The Creative Zen Touch MP3 Player: A Music Machine For IPod Resisters

The Creative Zen Touch MP3 Player A Music Machine For IPod Resisters
Certainly, the iPod is a lovely little device that has changed the way Americans buy and listen to music.

But it's also a finicky player that requires lots of love and attention.

The battery life of Apple Computer's older iPods stinks, and iPod players, as many owners will attest, often behave like prima donnas that freeze up whenever they feel like it, and they will only decide to play again after they've been pampered and coddled.

Apple deserves the credit for creating a stylish and user-friendly MP3 player that's accessible to mainstream consumers, but there are excellent alternatives to the iPod that may not hit your pocketbook quite as hard, and in some ways they may be superior to the iPod. The perfect case in point: Creative Labs' Creative Zen Touch MP3 player.

Creative's answer to the iPod has come with hard drive capacities of 20 gigabytes and go 40GB.

The higher of the two has room enough for 16,000 songs, the company says. It beats the iPod with a 24-hour battery life. Unlike the iPod, it's a sturdy little device that keeps on going until it can't go any longer.

It's not entirely perfect, as it occasionally freezes up--just like the iPod does--but after restarting, it operates like normal without any lingering defects.

Unfortunately, music lovers who buy tracks from iTunes won't be able to easil