How to Buy an MP3 Player

Introduction

Whether you want to get your groove on while working out or would like to amuse yourself as you commute on public transit, a portable MP3 music player could suit your needs. MP3 players--available in a wide variety of styles and sizes and capable of storing thousands of songs--capitalize on digital technology to supplant traditional Walkman-style cassette-tape players and portable CD players.

The Big Picture

Today's players pack loads of songs, and the devices are easy to manage, too. We'll help you figure out which one is best for you. more

The Specs Explained

The storage capacity and battery life of an MP3 player can have a big impact on how much you enjoy it. We'll explain what's behind these and other specifications. more

MP3 Player Shopping Tips

Our advice will help you find the right MP3 player for your lifestyle without paying too much. more

The Big Picture

Introduction

The Big Picture

The Specs Explained

MP3 Player Shopping Tips

A portable digital audio player sets your music free so you can easily mix and match songs in any order and take the tunes with you. MP3 players generally use one of three storage mediums: hard drive, flash memory, or (now, relatively rarely) recordable CDs. Hard-drive players offer the greatest amount of storage space but also cost the most (although the ratio of price to storage space is getting better). Flash-memory models hold a more limited number of songs but are far more durable than hard-drive players. MP3-capable CD players have an unfashionable chunkiness, but recordable CDs are cheap and provide plenty of capacity for MP3 files.

An alternative technology beckons as well: Portable media centers, made by companies like Archos, IRiver, Pogo, and Creative Labs play both music and video (on LCD displays about the size of a playing card). Exclusively hard-drive devices, these $500 to $700 handheld entertainment consoles tie in closely with desktop PCs and let you watch hours of recorded television shows or movies.

Getting Started

Nearly all MP3 players require that you have a reasonably modern PC with a free USB 1.1 or 2.0 port (and, in some cases, a FireWire port). As you begin creating your music collection on the computer, you may want to upgrade your hard drive to be able to store more files.

Specialized MP3 players are not the only devices you can buy to listen to your music: You can now get mobile telephones, thumb drives, digital cameras, personal digital assistants, car stereos, and even wristwatches that can store and play back MP3 music files. Many pocket-size voice memo recorders can now also record and play back MP3 files. But a word to the wise: Dedicated MP3 players usually sound better and have more user-friendly controls than hybrid devices.

Key Features:

Storage: The greater the storage capacity, the more songs you can take with you. Hard-drive-based players hold the most--currently, the highest capacity is 80GB (almost 1300 hours of music compressed at 128 kilobits per second), and we expect larger capacities this year. Flash-memory-based models generally max out at 512MB of built-in storage (around 120 songs), though you can buy a few pricey 1GB models. Some flash MP3 players offer buyers the option of adding memory through either Secure Digital, SmartMedia, or MultiMediaCards, which cost roughly $50 to $65 for 512MB; even if you spring for an expansion media card, you may outgrow it quickly.

File management: MP3 files include ID3 tags, meta information embedded within each song file that provides artist, song title, and album name information to the player. Working with this data, a player can organize the files for you, though each does so in its own way. Look for an easy-to-read LCD screen, and one that shows the information you use most. Even with a good display, it can be hard to navigate among the more than 10 hours of songs that a CD disc can hold.

Transfer speed/port type: Downloading 5GB of songs all at once from your PC using a USB 1.1 interface can take all night. If you're a speed freak, look for players that employ the much faster USB 2.0 (most newer ones do) or FireWire (IEEE 1394). With FireWire (included on Apple's IPod, among other players) you can transfer an entire song in seconds. (If your PC lacks a FireWire port, you can add an internal FireWire card for as little as $35.)

Software: All players come with software and drivers that allow you to download songs to them from a PC. Some of the more popular units have drivers you can use within RealOne or MusicMatch Jukebox; this permits you to rip from a CD-ROM and download the resulting MP3 file to your player using the same application. Other players come with proprietary software. Hard-drive-based players often let you use Windows Explorer to drag and drop your files into the device.

File type support: All digital audio players can play MP3 files, but your music may not be recorded in that file format. If you use media files encoded in the proprietary Windows Media file format (files with a.wma or.wmv suffix for audio or video, respectively) or the open-source Ogg-Vorbis format (suffixed with.ogg), your media player will only be able to play those files if it has appropriate support built in. Check the player's specs, either on the box or on the manufacturer's Web site, if file format support is important to you. And even if your player doesn't support your preferred format out of the box, many manufacturers provide downloadable updates to the player's firmware, some of which can add support for other formats.

The Specs Explained

Introduction

The Big Picture

The Specs Explained

MP3 Player Shopping Tips

Initially only a few MP3 players dominated the market. Now you can choose from dozens of players, each sporting a wide variety of features. (Compare prices now.)

No matter which player you pick, be sure you test it in a retail store before you buy--even if you don't buy it from that store. When you test a player, pay close attention to the interface you use to choose the song you want to play: Large LCD screens will let you find and organize stored music more easily than tiny ones. Also look for a player that holds the most songs in the smallest package you can afford.

<table cellspacing="1" cellpadding="4" border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#666666" bordercolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr align="center" bgcolor="#0044b6" valign="middle"> <td class="chartHead" align="middle">Feature</td> <td class="chartHead" align="middle">Flash memory-based players ($99-$350)</td> <td class="chartHead" align="middle">Hard drive MP3 players ($250-$500)</td> </tr> <tr align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <td class="chartText" rowspan="2" align="middle"><b>Size and weight</b></td> <td class="chartText" align="middle">About the size of a deck of cards. Weight: a few ounces or less</td> <td class="chartText" align="middle">Sports Walkman-size. Weight: about 0.3 to 1 pound</td> </tr> <tr align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <td class="chartText" colspan="3" align="left"><b>An important consideration.</b> People who will bring the player with them while exercising or on trips will want a smaller, lighter player. Apple's IPod (which weighs in at a third of a pound) is the exception to the rule that players with a hard drive weigh more than other types of players, although the constant evolution of the technology means that smaller and lighter players are always around the corner.</td> </tr> <tr align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#DBDBDB"> <td class="chartText" rowspan="2" align="middle"><b>Storage capacity (at 128 kbps)</b></td> <td class="chartText" align="middle">32MB to 512MB</td> <td class="chartText" align="middle">2GB to 60GB</td> </tr> <tr align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#DBDBDB"> <td class="chartText" colspan="3" align="left"><b>An important consideration.</b> At about 1MB per minute of CD-quality MP3 music, storage directly correlates to the number of songs you can upload from your PC. Some flash memory devices let you put songs on removable SmartMedia or CompactFlash storage cards, which can hold up to an additional 1GB of music.</td> </tr> <tr align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <td class="chartText" rowspan="2" align="middle"><b>Battery life</b></td> <td class="chartText" align="middle">20 to 60 hours</td> <td class="chartText" align="middle">60 hours</td> </tr> <tr align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <td class="chartText" colspan="3" align="left"><b>Somewhat important.</b> You may have to trade battery life for greater capacity. Hard drive devices chew through batteries. Flash-memory-based players with no moving parts are the most frugal. Some devices include rechargeable batteries.</td> </tr> <tr align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#DBDBDB"> <td class="chartText" rowspan="2" align="middle"><b>Upload interface</b></td> <td class="chartText" align="middle">Serial, USB, or removable media</td> <td class="chartText" align="middle">USB 1.1, USB 2.0, FireWire, or removable media</td> </tr> <tr align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#DBDBDB"> <td class="chartText" colspan="3" align="left"><b>Somewhat important.</b> The faster the interface, the faster you can load music onto the player. Some devices let you put songs on removable SmartMedia or CompactFlash storage cards. Speed is less important on players with smaller storage capacity, which is why larger hard-drive devices support the faster USB 2.0 or FireWire interface.</td> </tr> <tr align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <td class="chartText" rowspan="2" align="middle"><b>File format support</b></td> <td class="chartText" align="middle">MP3, WMA/OGG</td> <td class="chartText" align="middle">MP3, WMA/WMV, OGG, RMJ/RMX</td> </tr> <tr align="center" valign="middle" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <td class="chartText" colspan="3" align="left"><b>A minor consideration.</b> Some players support Microsoft's WMA and ASF formats, and/or Real Networks' RMJ and RMX formats, in addition to MP3. Finding players that support the OGG format can be a little harder; if a manufacturer supports OGG in one of its players, it's more likely to support OGG in all of its players. Support for more file formats lets you listen to a wider variety of music files. </td> </tr> </table>

MP3 Player Shopping Tips

Introduction

The Big Picture

The Specs Explained

MP3 Player Shopping Tips

Choosing the right MP3 player isn't that difficult, but one player does not fit all. People will want different things from their players. MP3 CD players represent the best value: Most retail for less than $200, and additional blank discs are cheap.

Think about how you'll use the player. Joggers will almost certainly want a lightweight, flash-memory-based device, since hard drives don't react well to the shock of bouncing around all the time; audio aficionados who want lots of music at their fingertips should keep their eyes on the highest-capacity hard-drive models.

Try your favorite before taking it home. We can't stress this enough. Make sure you can use the on-screen display to navigate to a specific song, and ask a clerk to show you how to transfer music to the device, if possible. Always bring your own set of headphones to listen to the sound quality of each unit you're interested in. If you plan to test CD-based MP3 players, bring your own disc.

Get the largest-capacity device you can afford. Whether you buy a flash- or hard-drive-based MP3 player, make sure to choose a model with the largest storage capacity possible. Even if you don't think you'll need it now, you will probably be happy to have it later.

Pay close attention to the user interface. The simplest-to-use MP3 players use a Windows Explorer-like file and folder interface to organize music on the player. While some players require you to use their software to pick the play order before loading music files, other players let you rearrange the songs once the music is in the player.

Mind your power options. While some portable players use replaceable alkaline batteries, many feature a built-in rechargeable battery that cannot be easily removed. While these devices can keep going for tens of hours, if you're not going to be somewhere near a power outlet or a computer with a USB port, you might find yourself out of juice with no way to charge the player.

Check the prices for extra storage. If you're considering a player that uses one of the major memory card formats (Secure Digital, SmartMedia, MultiMediaCard, or Memory Stick) to store music files, factor the price for an extra or replacement memory card into the cost of the player.

Look for wide file format support. While this isn't a necessity, players that support music files in the MP3, WMA (Windows Media Audio), and OGG formats give you more listening options than players that support just one or two of those formats.

Consider a player with an FM tuner. This feature isn't essential, but it's a nice addition--especially if you grow tired of your own music.

Do you need a carrying case? Some players come with a small carrying case, others don't. The more expensive and more fragile the player (hard-drive devices are the most delicate), the more likely you'll want a custom-fitted case to protect it. If you plan to carry your player with you wherever you go, consider investing in both a fitted cover and a rugged carrying case that can also hold headphones, a USB cable, and/or batteries.

Shop around, online and offline. MP3 players are widely available in almost every consumer electronics outlet, and their prices fluctuate. You can check prices from a variety of sources at PriceGrabber before you buy.