Is the iPod Still MP3 King?

The granddaddy of portable audio players now ships in 30GB and 60GB models storing up to 7,500 or 15,000 songs respectively.

Aided by its 2.5-inch colour screen, the fifth-generation iPod can also display up to 25,000 photos or up to 150 hours of video — ideal for music videos, camcorder footage, TV shows and movie trailers.

Aside from its stylish design (and trademark white earbuds), the iPod’s strengths lie in its intuitive click wheel navigation and its iTunes software that lets you shop for songs, organize your music, subscribe to podcasts or video podcasts (“vidcasts”) and create custom playlists.

Battery life has been improved, now yielding up to 20 hours of audio between charges. Unlike the other three players in his roundup, the iPod works with both Windows PCs and Macs.

Another plus for the iPod camp is the1,200 accessories currently available — from speaker systems to wireless headphones to jackets that cleverly conceal the device.

Some beefs with the iPod have persisted over the years, such as its non-removable battery (so you can’t carry a spare on trips) and no radio or voice recorder feature. Also, non-iTunes music some-times won’t work on the player.

CREATIVE ZEN TOUCH

Though Apple grabs most of the attention, Creative consistently delivers feature-rich MP3 players to suit varying tastes and wallets.

Its 40GB Creative Zen Touch can store more than 1,300 hours of music, or roughly 16,000 songs (yes, more than the iPod’s 60GB player because of different compression technologies).

While not as intuitive as Apple’s trademark click wheel, the aptly named Zen Touch features a com-fortable navigation scheme with its vertical touch pad on the device’s face. Users simply roll their finger up and down to scroll through songs, playlists and other folders. Music lovers can also create a playlist on the fly by tagging preferred songs.

The battery lasts a whopping 24 hours so you won’t need to hunt down an electrical socket at the airport to juice up the player before a trip to Australia (and back again). Too bad the battery isn’t removable (as with the Creative Zen Micro) but it’ll certainly last longer than most other hard drive-based players.

More importantly, the Zen Touch, which reads MP3s, WMAs and WAV files, sounds amazing with its signal-to-noise ratio of up to 97dB.

iRIVER H1020GB

Riding the wave of photo-friendly players, the 20GB iRiver H10 can store up to 600 hours of music, and can also display JPEG or BMP photos on its small colour screen.

The H10, which ships in one of three colours, also includes an integrated FM tuner to listen to local radio stations (or hear the audio of a TV broadcast, like at your gym). An FM radio recorder can save a favourite song when you press the record button. The H10 also features a voice recorder to save that million-dollar idea or to capture a memorable lecture.

Longevity-wise, this slim player’s built-in battery lasts up to 16 hours between charges.

A couple of complaints worth noting: There’s no support for album art, the controls aren’t as intuitive as the iPod’s and the battery isn’t swappable with other iRiver players.

But those who enjoy having a radio and voice recorder along with their MP3 library should opt for this player.

SONY WALKMAN NW-A300020GB

Twenty years ago, the Sony Walkman was synonymous with portable music players but for the past four years, the iPod has usurped that coveted crown.

Sony is trying desperately to regain its market share with the new Sony Walkman. Its 20GB NW-A3000 can store up to 13,000 songs when your tunes are ripped into Sony’s proprietary ATRAC-3 compression format. It also reads MP3s and WAV files.

The Walkman features an “Artist Link” function that will search your player for suggested artists and songs that relate to the genre being played at the time. Along with a standard shuffle feature, the player also uses a “My Favorite Shuffle” option to automatically select between 100 of the most lis-tened-to tracks. “Time Machine Shuffle” randomly selects a year and plays songs from that era.

While it doesn’t show photos or video, the sleek two-inch display shows all the information for each track, while a four-way directional button helps navigate through the various features.

Its greatest asset is its battery life, maxing out at roughly 35 hours between charges.

Available in violet or silver (with matching earphones), the Sony Walkman also ships with its Connect music management and online store software.

THE WINNER? For its unrivalled navigation, killer software, sleek look, video support and impressive accessory catalogue, our pick is the Apple iPod. Sure, it doesn’t hold as many tunes as less expensive players, and its battery life isn’t as impressive as we’d like. But feature-for-feature, the iPod is still the one to beat. Believe the hype.

MICHAEL MOORE’S iPOD PLAYLIST: