Photograph: Chip SimonsSmall audio players like Apple's iPod Nano and Creative's Zen Micro have won a loyal following. They're tiny, they're cute, and dang it, people just seem to like them. Nevertheless, though large-capacity players like Apple's zillion-selling iPod may not be quite as fashionable at the moment, in many cases they remain the best option for discerning buyers.
Outfitted with everything from photo-friendly color screens to FM receivers to voice recorders, the latest large-capacity players are undeniably cool. Plus, their big hard drives let you carry a big music collection around with you when you're away from your stereo and CDs.
Best of all, prices--even Apple's--have come down significantly. A 20GB iPod with a monochrome screen once cost $399; now the color-screen version is $285. Sure, Apple's 4GB $249 iPod Nano player sounds even easier on the wallet; but do the math and you'll find that the big dogs, at roughly $15 per gigabyte, are a much better buy.
All of the units that we looked at for this story have a color screen and can display photos. The run time you get between battery charges is better than that of previous-generation players, but unfortunately you still can't easily replace the battery in these units yourself. Each player offers good audio quality and adequate (though not particularly great) earphones. All of the models are shipping products that offer roughly 20GB of storage and connect to your computer via a USB cable.
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