MP3 Player Review

Best MP3 player and iPod reviews

There are many great places to read reviews of MP3 players. CNet.com ranks highly because the site reviews lots of new players as they come to market and uses a rating system that makes it easy to see at a glance which models the editors feel are best. PC Magazine reviews have many of the same positives and negatives as CNet.com, though they cover fewer models.

Which? magazine is a British publication that tests products extensively, like Consumer Reports in the United States, and they cover more than 250 MP3 players as of their most recent update. However, not all of those players are available to American consumers, and they list each version of a player separately, even if the only difference is memory capacity. Consumer Reports has updated its listing of MP3 player reviews, but review length and detail fall short of what most other reviewers provide.

If you don't want an iPod, the website AnythingButiPod.com has in-depth reviews. There are no ratings or awards, but strengths and weaknesses are covered and most reviews include a video that lets you watch the reviewer play with the device so you get a feel for what you're getting. If you do want an iPod, Macworld gives detailed reviews that compare each iPod model to previous generations. While both of these review sites are good, their common weakness is that they don't cover all MP3 players regardless of manufacturer.

User reviews at sites like Amazon.com are great for learning how well an MP3 player meets expectations after the sale. Take star ratings with a grain of salt, however. For instance, we found many duplicate reviews for Apple's iPod nano (*Est. $140 for 8 GB), which may have jacked up the star rating.

A Sept. 2008 update brought some new features to the Apple iPod line, although most reviewers agree that neither the iPod nano nor the iPod classic was significantly upgraded. The 80 GB and 160 GB iPod classics have been discontinued, and you can now only get a 120 GB model (*Est. $230 for 120 GB), which is capable of storing 30,000 songs, 150 hours of video or some combination of both. The fourth-generation iPod nano did get a storage-capacity boost to 8 GB or 16 GB. Most reviewers and users like how Apple has reverted back to the slim vertical style of the second-generation iPod nano and discontinued the third-generation design, which was short and squat.

The Wi-Fi-capable iPod touch also received an upgrade. Since most experts feel that the iPod touch's strengths lie in its media-viewing capabilities and Internet connectivity rather than its music playback, it's covered more fully in the ConsumerSearch report on portable media players. You'll find the iPod touch in 8 GB (*Est. $220), 16 GB (*Est. $280) and 32 GB (*Est. $370) capacities.

One consideration with all iPod MP3 players is that you are somewhat limited to purchasing music from Apple's iTunes music store or from sites that sell music in AAC or MP3 format. You won't be able to play most of the music from popular online stores such as Napster or Rhapsody because iPods are incompatible with the WMA format used by most non-Apple music download services. Reviews do say that Apple's iTunes store is excellent with a wide selection of music, but at this time, iTunes offers no subscription services, and it's possible you'll want to download tunes not available in the iTunes store. You can also buy music that's in non-protected MP3 format from sites like eMusic (and some music from Wal-Mart, Amazon.com, and even iTunes itself). For reviews of online music stores, see our companion report on music downloads.