The ZonePlayer 80: A lower-priced option for Sonos fans

Sonos takes a great product and makes it more affordable. Reviewer Jim Buzbee has finally found a wireless audio player that he will be sorry to part with.

I noticed Jim mentioned that he could not play the DRM-protected files he downloaded through the iTunes Music Store - has Jim been told about programs that can remove the DRM protections?

Yes. It looks like Sonos is paying attention to why iPods rule. I have never been a big Apple dude, but I bought technically superior 20 gb Lyra video mp4 playera few years ago when the 20gb monochrome ipod was all the rage. I was so proud. But when it came around to acutally using it, the interface sucked. There is no other way to put. I bought yet another non apple player and it was the same, deal. Cumbersome & slow to use - changes songs, find stuff etc. I eventually caved in and bought a mini iPod (small & pink for my wife). Its the bomb, and from a users perspective far superior, even though it wouldn't appear so on paper.

All I REALLY cared about was 1) did it play the song & 2) how easy was it to play it. Everything else is secondary.

I think the point missed by GLB is that this is the first product of its kind that has a user intterface good enough that you don't wish you had the pc. If you don't need to browse the library, than the netgear is fine - sure. But who has 60gb of music and doesn't ever want to browse for a song?

I may just buy one of these....

I have an IPod shuffle & the Sonos System.
I keep all my ITunes songs on my Ipod and leave it in the family room with the ZP80. If I want to listen to those songs, I just switch to the audio input and control the ZP80 from the IPod. It would be SO much nicer if the ZP80 could play these to begin with, but I think it is worth the money anyways.