Mp3 Player Buying Guide

In the beginning, there was the Walkman cassette player,followed by portable CD players ,then Creative Labs introduced the mp3 player, followed a year later by Apple releasing the iPod, and the rest is modern history.

With more than $20 billion spent in 2008 on portable devices, there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight. In fact,the portable entertainment industry has spawned a myriad of sub-industries while continued refinements of the core products tempt us to upgrade with greater frequency, larger memory capacity, style, and player functionality.

Whether we’re travelling by train, plane, automobile, or boat; while studying, jogging, working out — and even swimming — we now want our videos, music, movies, TV programs, and podcasts with us.

Finding The Perfect Player

Although the portable products on the market today come with an almost bewildering array of features, none come with every single feature. You still have to choose. Let us help by identifying the main questions to answer when choosing a portable media player (PMP):

How much and what type of storage?

As the capacity of Flash memory which is also referred to as Solid State memory increases, most manufacturers are phasing out their hard drive models. Internal hard drives vary in capacity from about 5GB to 160GB while players that use built-in flash memory offer from about 2GB to 32GB.Flash memory has no moving parts ,where as hard drive models have data discs that spin as the player is accessing the data stored on them ,and are inclined to "skip" from sudden movement. Because of this ,flash memory players are a better choice for any sporting activity. Most now feature card slots to expand storage ability — a valuable option, since video is somewhat memory-hungry as compared to music or photos.

How big and how good a screen?

For watching video or YouTube or browsing the Web, though, there’s a significant gain in viewing comfort between a 50mm and a 100mm or larger screen. Higher resolution measured by the number of horizontal and vertical pixels makes for a sharper picture, but brightness counts, too, especially in daylight viewing. Amoled screens are becoming popular in some high end players ,as they are easier to veiw in bright sunlight when compared to standard LCD screens.

Which software do you use?

Most PMP’s must be loaded with content from a computer. If you use iTunes, one of the many Apple iPod models will likely suit your needs. If you’re comfortable with the Windows Media Player or use a subscription-based music service, there are many alternatives.

What connections are available?

A USB port for transferring content from a computer is now as standard as an earphone jack on virtually every player. Beyond that, some players include a built-in microphone or line input for recording audio or video and a line out for jacking into a TV or Home Theatre/Stereo. Some manufacturers incorporate these connections into a handy docking station. An AC adapter, once a fixture has largely been replaced by juicing up via the USB port, thus relegating the charger to the optional accessory list.

Player Types:

From the size and weight of a laptop to that of a thick pen. How portable do you need it to be?

Media Players allow you to store and play movies, podcasts, music videos, and TV shows in popular compression formats.

Direct recording from your TV, CD Player, etc. without the use of a computer interface.

a device or program capable of performing encoding and decoding on a digital data stream or signal.Make sure your player supports the file you’d like to play. Examples: Video: H.261/263/264, MPEG-1/2/4 part 2/MPEG4 Part 10, DivX, Xvid, WMV, VC-1, VOB Audio: AIFF, WAV, MPEG-2/4, ALAC, AAC, WMA

Access control technologies used by publishers and copyright holders to limit usage of digital media or devices. Many online music stores employ

DRM to restrict usage of music purchased and downloaded online.

Online Music Stores:

Further Reading-

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