MP3 player buying guide

Posted on 10 Dec 2009 at 16:11

 

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Find out all you need to know about choosing the right MP3 player.

Recommended minimum specs:

Capacity: 4GB

Technology: Flash memory

Interface: USB

Battery: Rechargeable Li-ion

Supported formats: MP3, WMA

Follow the steps to find your ideal specs

1. Basic MP3 players with capacities below 1GB are available from as little as £10, but a 4GB player costs around £40 and provides enough space to store several hundred MP3s encoded at 192Kbit/s. Most small MP3 players use solid-state flash memory for storage, and this is immune to shocks, knocks and bumps. Flash-based players are ideal if you want to use them while jogging, for example.
2. If you want to carry your entire music collection around with you, look for a hard disk player. These use compact 1in or 1.8in drives, and the highest capacity models can hold up to 160GB of media. Hard disk players are bulkier than flash-based devices and can be damaged if they are dropped, so you need to take care of them. With Flash players available with up to 64GB of memory, hard disk players should be avoided by most people.
3. It's unusual to find an MP3 player with a battery life of less than 10 hours. Ideally, you should look for something that lasts at least 15 hours. Flash-based players tend to be less power-hungry than hard disk players, but hard disk players usually have larger batteries. Few modern MP3 players use disposable batteries, but they're worth looking out for if you will be away from a power supply for long periods.
4. If you download tracks from online music stores then you need to make sure your player supports those formats. Apple's iTunes store sells tracks only in AAC format, while some other online stores use Microsoft's WMA-DRM format, although DRM-free MP3 files are more common. Not all players support a wide range of formats. If you want to listen to music in unusual formats such as Ogg or FLAC, for example, then you need to make sure they're supported by your player.
5. Many of the most popular MP3 players can also play video. Although they come with software to convert video into their preferred format, some players are more flexible than others when it comes to playing a wide range of video files, so check the manufacturer's specifications before you buy.

Author: Expert Reviews Staff