So you've had a look at iPods, Zunes, and now you're ready for the best portable media players not manufactured by "the man." We've cobbled together some of our favorites in "wow factor," "buzz" and one that is just plain cheap. Join us as we take a look at portable media players, the underdogs edition.

iriver Clix Gen2

iriver is a South Korean media player manufacturer, and while they're not as big as Microsoft or Apple, iriver's innovative designs and interesting devices definitely put them in the top-tier of portable media player manufacturers.

One of iriver's flagship players, the original Clix, released nearly three years ago, was an interesting media player, though it lacked the sleekness needed to catapult it above the cavalcade of other no-name MP3 players. The Clix Gen2 brings the sleekness that was missing, and couples it with an amazing AMOLED screen that needs to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. The screen's amazing brightness and color definitely add yet another edge to a slimmed down device. The Clix series of PMPs doesn't sport a traditional interface, and in fact the unique "direct click" interface is one of our favorite parts about the device. Rather than a touch screen or navigation pad, the Clix Gen2 can literally be pressed at the screen's edge, allowing four way navigation by clicking the screen. In practice, the actual interface is fairly simple to use, and since it makes the device look even more minimalist, we're big fans.

As far as music store options go, the Clix is compatible with subscription stores like Rhapsody and Napster, and will also work with any stores compatible with Windows Media Player DRM schemes. The biggest downside, perhaps, of the iriver Clix Gen2 is simply the fact that it won't play music previously purchased in iTunes, which is the case with all the devices in this roundup. We're big fans of the Clix, and would recommend the device to any shopper looking to pick up a unique device with an interesting interface and an impressive design.

iriver Spinn

While we haven't had as much hands-on time with iriver's newest media player as we have with the Clix, the Spinn still looks rather impressive. The device takes the impressive screen from the Clix, upsizes it to 3.2-inches and adds touchscreen support. However, the truly unique aspect of the Spinn lies in the spinning knob prominently mounted in the corner. Users can utilize the knob to handle navigation tasks, and just like the iPod, the knob also doubles as the unit's volume control.

The new iriver flagship device's big highlight is its wealth of codec support, adding FLAC and OGG support for open source audiophiles. However, the big downside is the price. While the Clix is competitively priced, the Spinn is much too expensive. The 8GB model tops out at $290, which is only $10 less expensive than the 16GB iPod touch. Interesting interface is one thing, but when the price hits you in the wallet like that especially without the benefit of the application store or other features that the iPod touch offers, we're going to have to encourage users to think long and hard if the codec support and interesting interface is worth the premium.

Archos 7, 5G and 5

Yet another small name who puts out some interesting devices, Archos' latest series of media players align more with the iPod touch as devices whose sole purpose isn't to play media, but rather to surf the internet and add applications as well. Archos calls them "internet media tablets," since they do more than simply play music or movies. The series of devices can view PDFs, photos, and support a wide variety of music and movie codecs, and the devices also sport WiFi connectivity, as well as an included "DVR station," which plugs the devices directly into TVs for video playback.

The biggest draw of Archos' devices are the big, high resolution screens. The five inch model, unsurprisingly called the Archos 5, offers a variety of storage options, ranging from 60GB to 250GB. The 5's high-speed internet toting sibling, called the Archos 5G, offers less storage (30GB), but instead adds HSDPA internet connectivity, making the device very appealing to a road warrior looking to surf the internet anywhere HSDPA is available.

The Archos 7, on the other hand, is Archos' big-screened media playing brute. The seven-inch screen has a resolution of 800x480, which handily outdoes the iPod touch's paltry 480 x 320 screen. And while it's not exactly a standard computer, Archos says road warriors looking to surf the internet with keyboard and mouse can do so by attaching the peripherals through the USB port.

Archos devices are ideal for people constantly traveling who would appreciate having their media anywhere, and viewing the media on a decent sized screen. While the device still won't replace a laptop in terms of productivity, the Archos 7, 5G and 5 devices really do a great job of replacing a laptop's primary media functions, and will do a decent job of casual internet surfing.

Creative Zen X-fi

Before the Zune, Creative's Zen series of MP3 players provided the only serious competition for the iPod, but now Creative has been relegated to the back of the media playing bus. However, Creative's followup to the Zen Vision, the Zen X-Fi, should do something to help restore their good name. Though the front of the device might look a little confusing with the nine-way "keypad style" navigation, users will only use the cardinal directions, up, down, left and right, along with the center button to confirm menu selections.

The real allure of the Zen X-Fi is its affordability. At $269 for a 32GB model, you won't find many media players with WiFi streaming / syncing at a similar price point. However, the low price point does come with the tradeoff of a reportedly cheap feeling plastic exterior.

Lastly, like all PMPs in our series, the Zen X-Fi can play movies, though typically they'll have to first be converted into a compatible format, and has support for DRM-ed music stores like Rhapsody and Napster. The added SD card slot is a nice touch too, in case the 32GB of storage isn't enough. Add in a standard mini USB port for charging and data transfer, a rarity in portable music, and the Zen X-Fi is a bang-for-the-buck contender between storage capacity and affordability.

Do you own any of these players? Have you had any positive or negative experiences? Make sure to leave a comment here, or head to the individual product pages (Clix2, Spinn, Archos 5, 5g, 7, and X-Fi) and leave a comment of your opinion of the device.

Check out the whole series of PMPs compared:

• PMPs compared: Part one, iPods
• PMPs compared: Part two, Microsoft Zunes
• PMPs compared: Part three, the underdogs