What Are MP3 Players

Table of Contents

• Convenient – take your music collection anywhere.
• Connected – easy to get music tracks off the internet.
• Clever – hi-tech entertainment and versatile functions such as recording, radio, and data storage.
• Cool – a nice MP3 player is an object of desire…tell your friends to buy their own!

If you’re choosing MP3 Players, there’s a wide variety of different designs, specifications, and functionalities. And of course the prices vary, so how can you work out which music players give you best value? Here are some pointers to the features that most often influence price:

• MEMORY SIZE / CAPACITY
  What is the storage capacity of the player? 256MB is enough to hold over four CDs-worth of music, but 1GB is going to give you hours and hours more!
• RADIO FEATURES
  Can the Player tune into FM Radio? Some players have auto-seek tuning and remember your favourite radio stations.
• RECORDING FEATURES
  A lot of MP3 Players will also feature voice recording / dictaphone function. You can often record in different quality formats, and a real bonus is having a high quality built-in microphone.
• FORMATS SUPPORTED
  What different formats of audio file can you import and play? Only MP3, or can you also play WMA (Windows Media audio), and WAV (uncompressed wave-file)?
• LOOKS
  What’s the design of the player like? You want it to look good – is the case made of metal or plastic, and what colours are available? And what about the earphones that come with it?
• DISPLAY
  What sort of screen does the player have? A good one can push up the price, but it can be worth it to have a slightly larger display, or one with colours or even pictures. (NB if the player can also display video files, it is known as an MP4 player and is usually more expensive than an MP3 player.)
• BATTERY LIFE
  Does it have a built-in battery, or do I have to supply batteries to make it work? How many hours playback is one battery charge going to give?