WD200711ZA-sm.pdf

iRiver S10 2 GB
$170 • iriveramerica.com
The matchbook-sized S10 is
the smallest player you’ll find
with a color screen. And it’s
no afterthought: iRiver freed
up extra display real estate
by borrowing the four-way
click-face design from its
larger Clix, thereby eliminating
buttons from the front. Though
minimalist on the outside,
it’s feature-packed within,
offering picture viewing, audioenhancement
settings, and FM
radio. But it might be too small.
Banished to the player’s edges,
the volume, power, and toggle
controls are tough to operate.
WIRED Vivid 1.2-inch color
screen. Voice and FM radio
recording. Audio enhancements
actually sound good.
TIRED Wobbly rocker
face. Doesn’t display album
art. Pics must be converted
with iRiver software
(included) before viewing.
Short 7.5-hour battery life.
MPIO FL500 1 GB
$90 • mpioamerica.com
Attempts to reinvent the
wheel rarely roll smoothly.
Case in point: MPIO’s FL500,
with its triangular shape,
flywheel volume knob, and
pickup-style selector switch.
Controls are split between
a track-advance rocker at
one corner, a Menu button
along the right edge, and the
selector switch for toggling
between MP3 playback, FM
radio, and voice recording.
Weeks later you’ll still be puzzling
over which does what.
Also, sometimes the player
blasted static into the gap
between tracks. Ouch!
WIRED Superb sound.
Screw-the-Joneses form
factor. FM radio and voice
recorder. Integrated clip.
TIRED Chunky 1.4 x 2.6 x
0.6-inch body. Synced tracks
showed up not in our root
Music folder but in one buried
several menus deeper.
SanDisk Sansa
Shaker 512 MB
$30 • sandisk.com
Unless your idea of a Saturday
night includes glowsticks and
an oversize baby pacifier, you’ll
probably reserve the Shaker
for your kids. As a My First
MP3 Player, though, it’s a solid
choice, with durable construction,
two headphone jacks
for tandem listening, and
a speaker for entertaining the
whole sandbox. The player’s
name and shape reveal another
key function: Joggle it like a
maraca and the Shaker shuffles
up another track. Available
in pink and blue (naturally).
WIRED Ergonomic shape
well suited to small hands.
SD card slot. Fun jog-wheel
for volume and track advance.
TIRED Randomizer didn’t
seem random for us, with the
same artist or album getting
sequential play. Runs on AAA
battery for just eight hours
of juice; no recharging.
Sony S2 Sports
Walkman 2 GB
$90 • sonystyle.com
Get your mind out of the
gutter. Sony’s S2 Sports
Walkman may look like it
belongs bedside, but it’s
actually optimized for a more
chaste mode of exertion—
running. Set workout targets
by time, distance, or total
calories to be burned.
A stopwatch clocks your
endurance. The player can
also tie your pace to Walk and
Run playlists, automatically
shifting gears from Vangelis
to Van Halen when you
hit your stride.
WIRED Comely slim-line
design. Clever interface
reduces button clutter. FM
tuner. Shaking player toggles
shuffle feature on and off.
Sports function tracks steps
taken and calories burned.
TIRED Three-position
shuttle switch is sticky and
prone to miscues.
Toshiba
Gigabeat
U202 2 GB
$100 • toshibadirect.com
After a run of increasingly
impressive full-size Gigabeats,
Toshiba has ash-canned them
all in favor of … this? The U202
is no bigger than a couple
of thumbdrives Scotch-taped
together, and it feels just as
improvised. The bezel screams
cheap, the dot-matrix menus
are cramped and moribund,
and photos look almost laughout-loud
bad on the lo-res,
1.1-inch OLED. At least the
player sounds exceptional.
WIRED Inexpensive. Rips
tracks straight from CD player.
FM radio and voice recording.
Handy clock screensaver.
TIRED Can’t listen to
music and view photos at
the same time. Center select
button of PlusPad can be
obstinate. Photos display
with bars of empty space on
one or more sides.
WIRED TEST
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