The Creative Zen family album

Clearly, the Apple iPod is one very popular MP3 player: it offers a sleek design, is easy to use, and has loads of readily available content. But Apple's not the only company that knows how to produce a quality device--a handful of others are well-versed in that regard and have legacies of their own. Take Creative Labs and its Zen family, a line of MP3 players with sweet sound and slick interfaces. Indeed, the iPod's own user-friendly interface is based on Creative's invention, and I daresay the Zen's customizable UI makes it a bit more fun.

At the bottom of the pack, we have the ultrasimple, ultracheap Zen Stone, a 1GB pebble of a player with few features and a price tag to match: this one will set you back just $40. Just a small step up from there is the 2GB Zen Stone Plus, which adds a screen and an FM tuner for $40 more. Next we have the Zen V line, which includes the video-capable, FM-tuning Plus models. These compact, toylike flash players offer color screens and voice recording. At the top of the MP3 player line is the Creative Zen, a pocket-size replacement to the Zen Vision:M with up to 16GB of internal memory and an SD card slot for adding more. For those after a true PVP, Creative delivers with the Zen Vision W, which is the beast of the bunch and offers a hard drive with up to 60GB of space. And we can't forget the Zen Micro Photo, a now-retro microdrive player with a touch-sensitive control pad. This player is at the end of its life and can be found for great prices online.