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If you want to know your options the next time you drop into a Sears or a random drugstore and need to buy a cheapie media player, we have an answer. You may not want to hear it, though.
Low-budget gadget-maker Nextar has come up with an iPod Touch clone, the MA809, but the quality screen, design advantage, and overall quality of the real Touch is so far above the other, that the $80 difference between the 8GB versions seems ludicrous.
At a first glance, the $150 8GB MA809 media player doesn't look too bad. It's slim at .25 inches, has a 2.8-inch TFT screen (at 400x240 pixel resolution), and supports different video and audio files, including MP4s, and AVI/WMA videos. And the battery claims are fine, at eight hours of continuous audio playing.
But compare it to other media players and it underwhelms. The iPod Touch has a larger LCD (320x480 pixels) that is multi-touch, and has the facility of hundreds of useful applications. And forget about comparing that screen with any of the bright, colorful options from Archos or Sony.
Nextar has actually come up with some interesting GPS devices recently, including the competitively priced ME GPS system. But this player is not in that class and it won't make much noise in the PMP market.
There's a potentially better MA809 option at $100 but it only has room for an unimpressive 2GB of media. Boost that to 8 GB at that price, fill me up with sugary drinks from the local Kwik-E-Mart and roll me up to the counter after two full days weeks lacking sleep and I'd be happy to take it.
