While the Sony Walkman NWZ-S738F (8GB, $179.99 direct; 4GB, $149.99) may have a slim new design and revamped control panel, its interface is nearly identical to that of its predecessor, the NWZ-S718F. The big selling point here, as with other Walkman ...

Sharp, bright screen. Built-in noise cancellation. Bundled earphones and EQ combine for an excellent audio experience

Nonintuitive user interface is not as graceful as the competition's. Expensive compared with similar-capacity players

Sony's noise-canceling NWZ-S738F offers excellent audio performance, but for the price, you should get a more graceful user interface.

You wouldn't know if from where we sit, of course, but apparently the rest of the world is having issues making the transition from physical to downloadable media. SanDisk is looking to make that move a bit easier with the with its new slotMusic ...

Cheap, small

Technology already feels outdated. No rechargeable battery. Cards are overpriced

The slotMusic Player is cheap and works as advertised, but its hard to get around the fact that the technology it supports is a big step backwards.

Archos's new "Internet media tablet," as the company calls it, is available in 60GB ($349.99 direct), 120GB ($399.99) and 250GB ($449.99) capacities, and along with the iPod classic and the Microsoft Zune 120GB is the last of the hard drivebased ...

Tons of storage. Sleek design. Huge, beautiful screen. Built-in Wi-Fi and Web browser. On-screen home button for one-click main menu access. No need for stylus

Quite expensive. Power button is also the reset button. Touch-screen interface is not as sophisticated as iPod touch's. UI could stand to be streamlined a bitrequires too many clicks at times

This hard drive based PMP offers oodles of storage and a lot of the features that come with the flash-based iPod touch, including built-in Wi-Fi, a Web browser, and a big, beautiful touch screen.

Albeit a little late to the game, we have a new challenger to the iPod touch. Iriver's Spinn ($249.99 list for 4GB, $289.99 for 8GB) is a slick-looking portable media player with a large, touch-sensitive display. Despite its good looks, the Spinn ...

Interesting design and control layout. Robust file support, including lossless audio. Large, crisp screen, which is great for video and photo viewing. FM and voice recording

Overpriced. Touch screen seems superfluous, and it's easy to overshoot your selection with the cylinder controller. User interface isn't all that attractiveand could be more responsive. Storage tops out at 8GB, and there's no expansion slot

The pricey iriver Spinn suffers from a lack of grace and simplicity typically found in the company's standout players like the excellent Clix.

The pricey iriver Spinn suffers from a lack of grace and simplicity typically found in the company's standout players like the excellent Clix.

Interesting design and control layout. Robust file support, including lossless audio. Large, crisp screen, which is great for video and photo viewing. FM and voice recording.

Overpriced. Touch screen seems superfluous, and it's easy to overshoot your selection with the cylinder controller. User interface isn't all that attractiveand could be more responsive. Storage tops out at 8GB, and there's no expansion slot.

Question: What's the difference between last year's Zune 80GB, loaded with Microsoft's new free firmware, and this year's Zune 120GB? Answer: 40 gigabytes. Oh, and a glossy-black finish. Otherwise, the "new" $249.99 Zune is identical to its older ...

Wirelessly syncs to your PC. You can buy music wirelessly and purchase tunes you hear on the radio. Increased capacity. Large display. Touchpad is still excellent. User interface is good-looking and easy to navigate.

Too many steps required to play a song. Requires a $14.99-per-month subscription or prepaid MS points for wireless streaming and downloading.

Still the best hard drive-based portable media player on the marketthe feature-barren iPod classic can't compete with the Zune's top-notch navigation and added wireless abilities.

Calling the Zune 16GB a new product is a bit of a stretch. With no real hardware changes, and the ability to load the new software onto any of the older models, we're basically looking at the same old player with a paint job, a capacity upgrade, and ...

Touchpad is still excellent. Improved user interface is less jumpy. Wirelessly syncs to your PC. You can buy music wirelessly and purchase tunes you hear on the radio. Unlimited radio presets.

Requires the $14.99 monthly Zune Pass or pre-purchased MS Points to download music straight to the player over Wi-Fi. No change in design, display size, or screen resolution from older models.

If you're a dedicated Slacker listener, the G2 is an excellent way to take your songs with you. If the company can iron out a few ease-of-use issues, this player could be part of a digital music model that gives Apple a run for its money.

Smaller, slicker, and less buggy than the original Slacker Portable player. Refreshes music automatically via Wi-Fi. Easy to create custom stations online. Player displays album art and artist bios. Also stores and plays your own AAC, MP3, and WMA ...

Software hits some snags. Wireless connections can be spotty. No photo or video support.

The new Noise Canceling Walkman (NWZ-S730 series) is the slimmest Walkman Video MP3 Player to date with integrated active Noise Cancellation in the device and high quality noise canceling EX headphones included in-box. The S-series Walkman players are ...

Apple's slimmed-down, slicker-than-ever iPod nano responds to your movements, creates playlists it thinks you'll like, and makes the competition look like a bunch of clunkers.

Sexy, thin, rounded design. Same excellent user interface as in previous nanos. Built-in accelerometer shifts screen for horizontal viewing (like on the iPhone and iPod touch) and lets you shuffle songs by shaking the player. Genius feature creates on ...

No built-in micyou need to upgrade earbuds to use the integrated voice recorder. Apple still hasn't upgraded those lame bundled earbuds ; Watch the iPod nano (4th Gen) and touch Video Preview