetLibrary eAudiobook service, increasingly offered at local libraries.

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Product name
Price $129.99 Check Prices Check Prices $149.99 $57.98
CNET editors' rating
Average user rating 0 stars
Review date June 20, 2006 February 27, 2007 July 19, 2007 September 14, 2007 November 02, 2007
The Bottom Line The Creative Zen V Plus is a superb choice for anyone looking for a compact and feature-filled flash MP3 player with great sound quality. If you're looking for a more sophisticated design (or have large thumbs), look elsewhere. If you can get on board with the Cowon D2's PDA-like touch screen interface, the reward is great-sounding audio, a smorgasbord of features, and a fantastic battery life. The Cowon iAudio 7 beats the industry heavyweight iPod Nano in price, features, battery life, and sound quality. The user interface could use some refinement, but all-in-all this is a very impressive MP3 player. We're hard-pressed to find anything not to like about the Creative Zen. It's a great option for anyone looking for a great-sounding, pocketable MP3 player with an excellent, video-capable screen and plenty of extra features. There are better MP3 players than the Archos 105 available at this price, but few with so large a screen.
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Features
Dimensions (WxDxH)1.7 in x 0.6 in x 2.7 in
3.1 in x 0.7 in x 2.2 in
1.4 in x 0.7 in x 3 in
3.3 in x 0.4 in x 2.2 in
1.8 in x 0.3 in x 3.3 in
Software typeCreative MediaSource
Creative Media Explorer
Creative ZENcast Organizer
Cowon jetShell
Cowon jetAudio VX
Cowon jetAudio
Cowon jetShell
Drivers & Utilities
Creative Media Explorer
Creative ZENcast Organizer
Info unavailable
Digital player signal-to-noise ratio92 dB
95 dB
95 dB
97 dB
Info unavailable
Resolution128 x 128
360 x 240
160 x 128
320 x 240
160 x 128
PC interface(s) supportedHi-Speed USB
Hi-Speed USB
USB
Hi-Speed USB
Info unavailable
Flash memory form factorIntegrated
Integrated
Integrated
Integrated
Integrated
Flash memory installed2 GB
2 GB
4 GB
4 GB
2 GB
Battery technologyLithium ion
Lithium polymer
Lithium polymer
Lithium ion
Info unavailable
Weight1.6 oz
3.2 oz
1.9 oz
2.3 oz
1.8 oz
Full specifications Full specifications Full specifications Full specifications Full specifications Full specifications
Buying choices