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Mega<br />
Players<br />
Large-capacity devices that<br />
only play music are all but<br />
extinct. Now it’s about bigger<br />
and better screens and showing<br />
off hi-res video. —S.C.<br />
Apple iPod classic 80 GB<br />
$249 • apple.com<br />
If the touchscreen iPod is the Prada clutch of the holiday season,<br />
the iPod classic is a Timbuk2 messenger bag. Sexed up a bit<br />
with an anodized bezel, the classic is mainly about storage—<br />
80 gigs (or 160 for another hundred bucks). Unless you’ve been<br />
cryogenically frozen for the past half-decade, everything else will<br />
seem familiar, with one exception: The new menus incorporate<br />
cover art, photos, and movie and TV stills, which make browsing<br />
a more pleasing and visual experience.<br />
WIRED Rockin’ sound. Superbly designed iTunes manages<br />
media seamlessly. Way more capacity for far less currency.<br />
TIRED 2.5-inch screen still squinty for videos. Irritating delay<br />
when jumping around graphics-heavy menus. iTunes can’t rip<br />
DVDs or transcode between video formats.<br />
0 9 6 WIRED TEST<br />
Portable Media<br />
Archos 404<br />
Camcorder 30 GB<br />
$300 • archos.com<br />
Take away the camcorder and the 404 is an<br />
exceptional media player; add it back and<br />
… well, same thing. Resolution is mere VGA<br />
(think phonecam), and in low light, home<br />
movies are dim and blocky. But the 404 does<br />
a stellar job playing video: Colors look bright<br />
on the 3.5-inch screen, and the unit supports<br />
MPEG-4, DivX/Xvid AVIs, and WMV. For<br />
$100 less, you can get the 404 sans the<br />
camcorder, which may be the way to go.<br />
WIRED Sublime design. Transfers photos<br />
directly from your digital camera. Supports<br />
diverse audio and video formats.<br />
TIRED Toys “R” Us–grade camcorder.<br />
Buttons are sticky. Heavy (6.8 ounces) for<br />
its size. No FM radio; no kickstand.<br />
Creative Zen<br />
Vision W 30 GB<br />
$300 • creative.com<br />
The year-old Zen Vision W is not aging<br />
gracefully. While newer players have<br />
slimmed their third dimension considerably,<br />
the W remains almost an inch thick. And<br />
the display, though one of the few 16:9 widescreens<br />
around, is somewhat retro with its<br />
480 x 272 resolution and support for just<br />
260,000 colors (Archos’ 605 handles 16 million).<br />
Battery life of 10 hours for audio and<br />
3.5 for video doesn’t impress much, either.<br />
WIRED Speaker is loud. Smart menu<br />
layout. CompactFlash slot for loading pics.<br />
Removable battery. Wall charger included.<br />
TIRED Huge (3 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches).<br />
Slow to load, rotate, and zoom pictures.<br />
Noisy hard-drive churn when switching<br />
among files. No kickstand.<br />
Microsoft Zune 30 GB<br />
$199 • zune.net<br />
The Zune is a decent enough device.<br />
Its 3-inch screen is larger than the iPod<br />
classic’s, video looks great, and the<br />
Windows-based software is obligingly<br />
simple to use. But Microsoft’s historical<br />
handicap in industrial design shows in the<br />
Zune’s portly profile and generic-looking<br />
controls. And how about upgrading that<br />
vaunted wireless functionality, guys?<br />
A year later and you can still get songs<br />
only from other Zune users—a rare breed,<br />
indeed: We have yet to meet a single one.<br />
WIRED Rugged construction. Austere<br />
but attractive menus.<br />
TIRED Bulky (4.4 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches).<br />
Audible clicks between tracks. Wireless<br />
feature limited to “borrowing” (files expire<br />
after three days or three listens).<br />
GENE LEE, STYLED BY ROB OXENHAM/ARTIST UNTIED
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