The way digital music players are evolving, it's not enough to play back MP3s. Manufacturers tout FM radios, voice recording, and JPEG and text storage. But don't be distracted: First and foremost, choose a player based on great digital music playback.
The Archos Gmini XS200 and the IRiver H320 are 20GB hard-drive-based players with simple navigation and superb audio quality. Both offer digital photo storage. And that's pretty much where the similarities end.
At $329, the IRiver H320 marks the high end for 20GB players (the 20GB Apple IPod currently costs $299). The $250 Archos Gmini XS200 is a relatively inexpensive 20GB unit. (That shows you how narrow the price range is for these things.)
What do you get for the extra 79 greenbacks? The IRiver's eye-popping color screen, for starters. Even diehard IPod fans will regard this large, vivid display with jealousy. Multifunction buttons simplify switching playback modes, changing equalizer settings, and getting to the most useful controls. Transferring music from your computer to the player is easy, and navigating through your music library on the device is straightforward, though somewhat slow. The H320's FM radio reception was good, and its voice recording worked without a hitch.
The bulky IRiver might have provided louder volume--on an airplane, it wasn't quite loud enough for my decibel-damaged ears. And because the color screen saps battery life (IRiver claims a hefty 16 hours for its player anyway), you must adjust the display's backlight so that it turns off fairly quickly. I set it at 10 seconds; unfortunately, when the screen darkens, you can't read it at all. Pressing any button illuminates it; but if you want to skip forward a song, you have to press the button twice--a minor annoyance.
After toying with the IRiver, turning on the Archos's monochrome display was like watching Saturday morning cartoons on a black-and-white television. Then again, the sleek battleship-gray Gmini XS200 is about one-third smaller than the H320, and noticeably lighter--it's comparable to many 5GB players on the market. This player invites you to make playlists on the go (the IRiver won't let you create playlists without a computer).
On the other hand, the XS200's hard drive is noisy, clicking with each new file that loads. The squat metallic joystick can be awkward; I found myself moving it accidentally sideways when I wanted to go up or down, and vice versa. The 10-hour battery life puts the Archos at the ephemeral end for 20GB players. And in playlist mode, the screen takes several seconds between songs to display information--a good beat or two after the music starts. (This delay doesn't occur in normal playback mode.)
If money is no object, the IRiver H320 wins this musical matchup. But if you're economical and you care more about how Green Day or The Moody Blues sound than about how their song titles look on a color display, the Archos Gmini XS200 will satisfy your aural fixations.
Sam Jemielity
