So far into the series of iPod Touch competitors, I’ve taken a brief look at four alternatives and how well they stack up against the iPod Touch. They’ve all been very tough competitors, but I think that this one is the toughest and most promising of the bunch. Released at around the same time as the iPod Touch, Samsung looked to capitalize on the same niche of the market with their product, the P2. From what I’ve found, there are three things that make the Samsung P2 exceptional.

Source: http://www.gadget-paradise.com/news_images/000071_samsung-p2.jpg

Aesthetics

The Samsung P2 definitely succeeded the most in this department in contrast to the rest of the iPod Touch competitors – it’s arguably the darker, sleeker, smaller twin brother of the iPod Touch. Its GUI looks great – typical Samsung quality (which is meant as a good thing, although some can interpret otherwise). It sports a 3″ screen – smaller than the iPod Touch’s 3.5″, but larger than the iPod Video’s 2.5″; the resolution is similarly slightly smaller in comparison to the iPod Touch (480x272px vs. 480x320px). The Samsung P2 is definitely a looker.

Video

I know that the Archos brothers play movies very nicely on their 800x480px screens, but the Samsung P2 is no wimp. Sporting a 480x272px screen, as mentioned a couple of sentences ago, it’s got a nearly perfect 16:9 resolution. With all this talk of widescreen and hi-def nowadays, the Samsung P2 sounds more like a device from the future than the norm.

Source: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1159/1406111980_f6b6c5ce29_o.jpg

The Future of the P2

It’s got Bluetooth 2.0 integrated into it, which allows it to connect it to wireless headsets – ones similar to the headsets used with cellular phones. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg – rumour is Samsung plans to incorporate file sharing, between other P2s and PCs, which is actually a very feasible addition (all they’d have to do is mod the firmware, since the hardware is all ready to go).

A Couple of Cons

There’s only eight gigabytes of storage on the Samsung P2 – comparable to the cheapest version of the iPod Touch, but the difference is vast when the full potential of the iPod Touch is acknowledged (the maximum storage on the iPod Touch is thirty-two gigs – whopping, eh?). Also, there is no wi-fi incorporated into the P2 – I’m dearly hoping that Samsung retains the sleek shell of the P2, but incorporates wi-fi connectivity and more storage the next time around. All-in-all, it’s not too bad.

If you’re serious about how your gadgets look on the outside, or if you need something that just plays music or has a touch interface and you’re on a budget, the Samsung P2 is for you. However, if you desperately need wi-fi connectivity or have a huge multimedia collection, move on up the list of iPod Touch competitors, because this is the last.

[youtube j_2d32qkyIw]

It’s been great writing this series, but I’ll probably be leaving the runner-ups alone. To be honest, I’ve gotten pretty sick of writing about personal media players/digital audio players, and I’m pretty sure you’re just as sick of reading so many of them in such a short time. It’s ok – I’ve got a more broad variety of material planned for the next week or two.

Other iPod Touch Competitors:

1. Olympus M:Robe 500i
2. Archos 605 Wi-fi
3. Cowon Q5W
4. Archos 705
5. Samsung P2

Runner Ups:

• Cowon iAudio X7
• iRiver Clix 2
• Microsoft Zune

If there’s anything I’ve questioned doing (speaking in context to my blog articles, of course) recently, it would be possibly giving the Archos 605 Wi-fi less credit than it deserves. I concluded with the statement that it made a great personal media player, but its design simply wasn’t good enough – or “acceptable”, as the chief-reviewer over at APH Networks would say of my photos (I’m working on improving). Perhaps Archos themselves already had seen such a statement coming, and so created the Archos 705 Wi-fi – basically the Archos 605 Wi-fi, with a few more perks. In comparison to the iPod Touch, I think it’s got three advantages.

Source: http://www.pmptoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/official-archos-705.jpg

Aesthetics

Where the Archos 605 Wi-fi failed (epically, arguably) the Archos 705 picks up. Featuring a sweet, practically button-less design, the Archos 705 Wi-fi is a bit bulkier dimension-wise, but it’s still button-less. In case you were wondering, it’s button-less. Comparable to, oh, say…the iPod Touch. To true gadget-lovers, this is an important feature, as superficial as it sounds – aesthetics and industrial design mean everything when it comes to a good piece of gadgetry.

Storage

I can hardly put more emphasis on my point here – who cares about drive speed (enthusiasts, please skip the next few sentences as I know you will most certainly disagree) in personal media players? I won’t lie to you – the differences are certainly noticeable even for regular consumers like myself, but does an 80GB-outfitted Archos 705 Wi-fi sound better, or would it be a measly 32GB iPod Touch? Earth to consumer – the Archos 705 Wi-fi costs less, too (at Future Shop, anyway). The only difference being that the Archos 705 Wi-fi might be a bit slower when it comes to loading songs or videos, but we’re talking in seconds here, nothing near the minute range. If you want value, go for the Archos 705 Wi-fi.

Source: http://www.pmptoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/archos_705_review.jpg

Screen

Practically everyone’s been gushing about the iPod Touch’s screen – so what, the Archos 605 Wi-fi’s got a bigger screen – and that’s only around two-thirds the size of the Archos 705 Wi-fi’s screen. Sitting at a whopping 7″, it dominates the front end of the Archos 705 Wi-fi and ensures an excellent movie-watching experience – much better than killing your eyes on a cell phone or an iPod screen (not that it still isn’t harmful to the eye – just somewhat less).

The Archos 705 Wi-fi does stack up pretty well against the iPod Touch, and thanks to its competitively-beautiful design, it can even compete with the iPod Touch in the aesthetics category. Whether you’re a movie-goer, just want to get something different, or are not a big fan of Apple, the Archos 705 Wi-fi is an excellent alternative (not to mention it’s got all the standards, such as wi-fi, a friendly GUI, downloadable flash widgets, etc, etc).

Other iPod Touch Alternatives:

1. Olympus M:Robe 500i
2. Archos 605 Wi-fi
3. Cowon Q5W
4. Archos 705
5. Samsung P2

Runner Ups:

• Cowon iAudio X7
• iRiver Clix 2
• Microsoft Zune

First up for the list of the iPod Touch alternatives, the M:Robe certainly is nothing new to the game. I’ve wondered to myself why I haven’t heard more about the Olympus M:Robe 500i, I now realize that it is because the M:Robe 500i isn’t being sold by Olympus anymore! What a shame, I think to myself – it certainly is a jack of all trades.

The M:Robe 500i features a 3.7″ display, completely touch-compatible, as opposed to the iPod Touch’s 3.5″ widescreen, crisper-looking display. It’s got a 20GB hard drive, whereas the iPod Touch ranges from 8GB, 16GB, and now 32GB flash drives, which are considerably faster than the hard drive. The M:Robe 500i can play music and photos, but it can’t play videos! Galling, but true. Thanks to the early development of the M:Robe 500i (we’re looking at the iPod Photo days), it’s still stuck with just photo and music compatibility. It definitely does not compare to the iPod Touch in these aspects. So what’s it’s killer feature?

The camera. Yep, the M:Robe 500i features a 1.3MP camera; this was in the age when camera phones were just catching on, so imagine how useful it would’ve been (and still can be). Does your average iPod Touch have a camera? Nope – nor will it ever, I’m afraid.

Asides from that, the iPod Touch definitely dominates the Olympus M:Robe 500i, so we won’t be able to find a competitor here. It’s got a nicer screen, more applications, more features, and faster hard drive speeds with higher capacities. Not to mention it’s an iPod, so it just happens to always be able to get along with consumers very quickly.

Er, I’ll also have to reinforce the fact that the M:Robe 500i isn’t exactly available anymore. So what’s next?

Other iPod Touch Alternatives:

1. Olympus M:Robe 500i
2. Archos 605 Wi-fi
3. Cowon Q5W
4. Archos 706
5. Samsung P2

Runner Ups:

• Cowon iAudio X7
• iRiver Clix 2
• Microsoft Zune