Last November, Microsoft released the first-generation Zune to a predominantly iPod-toting nation. While the first-generation Zune is not without its devotees, the device came to epitomize Microsoft's awkwardness at marketing itself as hip. Having survived its freshman hazing, the Zune is back for i

SanDisk continues to add to its line of Sansa MP3 players, which has been attractive to consumers from the start thanks to the low price point at which the company can list its players. While cheap pricing has made SanDisk a real contender in the portable audio space, the company is not content to r

The iPod Classic is Apple's iconic hard-drive-based MP3 player, with design roots that date back to 2001's original iPod model. If you can resist the fashion appeal and gee-whiz features of Apple's slimmer iPods, such as the iPod Nano and iPod Touch, the 120GB iPod Classic ($249) still delivers the

In a move that surprised many a Creative fan, the company has ushered in a flash-based replacement for its Zen Vision:M, a full-size, hard-drive player that offered up to 60GB of space. Though the news was not well-received by some proponents of carting around a large library of tracks, those who gi

Thanks to its position as a memory chip manufacturer, SanDisk is a master at cost competing in the portable audio space, and although companies such as Creative Labs are now tagging at about the same level, SanDisk's initial aggressiveness earned it the No. 2 spot in sales (behind Apple, natch)--and

Apple's fourth-generation iPod Nano returns to the original long, light, and slender formula that put the series on the map. Offered in an attractive range of nine colors for both the 8GB iPod Nano ($149) and 16GB iPod Nano ($199) models, Apple has yet again raised the MP3 player bar. DesignThe Nano

Apple's fourth-generation iPod Nano returns to the original long, light, and slender formula that put the series on the map. Offered in an attractive range of nine colors for both the 8GB iPod Nano ($149) and 16GB iPod Nano ($199) models, Apple has yet again raised the MP3 player bar. DesignThe Nano

Sony has come a long way since the release of the NW-MS11 Network Walkman. One of the company's first flash-based MP3 players, the NW-MS11 didn't even play MP3s and was crippled by copy-protection woes and painfully slow transcoding, but even back then, Walkmans were a model of sleek design and exce

If you ever want to excite a gadget fiend, just walk up and whisper these words into their ear, "Touch screen...WiFi...high-resolution...Mac-compatible..." If remotely human, your friend should be salivating on himself just as we did when we read the specs for the Archos 605 WiFi. Starting

If you find yourself dazzled by the Web, video, and music capabilities of Apple's iPhone but can't stomach the contract commitment, the iPod Touch might be just what you're looking for. Offered in 8GB ($299), 16GB ($399), and 32GB ($499) capacities, the iPod Touch is a premium-priced device with an