Buy This Now!: Creative Muvo MP3 player

Creative Muvo MP3 player

$99

I admit it: I was seduced by the iPod. Its simplicity, its elegance, its hipster cachet--I longed for admission into the white earbud mafia. "Give me a jog wheel or give me death," I cried in the darkness, but despite my nightly prayers to Santa-Jesus, I never reveled in the sweet delirium of iFever.

Instead, my mom unloaded a 128 MB Creative Muvo on me with the thoughtful tribute, "I'm giving this to you because I never use it." It was a dubious endorsement, but I tried it anyway--and soon left my iPod mania in the past. Depending on the size and quality, the Muvo stores about 30 MP3s as well as documents and photos. Its built-in speaker records .WAV files, and it runs for about 15 hours on a single AAA battery. Perhaps best of all, it fits in the change pocket of my Levi's and plugs directly into the USB port on my keyboard.

Although it doesn't allow me to create the soundtrack of my life (which is too much responsibility anyway), its simple drag-and-drop interface does allow me to create the soundtrack of my bus ride (which is really more than adequate for my needs). The second generation Muvos have a 256 MB storage capacity and include an FM radio. Pick one up at Fry's or on Amazon.com for about $99.--Newt Briggs