New Competitors Can't Measure Up to iPod Standards

It also fetches album-cover images automatically (with moderate success), then lets you view your collection by that art-- just like Microsoft's upcoming Windows Media Player 11.

But its slick new "CoverFlow" album-cover view bogs down older computers. Many users have reported more serious problems, including crashes and difficulties playing iTunes purchases.

That kind of unreliability is more commonly associated with non-iPod players, as SanDisk's Sansa e280 (eight gigabytes, $250) and Toshiba's Gigabeat S60 (60 gigabytes, $399) illustrated over a week of tests.

The Sansa -- also available in two-GB, four-GB and six-GB sizes for $140, $180 and $220-- looks like an overinflated Nano. The Gigabeat (a 30-GB model goes for $299) resembles the regular iPod and offers a comparable range of music, photo and video support.

The iPod is allegedly a luxury item, but the prices of the others, at best, barely undercut Apple's. And the SanDisk and Toshiba players don't approach the iPod's simplicity.

Consider the basic task of copying your music to the device. With an iPod, you plug it into the computer, the iPod starts up, iTunes sees it and offers to synchronize your song files. You plug one of these into the PC, press its power button, wait for Windows to pop up a dialog asking you to pick a music program, then hope that Microsoft's XP-only Windows Media Player 10 recognizes the new hardware -- something it often failed to do with the Sansa.

Neither of the two gadgets comes with any podcast support, and putting pictures or video on the Sansa requires a second program.

The controls of each player were more cumbersome yet. The Sansa's array of buttons looks like a ClickWheel but is less elegant and feels flimsier. On the Gigabeat, adjusting volume, pausing playback or skipping to the next or previous song requires pressing tiny buttons on its side, not the big four-way control on its front.

Their screens almost wash out in direct sunlight, while the iPod's stays legible. And after a few minutes of playback without user input, these displays shut off instead of just dimming, forcing you to adjust the volume or tap another button to see what song just came up.

These gadgets didn't run as long as iPods, either. The Sansa sustained 18 hours of music playback, while the Gigabeat allowed 10 hours of music, four of video.

Replacing the Sansa's battery requires just $20 and a steady hand with a jeweler's screwdriver. The Gigabeat battery isn't accessible; Toshiba charges $35 to replace it.

For all of their issues, these gadgets offer a few useful extras. Both include FM (but not AM) tuners, and the Sansa can also record FM and voice and accept additional memory via a microSD card slot.

It's supposed to matter that these Windows Media-compatible devices can play songs rented from such subscription services as Napster, and that the Gigabeat also supports video-download stores such as Amazon's new Unbox.

But those non-iTunes stores possess a tiny fraction of iTunes' popularity, which undermines that aspect's entire relevance. How many shoppers will base their decisions on the lure of a store they've never tried? How many will, instead, only see devices that are uglier, heavier and buggier than the iPods everybody else seems to like?

Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro atrobp@washpost.com.