There are many MP3 players out there to choose from. Some good some...not so good. The major ones on the market now would be the Apple iPod and the Microsoft Zune. However, there are other excellent MP3 players to choose from. You just have to look. I am going to compare the three top MP3 players out:

Creative Zen Vision:M
This MP3 player is a hit. It includes many things that the iPod doesn't have in it. For example: Custom Wallpaper. It gets old to watch a big white background sometimes. FM Tuner. The iPod, even though it is a superior player, does not include this. Recorder. This is good, the Zen can record voice and different sounds with it's built in microphone, the iPod and Zune don't have this choice. Touch pad, fairly good touch pad, not as effective as the iPod but still preferred by many. Easy user interface. This interface is actually better than the iPod's.Good quality video. The Zen can adjust to more colors than the Zune and iPod combined creating a better picture. This does not have a designed music store.

iPod:
It's integration with iTunes makes it the best MP3 player out there. Not so big screen but it has reasonable picture and video quality. Good audio. The ipod had better audio quality than the Zen but not as good as the Zune. Battery life is good. The iPod has the best battery life of any other, it's 80GB model can hold up to 20 hours of music playback. No FM tuner. No radio...just none. OK interface. The iPod's interface is only average, it's bookmarking features covers up for it however.

Zune:
The Zune is Microsoft's answer to the iPod. Huge scree. The screen is 3.0 inches wide, big display. Wi-Fi. The zune offers wireless music sharing between Zunes and with this feature who knows what Microsoft can do? It is expected to have full access Internet by 2008. Compatibility with wma. It could shrink stuff down so that you can put more music in it. No recorder. the Zen has this but the Zune does not. Premium quality audio. The Zune is proven to has the best quality audio of MP3 players. Great interface. The zune's interface is almost flawless, you can switch between menus from one screen rather than going back to another. Flagging. The Zune does not support Bookmarking on audio but it has flagging, which means you can "flag" a song and it will appear in the marketplace for you to buy if you want it, or download it. This is useful for the songs you like that people have sent you, you don;t have to look for it...it's a link. Also, the Zune marketplace is extremely fast. But iTunes has much more music. Zune also has a Subscription pass for unlimited downloads for only 14.99 a month.

Basically, it's the user's preference. If you want an all access pass for music then you want the Zune. If you want more choices of music, the iPod. If you want more in one device then go for the Zen, however it will be harder to get music.

Learn more about this author, Esteban Camacho.
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