How to buy a mp3-player?

Mp3 players come in different shapes and sizes, so there are a number of things to consider when buying one. Basically they could be divided into two categories – hard drive players and flash memory players. Both have their pros and cons. Players with hard drives normally have a large amount of storage but are bigger and more prone to damage because of the fragility of the disks. Flash memory players are smaller and more durable because they have no moving parts but also have less space for songs.

How much storage is enough? Here are a few numbers for comparison:
1 GB holds approximately 250 songs, ripped at 128 kbps. iPod nano 8GB can store about 2000 songs, iPod classic 160GB about 40 000, ripped at 128 kbps.
So, when looking at storage think about how many songs do you want to take with you – there’s no point on buying a 80 GB player if you only want to carry a few hundred songs, smaller storage would be a way to go here. On the other hand, if you have a really large music collection and you want to have all of it with you, then big capacity is necessary.

Another important thing you definitely need to know, is what kind of file formats are supported by the player. While mp3 is the most wide spread format, there are many others, so it’s important that before buying, you make sure that the player supports the format(s) of your music files.

Same goes for the online music stores you’re using – all players don’t work with all the stores.

In addition, make sure that the player works with your computer. For example, some players do not work with Macs.

Battery life. Hard drive based players consume more power, so normally their batteries last less than those of flash memory based players, which are relatively energy efficient. Either way battery should last at least ten hours of audio play. Playing video drains the battery much faster than playing audio.

Display and interface. These two really are more or less interconnected and reliant on each other. The bigger the screen, the better possibilities for interface. Now there are those that have no interface whatsoever and to be honest – they don’t need one. These are more often than not players with rather small capacity and basically built to play just few hundred songs at random. On the other hand, the ones with interface – just go for the ones that are easy to handle and manipulate. Obviously, when it comes to video playback, you’re going to want as big as you can get, so in this case iPod Touch would be the way to go.

In addition to playing audio and video some players have additional functions like FM radio tuner, voice recording, wireless internet connectivity etc.

Some of the most popular brands are Apple iPod, SanDisk Sansa, Creative Labs, Sony, Samsung, Cowon, Archos.

When I chose my mp3 player, I had two main requirements: large enough capacity and small size. So, I went for iPod nano 8GB and I’m very pleased with it.