Best Buy, Real And SanDisk Join To Challenge iPod/iTunes

Retail giant Best Buy, portable player maker SanDisk and music and software provider Real are joining forces in the latest attempt to compete with the widely successful iTunes and iPod combination.

Ease of use between download stores and music subscription services and players has been concern for all non-Apple manufactures and service provides.  Microsoft is offering its own solution with the Zune family of products. The SanDisk Sansa player is priced at $139.99 for 2g compared to the $149.99 2g iPod Nano. The Sansa 8g model is priced at $249.99 exactly comparable to the 8g Nano.

Best Buy will throw its promotional power behind the new service offering buyers of the SanDisk Sansa player a free two month subscription that provides unlimited access to millions of songs during the period. But  users can’t listen to songs after the promotion expires if they don’t sign up. Subscription are priced at $14.99 a month and downloads are 99 cents a track. iTunes also sells 99 downloads, but does not offer a monthly subscription.

The Sansa player is priced at $139.99 for the 2-gigabyte model, which holds roughly 500 songs, compared with $149 for Apple’s 2-gigabyte iPod Nano listed on Apple’s Web site. The Sansa 8-gigabyte model is priced at $249.99, comparable to the 8-gigabyte iPod Nano.