Top 10 Portable media
01 Apple iPod Touch 4G
Stuff says
Excels as a music player, games machine, videocamera and so much more. The best iPod yet
-
02
Apple iPod Classic
Avid music fans, look no further: this is a brilliant-sounding bargain. The iPod is dead. Long live the iPod Classic
-
03
Apple iPad 2
Still the smoothest tablet experience, even if Apple is no longer the only game in town
-
04
Sony NWZ-A845
Sometimes simplicity works best, and whether by accident or design, that’s the A845’s strength
-
05
Samsung Galaxy Tab
The first serious challenge to the iPad puts up a good fight, but holes in Android’s armour counter its technical prowess
-
06
Archos 70
Held back by an old version of Android and limited app access, but once upgraded could win another star.
-
07
Philips GoGear Muse 16GB
A solid media player with wide format support, but the noise-cancelling and controls disappoint
-
08
-review/apple_2gb_ipod_shuffle_fourth_generation_late_2010.html_664584_g2.jpg)
Apple iPod Shuffle 4G
Stylish, simple and perfectly suited to the gym
-
09
Creative Ziio 7
Fine for playing back ripped music and video, but design flaws and technical limitations hold it back elsewhere
Instant Expert
With the Galaxy Tab nipping at the iPad’s dock connector and the Galaxy S giving the iPhone 4 a run for its money, it was only a matter of time before the iPod Touch came under fire from Samsung’s stargazing gadget range. At a glance, the Samsung Galaxy Player 50 (£150, samsung.com) looks a lot like its call-making, text-sending cousin, from the Android OS (with access to the Market to download apps) to the Wi-Fi, GPS and choice of 8GB or 16GB capacities. With a resolution of 240x400 its 3.2in screen won’t have the iPod’s razor-sharp Retina Display worried and the 2MP camera on the back won’t compare to the one on your phone. But that already low starting price is destined to take a drop, so it could turn out to be a bargain.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
1. Capacity This should reflect what you’re using the media player for. If you want it for short-term gym use, go for a small widget with solid-state memory (and therefore no moving parts). If you want to take your whole music collection with you at all times, go for an HDD-based jukebox. 1GB = 250 songs. Video needs more space, depending on how it’s been compressed.
2. Size If you only want audio, smaller is better. However, you won’t want to watch video on a tiny screen for long, so go for at least a 3in display.
3. Battery life Hard-disk jukeboxes will last around 10-15 hours. Solid-state MP3 players tend to last longer as they don’t have to expend energy on the moving parts of an HDD.
4. Earphones Don’t expect to get a decent pair of earphones with your player. Generally those in the box are poor, so it’s worth spending upwards of £30 on some quality sound-isolators.
