[Disclaimer: I don't actually recommend letting the Nano stick so far out of the armband -- I just thought it made for a nice picture.]

I’ve been testing the iSkin DuoBand for the 5th gen iPod Nano for a few weeks now, and have been quite happy with the fit. The anti-microbial coating and silicone skin are great extras — but at the end of the day, all I wanted was something that would keep the Nano in place during a workout, and the Duo Band has done just that.

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We have a lot going on here at JAMM.  In fact, several very nice packages arrived in the last couple of days.  Cameras, phones, netbooks, and more.  I thought it would be fun to take a time out to give you a taste of some of what we have coming.

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There is really no easy way to say this, so I am just going to come right out and say it.  Honestly, I could not recommend watching video on any of these devices.  Their screens are all too small to really make it worthwhile.  If you plan to watch videos, then I suggest you look at the iPod Touch for a nice portable device, or even the Zune 120, which has a very nice screen as well.  For something a bit less portable, the Archos 7 is a fantastic option.

So there, I got that out of my system and I do feel better.  Now, forget I said it.  What we are going to look at tonight is how each of these compares to the others, and which offers the best of the bunch for watching video.  Really, this is going to be one of the shorter entries into the Listen To This series.  There is not a whole lot to it.  Let’s get started.

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Usually, Heather is the one who brings you the environmentally friendly tips around here.  Well, Heather and her Pandas, that is.  So, I am not trying to step on her toes.  But when I came across these environmentally friendly cases from Recover (formerly Imoeba), I was just so drawn to their sleek stylings, I had to step in and write this one up (besides, Heather does not own an iPod).

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As I discussed last time, the controls and menus are complimentary pieces of the interface to any media player.  So, having brought you the controls in the last installment, we’ll pick up right where we left off and discuss the menus on each of these players.

I found it interesting, once I starting comparing the various approaches to the menus, that they all fit within three general categories.  For all of their advanced features, the iPod Nano and Microsoft Zune both utilized a text based menu system.  It was most interesting that these two bitter rivals utilized such a similar interface.  The Creative Zen X-fi and Sandisk Sansa both offered a graphical menu system, in which only a portion of the menu was displayed at any time.  The Sony used a single screen menu system, with nine icons appearing on the screen for each of the nine basic features.  The Samsung was unique in that it fit all of these modes.  The menu on the Samsung was customizable, so that it could scroll vertically, horizontally, or appear all at once on a single screen.

Let’s jump in and take a closer look at each, and see how these menus interact with the various controls.

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