After experimenting with a number of different portable MP3 players (including the Diamond Rio PMP300, the Creative Nomad IIc, the Memorex MPD8081, in addition to MP3 playback in my Audiovox Maestro PDA and my Casio EX-M2 camera), I finally got an Apple iPod when refurbished first-generation units went on sale at Apple’s online store last week.

After failing many tmes to get the recommended MusicMatch Jukebox software to work with the iPod, I downloaded the free EphPod software and, after having cleaned up the damage done by MusicMatch, worked perfectly. All I wanted was a small applet to upload music to the iPod, and EphPod filled that niche exactly. Highly recommend for all Windows iPod users…

The problems I’ve had with past portable music players were either that they were either too bulky (such as all the CD-based players), or didn’t have enough memory capacity to offset the hassle involved to upload songs (as is the case with the solid-state players). I knew the iPod could address both problems; only last week did it become affordable enough for my tastes. My only quibble about it so far is that being so shiny—polished acrylic in front, polished metal in back—it quickly accumulates highly visible smudges and fingerprints.