Credit: Alienware

MP3 players from Creative, Apple, Sony and Samsung aren’t enough for you? How about an offering from Alienware? Yep, the same Alienware known for its custom built PCs. In order to expand its product line, Alienware is now moving in the MP3 player territory with its upcoming CE-IV (CE – Close Encounter) MP3 player. Although Alienware has not revealed too many details about the CE-IV, the company states that it’ll be available in 512MB or 1GB capacities, therefore, implying that it’s a flash player rather than a hard drive one. Needless to say, Alienware will have a rigorous competition in the market.

In addition to being compatible with the standard MP3 and WMA format, it also supports the widely accepted DRM WMA format as well. This will come in handy when downloading music from online music stores. In addition to the aforementioned features, the CE-IV MP3 player will also offer a memory expansion slot to increase onboard storage capacity, has FM tuner support, and has a LCD display with ID3 functionality.

The Alienware CE-IV is expected to debut in early October.

Initial Thoughts: As stated earlier, Alienware has rigorous competition ahead of its player. With manufacturers dedicated to making quality MP3 players, Alienware must deliver a unique feature (or low price) in order to sway buyers. The overall design of the player appears to be quite vibrant at the moment; it’s clearly not the most compact MP3 player we’ve seen. The rest of the features, with exception to the memory expansion slot, are fairly standard and a minimum of what you’d expect from MP3 players these days. Low price and exceptional features are a key to a successful product and overall sales, and thus far, we can only hope that Alienware delivers a product that’s above what you’d see in the market regularly.

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