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MP3 Players
Good news: There are more ways than ever to take Internet audio with you, and more are coming. I tested three of the newest sound machines: RCA's $200 Lyra,Sharp's $250 MD-MT15 Internet Bundle, and Sony's $299 VAIO Music Clip.
Music With a Pop
The RCA Lyra boasts great sound, the lowest price, and the best tone-control features of this bunch. Besides presets for various music styles (which all three provide), an equalizer mode lets you tweak bass and treble. Its LCD, unlike most others', can display up to six songs. But the larger screen pushes the 3.3-ounce Lyra into the portly camp, at least for MP3 players.
Also, loading music onto the product is a bit of a pain. Your tunes live on a removable 32MB flash memory card (a 64MB Lyra is $250). To transfer songs, use the bundled RealNetworks RealJukebox software. But first, you must remove the card and plug it into the included CompactFlash Reader/Writer, which attaches to your PC's parallel and keyboard ports. RCA plans to ship a $129 USB adapter by the time you read this--it's long overdue.
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