: If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the iPod must be blushing its scroll wheel off right now. After the debut of Cupertino's quintessential wonder-player in 2001, a torrent of upstarts started to flood the market. Some were legitimate iPod competitors. But most were no better than well-shined turds.
Here are a few of the best and worst contenders we've seen challenge the iThrone for ultimate MP3 supremacy over the years.
Show us your favorite portable music player.
Left:
The Toshiba Gigabeat
Yes, yes, yes, we know that Toshiba still makes the Gigabeat line, but solid hardware and a slick UI weren’t enough to prevent the Gigabeat S version from being smoked in sales by the third-gen iPod.
: A flash-based player, the YP-Z5 had some cool things going for it: a user interface designed by a former iPod engineer, touch-sensitive controls and, uh, a lanyard hook. But a lack of FM radio, voice recorder and adjustable EQ ultimately doomed the player to Samsung’s junk heap.
: Basically a repackaged Creative Nomad, the Dell Digital Jukebox was meant to take the iPod head-on. But it wasn't meant to be. Although the hardware was sound, Dell's online music store was AWOL leaving the Jukebox line to be discontinued in 2006.
: Monochrome display. FM Tuner. Blue backlight. Are these the ingredients to an iPod killer? Uh, no. They're the ingredients to a substandard music player that also had a tendency to suck its single(!) AAA power source dry in a hurry.
: Looking more bath toy than MP3 player, the Mixx was Iomega's idea for a "sporty" media device but was punctuated by pokey file transfers and an inability to sync with services like Napster or Rhapsody.
: With a two-year run, the 10,000-song-holding Karma went toe-to-toe with the iPod longer than most other MP3 players. But here's the thing: The Karma must have been a sinner in a previous life; not only cursed with hideous looks, it also sucked down batteries and had crash-prone hard drives.
