Portable Media Players Reviews

The reviews below are assigned ratings by ConsumerSearch. These ratings are based on credibility in testing, evaluating and identifying the best Portable Media Players. See our ratings criteria

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Portable Media Players Reviews Reviewed
Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Portable Media Players Ratings Comments on Reviews
1. CNet.com	Top portable video players (PVP) Editors of CNet.com As of Jan. 2008		CNet.com is a top review source for portable media players. Editors test each model in depth, covering well-known brands as well as little-known players you may never have heard of. Since each media player gets a numeric rating, it's easy to compare models. The best-performing models make to this list of top portable video players, with links to the full reviews. The fifth generation Archos 605 WiFi is the top choice, and a winner of a rare Editors' Choice award, despite some shortcomings -- particularly the need to buy software and hardware accessories that the editors say should be included. Price and limited capacity keep the iPod Touch from topping the Archos, though the Touch still is an excellent product. The Archos 405, Creative ZEN Vision W and Archos 504 also merit consideration.
2. PC Magazine >> Details/Subscribe	Stars of the Small Screen Brian Bennett, Tim Gideon Dec. 6, 2007		According to PC Magazine's Brian Bennett, watching video can be a great diversion for a long flight delay or a train or bus commute. This article provides brief comments about some top portable media players, along with links to full and fairly comprehensive reviews. All products get a rating on a five-point scale, so you can see how each player ranks in the editors' eyes. However, you need to click on the individual players to see those; including the ratings here would have made this report even more helpful. Also, a few of the players listed are more properly classified as MP3 players, including the Microsoft Zune, which is an Editors' Choice winner. The iPod Touch also captures an Editors' Choice rating. Bennet calls it "simply the best portable media player ever made."

Portable Media Players Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Portable Media Players Ratings Comments on Reviews

3. CNet.com	CNet Prizefight: Apple iPod Touch vs. Archos 605 WiFi Donald Bell Nov. 2007		In this head-to-head comparison, CNet.com's Donald Bell and co-judges Jasmine France and Nicole Lee pit the Apple iPod Touch against the Archos 605 WiFi in an attempt to name the best portable media player overall. The players are judged in five categories, including navigation, "sexiness," compatibility, sound and science, and wallet factor. Each judge provides a score and an explanation. Though the Touch has an edge in several categories, the 605 WiFi' s commanding lead in compatibility and value -- despite the fact that Archos "nickel and dime you on the 'extras'" -- give it the edge overall.
4. PC World >> Details/Subscribe	MP3 Players with Video Editors of PC World As of Jan. 2008		PC World doesn't quite recognize the category of portable media players, intermingling them with smaller MP3 players. The Archos 605 WiFi is described by Paul Jasper as a "near-perfect combination of usability and portability." The iPod Touch scores about the same, but there is no discussion -- just a test report -- posted for that portable media player.
5. Consumer Reports >> Details/Subscribe	iPods & MP3 Players Editors of Consumer Reports Dec. 2007		Consumer Reports' most recent update concentrates on MP3 players that excel at playing music, but also includes a handful of portable media players. Ratings are clear and well explained, and while discussion is brief, it seems that Consumer Reports is taking the time to put each device they test into context with a description of strengths and weaknesses, along with a bottom line assessment. While some content on the site is free -- including a dated and fairly superficial article on video MP3 players -- ratings are only available to subscribers.
6. Laptop Magazine >> Details/Subscribe	Portable Audio/Video Reviews Editors of Laptop Magazine As of Jan. 2008		Laptop Magazine covers all things mobile, including portable media players. All the major players get reviewed here. The writers are competent, and the reviews are geared toward the lay reader, not the techie type. Like many reviewers, Laptop Magazine covers portable media players as part of the larger MP3 player category. Products are rated on a five-star scale, and the very best of all get an Editors' Choice recommendation -- though few make the grade. Among top scoring portable media players, the Archos 605 WiFi is a "hot" portable media player -- but users are warned to be prepared "to shell out more than the advertised price for full functionality." The editors are so impressed with the player that Laptop has given it a Mobile Innovation award winner for 2007.

Portable Media Players Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Portable Media Players Ratings Comments on Reviews

7. Anything But iPod	Reviews Editors of Anythingbutipod.com As of Jan. 2008		As its name implies, Anythingbutipod.com covers all sorts of media players -- as long as it's not a member of the iPod family. Reviews are generally excellent and well detailed, but there's no rating system and the editors don't tell you which players are best overall. Portable media players are reviewed along side other types of players. Reviewer Grahm Skee is one of the few to cast a discouraging word about the Archos 605 WiFi; he loves its capabilities, but dislikes the user interface.
8. GoodGearGuide.com	Portable Media Players Editors of GoodGearGuide.com As of Jan. 2008		This Australian site features its own reviews along with those from PC World Australia and other sister publications. You can sort reviews by date or rating, but the latter isn't as useful as it could be, because a lot of older, discontinued models remain on the site. Review lengths are variable, but even the longest doesn't match the depth of the reports we found by the best reviewers. Star ratings are provided, but because these ratings come from a host of different reviews and even different publications, they aren't that helpful. The iPod Touch and Creative ZEN Vision W seem to get the highest praise. Most, but not all of the players reviewed are available in the U.S.
9. Top Ten Reviews.com	2008 Hard Drive MP3 Player Report Editors of TopTenReviews.com Not Dated		Even though this article's date is recent, we can't tell exactly when the individual reviews were written. While the quality of the reviews is mixed, the site is valuable because it provides a great way to compare features of portable media players at a glance. MP3 players and portable media players are mingled together here, and while the iPod Classic holds down first place, the Archos 605 WiFi and Creative ZEN Vision W take second and third place. In capturing second, the review says price and battery life kept the 605 WiFi from walking away in first place. Like many other reports, the fact that needed accessories aren't included is a disappointment. The biggest knock against the Vision W is that there should have been more storage given the price.

Portable Media Players Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Portable Media Players Ratings Comments on Reviews

10. The Wall Street Journal	Apple�s iPod Touch Is a Beauty of a Player Short on Battery Life Walter S. Mossberg Sept. 20, 2007		Wall Street Journal technology columnist Walter Mossberg takes the iPod Touch for a spin and reports that while the Touch is "elegant and capable," it also has some "quirks and downsides." Mossberg is disappointed in the battery life, saying it is the first iPod family member to fall significantly short of Apple's battery life claims. He also does not like the fact that there are no physical buttons to control music playback. He is also disappointed that it lacks some Internet features -- such as an e-mail client -- that are found on the iPhone. But even with all of that, Mossberg says that the Touch is a great media player, and that music and video playback function perfectly.
11. Infosync World.com	Review: Archos 605 WiFi portable media player Philip Berne Aug. 30, 2007		InfoSync covers all sorts of portable devices, but relatively few portable media players. One exception is the Archos 605 WiFi. In his review, Philip Berne says the 605 WiFi can handle most of the multimedia tasks of an iPhone, but has a larger screen and a more "media-centric focus." Hardware design isn't a strong point -- with Berne calling it bland -- but he says the 605 WiFi excels in most other ways. He notes that the 605 WiFi has cut costs by leaving off features that were not being used by most customers, but like most reviewers, he is upset by having to pay extra for a web browser, which is excellent but overpriced at $30.
12. ArchosLounge.net	Reviews Editors of ArchosLounge.net As of Jan. 2008		This is the English version of France's ArchosLounge, which is dedicated to all things Archos. Unfortunately, this site has only a fraction of the content of the French version, and what's here is sometimes interestingly translated. Still, there are some worthwhile things to see, such as a head-to-head comparison of the Archos 605 WiFi and the Apple iPod Touch.
13. PC Advisor	MP3 Players Editors of PC Advisor.co.uk As of Jan. 2008		Britain's PC Advisor rates a handful of portable media players as part of its MP3 player coverage. The quality of the reviews is variable. Some portable players get pages of discussion, but some get only a few paragraphs. Objective ratings are provided, but since personal media players are being lumped in with MP3 players, they don't really provide much illumination. Many, but not all, of the personal media players covered are available in the U.S.
14. Gadgetaholic.com	Reviews Contributors to Gadgetaholic.com As of Jan. 2008		Gadgetaholic.com is a user-written blog dedicated to everything gadget related, including portable media players. The reviews here are fairly comprehensive and well illustrated. Though ratings or rankings are not provided, each portable media player review gets a "verdict." Readers can post comments, and in some cases, the original author responds.
15. Gizmodo	Portable Media Players Editors of Gizmodo.com As of Jan. 2008		Gizmodo.com is a rambling, somewhat disjointed, hard to use blog dedicated to gadgets. However, it often has information on portable media players well before anyone else. It's noteworthy for reporting on Cowon's latest portable media players, including the Cowon Q5W, which it likes, and the Cowon A3, which it calls powerful but overpriced. Some reviews are quite detailed, others are sparse. Lots of news and gossip is also sprinkled about.
16. Lordpercy.com	Portable Media Player Reviews Editors of Lordpercy.com As of Jan. 2008		This site's mission is to cover gadgets, and it usually does so quite well. However, it looks like there hasn't been an update in this category in nearly a year. Lordpercy is a U.K.-based site, and not all the players reviewed are available in the U.S. The reviews themselves are in-depth, but players are not compared or rated, and there's no easy way to tell which media players the editors consider to be the best.
17. MP3.com	MP3 Player Reviews Editors of MP3.com As of Jan. 2008		A sister site to CNet.com, MP3.com offers written and video reviews of (mostly) MP3 players by the CNet staff. These are the same reviews as appear on the main CNet site, repackaged here in a more focused environment. It includes some reviews of portable media players, which almost universally include MP3 functionality.
18. Digital Trends.com	MP3 and Media Players Editors of Digital Trends As of Jan. 2008		Like many other reviewers, editors at DigitalTrends.com lump MP3 players and portable media players together in their evaluations. Ratings are provided, and the top scoring players get an Editors' Choice rating. The quality of the reviews does vary -- some are pretty good, others a little too superficial -- but none are overly technical. Some listed players get user rather than editor reviews, and some are not reviewed at all.
19. Amazon.com	Portable Digital Media Players Contributors to Amazon.com As of Jan. 2008		User opinions and reviews are always valuable. Manufacturers send their best stuff to professional reviewers, and these so-called review units may be handled with a lot more care than the one you buy off the shelf. Plus, reviewers often test a product for a week or two, whereas consumers use their players a lot more -- their reviews are often written months after purchasing the product. Amazon.com has improved site usability recently, adding the number of reviews a product has received to the main navigation page, and providing a box with the most helpful (as selected by users) positive and critical review.

Portable Media Players Reviews above this line are significantly better than reviews below.

Review Ratings	Citation	CS Credibility Rating	Portable Media Players Ratings Comments on Reviews

20. CircuitCity.com	iPods & MP3 Players Contributors to CircuitCity.com As of Jan. 2008		CircuitCity.com also lets users review portable media players that they own, but the site is a little harder to use than Amazon.com. Ratings are provided, but you need to drill down to find the number of reviews that the rating is based on. Reviews also tend to be shorter than those at Amazon.com. The use of sub-ratings for things like sound quality, durability and more can be helpful, however.
21. Consumer Guide.com	MP3 Players Reviews and Prices Editors of ConsumerGuide.com As of Jan. 2008		Though Consumer Guide has improved as a resource for product reviews, there's little reason to visit if you are looking for guidance on portable media players. The site does review the Archos 605 WiFi and iPod Touch, but the reviews are superficial. Notably, the review of the 605 WiFi praises the web browser, but fails to mention it is an extra cost add-on -- a significant criticism leveled by most reviewers. A large number of discontinued players remain listed, making navigation difficult.