Non-iPods compatible with iTunes Plus downloads

When it dropped the DRM from music in the iTunes Store, Apple opened up the world of iTunes downloads to dozens of MP3 players -- and even games consoles such as the Wii and PlayStation 3. Here are some of our top picks of players that support the iTunes Plus AAC format, which aren't iPods.

We've picked out the Sony S-series Walkman, but in fact all recent Sony Walkmans play AAC, and thus support iTunes Plus downloads. Not only that, but the Walkman line offers terrific sound quality (with decent headphones), and complements the high quality of audio the iTunes Plus downloads deliver. Check the A-series and E-series for other compatible Walkman models.

Creative's Zen and Zen X-Fi both support the AAC audio format, and like the Walkmans, support simple dragging and dropping of files from your iTunes music folder to the music folder within the player's memory. But unlike the Walkman range, the Zens can have their 32GB of internal memory expanded with SD cards.

Representing the massive-capacity players is the new Archos 5. Now you'll need to pay Archos for the AAC codec, as they don't include it as an out-of-the-box feature (trust us when we say it lost marks for this). But once you install the plugin you've got space for 320GB of iTunes Plus downloads, and an amazing video player to boot.

Finally, a music phone. Nokia's 5800 XpressMusic is Nokia's latest and greatest music handset, and just so happens to be compatible with iTunes Plus music, making it even more like its nemesis the iPhone. Other XpressMusic handsets are compatible as well -- just look for AAC support.