Napster dives into DAP-land with two new players

We're not sure if they're just embarrassed for some reason, or if the PR wheels aren't quite in motion yet, but Napster ever-so-quietly released two new DAPs today -- the first to bear their branding alone. The two models look fairly generic, though nice, and neither is an incredibly obvious rebadge from what we can tell -- which makes us all the more curious as to why Napster isn't parading these things around. Right now the players are only available as a special deal with a one year Napster To Go subscription, with the 256MB flash player going for the low low price of free, and the 1GB version (we're guessing flash as well) a mere $50. If you were planning on locking yourself into a $15 a month Napster payment anyways, it doesn't look like you could go too wrong here, though we have very little info on the players other than capacities. But if Napster has managed to design these reasonably slim, and with some decent battery life, we think they might have an attractive offering on their hands.

[Zacky V @ Jun 27th 2006 6:01PM]

they need to make these bigger because 1gb is not worth giving up my ipod

[a @ Jun 27th 2006 6:06PM]

14.95*12
179.4
answer+50
229.4
229.4 for 1 gig? SanDisk's only $70.

[bill @ Jun 27th 2006 6:19PM]

That calculation assumes that Napster's subscription is worthless.

IMHO they provide a wonderful service with a very usable application. Their selection is noticably void of some music I'd like to be able to listen to (the Eagles for instance) but all in all its great. Making radio stations, billboard charts back 50 years, server stored playlists.

I use it at work every day for the 10$/mo. and I love it.

[Bob Turner @ Jun 27th 2006 6:22PM]

Does the sandisk come with music? No. One could argue that the napster is 20 dollars cheaper than the sandisk, if you are getting the napster service.

And regarding the article, the proper idiom is "plan to" not "plan on." If you "plan on" it means your physically planning on something. Like, I plan on my chair. Sorry, but its mistakes Newsweek will even make and its annoying.

[Eli @ Jun 27th 2006 6:38PM]

That's not nearly as horrible as I thought it would be. Granted they need to get those capacities up (1gb is pretty weak...256mb is just ridiculous), but that's not a bad all-in-one deal for someone just getting into digital music

[SEP @ Jun 27th 2006 6:41PM]

Bob, if you insist on being pedantic you might want to read your final sentence again. Dreadful mate.

[Mafa @ Jun 27th 2006 6:44PM]

This is kinda old news guys. i have had my napster account for about 3 months and i got the free one after about a week of service... i have an Zen Vision M that i already had but free is free... i use the napster player for when i go jogging. here in FL we get alot of rain in the summer and like i said free is free... plus this thing works great in the rain :)

[Kiteless @ Jun 27th 2006 7:05PM]

What do all those big words mean mommy!?

[lolersticks @ Jun 27th 2006 8:04PM]

Bob: If it is a possessive, it's just ITS. If it is a contraction, it's IT apostrophe S.

[Racekarl @ Jun 27th 2006 8:55PM]

Heh, pile on Bob:

"Your" is possessive, e.g. "Your chair"

"You're" is the contraction for "You are", e.g. "...it means you're physically planning..."

[Joe @ Jun 27th 2006 10:10PM]

Um, Engadget they have been giving away an older version of that 256mb version for a long time now, and a 512mb version of the same player forever now. Maybe thats why they haven't said anything about it.

Anyway for anyone who was wondering I have the 256mb one and it works good, just sucks that its only 256mb.

[John @ Jun 27th 2006 10:36PM]

To echo the last comment - Napster-branded players have been around for a long, long time.

[ajb @ Jun 27th 2006 11:49PM]

To continue the off-topic grammar thread:

either "plan on" or "plan to" are acceptable, according to the New Oxford American Dictionary.

How I hate, hate, hate, itunes's DRM.

(Inviting another off-topic grammar thread on forming possessives with nouns ending in s...)

[Zach C. @ Jun 28th 2006 3:27AM]

So is anyone going to tell us if these players can be used for anything besides Napster's DRM-wrapped service?

[Josh! @ Jun 28th 2006 8:25AM]

"Sorry, but its mistakes Newsweek will even make and its annoying."

Bob, before you start correcting people on their grammar usage, maybe you should proofread.

No one is perfect, and there's no point in calling someone out if they're planning on doing something. :)

[Liam Billington @ Jun 28th 2006 10:16AM]

Hmmmmm... this does seem a good deal to me. Does any other subscription based service give away A MP3 player??? 1GB will do for such a refill service for on the go. Its like in the UK with the mobile phone pricing, £30 a month will get you a Motorola V3i with iTunes and a XBOX 360 Core/PSP/iPod of your choice.

I say this is good, but I would like them to give away a Gigabeat S or that Sandisk one. *I can dream*

[ling @ Jun 28th 2006 10:36AM]

What does the New Oxford American Dictionary say about the usage of "hate on"?