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Back to School Guide 2010: Digital media players

By | August 15, 2010, 11:30pm PDT

Summary: The digital media player market is virtually the same as last fall, with the exception of the Apple iPad that raised the bar for tablet devices. There are still a range of devices in a range of prices to consider for media on the go so check out our guide.

This summer’s Back to School Guide for portable media players (music and video) is virtually the same as my last fall Holiday Guide, with one major addition that has taken over as my personal video player and web browsing device. There have not been many new products released in the portable media space and the Apple iPad has not yet been challenged by any other tablet device, but may see some challenges this coming holiday season from Android with the promise of a Palm webOS tablet coming in 2011 from HP.

We haven’t seen any new Zune HD players from Microsoft (one upgraded to 64GB) and a refresh of the iPod line isn’t expected until September. Archos still has their Internet Tablet devices and Sony has some Walkman digital media players. Let’s take a look at some of the gear you might want to carry in your backpack this school year in addition to your smartphone and other devices.

Apple iPad

Back in January when the Apple iPad was announced I said I would probably be buying one even though it seemed just like a big iPod touch. I was wrong and it is actually so much more and I could not be happier with my 32GB WiFi iPad purchase. It has turned into my couch surfing and commuter computer, primary ebook reader, airplane movie theater, portable gaming machine, and so much more. The iPad is big and expensive, but after you start using it you will probably be hooked and find it tough to put down. Don’t let others in your house use it too much either or you may have to buy another.

The Apple iPad specs include a 9.7 inch 1024×768 display, 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, 1 GHz custom Apple A4 processor, Bluetooth 2.1, and various drive capacities (16, 32, and 64 GB). You can buy it in WiFi only or WiFi and AT&T 3G configurations. The 3G one requires a service plan to connect via the AT&T network and also includes a GPS receiver for mobile navigation.

The Apple iPad is not cheap, but it does so much so well that it is definitely something to consider. There are several Office apps and other apps that let you easily use it on the go as a work machine as well as a fun machine.

Price: $499 to $699 for WiFi models and $629 to $829 for WiFi/3G models

[Check out my first impressions article, other iPad experience articles, and the ZDNet reviews page]

Apple has more compact media players too »

More from “The Mobile Gadgeteer”

Topics

Sony Corp., Device, Apple iPod, Archos, Apple iPad, Microsoft Zune, Apple iPod Nano, Apple Inc., Video, Wi-Fi, Tablet, Apple iPod Touch, Digital Media Player, Media Player, Zune HD, Nano, Pedometer, Archos 5 Internet Tablet, HD FM-radio, Sony X-Series Walkman, Corporate Communications, Digital Music, Media Players, Digital Media, Marketing, Personal Technology, Consumer Electronics, Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller is an avid mobile device enthusiast who works during the day as a professional naval architect in Seattle.

Disclosure

Matthew Miller

Matthew is a professional naval architect by day and a mobile gadget freak at all other times. He purchases most of his devices and then sells them on eBay or Craigslist to buy more. Many other devices are sent for review on a 30-day loaner basis and then returned to the carrier or manufacturer. If any are provided as “keeper” or “long term loaner units” this will be clearly disclosed in his reviews.

Biography

Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller is an avid mobile device enthusiast who works during the day as a professional naval architect in Seattle. He is one of three hosts on the MobileTechRoundup podcast and runs the Nokia Experts website. Matthew started using mobile devices in 1997 with a US Robotics Pilot 1000 and has owned over 90 different devices running Palm, Linux, Symbian, Newton, BlackBerry, Mac OS X (iPhone), Google Android, and Windows Mobile operating systems. His current collection includes a Nokia N85, Nokia E71, Nokia 5800, Nokia N810, Apple iPhone, HTC Advantage, T-Mobile G1, Palm Treo Pro, HTC Fuze, MSI Wind, MacBook Pro, and many more, along with tons of accessories and classic devices like the Apple Newton MessagePad 2100 and Sony CLIE UX50. Matthew co-authored Master Visually Windows Mobile 2003, was a member of the Nokia Nseries Blogger relations program, and is a member of the invite-only Microsoft Mobius mobile device evangelist group. He can be found on various discussion forums under the user name of "palmsolo".

Talkback Most Recent of 15 Talkback(s)

  • RE: Back to School Guide 2010: Digital media players
    What happened to the Sony PSP. Does that not fit into this catagory of devices ?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    GAThompson
    17th Aug 2010
  • RE: Back to School Guide 2010: Digital media players
    look look http://ta.gg/4or
    ZDNet Gravatar
    lincc245
    22nd Aug 2010
  • You're a total FANBOY!
    Dude... How much did Apple pay you???
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Master Skywalker
    17th Aug 2010
  • RE: Back to School Guide 2010: Digital media players
    @Master Skywalker

    I agree with you on the fact 3/4 of this article are Apple products, but I have to give the author some credit, as he wrote about all the devices equally including the Zune HD which usually gets a negative review cause it's MS.

    Though I do disagree that the Zune was nothing before the HD. I have owned 1 of each generation of the Zune line until the HD because i was pissed MS went from a HDD based system to flash memory. My Zune120 is almost full on a regular basis so only hving 16 gigs was a total waste of money to me. I'm still not happy with 64 but it's better than 16. However my Zune120 has surved since the day it came to Canada and has NEVER once given me an ounce of grief. The only reason i'm upgrading is i'm getting back into shape and hard drives and running aren't a good combination, otherwise my Z120 is amazing.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    talamakara
    20th Aug 2010
  • Sandisk anyone?
    I have had a couple of Sandisk Sansa players and they have been great. More features and less money than an "i" device but somehow managed to miss the list.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    BoloMKXXVIII
    20th Aug 2010
  • Since when is a media player a school item?
    Sorry, but this is dumb.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    NoAxToGrind
    21st Aug 2010
  • RE: Back to School Guide 2010: Digital media players
    @NoAxToGrind : you beat me, I was going to post about that. What the heck? Why is a media player a back-to-school thing to buy? The same with the "back to school digital cameras"
    ZDNet Gravatar
    nomorebs
    21st Aug 2010
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