What is an MP3 Player? Many people are enticed by the idea of buying an mp3 player. They are convenient, portable, compact and small mobile devices for entertainment that allow you to listen to your favorite music, watch movies and video, view pictures and even browse the Internet in some models, like the iPod Touch
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There really is a big variety of MP3 players available on the market. Some are very costly, and some are much cheaper mp3 players models, that do not have so many features. Selecting the best mp3 player for you involves some careful considerations, as all of them are different and offer various attributes and features.
MP3 Players Drives Types
Drive Types for MP3 Players
You will discover basically 4 kinds of MP3 players on the market these days. Such as flash players, hard drive players as well as MP3 CD models. Let's consider each one of these various models.
Flash Drive MP3 Players
Flash based players use a flash memory chip that is built inside the unit. They are usually very small, very portable and also have absolutely no moving parts. For the user, the advantages are that you can play sports, run and exercise without the music skipping. The con of these mp3 player models is that they cost more. Typically they range from 32MB to 64GB in storage capacity. Some of the more popular brands of flash based players are, Creative Muvo line, the iRiver iFP series, the Apple iPod Shuffle and the Sony mp3 players models.
Hard Drive MP3 Players
Hard drive based players utilize a 1.8-inch hard disk drive to store music files. The hard drive disk can hold a lot of music files and songs, 10GB plus. For those consumers that have very large music libraries or very large CD collections that they want to add to the players, this is the best option.
As opposed to the Flash players, the cost per megabyte is very low. The downside of these types of players is that the hard disk drive is made of moving parts, so they are not the best option for those who engage in rigorous physical activities while using their players. Also hard disk drives tend to break more because of those moving parts.
Micro Hard Drive MP3 Players
Lately, suppliers have developed micro hard drive structured MP3 players, such as Creative Zen Micro and Rio Carbon. They feature a much more compact and small hard drive, which delivers about 4 to 5GB of storage space, and that enables them to have a much smaller and compact size compared to the regular players. Pictured: Creative Zen
CD MP3 Players
MP3 CD players are yet another type of portable music player. These are basically referred to as CD players, and they play CD that are burnt at home or commercial CD disks. They are pretty bulky and large, and they are not great for active people or active activities as they tend to skip when they are jostled.
Key Features of MP3 Players
Now that we have differentiated the various types of players, it's important to consider other options available with these entertainment devices, so that you can really buy the right mp3 player for you.
Features and Capabilities
The features of an MP3 player are important considerations. Some will only store and play music, the iPod models, like the iPod Touch and the iPod Classic can also store and display pictures and video, and the Touch also has Internet capability. Depending on what you will want to do with your MP3 player, this can be an important consideration.
Music File Storage Capacity
This is an important factor too, especially for those who have very large music collections that they want to streamline and store in the player. If you need to store your whole music library into the MP3 player, then you probably need a hard drive based player with 10GB of storage or above.
Should you only desire and need to keep a few songs for random entertainment purposes then a flash player can be a great solution and can actually cost you less than the larger storage capacity hard drive players. Also, some players will allow you to expand the drive because they have expansion slots, in the form of Compact Flash or SD cards.
Battery Life
Unfortunately, the battery life of mp3 players is often overlooked by people looking to buy a player. But, this is a crucial consideration, especially if you will be out using the player for long hours without having a way to recharge it. There is a lot of variation in battery life of for these gadgets. Hard drive players generally have lithium-ion batteries that are rechargeable. Some flash players use simple AAA batteries, which while convenient can be expensive.
Size and Weight
The particular weight and size of the player is definitely an essential consideration too. Some are very tiny and this makes them useful for lots of travel and workouts and listening to while playing sports. They can easily fit into a pocket or on an arm sleeve. For the players that have more features, like the iPod Touch, with its big screen display, these tend to be bigger and there fore a little less portable and compact. Consider the main uses for your player, and then decide which size is best for your needs.
Connectivity Options
The method in which the music player connects to your PC can also be an important aspect. Most all new models usually use the USB cable for connection. Some of the better mp3 player models, such as the Apple iPods, also provide Firewire support.
File Format Support Most people will generally load mp3 file format songs on their players, since this is the most popular file format, however, it's good to know that the player also is compatible with other formats like, WMA or OGG Vorbis, so check the specs of the player you are want to buy. Pictured: iPod Classic
Music Accessibility
Another consideration is how the music is accessed on the player and the comfort with which song selection is achieved. The iPod Touch has a touch screen, which makes all features of the player accessible from the main screen with a touch of a finger. Other models of iPods have the click wheel, and the iPod Shuffle 3rd generation has a shuffle music selection features, which depending on the direction that it is shaken, selects how songs will play.
All players have a various ways in which to access and select music that will play, make sure you check out this function before buying your player.
Other Considerations
A lot of the most recent players have capabilities not covered above. For instance, several players have a built-in FM tuner, that is very helpful when you want to listen to the radio. Others also have built-in voice recorders which are useful for recording audio WAV files.
The iPod Touch allows you to connect to the Internet, download YouTube videos to the iPod, watch movies and store and view pictures, add Apple Apps, just like the Apple iPhones, which makes it a much more useful and feature packed player.
Conclusion
Perhaps at this point you have realized that there are several considerations to keep in mind when buying your mp3 player. Always, remember to consider how you use the player, and how much you want to pay, we have many models to choose from that are cheap mp3 players compared to retails prices.
