Apple iPod takes the cake over array of MP3 players

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It turns out there's a reason Apple's iPod is ruling the market in digital personal music players. After hemming and hawing over it for the past year or so, I recently decided to finally take the plunge and buy an iPod -- everyone I know who owns one swears they don't know how they lived pre-iPod, though one friend did claim, "It must have been a dreary, unfulfilling existence" -- but I also figured being a smart buyer and all, I should probably check out the iPod competition before throwing down a huge pile of money.

It didn't take long to figure out why Apple has such a stranglehold on the market. Though a few companies make comparable devices to Apple's at comparable prices, most offered less storage for more money, which seems to go against the smart buyer's instincts.

There are four basic levels to the iPod family, starting with their least expensive toy, the 512 megabyte (MB) shuffle, which holds 120 songs and rings in at $99. Apple's dearest is the 60 gigabyte (GB) iPod photo, which holds 15,000 songs or 25,0000 photos at $449. The 60 GB iPod may seem a little steep at first, but let me bring it into perspective -- Apple considers a song to be four minutes long, so if you load 15,000 of them onto an iPod photo, that breaks down to 41.6 continuous days of music. That's a lot of storage, and a lot of music.

For even more perspective, I compared prices between Apple's iPod and several other brands of MP3 players on the Web site www.playsforsure.com. Most of the devices I found with 512 MB of storage were priced from $20 to $200 more than the shuffle, and I don't even want to talk about the Rave MP AMP128, a 128 MB device ringing up at the same $99 the 512 MB shuffle will set you back. That's the same amount of money for less than a quarter of the storage.

However, there were several brands that kept their prices closer to -- and sometimes lower than -- Apple's, including Dell, which had a 20 GB player listed for $212 and a 30 GB player for $239, far less than the $299 for the standard 20 GB iPod or $349 for the 30 GB iPod photo, though the Web site didn't specify whether or not either of Dell's devices were capable of displaying photos.

The Plays For Sure Web site also listed iriver's H320 20 GB device for $299.99 and the H340 40 GB for $399.99, which is in-line with iPod's prices (more iriver products and information can be found at www.iriver.com).

If you have a PC but want to get an iPod, you won't have to run out and get a new Apple computer since iTunes is now PC-friendly. Keep in mind that most of these personal music devices require a 2.0 USB port for downloading music, which some older PCs might not have. An adapter can be found at electronics stores for around $30.

Because the Best Buy Web Site lists both iPods and a range of other brands of MP3 players, it's a good place to do some comparison shopping.

Another thing to keep in mind is that all of the personal music devices present myriad accessory options, from rubber and hard plastic cases in various colors to car adapters and speakers, something to consider when setting a buying budget.

I finally decided to go with the iPod photo and set it up for use with my PC. The setup was incredibly easy (if I can set up iTunes and iPod, then you or any savvy 10-year-old you might have access to probably can), and I haven't had any problems getting the PC and the iPod to work together. And it's nice to be able to carry several thousand of my favorite songs in a device just bigger than a pack of cards.

Maria Phelan is a reporter for the Green Valley and Henderson Views. Retail information appropriate for mention can be sent to mphelan@viewnews.com.