5. Olympus M:robe MR-100: Talented Newcomer

Is it possible to come up with a more handsome design than Apple's? With their m:robe MR-100, Olympus proves that it is. Aesthetically superb with its solid black front that lights up hot red when on, the minimalist but nevertheless very practical design of this unit really grabbed me. There are no buttons or wheels; the entire front panel is a touch screen that's used both for navigation and for adjustments. It would be hard to make the player more practical, but do be careful to keep your hands clean and dry; otherwise, it won't be long before your MR-100 needs a complete cleaning.

For file transfers, the MR-100 uses M:trip, an application designed by Olympus that operates only with Windows. The software is better suited to the MR-500, which is both a music player and a camera. With this player-only model, M:trip seems a bit complicated for simply loading music and creating playlists. That's especially true since transferring files correctly requires you to select them one by one and then launch the synchronization. An odd choice, since the MR-100 is recognized as an external hard disk by PCs, and yet it's incapable of finding and playing music files that have been simply dragged and dropped.

While Olympus has taken great care with the aesthetics of its first music player, its sound is a bit disappointing. The earphones that come with it aren't up to snuff, completely flattening the music. With a good set, the sound becomes much more pleasant and harmonious, even though the highest and lowest frequencies don't really come through. For that reason, aside from the usual presets, the equalizer has automatic adjustments for accentuating or reducing the bass, the treble, and even the midrange.

But the biggest shortcoming of this unit is the battery life, which is really too short. Completely charged, the battery won't hold up for more than 6½ hours; that's really not enough for a player costing this much.