The player that has found the greatest share of the market, though, is Apple's iPod, which has recently been made to support Windows. The smallest and lightest by far of these three models (it weighs nearly half as much as Archos' Jukebox), it starts out with 5GB of storage but is also available in 10GB and 20GB models. Its unique navigation wheel allows you to find your music much more quickly and intuitively than other models and it has a back-lit LED screen. Like the Archos product, it also has up to 10 hours of battery time.
Unlike most other models which connect to your computer through a USB connection, the iPod connects using Firewire, allowing you to transfer 5GB of music in about 10 minutes as opposed to 5 hours with USB. Its greatest drawbacks are an inability to record sound directly to the machine and its price tag of about US$300 for the 5GB model (US$500 for 20GB).
Each of these devices ships with software that synchronizes the library on your portable player with the library on your computer. Each can also be integrated into your home or car stereo systems or instantly removed to go to the gym.
A considerable drawback of hard disk-based systems is that, because they contain moving parts, they can easily skip. IPod, for one, has solved this problem by incorporating a 32MB solid-state memory cache so that the device effectively memorizes 20 minutes of music at a time, eliminating skips.
The second great liability is the price tag. Although these devices' cost-per-megabyte is considerably less than other types of players, they nonetheless are not cheap. Still, I'm a lot happier with mine than I ever was with my Buster Brown Shoes box.
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