If you’re in the market for a personal media player, you’ll want one that harnesses the power of flash memory. Flash memory speeds up your player’s read access time, increases its battery life, and enables it to absorb a surprising amount of abuse. And if you’re worrying about the lower memory capacities (as opposed to hard drive capacities), we say: Don’t! After all, who needs a media player that loads video at a snail’s pace, drains your batteries with gusto, and gets rattled the first time you drop it during your morning jog? 

 

In this roundup, you’ll find five flash players, starting with Apple’s iPod nano, still the king when it comes to MP3 players. But the iPod doesn’t go unchallenged. Keep reading and you’ll also discover players like the Cowon D2 and the iriver clix, both of which go beyond simple MP3 players by offering video playback. There’s also a guaranteed head-turner and a standout for it’s Wi-Fi connectivity. So come in and check out the latest and greatest flash players.