Memorex’s New Low-Cost PMPs Feel Familiar

The Memorex Clip & Play and MMP8590 may not bring much new to the table in terms of features, but both manage to slide into the sweet spot for budget players with prices under $60.

Memorex may be known more for its writeable media than its digital audio players, but the company’s latest batch of PMPs sport many of the same features as big-name players with smaller price tags. The company announced its Clip & Play and MMP8590 flash-based MP3 players on Monday, both of which are available for under $60.

The Clip & Play, a competitor to the iPod Shuffle, is a square 2GB player meant to be clipped to any article of clothing, making it especially useful for exercise. Though similar to the Shuffle in that regard, the Clip & Play also has a two-line OLED screen for sifting through titles on the fly, as well as a built-in FM radio with presets. It handles WMA and WMA-DRM-10 files in addition to MP3s.

The larger MMP8590 gets up to 4GB of storage and a 1.5-inch color OLED screen. Though not quite a full-fledged Nano competitor due to its small screen and lack of video playback, the MMP8590 stacks up close to Sandisk’s Sansa C200 or Creative’s Zen V Plus player. In addition to playing music, it can display JPEG photos, record voice, and serve as a stopwatch. Battery life should be in the 12-hour range, according to Memorex. The MMP8590 comes packaged with a sport arm strap, earbud headphones, USB cable and Memorex’s own music management software.

Both players are available now, and come in color choices of white, pink and white, or black. The 2GB Clip & Play sells for $49.99, while the 2GB MMP8590 sells for $59.99.