Microsoft's second-gen Zune isn't quite as sexy as the new Zune HD, but it's still a versatile, feature-packed media player and a worthy iPod alternative.
And now it's a cheap one, too: Buy.com has the refurbished Zune 80 player for $129.99 shipped. It sold for $249 when it debuted a couple years ago, and is still running around $200 new.
Obviously a big draw here is the whopping 80GB hard drive, which should be enough to hold even the largest music libraries, with room left over for photos, videos, podcasts, and the like.
You get to view all that stuff on a 3.2-inch glass LCD--way bigger than the screen on the only comparable iPod, the Classic.
Other perks include an FM radio, wireless syncing/sharing, support for Microsoft's Zune Pass subscription service (one of the few such services left), and a terrific interface.
What's more, a free firmware update endows the Zune 80 with many of the features added to the third-gen Zune, so be sure to read CNET's review of that model.
If you have a lot of media you want to keep in your pocket, the Zune transports it in style. My only complaint is with the 90-day warranty--a far cry from Apple's 1-year coverage for refurbished hardware.
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Looking for a compact, feature-packed MP3 player that's as good for the car as it is for the gym?
Newegg has a refurbished 8GB Zune player for $69.99 shipped with a free leather case and Microsoft Zune Car Pack.
So let's do some math. A new Zune 8 player sells for $128. The Car Pack costs $70. Add around $30 for the leather case and you're up to around $230.
With this deal, your out-the-door price is $70. Nice!
A quick refresher course in Zune goodness: This flash-based player offers a 1.8-inch screen, an FM tuner, Wi-Fi file sharing and syncing (which is truly awesome), and compatibility with Microsoft's underrated Zune Marketplace music-subscription service.
Normally $69.99, the Zune Car Pack comes free with your purchase of a $69.99 Zune.
(Credit: Microsoft)The Car Pack includes a charger and an FM transmitter, which can broadcast music from your Zune through your car stereo.
The transmitter will automatically select the best available frequency, which eliminates a lot of the hassles of traditional FM-radio gizmos. It also offers two presets for easy switching between commonly used stations.
There's even a dashboard "grip pad" so you can lay your Zune on the dash and not worry about it sliding all over the place. (A windshield mount would be better, but beggars can't be choosers.)
Newegg doesn't offer any details about the leather case, nor about the Zune's warranty, which we'll assume is 90 days.
Bottom line: mighty nice deal. A refurbished iPod Nano would cost you $30 more, and you wouldn't get Wi-Fi, FM, a car kit, or a case. Might not be a bad little stuffing stocking stuffer.
By the way, if black's not your color (or it sells out), you can also get the Zune in blue or pink.
Get a snazzy silver Sansa Clip (4GB) for just $34.99 shipped.
What's better than a 1GB Sansa Clip MP3 player for $14.99? How about a 4GB Sansa Clip MP3 player for $34.99? Shipped! That's the deal o' the day from Buy.com.
It's a refurb, as you might expect, and the warranty probably expires after 90 days (though Buy.com's product page doesn't say for sure), but as I've noted before, there's not much that can go wrong with an MP3 player. I have absolutely no qualms about the abbreviated warranty.
In fact, I'm entirely qualm-free about this player. (Qualm-less? Sans qualms?) The Sansa Clip beats the pants off the refurbished iPod Shuffle (currently $39 for a 1GB model), offering an OLED color screen, an FM tuner, a voice recorder, and support for Audible.com audiobooks. Oh, and four times the storage.
The Clip weighs less than an ounce and measures just 2.2 inches tall by 1.3 inches wide by 0.6 inch thick. True to its name, it clips, making it an ideal companion for the gym, the track, or wherever. For more specs and impressions, check out CNET's mostly favorable review.
It's too late to pick up one of these for Mother's Day, but it might be an ideal gift for the dad and/or grad in your life. Or, you know, for yourself. You've been good, right? Splurge a little! Do it for the economy.
Remember the 4GB Zune deal from a couple weeks back? It's still available, but now there's an even better one: Newegg has the refurbished 8GB Zune player for $79.99 shipped with a free Microsoft Zune Car Pack.
So let's do some math. A new 8GB Zune player sells for $139.99. The Car Pack costs $69.99. Carry the one...that comes to around $210. Your out-the-door price: $80. Nice!
A quick refresher course in Zune goodness: this flash-based player offers a 1.8-inch screen, an FM tuner, Wi-Fi file sharing and syncing, and compatibility with Microsoft's excellent Zune Marketplace music-subscription service. (See the aforementioned 4GB Zune deal if you want to know more.)
Normally $69.99, the Zune Car Pack comes free with your purchase of a $79.99 Zune.
(Credit: Microsoft)The Car Pack includes a charger and an FM transmitter, which can broadcast music from your Zune through your car stereo. The transmitter will automatically select the best available frequency, which eliminates a lot of the hassles of traditional FM-radio gizmos. It also offers two presets for easy switching between commonly used stations.
There's even a dashboard "grip pad" so you can lay your Zune on the dash and not worry about it sliding all over the place. (A windshield mount would be better, but beggars can't be choosers.)
Bottom line: killer deal. For only $10 more than the 4GB Zune, you get double the storage and a $70 accessory kit. Say, aren't Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Graduation Day just around the corner? I'm just saying.
Look, I think the last-gen iPod Shuffle (currently $39.99 for a refurbished 1GB model) is a terrific little MP3 player for runners, gym-goers, and anyone fascinated by doll house-size electronics.
But let's crunch some numbers: the refurbished SanDisk Sansa Clip, which Buy.com has for $14.99 shipped, smokes the Shuffle at almost every turn.
For starters, it has a screen. Sure, it's a wee screen, but it does let you browse your song library and choose what you want to hear. Not so with the screenless Shuffle.
Next, it comes with an FM tuner and voice recorder--two features the Shuffle lacks. The radio's great for when you want to get your NPR on or tune into the gym's TV frequencies.
Weighing just less than an ounce (unreal) and measuring 2.2 inches tall by 1.3 inches wide by 0.6 inch deep, the Clip is incredibly small. How small? Watch CNET's Jasmine France palm it in the above video. Meanwhile, you can read CNET's largely positive review of the Clip.
15 bucks! That's just crazy cheap, people. If I didn't already have an exercise-friendly MP3 player, you can bet your morning donut (mmmm, donut) I'd snap this up.
Need a slim, lightweight audio player for the gym, the bike trails, the kids, or whatever? Newegg has the refurbished 4GB Microsoft Zune (red) for $69.99 shipped. New units run $99.99, so this is definitely a solid deal.
And a solid player. Joke all you want about Microsoft's failure to put even a small dent in the iPod juggernaut; the Zune has a lot going for it.
For starters, it's thin and light enough to ride unobtrusively in a pocket when you're jogging. I know: I've done it. Granted, it's no clip-on iPod Shuffle, but the Shuffle doesn't have a 1.8-inch color screen (just large enough to watch a video without ruining your eyes forever), FM tuner, or Wi-Fi radio.
The Wi-Fi is for swapping tunes and photos with other Zune users and, more realistically, wirelessly syncing with your PC (which totally rocks).
Microsoft is also one of the few remaining companies that offers an all-you-can-eat music subscription: $15 a month buys you unlimited access to Zune Marketplace and the millions of tracks therein. Admittedly, 4GB isn't enough storage to really make the most of it, but it's nice to have the option if you want it. Marketplace also sells TV shows.
Much as I like this particular model, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that the Apple Store now has refurbished current-generation iPod Nanos with 8GB for just $99. You don't get the FM or Wi-Fi, but you do get twice the storage, a 2-inch screen, shake-to-shuffle, and a choice of colors.
Speaking of colors, if you don't like that gorgeous glossy red, the Zune is also available in black. So what do you think? Deal or no deal?
Quick quiz: Which is the better buy, a $199 iPod Nano or a $99.99 Creative Zen Mozaic? No, it's not a trick question: The answer is the Zen Mosaic.
Both models play music and movies, of course, and both offer 16GB of storage at their respective price points.
But that's where the similarities end, mostly in favor of the Mozaic. Creative's player features an FM tuner, a voice recorder, and a built-in speaker, among other features. (Find out more in CNET's review.)
It's kind of sweet looking, too. That mosaic design definitely scores points in my aesthetics book.
However, although the player is compatible with Audible content and should work with Amazon's video-download service, Creative offers nothing as easy or seamless as iTunes for stocking the Mozaic with content.
But a 16GB player with so many worthwhile features for just $99.99 out the door? And not even a refurbished model? That's a mighty sweet deal, peeps.
Thanks to the anonymous tipster who sent this my way!
(Credit:
Buy.com)
If you hold it at arm's length and squint a bit, you might mistake the V-Bop media player for a third-generation iPod Nano. They're definitely kissing cousins, at least in the looks department. But where features are concerned, the V-Bop blows the iPod out of the water.
Buy.com has the 8GB V-Bop media player for $39.99 shipped. That's a rebate-free price on a new, not refurbished, unit.
So what does the V-Bop offer that the Nano doesn't? For starters, a microSD slot--pop in an 8GB card, and you double your available storage. (Newegg has an 8GB microSD card for $16 shipped.)
The V-Bop also sports a built-in speaker, an FM tuner, a voice recorder, and a 1.8-inch screen (which is a hair smaller than the Nano's 2-incher).
Now, does it have the iPod's excellent interface and controls? Access to a content-rich online store? A huge base of third-party accessories? No, no, and no. But if you're looking for a feature-packed, Nano-like player for a fraction of the price, this looks like a winner.
Prefer to stick with a known brand? Buy.com also has the 6GB Sansa e270 (refurbished) for $39.99 shipped. It offers most of the V-Bop's features (FM tuner, voice recorder, microSD slot, etc.) and the support of a handful of accessory makers.
Whichever model you choose, you're getting an awful lot of portable-media goodness for your 40 bucks.
Originally $150, the refurbished Sansa View is down to $50.
(Credit: Buy.com)I don't like math (English was always my subject), but here are some numbers I can admire: Buy.com has the 8GB SanDisk Sansa View media player (refurbished) for $49.99 shipped. That's 10 bucks less than the older Sansa e280 I spotlighted in July and 50 bucks less than the equivalent refurb iPod.
Speaking of iPods, SanDisk's players tend to blow them out of the water in the feature department (the exception being the iPod touch). The Sansa View sports a 2.4-inch screen, a microSD slot for bumping up the memory (here's an 8GB card for just $19.99), an FM tuner, and a voice recorder.
Shortcomings? CNET dinged the View for being a bit large and having an unspectacular interface. Also, because this is a refurb, it has only a 90-day warranty, which is provided by Buy.com, not SanDisk. That's not a deal-breaker in my book, but it's something to think about. Still, 50 bucks for an expandable 8GB music/video/radio player is pretty tough to beat.
Make no mistake: I think the iPod Shuffle (currently $39.99 for a refurbished 1GB model) is a fantastic MP3 player for joggers, gym-goers, and anyone fascinated by tiny electronics. But let's get real: the SanDisk Sansa Clip, which Woot.com has today only for $19.99 (plus $5 shipping), whups the Shuffle at almost every turn. (Note: This is a refurbished model.)
For starters, it has a screen. Granted, it's a very small screen (1 inch), but it does let you choose the song you want to hear--unlike the screen-less Shuffle. Next, it offers 2GB of storage to the Shuffle's 1GB and comes with an FM tuner and voice recorder--two features the Shuffle lacks.
Weighing just under an ounce (!) and measuring 2.2x1.3x0.6 inches, the Clip is incredibly small. To get an idea for how small, watch CNET's Jasmine France take it for a test play in the above video. Meanwhile, you can read CNET's complete, mostly positive review of the Clip.
Think I might just nab one of these myself, as I've been looking for a clip-able player to take running. If you're equally interested, don't wait: Woot's deal expires at the end of the day.
