What if iPods didn’t exist? Eight killer MP3 alternatives

Steve Jobs proudly showed off his new babies in the iPod family on Tuesday, and unlike with Brad and Angelina’s twins, the cooing and excitement was justified - the new nano and touch actually do stuff.

But what if the new iPods hadn’t been launched? What would you be left to upgrade to? And what would you do if iPods didn’t even exist at all? Not to worry: there’ still plenty of top-end songbox rivals out there, many of which even outperform Apple’s holy products, and we’ve rounded them up on the other side of the jump.

What if iPod Shuffle didn’t exist?

Since the introduction of affordable flash based memory, midget MP3 players have come along way. The Shuffle sits on top of the tiny throne in terms of sales, but it’s resting on its laurels, as these contenders show.

Top alternatives
Creative Zen Stone Plus with speaker

Creative’s latest update to its 2GB clip-on now has an integrated speaker, should you find yourself without earphones, and unlike the Shuffle, the teeny screen at least gives you some idea of what’s playing.

SanDisk Sansa Clip

Cruelly ignored, the Sansa squeezes in a OLED screen so you can actually choose your songs and playlists like a larger audio player.

What’s more it comes at a Shuffle beating price of £30. The true king.

What if the iPod Nano 4G didn’t exist?

The curvy new nano has bowled us over, but if it doesn’t stop admiring itself in all of its spiffy colours for a second, these small flash players might steal your attention.

Top alternatives
Creative Zen X-Fi

For a little extra size, you get a whole load more features. The same rich 320×240 screen is there, but a capacity of 32GB is double even the newest Nano, and wi-fi connectivity lets you stream your media right on board.

Sony NWZ-A828K

The flagship of the Walkman brand, the A828K is slim, yet still supports bluetooth audio, and packs in 16GB of storage and a massive ten hours of battery for video. Oh, and it has a kickstand to sit back and relax while the Nano 4G rolls all over the place.

What if the new iPod classic didn’t exist?

The iPod Classic is a quiet wonder - all attention is off it thanks to the Touch, but every year, Apple manages to squeeze more and more capacity into it. For music collectors, it can’t be beat. Or can it?

Top alternatives
Creative Zen Vision: M

The M is similar to the Classic in terms of size and function, although the Classic has left it behind in the dust when it comes to capacity, with only 30GB. But if you can’t stand iTunes and Apple’s file restrictions, it might be worth a look as a store-all player.

Microsoft Zune

Microsoft are the underdogs for once in this market, but maybe if they actually released their wireless 80GB, 2G model in countries other than the US, that wouldn’t be the case. A gorgeous 3.2″ screen means this had the potential to beat the Classic, but Bill G has fluffed it by keeping it away from our shores.

What if the new iPod Touch didn’t exist?

The iPhone and iPod Touch are truly revolutionary, ushering in a new category of PMPs, with big juicy screens you can run your fingers across for a purpose. And some of the rivals are strong challengers, even to the latest, ultra-thin Touch.

Top alternatives
Samsung P2

The Touch has a strong advantage thanks to thousands of user-created apps, but this offers the same great screen quality and touch control at a cheaper price, as well as a bit of bluetooth for good measure.

Cowon iAudio A3

While it doesn’t offer touch functionality, video is even better than the Touch, with 720p playback edging it if you want a PMP rather than a music player.

(original iPod image courtesy of Wikipedia)

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