Hey, iPod, Wanna Fight?

LIKE ALI AGAINST FOREMAN, SONY'S BEEN HUGGING THE ROPES IN THE MP3-player title fight. But with the long-overdue NW-HD1 Walkman, available this month, the challenger has finally come out swinging.

The palm-size, 20-gigabyte-hard-drive player not only is smaller than the iPod, but also has three times the battery life (iPod's glass jaw). Designwise, it's quintessential Sony--sleek and stylish, but equally functional. But there are downsides: Our judges scored for the iPod on both interface and ease of use, in part because some thought Sony's controls are too small. And Sony's stubborn insistence on using its proprietary ATRAC3Plus encoding means your existing MP3 files will have to be transcoded, then transferred.

With Apple readying a bulked-up, 60-gigabyte iPod with new features, Sony's opening flurry fails to deliver a knockout punch. But stay tuned: The power-packed NW-HD1 proves Sony is ready to rumble. $400. sonystyle.com

SAMSUNG YH-920

Weighing in with: Flexibility Records from an FM tuner or audio input such as a stereo or even a TV. $350. samsungusa.com

ARCHOS GMINI 220

Weighing in with: Bells and whistles An optional FM tuner, flash memory for photo viewing, and a built-in microphone. $350. archos.com

CREATIVE ZEN TOUCH

Weighing in with: Stamina Twenty-four hours of battery life, or three times the iPod's. We also love its vertical-scrolling touch pad. $270. us.creative.com

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