mp3 Player Buying Guide

Our mp3 Player Buying Guide offers complete buying advice for anyone in the market for a new mp3 player, whether they happen to be novice or expert. Have a good look around!mp3 Player: Buying TipsSo what do you need to know before starting the process of buying an mp3 player? These music players can cost you a lot of your hard-earned cash, so you need to make yourself  aware of a few things beforehand.BudgetFirstly, know your budget. As when buying anything - particularly something like an mp3 player, that could be thought of as 'unessential' - work out your absolute limit and stick with it; retailers will always try to tempt you to part with that extra few poundsUsesThink about what you need your mp3 player. If you only have a few albums at home and have no intention of buying thousands of downloads,  there’s no point in buying a music player that can hold thousands of downloads – that extra storage costs!RequirementsAn mp3 player isn't much use without a computer - so if you don't have one, get one!LegalitiesDon't take this lightly, please. Although many people get away with downloading 'illegally', if you do it, you run the risk of being caught out by your network provider. If you don't pay for it, be prepared for the consequences.mp3 Player Buying Advice: UsesThere are thousands of situations where you might want to plug yourself into an mp3 player, but before buying one, you'll need to think about the sort of situations you are likely to use yours in. It's important to do this as your answers will affect the kind of music player you should buy. Read on for some pointers....TravelIf you spend a lot of time travelling, you will need an mp3 player that will give you plenty of storage for long journeys, but not weigh too much to add unnecessary strain. You could either plump for a music player with a large capacity or, if you are travelling around with your laptop as well, a smaller, flash-based mp3 player should do you, and you can access your vast library from your laptop. Make sure you invest in some decent headphones if you are travelling - for comfort, as well as sound quality.FitnessIf you use your mp3 player in the gym, you'll need one that is compact and easy to use with one hand. A flash-based model will probably be best as they can withstand the rigours of a workout and you might also require an armband to strap it on. We would also advise grabbing an exercise-friendly pair of earphones, that won't slip out with lots of movement. You can buy sweat-resistant mp3 players, too, and some music players have extra features for getting fit, including calorie counters or pedometers.RecordingYou'll need an mp3 player with a built-in mic to use it as a voice recorder/dictaphone. There aren't many music players that offer decent recording functions, but those that do use line-level sources such as CD players or stereo outputs, meaning you can also create recordings of tapes, CDs and vinyl, and turn them into MP3, WAV, or WMA files, for example. You can also record live audio, although you may need to grab a proper microphone that can output a strong enough signal.VideoVideo playback is a standard feature of modern-day music players and as long as they have a screen big enough, are worth it for their ability to provide something extra on long journeys, for example. We would recommend a minimum of a 2-inch screen - any smaller and you will be causing yourself eyestrain. If you intend to store lots of video, make sure you get as big a storage capacity as possible, as video files are very big.mp3 Player Buying Advice: TypesOnce you have gone through what you can afford and what you might need your mp3 player for, you need to look at the type of  music player you want. There are two choices available to you, both utilising different technologies; hard drive-based and Flash-based devices.Hard drive devicesHard drive mp3 players are capable of storing huge amounts of data and would have no problem storing every CD in your collection and your friends' collections put together. You will generally get more features than are available on Flash-based devices - video playback, for one - but they are heavier and bulkier. If you want one purely for video, you might be more suited to a portable DVD player, for example. It's important to remember that hard drive players are constructed with movable parts, so are apt skip or jump when out jogging and you should also be aware that battery life can be a short.Flash drive devicesFlash-based mp3 players have no movable parts and will have no problems with skipping, if you’re out jogging or exercising down the gym. Lightweight and extremely mobile they also benefit from low power usage which means a less battery changes. Storage is limited, so if you listen to lots of music and go for Flash, be prepared to spend a fair amount of time changing music on your PC. Having said this, Flash drives are coming down in price at manufacturing level and storage size is slowly beginning to grow - the next few years might see Flash players becoming the way forward.mp3 Buying Advice: FeaturesThere is a lot you need to think about before buying a new mp3 player, so here's a look at some of those key features you will need to equip yourself with before taking the plungeStorageStorage, or memory, is vital to an mp3 player as it directly impacts the amount of dat - or songs/videos - you can keep on it. When considering mp3 players, we usually use the measurement known as the gigabyte, or GB. A gigabyte is made up of 1000 megabytes, or MB, and the more GB you have, the more data your music player can hold. Storage in mp3 players ranges widely from 256MB - which is enough space for around 125 songs to 160GB - which is enough for 40,000 songs - and continues to grow with each year. Video uses up a lot more storage - 160GB is enough for around 200 hours of video.File TypesWhen using mp3 players, you will need to get used to the different names of audio and video files. Here are some of the main ones:

MP3 - Used in pretty much all portable music players.WMA - Designed by Microsoft, WMA files are generally regarded as being of a higher quality than mp3s, and are used by many online music stores. You will find that any CDs ripped in Windows Media Player on your computer will be WMA files by default.AAC - Apple's iTunes music store uses AAC files. Not many other music players will support it, but as it can be played on an iPod, I doubt Apple care too much.WAV - WAV files are raw, uncompressed audio, which most players can play, but most people won't ever use them.ConnectivityYour MP3 player to connects to your computer via two main methods, which are USB and Firewire. Firewire was traditionally regarded by many as the fastest and there are currently two standard USB types: 1.1 and 2.0, which is much quicker and now on par with Firewire. Ethernet, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity are also becoming popular in newer mp3 players.

It's very important to make sure the connections on your computer match with your mp3 player, although it's often cheap enough to upgrade your PC - for example, you can pick up a Firewire card for £20.SoftwareThe majority of music players come with software that you can install on your PC and use to rip tracks from your own CDs, download files from the Internet and organise your music or videos. These software packages are generally easy to install and can often be found on the Internet beforehand and can be used without buying an actual player, so it could be worth testing a few out to see which you prefer.mp3 Player Buying Advice: BrandsThere are some big companies making mp3 players; some, like the Apple iPod or the Sony Walkman have become iconic. Most companies will offer a wide range of players with varying functions - here's closer look at what to expect....mp3 Player Brands: AppleiPodThe Apple iPod is probably the most iconic music player in the world, and has really changed the landscape when it comes to how we consume music. There are various types of iPod you can consider, all are controlled via Apple's iTunes service and there really is something for everyone.iPod ShuffleThe smallest of the iPod family, the Shuffle is great for those with an active lifestyle, as it is so small, light and compact you can barely notice it on your person, whether it is clipped to the top of your shorts while you are in the gym or housed in a special arm strap when you're out jogging.iPod NanoThe Nano is the next size up from the Shuffle and offers a more refined control capability, with multi-touch now a key feature. Great for listening to tunes while out and about, the Nano also features a built in radio and is available in 8GB or 16GB models.iPod ClassicApple's iPod Classic is aptly named and is based on the original design of the very first iPods. The current iPod Classic comes with a massive 160GB of storage space - that's enough for 40,000 songs, 25,000 photographs and 200 hours of video.iPod TouchThe iPod Touch is Apple's newest addition to the iPod family and provides a sort of link between Apple's music players and the iPhone. Buy an iPod Touch and get ready for some great features, including the ability to download and play games, access to Apple's FaceTime and dazzle your eyes on Apple's world-famous, highly detailed Retina Display.mp3 Player Brands: ArchosArchos are a French company who have been making mp3 players for well over a decade and some of their recent offerings have been designed as somewhere inbetween media players and tablet PCs.

Traditionally a producer of high-end mp3 and video (mp4) players, Archos have picked up a reputation for providing excellent sound quality and even better video quality, although on occasions have been accused as been user un-friendly.

Continue Reading mp3 Player Buying Guide at our Technology Guides site ReviewExplorer.com