What to look for in an mp3 player

Welcome to the digital mp3 age! Who could have thought a decade back that cassette record player will be replaced by compact and ultra-light digital audio players most popularly known as MP3 players. These days you can find MP3 players that are as small as the USB device with a dual function. There are some popular brands like the Apple I-Pod, the Microsoft Zune, Creative, Sandisk, Isonic etc. Most of the mp3 players today have a high memory capability and multiple functions. The memory can range from 1GB to 300 GB.

You can find some attractive and useful mp3 players at Play.com, which is a brilliant store for different products and services. You can check out the Apple iPod Nano MP3 Player with the following features:

• 2-inch (diagonal) liquid crystal display with blue-white LED backlight
• Audio formats supported: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
• 8GB or 16GB flash drive2
• Holds up to 2,000 or 4,000 songs in 128-Kbps AAC format3
• and weighs only 1.3 ounces
  

Different mp3 players have different configurations and have different functional capabilities. Some of the mp3 players come with basic functions and buttons while others have complex functionalities and fancy displays. So when you are out there in the market to find the right mp3 player then you need to look for the following functionalities:

i. Memory: The first thing that you should consider is the memory. There is no point buying an mp3 player with 30GB memory if you are not going to use it for storing other files like videos or presentations. 30GB of memory space is a lot for storing just mp3 or audio files. Of course, it will be useless to pick up a mp3 player with 1GB of space if you love to listen to music or if you plan to transfer all your mp3 files into the player.

ii. Connection: This is an important aspect of all mp3 players. Connection refers to the compatibility to your computer. There are only a few mp3 players that offer wireless transfer of files but most of the mp3 players offer two options: USB and FireWire. Whether your mp3 player has the USB option or the FireWire option, you will need a cable, which will be included in the packaging box itself such as Apple who provide this. The cable will connect the mp3 player to the USB port of your computer so that you can easily transfer files from the computer to the mp3 player or vice-versa. The USB compatibility is the most popular and common connection today. It works well with both the PC and the Mac and are compliant with USB 1.1 and 2.0. FireWire primarily supports connection to the Mac.

iii. Display: The display is also an important aspect of any mp3 player. Most of the mp3 players available today have a display screen although the size of the screen will vary from player to player. If you are buying a small mp3 player then the display screen might be as small as 12x30mm or it can be as big as 2.5’". The display screen will let you know what music is being played, the time, and other important information. The display screen will also help you to operate the main menu so that you can choose a particular function.

iv. Type of files: All mp3 players can save or play particular audio files or convert a particular type of audio file into an mp3 file. So when you are shopping for an mp3 player, you need to find a player that can play Mp3 and support WMA as well as AAC audio files. Apart from that the mp3 player should also be able to support MPEG4-SP, MJPEG, WMV9, DivX 4/5, and XviD.

These are some of the most important aspects of an mp3 player that will help you to make an informed choice. Apart from these aspects, any extra functions will also be useful like FM radio, Clock & alarm, voice recorder etc.