Cowon iAudio U2 (256MB)

The slick U2 from iAudio features an easy-to-read 128 x 64-pixel LCD screen and comes with an FM tuner, voice recorder, and line-in recorder. The audio quality is good, but the real story here is the thumbstick that smoothly scrolls through songs, including protected WMA files and tunes recorded directly from a CD player using the U2’s line-in port. Cowon includes a ho-hum JetShell program to transfer tracks, but you can always drag and drop using Windows Explorer. It’s a little pricey given its limited capacity, but this player’s excellent design, feature set, and whopping 20 hours of battery life nearly justify the premium.
www.cowonamerica.com