Intro & comparisons
Apple might be the biggest name in MP3 players with its iPod range but it seems to be up against 101 competing brands or, with the recent addition of Sapphire - a company best know for graphics cards - 102. What we're looking at today, writes Leo Xenakis, is Sapphire's first MP3 offering, the Ivory Digital Audio Player - a well-featured 512MB product that's been bought in, rather than developed in-house.
Click for larger image
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At the time of writing, the Sapphire player was only available at a handful of retailers. During our initial searches, the best price we found was £64.33 at Micro Direct but the product is no longer available there and the current cheapest deal we could find is £71.02, including VAT and shipping, at Advanced Technologies.
Below is a table showing the main specs for the Ivory and the players from the big-guns that it's up against. The competitors we've shown have been chosen to give a good spread near the Ivory’s price point, with data coming from the manufacturers’ website, where available.
Click for larger imageAs you can see, Sapphire's late entry to the MP3 sector puts it up against stiff competition from some well-established brands but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not in with a good chance. Read on to see how it fares. Click link below - Packaging & bundle - to go to the next page.
