Before we begin, I want you to know that I'm speaking from experience and that I've lived with a variety of MP3 players over the last few years (in chronological order):

1. Casio WMP-1 Wrist Audio Player. I loved it but I needed more memory and better battery life. My full review is on Epinions.

2. Nomad Jukebox. I wanted more memory and I got it in spades. I still use this player at work, in the car and on trips. Every music fan should have one of these plus a memory-based portable. Portability and battery life are issues. My full review is on Epinions.

3. Iomega HipZip. I used this model extensively until I got the Intel Pocket Concert Audio Player (IPCAP). Until recently, it went with me everywhere along with three 40 Mb Pocket Zip disks. Niggling problems with music transfer, balky handling of variable bit rate MP3s and confusing controls got more annoying as time went on but I still used it every day up until I got the IPCAP. I also got stuck (a fate worse than death!) with a dead internal battery every now and then even though battery life was decent. My full review is on Epinions.

4. I bought a Samsung YEPP YP-NEU32B for my son for Xmas along with a 64Mb SmartMedia. We both loved it until the headphone jacks (both player and wired remote) wore out. I disassembled it and resoldered the broken contacts back onto the PCB twice but I haven't figured out how to fix the headphone jack in the wired remote yet.

5. Nomad II. Since my HipZip is too bulky to use when working out, I needed a small player. I was pretty disappointed with the Nomad II but I used it anyway. It continually fell off of my belt, had an odd shape that dug into everything and everything (including my love handles), couldn't be upgraded beyond 64 Mb and was nearly impossible to operate. I could go on and on about the shortcomings of the Nomad II but when my sons YEPP finally gave up the ghost, I took the opportunity to play hero--I gave him a cherry Nomad II and he was very happy. The Nomad II is cool looking and that's very important to him. I also get the feeling that the device is durable and should stand up to the rigors of teen-age usage. My full review is on Epinions.

6. Intel Pocket Concert Audio Player. In desperate need of another MP3 player for when I'm working out, I feverishly researched all available models. What attracted me to the IPCAP was the memory capacity and consistently positive reviews of the headphones. I was sure that I didn't want to turn around and buy additional memory and headphones the minute I bought the player.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS - I was taken aback by the miniscule size of the owners manual. The graphics and colors (especially the bright blue headphones) struck me as kind of corny. Read on . . .

EASE OF OPERATION - The controls are excellent and fall readily to hand. There's no wired remote so you don't need to deal with the extra wire or a remote clipped to your shirt or whatever. You can operate this sweet player without even looking at it! Bravo Intel!

SOUND QUALITY - The IPCAP has the best sound quality and loudest volume of any player that I've owned. With all the others, I had the volume nearly pinned. I listen to the IPCAP at about 2/3 volume. There's not equalizer or sound presets--only bass and treble. Guess what? You don't need to deal with any extra buttons, menus, etc. The IPCAP doesn't need no stinking equalizer because this thing pumps quality sound! Bravo Intel!

HEADPHONES - By far the best headphones that came with any player that I've owned and I think that you would have a hard time finding anything better. The cord length is just right and I swear that they're made by Sony. However, the prominent Intel logo and bright blue color could take a long walk off of a short pier--a minor annoyance when you consider the sound quality. Bravo Intel!

SIZE, SHAPE AND DESIGN - Like I said, the IPCAP initially looks a little corny and you think that walking around with prominent Intel logos plastered all over everything is not cool. However, give the IPCAP a try and you'll forget all about the graphics. The blue high-impact plastic sandwiched by brushed aluminum cases exudes quality and feels smooth in the pocket or in the hand. It just feels sooooo good to hold in your hand and all of the controls are right there. Intel REALLY did their homework on the ergs of this baby. Bravo Intel!

BATTERY LIFE - The two AAA batteries last plenty long enough (longer than the Nomad Jukebox, the Nomad II and the HipZip). Plus, unlike other players, the battery life indicator is always on the LCD screen. Finally, if you buy the accessory kit (mine is on order and should be here tomorrow!), a docking cradle recharges rechargeable batteries in the unit. It's nice to have standard batteries if you find your self without power! Nice balance of battery life and battery type and size. Bravo Intel!

MEMORY - Some reviewers pooh-pooh the fact that the memory is not expandable. However, you have to look far and wide for a memory-based player that can be expanded beyond the IPCAPs standard 128 Mb. The IPCAP holds plenty of music--I fit 32 songs at 96 Mbps with ease. There's other considerations as well--what good is lots of memory when it's a pain to put music on and take it off (see SOFTWARE below)? Plus, the software for other players seem to exaggerate the free memory claim. For instance, the "40 Mb" Pocket Zip disks only held 37-38 Mb each . The 64 Mb Nomad II only held 61-62 Mb. This made it consistently difficult to gage how many tunes you could store. So far, the IPCAP has been stone reliable in reporting free memory and I have been able to fill it right up. Bravo Intel!

SOFTWARE - I have found this to be extremely important. You are always customizing the music on your player and you should be able to easily get music on and off of it. The proprietary Casio software was downright buggy and gave my PC fits. The Nomad software is also proprietary and installs Creative's infamous News Update spyware (I resorted to using Nomad plug-ins in the cranky RealJukebox). The Samsung YEPP had the best solution and sensibly used a RealJukebox plug-ins. The IPCAP ships with the Plus version of MusicMatch Jukebox (a $30 value). This outstanding player lets you downsample tracks to the IPCAP on the fly! This means that you can store your tunes on your PC in CD quality and back the quality down a notch when storing them on your IPCAP. This is an extremely useful and memory-saving feature that is not possible with any other software that I know of. For example, with RealJukebox, you have to have two versions of the tune stored on your PC to accomplish this. Bravo Intel!

FEATURE SET - No equalizer. No preset sound schemes. No adjustable backlight times. No configuration menus. No storage of preset FM frequencies (did I mention that the IPCAP has an FM tuner as well?). No voice recording. Sounds negative right? Let me tell you that none of these "bells and whistles" are necessary and you will find the lack of incoherent menus and ill-placed controls A BREATH OF FRESH AIR. I'm a feature junkie just like the rest of you but I'll take no-look operation anytime, anyplace. Bravo Intel!

ACCESSORIES - The IPCAP doesn't ship with much besides a belt clip and USB cable. However, there's an excellent accessory kit available ($60) that includes NiMh batteries, a docking cradle (hooks up to your stereo, your PC and recharges your batteries), an audio car adapter and a neoprene case. This is the only complaint that I have about the IPCAP--I wish Intel had included a case with the player--snif . . .

SUMMARY - I have been in the product evaluation business for 25+ years. Rarely have I seen a product with such excellent design and performance. It is evident that the researchers, designers and engineers at Intel have done an outstanding job. Bravo Intel!

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 299