Despite the overwhelming popularity of the iPod, some students opt for a non-Apple mp3 player for the price and uniqueness

By Katie Walstrom and Meredith Boyd
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Instead of the common iPod, junior Michelle Steele owns a YP-Z5 Flash Player, an mp3 player made by Samsung. “It was a gift from my parents. I’d never had anything like it; I thought it was better than an iPod from the start,” Steele said.

In these times of financial distress, luxuries like mp3 players are out of reach for some students. But for others, like Steele, if they’re willing to look beyond the status appeal of the iPod, they find suitable alternatives in other products, minus the big iPod price tag.

Most mp3 players are equipped with the same functions as an iPod. Steele’s mp3 player can hold as many songs as the iPod Nano, which is 4 GB. The YP-Z5 is slightly larger than the iPod Nano, and it has a much larger screen.

Steele said one of the reasons she liked the YP-Z5 better than the iPod is because it is uncommon. In a school full of iPod owners, having a YP-ZB is different.

“I thought it looked cooler, actually,” Steele said. “I was one of the few people who had an mp3 and I thought that was cool. Unique is kind of my style, I guess.”

However, junior Jacob Smith said he still believes the iPod is the better choice.

“They make it a media center rather than a music player. It’s always relevant in whatever you’re doing,” Smith said.

According to storeapple.com, the iPod’s official Web site, the iPod Touch functions not only as a music player but as a portable game player and pocket sized computer. And, according to researchcast.com, a business research Web site, Apple boasts three thousand applications, “apps” for the iPod Touch and iPhone, anything from a global positioning application to Tetris.

Another advantage the iPod has over other mp3 players, like Samsung’s YP-Z5, is a store specifically designed to help with customers’ iPod problems and to sell accessories. The Apple Store enables customers an easy way to fix or understand their iPod or other Apple products. Steele said she believes Best Buy is the only store where someone who owns an mp3 other than an iPod can go for help or accessories.

A limitation of the iPod though is that it is only compatible with iTunes for downloading media whereas most other mp3 players have a standard format and can receive their media anywhere. If a person downloaded music from a source other than iTunes they would have to then convert the file to play it on their iPod.

Kunjan Padalia, Best Buy electronic sales associate and iPod Touch owner, said the iPod has an advantage over other mp3 players because, “something like the iPod Touch is going to have more features on it.” If someone is just looking for a basic music player though, he suggests the Sansa Fuze as a second to the iPod.

Padalia said he thinks the main reason people buy other mp3 players instead of the iPod is price. The new 8 GB iPod Touch is $185 at Walmart while Steele’s YP-Z5 and Padalia’s recommended 8 GB Sanza Fuze each only cost about $80. For Steele, that price difference was the difference for her.

Steele said, “Mp3’s are just as versatile and high-tech, and they’re far less expensive.”