Posted 09/18/09 at 03:30:40 PM by Jason Cross

Try as it might, Microsoft has never been able to put a dent in Apple's marketshare for portable media players. The previous Zune players were pretty good, and the Zune desktop software finally got there after a few revisions, but neither one had the "wow factor" necessary to pull the masses away from the iPod juggernaut. With the Zune HD (and accompanying Zune 4.0 software), Microsoft has finally delivered the kind of truly exciting device that should make even the most ardent iPod fan take notice. It's sleek, small, thin, and surprisingly light with the rare quality of looking as good as Apple's products without looking just like Apple's products.

Read on for the full review!

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Posted 01/20/09 at 01:30:46 PM by Michael Brown

When talk turns to digital media players, Apple’s iPod and Microsoft’s second-generation Zune (with its third-gen firmware) dominate the conversation. But if you’re a Rhapsody-to-Go subscriber ($15 per month), there’s only one media player you should consider: Haier’s Rhapsody Ibiza.

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Posted 09/16/08 at 05:24:25 PM by Michael Brown

The second-generation Slacker personal radio player is smaller, slimmer, and even better than the first. There may be no better way to listen to free music. Slacker announced a new version of its portable radio today, and we’re happy to say the Slacker G2 kicks just as much ass as the original product we reviewed last April.

Here’s Slacker in a nutshell, if you don’t want to re-read our previous review: Slacker radio is much like Pandora or Last.FM in that you can listen to music on the Internet for free (along with an occasional advertisement) while the service analyzes your expressed taste in music and recommends new artists it thinks you’ll enjoy.

The trade-offs are that you can't always choose which songs you want to hear, and you can skip only a limited number of tracks. Slacker also a subscription plan ($7.50 per month if you pay for a year at a time) that eliminates the ads, enables you to call up saved tracks at will (as long as you maintain your subscription), and allows you skip an unlimited number of tracks.

The second-generation Slacker personal radio player is smaller, slimmer, and even better than the first. There may be no better way to listen to free music. Read on for our full review. 

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Posted 09/03/08 at 08:00:00 PM by Michael Brown

If you’re willing to look beyond everyone’s favorite fruit company when you shop for a digital media player, you’ll encounter some wildly underrated alternatives. Cowon manufactures more than a few, including the nearly divine A3.

In fact, there’s just one feature that kills our enthusiasm for this chunky player: The joystick you must use to navigate the device’s user interface (among other things). You’ll find our full review after the jump.

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Posted 04/21/08 at 02:18:14 PM by Michael Brown

iRiver’s new E100 digital media player offers a several terrific features, including a MicroSD memory slot, FLAC and OGG support, and the ability to record audio (there’s a built-in mic and a line-level input). Unfortunately, all that goodness is undermined by the device’s many flaws.

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Posted 04/04/08 at 05:46:33 PM by Michael Brown

The tabletop radio made a major comeback a few years ago when Tom DeVesto, cofounder of Cambridge SoundWorks, left that company to form Tivoli Audio. But Tom’s old company hasn’t lost its knack for building great-sounding audio gear either, and the Cambridge SoundWorks’ SoundWorks i765 is a tabletop radio on steroids.

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Posted 04/04/08 at 10:22:47 AM by Michael Brown

Just when we’d concluded that there was nothing new under the sun when it comes to digital music players, along comes the Slacker Portable Radio to smash all our preconceived notions. This $200 device takes the music-discovery innovations pioneered by Pandora and Last.fm and puts them in the palm of our hand.

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Posted 03/11/08 at 02:19:11 PM by Michael Brown

Cowon makes some of the most interesting digital media players we’ve laid hands on. The iAudio 7 is no exception, although it won’t earn a place in our pantheon of favorites.

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