The notion of truly portable music first resonated with the masses back in the 1980s when Sony made the Walkman a pop culture icon.

Two decades later, entire personal music collections have become portable in an era dominated by Apple's iPod — and video seems poised to mark the next stage in the evolution of portable players.

It's video that is transforming the MP3 player into the "portable media player" or PMP. Music is still the centrepiece — and the initial draw for most people looking at PMPs — but the extras available on the latest players are becoming increasingly fashionable.

Between photos, FM radio, web browsing and online downloads, the latest PMPs are laden with features aimed at enjoying a variety of audio-visual content through one portable gadget.

NPD Group reported that PMP sales in Canada increased 30 per cent in the first 10 months of 2007 compared to sales in 2006 — and that's before sales from the lucrative holiday shopping season are added in. The report said 50 per cent of the players sold in September could handle video as well as music, showing the distinct shift in the market towards audio-video players rather than music-only devices.

Despite Apple's 70-per-cent share of the portable media player market, consumers have lots of alternatives when it comes to PMPs. In this roundup are some of the latest players available in Canada for the holiday season:

Apple iPod Touch ($300 for 8GB; $450 for 16GB)

Apple iPod Touch

Apple turned up the heat on the competition this year with a PMP that uses an interface almost entirely based on a touchscreen. Ultimately, the Touch is an iPhone without the actual phone — indeed, the overall design and interface of the two devices are exactly the same. The only non-touch elements are the power and main menu buttons.

The Touch is a flash-memory-based player, which makes it less susceptible to shock-related damage than players that use miniature hard drives (ie. flash memory should survive a drop that would wreck a hard drive). But flash memory is costlier per megabyte than a hard drive, which explains why the storage capacity of the new Touch (8 or 16 gigabytes) is much smaller than that of the iPod Classic, which comes in 80GB or 160GB models.

The screen is larger than those offered by most other players on the market — an obvious selling point for people planning to watch a lot of video clips and movies on the go. The screen's resolution is very good, and full-length movies (provided they're of a decent file size) look crisp and vibrant.

There is also built-in Wi-Fi wireless networking capability, complete with a Safari web browser and YouTube. Go into any place with a Wi-Fi network, and you should be able to start surfing or watching video clips on your iPod. For those who have web-based e-mail and easy access to Wi-Fi hotspots, this is also an easy way to keep tabs on things without paying airtime or data charges to a wireless carrier.

In February, Apple will open up the Touch to allow independent developers to create programs for it, meaning the device's true potential is still undetermined. Even now, benevolent hackers have found ways to install new applications onto the device, including all the extra features the iPhone has (except for the phone, of course).

The Touch will work with both Mac and Windows computers, though only with the iTunes program.

Archos 605 Wi-Fi ($300 for 30GB; $350 for 80GB; $400 for 160GB)

Archos 605 Wi-Fi

It may be a bit of a clunker in terms of design, but the Archos 605 Wi-Fi is packed with a slew of handy features.

Archos has been incorporating Wi-Fi its players for some time, and it continues that trend here, allowing people to surf the web and even download music and video under certain conditions.

But part of the 605's beauty is its simplicity. The 605 works with Mac and Windows, and requires no software installation at all for either type of computer. All you need to do is plug the player into the computer, and then drag and drop any music, photos or video into the marked folders on the player's drive and that's it.

The 605 can play a multitude of video file formats. It also allows you to customize the look of the interface with your own artwork to give the player a more personal feel.

The 605 Wi-Fi has a fully-functioning 4.3-inch touchscreen (a stylus is included in the box). There are also control buttons along the side of the player for those moments where a stylus might not suit your needs. And with an optional docking station (sold for an extra $100), you can record live TV to watch on the 605 Wi-Fi.

The downside is that Archos charges extra fees for unlocking the Web browser, enabling the playback of certain audio formats, and even activating some internet radio options. Some of these charges can go as high as $30 apiece, which can be a turnoff for some. But with all its features, it's arguably the "muscle car" of all the products in this roundup.

Creative ZEN ($130 for 4GB; $200 for 8GB; $250 for 16GB, $350 for 32GB)

Creative ZEN

The ZEN is sleek, shiny and small. Aimed at people who want an ultra-portable player, it combines audio and video playback in a package the size of a credit card (albeit a rather thick one).

The player has a 2.5-inch screen with an acrylic matte surface that helps protect it from scratches and blemishes, and the player is based on durable flash memory. The glossy screen covering is prone to fingerprints and smudges, though, so a carrying case is recommended.

The ZEN has a built-in FM tuner and a microphone so that you can record memos to the player's memory. But one of the most notable features is the full-size SD memory card slot, which essentially allows you to expand the existing memory. An SD card with 8GB of memory slotted into the player would basically turn a 16GB ZEN into a 24GB one, for example. You an also opt to store different types of music or themed playlists on different SD cards — say, workout music on one card and something for your commute on another. The built-in rechargeable battery is rated for up to 30 hours of music playback or five hours of video on a charge.

The ZEN can only be loaded with content using Creative's proprietary Windows software, so Mac users are out of luck. But it will play unprotected AAC files, including CD tracks ripped (copied) using iTunes software.

The player is pretty good at recognizing and being able to play different file formats, but some video files need to be converted to a compatible format on the PC before they can be transferred to the ZEN.

Video quality on the small screen is good, although some pixilation occurs in the compressed video in very dark scenes. The screen has been designed to provide a clear image even in bright sunlight.

SanDisk Sansa View ($165 for 8GB; $220 for 16GB)

SanDisk Sansa View

The Sansa View's design is a bit unusual — it's a relatively long device with a relatively small 2.4-inch screen. It's slim and thin, but the scroll wheel takes up as much real estate on the front face of the player as the screen.

The View is a capable PMP with a user-friendly interface. The menu setup is very neat, organizing everything from music, audiobooks, podcasts, recorded audio and more into separate folders.

There's no need to install any software on your computer to load the player, and it works with both PCs and Macs. The player utilizes the same drag-and-drop style as the Archos, and SanDisk offers free video conversion software on its website for video file formats that aren't directly supported by the player.

Extras in the device include an FM tuner, audio recording for things like voice memos, and a memory card slot for microSD cards.

Audio quality through the earbuds provided with the player isn't as good as it should be, and there's a tendency towards video pixilation in darkened scenes. But all in all, the View is meant for those who are looking for a lower price tag without sacrificing storage capacity.

Sony Walkman ($100 for 2GB; $140 for 4GB; $200 for 8GB)

Sony Walkman

Sony may have caused a real stir in the 80s and 90s with its groundbreaking tape and CD Walkmans, but the company is playing catch-up to the rest of the digital market with its PMP Walkman.

This is another player aimed at the ultra-portable market. The Sony Walkman is a small player with a 1.8-inch screen. It comes in three storage capacities (2GB, 4GB and 8GB), and four different colours (black, silver, red and pink).

The real draw here is the form factor. Content can be viewed on screen in either a vertical or horizontal orientation, and you can switch between them with a couple of button pushes.

However, the Walkman has limitations when it comes to video file formats. It can play MPEG-4 movies, and its software will also accept WMV and MPEG-2 files as well. It works fine with both Macs and Windows PCs.

The small screen can also make it difficult to watch video for long periods of time. A 22-minute episode of a sitcom is doable, and possibly even a primetime drama (usually running 45 minutes commercial-free), but a full-length movie can become hard on the eyes after a while.

The image quality itself is good all around, and the resolution on the smaller screen is nice and tight.

The Walkman doesn't boast any unique features that make it stand out from the competition, but it's a capable player. The audio quality is good, and the FM radio works very well. This is a decent option if you're looking for smaller doses of video and plenty of music at a decent price.

The author is a Toronto-based freelance writer.

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