My Gmini 220 is broken in the most ridiculous way: The button to turn it on and off is bust. Well, I was unsatisfied with its quirky interface anyway and I will re-use it's 20GB 1.8"-harddrive in a cheap USB-case.

But this means I need a new MP3-Player, this time one that plays Ogg/Vorbis, too. Other criteria are the lack of proprietary "transfer-software" (USB-Mass-Storage is what counts!), battery life, size (both physically and in capacity) and the ability to act as a USB-host when transferring images from my camera.

I have been eyeing the iAudio X5 for quite a while and I am sure it is very good. Nevertheless, I am sceptical about this button/joystick that is the main device for user-input. It will most probably wear out with time.

In addition, iAudio has just released an attractive new player with a harddrive in the tiny new 0.85"-format. It is called iAudio 6 and holds 4GB which is significantly less than the X5 with its 20, 30 or even 60GB.

Of course, size does matter, but not exclusively. The battery-life is longer for the smaller one, it is physically smaller and uses a touch-sensitive area instead of a joystick. On the other hand, USB-host capability is nearly useless with only 4GB of memory that will partly be filled with music anyway.

Tough decision! :-)