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Hard-Drive Players

All of the hard-drive players on our chart deliver impressive sound quality. Apple's fifth-generation iPod sports the easiest-to-use interface, which helped the 30GB version earn our Best Buy. The player lacks some features found on competing models, however, such as an FM tuner, voice recording, and support for online music servicesall of which the Creative Zen VisionM offers. The Toshiba Gigabeat S30 and the Microsoft Zune have well-designed interfaces, but they don't match the elegance of the iPod's.

Of the hard-drive players, the 30GB iPod is the thinnest, at 0.4 inch; the Gigabeat is the lightest, at 4.5 ounces. The Zen VisionM and Zune are chunkier and weigh an ounce or so more. That may not sound like much, but you'll feel the difference with the player in your pocket.

Video to Go

The Microsoft Zune has a bright, 3-inch LCD. The screens on the Toshiba Gigabeat and the iPods are slightly smaller. All of them offer the same (relatively) high resolution of 320 by 240 pixels. The Gigabeat's 2.4-inch display and the 2.5-inch screens on the Zen VisionM and the iPod are fine for watching a sitcom during your morning commute, but paying attention to a full-length movie could become a chore. Also keep in mind that the Gigabeat's display is oriented vertically, so you'll have to turn it 90 degrees to watch video. If you want to watch a lot of video on a portable device, consider one with a spacious, 4-inch-plus screen; see "Media Players: Big-Screen Portables for Watching Movies."

Finding video for these players is becoming easier. Apple's iTunes Store sells TV shows at $2 an episode, and last September added movies. Recent films cost up to $15 each, while older titles sell for $10. Toshiba partners with Vongo to offer movie downloads for Gigabeat devices. Vongo sells movies for $4, or you can opt for a $10-per-month membership, which lets you watch as many as you like. As of press time, Zune Marketplace didn't sell video.

Amazon's Unbox video download service offers $2 TV shows, and sells most movies for $8 to $15. Unbox also "rents" movies for viewing within 24 hours for just $4. Unbox works with players certified for Microsoft's PlaysForSure Video, including the Gigabeat and the Zen VisionM.

Two other options: You can transfer recorded shows from a TiVo Series 2 digital video recorder to your Gigabeat or Zen VisionM (doing so to an iPod is possible, too, but requires a $25 conversion application). You can transfer video from a Windows Media Center PC to the Gigabeat or Zen VisionM, as well.

Controls and Features

None of the other players' controls quite match the iPod's thumbwheel for ease of use. The Zen VisionM has a vertical touchpad, though using it along with the four surrounding buttons gets confusing. The Zune's circular control looks like a thumbwheel but works as four directional keys; nonetheless, navigating the Zune is a breeze. The Gigabeat has a four-way control and a select button that are just as easy to operate, though you'll need to consult the small buttons on the device's side panel to adjust volume, play/pause, and skip between songs. Every player has a hold button to protect against unintentional key presses.

Navigating the menus is surprisingly similar across all of the players, though each has its quirks. At the top level, selecting the iPod's Now Playing option shows the currently playing song. The Zen VisionM offers a similar feature, but you have to drill down one level to the Music Library. On the Zune you must press the back button repeatedly to get there. The Zune and Gigabeat use their left and right buttons as shortcuts while you're in the menus, so you can quickly skip between, say, different artists while viewing a list of their albums. The iPod and Zen VisionM have a search option that allows you to scroll through letters to spell out the name of an artist, an album, and so on--it's actually quicker than it sounds. The Zen VisionM's menu button presents a context-sensitive set of options that you can use, for example, to display the details of a track or to delete it.

All of the hard-drive players we tested, except the iPod models, have built-in FM tuners. Each device provides at least 25 channel presets. The Zen VisionM lets you assign names to the presets, but the Zune picks up the station ID as well as transmitted data and displays the title of the currently playing song. Only the Zen VisionM can record--it does so through its built-in microphone and from the radio. The Zen VisionM also can display video and photos on a TV, but you must attach an included dongle, which has an A/V-out jack. For iPods, you'll need to buy the optional Universal Dock ($39), which supplies similar connections.