| MP3 player, also well known as digital audio | | | | |
| player has become a staple of our gadget | | | | Flash memory MP3 player is good for people |
| life. There are many brands of MP3 players on | | | | exercising and jogging since it is very |
| the market today. So, which MP3 player are | | | | light. No moving parts for Flash memory MP3 |
| the most suitable for you? That's where this | | | | player make it ideal for sport.c) MP3 player |
| MP3 player guide comes in. | | | | good for home use |
| | | | |
| Basically, there are 3 types of MP3 player | | | | Hard drive MP3 player is good for listening |
| based on capacity: - | | | | song in living room. It is suited to be |
| | | | connected to external speakers. |
| 1. Hard drive MP3 player | | | | |
| | | | 2. Connectivity |
| - highest capacity | | | | |
| | | | There are two main options to transfer files |
| - largest in size | | | | from your computer: USB or FireWire. USB |
| | | | supported by both PCs and Macs whereas |
| - heavy | | | | FireWire is supported only on Macs. For PC |
| | | | users, they need to ensure that the MP3 |
| - often labeled as an "Jukebox MP3 player" | | | | player support USB 2.0 which is faster than |
| | | | USB 1.1. Most of the MP3 players on market |
| - has moving parts | | | | today are support USB 2.0. |
| | | | |
| - example: Apple iPod video, Sony Network | | | | 3. Display screen |
| Walkman NW-HD5 | | | | |
| | | | Majority of MP3 players have LCD screen. Some |
| 2. Micro hard drive MP3 player | | | | MP3 players have color screen instead of dull |
| | | | black and white screen. The main things to |
| - use smaller hard drives | | | | consider are all the information such as |
| | | | battery level, song name & elapsed time are |
| - lighter than hard drive MP3 player | | | | easy to read. |
| | | | |
| - lower capacity than hard drive MP3 player | | | | 4. Compatibility |
| but higher capacity than flash memory MP3 | | | | |
| player | | | | PC or Mac compatibility. Mac users should |
| | | | ensure the MP3 player can support Mac since |
| - example: Apple iPod mini, Creative Labs Zen | | | | some MP3 players can only support PC. |
| Micro | | | | |
| | | | 5. Battery |
| 3. Flash memory MP3 player | | | | |
| | | | MP3 players come with either rechargeable |
| - smallest in size | | | | batteries (some can be charged via USB port) |
| | | | or disposable batteries. |
| - lowest capacity | | | | |
| | | | 6. Music format |
| - very light | | | | |
| | | | Music files can be one of several types of |
| - has no moving parts | | | | formats, such as MP3, AAC (Advanced Audio |
| | | | Coding), WMA (Windows Media Audio) and Ogg |
| - often labeled as an "portable MP3 player" | | | | Vorbis. Ogg Vorbis is a completely open, |
| | | | patent-free, professional audio encoding and |
| - example: mobiBLU Dah 1500i, Apple iPod nano | | | | streaming technology with all the benefits of |
| | | | Open Source. |
| What should you concern when you want to buy | | | | |
| a MP3 player? | | | | 7. Functionality |
| | | | |
| 1. Use / Purposea) MP3 player good for travel | | | | Some MP3 players have extra features such as |
| | | | voice recorder, FM radio, FM recorder, image |
| Hard drive MP3 player is good for people | | | | viewer, video player. |
| traveling or away from computer for an | | | | |
| extended period of time, where they can't | | | | 8. Memory capacity |
| transfer music files from their computers. | | | | |
| Micro hard drive MP3 player is another option | | | | Most of the flash MP3 players come with |
| for travel since it is slightly smaller and | | | | 256MB, 512MB and 1GB. For hard drive MP3 |
| lighter than hard drive MP3 player. Flash | | | | players, they have gigabytes of storage |
| memory MP3 player is also popular for travel | | | | capacity. If you would like to store many |
| if you do not mind to listen to the same | | | | songs or CD collections in one, hard drive |
| music.b) MP3 player good for sport / jogging | | | | MP3 player or micro hard drive MP3 player is |
| gym | | | | a better choice for you. |