Call me old fashion, but radio is my preferred method of music listening. Whether it is AM, FM, satellite or digital, not knowing what song is coming up next always enthralls me. One particular area that has yet to perfect the art of radio is portable media players. iPods and Zunes are great, but have never been able to replicate the feel and spontaneity of radio. Slacker is a online radio service of a different variety. It functions similar to Last.FM or Pandora by creating completely customized radio stations based on a user's taste and musical preferences. These types of Internet radio station may lack the benefit of an on-air deejay, but that isn't anything to spill milk over, at least in my opinion. And now Slacker has officially announced its portable media player that will take a good stab at Internet radio on-the-go.

Rather than trying to stream radio directly onto the portable media devices, which satellite radio companies have unfortunately tried, the Slacker queues up music when docked via USB or connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi. This eliminates the biggest drawback of direct-streaming devices, which is the skipping or lack of coverage. The included heart and ban buttons also allows you to shift and modify your personalized stations directly on the player for the next syncing.

For the nitty gritty — the Slacker has a 4-inch color screen that displays downloaded album art, pictures, profiles and even reviews. It is available in 2 GB, 4 GB and 8 GB capacities, which translates to 15, 25 and 40 station capacities. It can also play your own MP3 files. Prices for this device will begin at $200 and up. It will be available December 13 and Slacker is currently accepting pre-orders. — Travis Hudson

Slacker, via Gadgetell