New flash MP3 players from JVC offer nothing new

Sure, you could be like everyone else out there and take your pick from all those Apple iPods on the market, but if you want to be just a little different, you could look at the wide range of other brands that also have something to offer. JVC makes everything from camcorders to televisions, and they even make MP3 players. The company’s two newest models are the flash-based XA-F57 and XA-F107, which hold 512MB and 1GB of tunes, respectively.

There isn’t much that sets them apart from the competition however, as they take on a rather generic-looking organic form factor, play your MP3, WMA and PlaysForSure files, and has a line-in jack for direct encoding. You won’t find any color displays on this, presumably to keep the battery life up, but you do get to rock a mono LCD. If you like wearing music players around your neck, you’ll be happy to hear that JVC is including a lanyard-headphone combo with the package.

Available in silver, black, white, and pink, the XA-F57 will be about $100, with the 1GB XA-F107 going for $50 more.