Martin O’Donnell passed along this comparison chart of the Apple iPod 20 Gigabyte model and its main competitors, the iRiver iHP-120, the Samsung Napster YP-910GS, the 15 Gigabyte Dell Digital Jukebox DJ, and the Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen NX. The chart was created by ZDNet.
We had a long discussion the other day about whether it’s worth paying the $50 to 75 premium that Apple is charging for the 20 Gigabyte iPod, instead of purchasing one of its competitors. As I said in the Operation Gadget article about the New York Times Magazine piece on the iPod, I think that the iPod is not only the MP3 player with the best user interface, it is a cultural phenomenon.
If you are buying one of these players as a holiday gift, imagine how the conversation will go when your loved one is asked, “What did you get for Christmas/Hanukkah?” If they say in response, “I got a Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen,” how much do you want to bet that the response they get is, “A what?”
If any of these devices were both cheaper and better than the iPod, I’d say they are worth evaluating. But, as far as I can tell, they are just cheaper, and not by a huge amount. That’s why I continue to recommend the iPod to people who want a hard drive-based MP3 player.