iPod killers for Christmas: II
p2p news feature / p2pnet:- Here’s part two of a holiday list for those who wish to eschew white ear-buds while toting tunes on the subway.
Dell DJ Ditty
For those who want an iPod Shuffle with a display Dell has obliged with a Wrigleys-sized player of its own.
The 512MB player sports an FM tuner and you can change the color of the USB cap (I guess that’s Samsung YP-U1
Dell is not the only one to come out with its Shuffle clone. Samsung has also released a unit, this one with a hinged USB connector for tight places . The YP-U1 has no display or FM tuner like the Dell, but it offers both a 512MB and 1GB option. the YP-U1 plays MP3, WMA (PlaysForSure?), and OGG files.
JVC XA-HD500
What makes the JVC XA-HD500 stick out from the rest of the DAP crowd is the fact that it is the first one in our memory to offer a wireless remote control. We have use a number of wired remote versions from the Nike PSA Play back in 2000 to the Sony PSP in our review last spring, but after a quick test we usually chose to dispense with them altogether. This remote is infrared, which means it has to be pointed at the player, but then the JVC was also designed to integrate easier with the home stereo system.
A cradle unit connects the player as an auxillary source to your stereo and as an very nice feature the font on the display can be increased making it easier to read from the couch as you select your tunes. The XA-HD500 sports a black and white screen as JVC decided to maximize battery length at a claimed 30 hours. The unit hold 6GB of music in the MP3 and PlaysForSure WMA codecs
Creative Zen Vision
We reported on the Zen Vision back in July. The 8oz Personal (or is it portable?) Media Player comes in at 4.9 x 2.9 x 0.8-inches, about the size of a standard iPod. made of magnesium alloy to reduce weight the Zen Vision will retail for about $400.
The unit sports a 30GB hard drive and supports the MP3, WMA, WAV, MPEG 4, WMV, DIVx and XviD formats. The Zen Vision also shows JPG and TIFF photographs. The 3.7-inch VGA (640 x 480) 262k color screen display is another promisiong feature of the unit.
A CompactSlash slot is a nice extra.
Creative Muvo Vidz
If a large hard drive-based PMP is not your cup of tea Creative is also offering the Muvo Vidz, a 1.2 x 2.6 x 0.6-inch flash-based video player.
The Muvo Vidz will handle the usual MP3 and WMA (PlaysForSure?) as well as MPEG-4 video. Pricing of this unit will be around $150 for the 512MB version. A 1GB model will also be available.
Dell DJ Satellite and Pocket DJ Satellite
If Steve Jobs can be believed there will be no iPod Satellite, at least for awhile. This has started a rush by other manufacturers to offer an MP3Sat first as yet another option that may scratch some market share away from the mighty iPod.
Both Sirius and XM (with partner Samsung) will offer an MP3 satellite player this fall. Now Dell has announced that it will upgrade its DJ and Pocket DJ with capability to play XM radio streams pre-recorded on an accompanying dock system. A color screen will replace the monochrome display.
Toshiba Gigabeat X30
The latest Gigabeat is the X30 and while this one will not utilize the fuel cell technology Toshiba demonstrated in September the Li-ion battery it does use will garner about 16 hours of playtime.
The Toshiba Gigabeat X30 is smaller and lighter than its predecessor, but will sport a larger color display, measuring 2.4 inches. Capacity of the unit is 30GB and it will handle the usual MP3, WMA combo. Capable of displaying JPEG photos, the X30 will come in black, white, and crimson.
Sanyo HDP-M3000
Sanyo’s new player is another iPod Mini clone. The HDP-M3000 sports a 6GB microdrive for those of you who feel that Apple did not have to kill off the Mini in favor of the iPod nano. Hey, why can’t they both just exist together?
The unit measures 3.5 x 1.9 x 0.78 inches and weighs in at 3 ounces, decent enough specs.
The Sanyo HDP-M3000 offers an integrated microphone for voice record and claims 12 hours on it li-ion batteries. The Sanyo plays MP3 and PlaysForSure WMA files.
Epson P-4000 Photo Fine
Epson follows up on its P-2000 series with this 80GB monster. If you like to carry your photos in high resolution RAW or JPEG formats then this is the device for you. The P-4000 plays music and video too, so don’t think this player is for just the shutterbugs.
The P-4000 boasts a 3.8-inch color screen that features a 16x zoom on the display. It handles audio in the MP3 and AAC codecs (sorry, not Apple’s version of AAC for you iTunes folk). Video included MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 playback as well as the ability to pipe the videos to your TV screen ala the Archos PMP units.
iRiver N11
The iRiver N11 is an update of the iRiver N10 neckstrap flash player. Weighing in at 0.77 ounces the N11 offer a 4 line EL display with screensavers, and a 13 hour battery. The unit can record off of its built-in FM tuner, which comes with a timer for recording specific radio shows (conservative talk show host fans buy MP3 players too).
The N11 handles several codecs namely MP3, WMA, OGG, and ASF.
UMAX Vega 203
UMAX is the lastest non portable electronics maker to release a portable electronic. The well known maker of scanners for the home has thrown in their hat into the MP3 scene with the UMAX Vega 203.
The Vega 203 offers 512MB with an FM tuner and voice record capabilities for $99. The Vega 203 also offers an SD slot for memory expansion.
Oregon Scientific Waterproof
A look at the earbuds alone on the Oregon Scientific Waterproof tell you they are designed to keep water out. Hopefully they don’t create a suction – ouch.
Recently we did a full review of the SwiMP3, a unit that uses bone conduction to transmit music to your head as you swim. Oregon Scentific uses modified earbuds to do the same thing. The OS Waterproof is not designed for training as the SwiMP3 is. It is just for water lovers who don’t wish their iPod to be scratched by the sand, encrusted by the ocean brine, or discolored by chlorine.
The Oregon Scientific Waterproof is water proof to about 3 feet, comes with an FM tuner. The 512MB unit sells for $129, the 256MB version sells for $109.
Digital Mix Sticks
OK, I’ll say it once because everyone else online is. “Hey, what kind of Mickey Mouse player is this”! There, are you happy. My goodness, Disney takes the risky iPod wannabe plunge, but just look at those cute little ears on the control pad.
Maybe it’s not so risky as Disney is targeting the under 10 year old market or the iPod on training wheels set (how many puns can I squeeze out of here boys and girls). Disney plans to pre-load these units with music from the teen artists it records and pushes on Disney radio and TV, thus making it a promotional vehicle also. The players come with 128MB of memory and are expandable with memory cards called Mix Clips that carry full-length albums from Walt Disney Records. The slot reads regular SD/MMC cards, so users can expand the memory with up to 1GB of their own MP3/WMA tunes.
The cost for the player is $49. Mix Clips albums will be priced the same as regular CD, forcing the owner of a broken Mix Stick and a lot of Mix Clip albums not to trade up to big boy players. Disney got that idea from Apple and the way iTunes locks users into the iPod. The units look rugged and simple, perfect for you little monste…err…child.
Samsung YM-PD1 Satellite
An Archos personal media player (PMP) competitor the Samsung YM-PD1 catch is that it is the first audio/video player to roll in the ability to access DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcast) satellite television broadcasts.
DMB is an extension of the DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast) technology now available in Europe. Alas, such technology is unavailable in the US at present time so for us North American folk the Samsung YM-PD1 will have to serve as a regular video player for now.
The unit offers a 4-inch TFT LCD widescreen display and offers both a 20GB and 30GB hard drive. The unit can record conventional TV broadcasts via a TV-in jack as well as output them to a set via a TV-out jack. The YM-PD1 handles a healthy array of audio codecs including MP3, OGG, ASF, WMA & Secure WMA. With video it covers MPEG4, WMV, AVI, Divx, & Xvid. Finally the YM-PD1 has an FM tuner it can record from and voice record capabilities.
Minox DMP-1
If an Apple iPod can be a photo viewer why can’t an MP3 unit from a camera company. Enter Minox with its new flash-based unit, the DMP-1.
The Minox comes with a two-inch LCD display and 512MB of memory on board. SD cards expand the unit’s capacity another 1GB. The unit has an FM tuner and the ability to record off the air or through a line-in jack. Minox claims a battery life of 12 hours. The Minox DMP-1 plays both MP3 and PlaysForSure WMA files.
I wonder how many other camera manufacturers will follow suit? Warning, the Leica MP3 LHSA does not play digital music. The MP3 in the name just represents a version of its MP model line.
Rich Menta – MP3NewsWire
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October 11th, 2005 at 3:02 pm
We don’t need an iPod killer – the kind of stupid people who buy iPods will always buy them for their crowd-following value.
Take your pick of comparable players from just about any manufacturer- Samsung, Sony, Creative, iRiver et al – and you will find a superior machine to the iPod.
October 11th, 2005 at 3:37 pm
Well, that’s not a very funny spoof of iPod killers. Huh? You were being serious?? No wonder it wasn’t very funny.
October 11th, 2005 at 3:58 pm
The iPod is popular because it’s simple, it’s everywhere and because everyone who has one says it’s great… and because these people are everywhere it feels like everyone has one, so more people go out and get one.
The trouble is that even shopping around for a decent alternative to the iPod is far too much like hard work for most people. Apple hands them simplicity and takes away their need to actually think about what player they want.
Also the iPod doesn’t have the ‘geek toy’ stigma it used to have, nor an audiophile snobbery factor, ideal if you don’t want to stand out, great for most people.
Finally, calling any player an ‘iPod killer’ or ‘an alternative to the iPod’ pretty much resigns any player to an iPod second-fiddle. So forget the iPod and plough your own furrow.
October 11th, 2005 at 4:47 pm
You forgot the most obvious player, and the only one capable of really making a dent and coming close to being an iPod killer, the iPod nano. In fact, its mere existence makes it an iPod mini killer.
October 11th, 2005 at 5:45 pm
I have an iPod. Not because I follow the crowd, but because it does exactly what I need it to.
For instance: It allows me to boot my computer off the iPod. It allows me to transfer 6 GBs of file from one computer to another. It works perfectly for the software I choose to organize my music (iTunes). Oh, and it plays music as well.
Show me a player that does ALL that and maybe I’ll consider. Until then, STFU.
October 11th, 2005 at 5:45 pm
When I saw Dell DJ Ditty up at the top, I thought it was a spoof as well. Then I read further and realized he was serious. How sad.
October 11th, 2005 at 6:18 pm
When will other manufacturers learn that you can’t compete and expect to take market share away from the leader (Apple) just by dumping your own product on the market the pretty much does the same thing as the Ipod. In some cases they do even less than current Ipods and they call their products Ipod killers? I don’t get it, and I am not even an Ipod fan.
Unless some manufacturer has a way to pack a new feature that does not exist in any player, something like browsing the net via hot spots, or maybe using wi-fi connections to share files between players (not the the RIAA would allow this), or any other feature that really gives some huge advantage over what is already out there.
Do this and offer it at a price competitive to the current Ipod, and then dump large sums of maney to market it properly to get everyone to know about it, and then maybe you’ll have an Ipod killer on your hands.
Releasing a player that has a higher res screen than the Ipod, or a larger hard drive, or a player that can decipher more formats, is not going to appeal to the masses, especially if such a product is priced the same as an Ipod.
The marketing hype will lead the masses to buy the Ipod, even if marginally better players exist.
TV
October 12th, 2005 at 8:18 am
It’s worth pointing out here that the Macintosh version of WMP can’t handle the WMA DRM, so we can only buy from the iTunes music store, which means we can only use an iPod. So for us Mac users those ‘iPod-killers’ are irrelevant.
January 19th, 2006 at 11:05 pm
Why are so many of the comments posted so defensive? Many of them sound as though they feel personally attacked by the phrase “ipod killer”. some people are simply willing to spend $50-$100 less and maybe get a few extra features without looking like everyone else and giving in to the very well designed and hard to ignore advertising of apple.
is it really necessary for everyone to post an angry comment? lol