Most MP3 players on the market strive to compete with (or best) Apple's iPod, but the Sansa Connect has Microsoft's Zune squarely in its sights. And if you're willing to pay a monthly subscription fee Yahoo, this portable player sports some really fun options thanks to its Wi-Fi capability and easy to navigate interface.

The Connect works only with the Yahoo subscription service, but once you fork over a monthly or yearly fee, you get to listen to anything you download from the service. Burning songs are $.79 each and as long as you keep the subscription current, everything is accessible via the Connect.

Songs can be saved to the device or streamed directly from the Internet. The Connect's Wi-Fi capability is incredibly easy to use: the player will automatically search for available networks and save any passwords and login information for previously accessed accounts. There's a handy "airplane mode" that blocks the automatic log, making the Connect safe for air travel where Internet or cell phone connectivity is prohibited.

The Connect doesn't have an FM tuner, but you can access Internet radio via Yahoo and save songs for play when not connected. Music management is fairly standard and simple to use, and the drag and drop feature makes transferring songs from the hard drive easy. This might be quibbling, but we found the little blips and bleeps the Connect makes while scrolling annoying and intrusive while listening to music at the same time. And if only we could get the Web function to stop yodeling "Yahoooo" at us when first turned on we might be less cranky.

Like the Zune, the Connect lets you share music and find other users, but whenever we tried, there were none nearby to be found. But the 2.2-inch screen is larger than most portable players and image quality is surprisingly vivid. The Connect lets you access photos from Flikr as well as upload your own. A separate miniSD slot works for more direct uploading or additional storage.

Sound quality over the included, better-than-standard ear buds is strong and static free, an improvement over some other Sansa models we tested in the past. Sansa puts the batter power at around six hours with the Wi-Fi turned on--not great, and the power really did seem to drain quickly. But the AC battery charger included with the Connect provides one more option to charging through the USB connection to a PC.

The Sansa Connect isn't a game changer among MP3 players, but it's still a Wi-Fi enabled player that offers a lot for the price.

Pros: WiFi connectivity, works as both a stand-alone MP3 player and Internet enabled device
Cons: Functionality is limited when not connected to the Internet, monthly subscription to Yahoo Music required