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16.10.09

The iPod Touch Alternatives

Here are some mp3 players for you if you want an iPod Touch Alternatives.

Even though the iPod Touch is lightyears ahead of competitors, there are still some mp3 players that can match the iTouch one way or another. This is also a great list if you are looking for a cheaper alternative to the iTouch. But one thing is for sure, none of this mp3 players can match iTouch’s wealth of applications and games.

Cowon S9

http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/10/15/32137158928179a79ff5_1.jpg

Features that match/beat the iTouch: Great sound quality (better than touch), Awesome Sound equaliser, AMOLED Screen, Accelerometer, Wide range of video and audio format, Very long battery life, Customisable UI

Why it loses out to iTouch: Smaller Screen, Troublesome UI, Cheap plastic cover, UI overall not as clean/fast as iTouch, No WiFi

http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/10/15/cowons98_1.jpg

Cowon S9 and iTouch side-by-side

Samsung P3

http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/10/15/3111682461393daa92d2_1.jpg

Features that match/beat the iTouch: Great colourful UI, Cute candy-like apperance, Lots of widgets, User Created Interfaces are available, Supports variety of video and audio format (including FLAC), Bluetooth connectivity, Great sound quality

Why it loses out to iTouch: Smaller screen, No internet, No Accelerometer, Touchscreen not as sensitive, widgets no match for iTouch’s apps

http://www.oled-display.net/images/sony/sony-x-serie-vs-cowon-s9-vs-ipod-touch-vs-samsung-p3.jpg

The comparison!

Samsung YP-M1

http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/10/15/m1_1.jpg

This player seems to be an upgrade of the Samsung P3. It has a larger AMOLED screen and more powerful hardware. The Samsung YP-M1 has been released in Korea, but no news yet for an international release. It seems that some countries are bringing this player in December, so keep your fingers cross!

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Sony X-Series Walkman

http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/10/15/3179597394f3461b76ce_1.jpg

Features that match/beat the iTouch: Great sound quality, OLED Touch Screen, Nice Graphite looking body, Noise cancellation, High video quality, Mac and Window, Supplied Earbuds better than average

Why it loses out to iTouch: Internet browser is bad, Noise cancellation only applicable for Sony earphone, Extremely expensive, Smaller Screen compared to iTouch, Fingerprint magnet, Hard to type text

http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/10/15/walkmancomparison1_1.jpg

Sony X-Series Walkman and Apple iTouch side-by-side

Zune HD

http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/10/15/3580327362e57fedfc81_1.jpg

Features that match/beat the iTouch: Big OLED Screen, HD radio tuner, Unbelivable sleek UI, Sleek and beautiful body, Internet is available, Good audio quality, Zune Pass, Capability to have applications and games

Why it loses out to iTouch: Media button a bad idea, absence of volume button, limited video format, Currently only available in the US,

http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/10/15/3810574457282fe72f45_1.jpg









1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Very poor comparison.

So far you've claimed that the iTouch is better than all other players only because:

a) It has more apps
b) WiFi (Majority of mobile phones have wifi so i see this as a moot point)
c) Larger screen

However, it is impossible to compare iTouch's screen with an AMOLED screen. The sheer difference in quality is apparent when watching videos or in day to day use, so by not incorporating AMOLED iPod loses massively.

An mp3 player is supposed to sound good, right? Not only do the P3 and the S9 walk all over the ipod in terms of sound quality, they also offer a myriad of different codecs. FLAC in particular can have bitrates at approximately 1000kbps, whilst mp3 manages approximately 320kbps. That's three times less quality on an ipod.

Another issue you forgot is data transfer. iPod forces you to use itunes, however an S9 has simple drag and drop with windows explorer. This means you can connect it to any computer in anybody's home and quickly transfer data.

In my opinion the ipod loses on these fronts:
a) video quality (no AMOLED)
b) screen quality + strength (S9 uses virtually scratch proof Gorilla glass)
c) audio quality, not to mention being forced to use lossy codecs
d)Forced to use itunes, no drag + drop
e) Battery life, the S9 for instance has a battery life well over 100 hours for audio and about 10 hours for video

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