Graced with a naming convention borrowed from Apple's iPod, iriver's clix gen 2 rolls tons of features into one cool design. If you're not married to iTunes, this adds up to a fine little player that looks pretty darn cool, too.

Using flash memory, like the iPod nano, the clix comes in varying capacities (2GB. 4GB.and 8GB). The new model borrows the excellent click-screen interface from the previous clix, and it's just as intuitive as the iPod's scroll wheel. The new model is also slimmer than its predecessor. The player's active-matrix OLED screen is slightly smaller than that of the 30GB and 8OGB iPod displays but has the same resolution, which actually makes for a sharper picture. I liked the slick user interface, and the graphics are attractive. Other nice features include an FM tuner and video viewing.

Loading the player is a snap whether you use Urge, Windows Media Player or Yahoo! Music jukebox. Yes it also plays iTunes Plus DRM-free AAC files. Be advised that all 4GB models will be optimized for Rhapsody interactivity, as well.

If iTunes isn't your thing, the clix is an excellent choice, with plenty of extras.

IRIVER CLIX GEN 2
2GB: $150
4GB: $200
8GB: $250

Emërtimet: MP3 player