Daniel Hansen asked:




You must have been living inside a cave placed on top of a steep mountain with bats and snakes around you for the past decade if you still don’t know what an mp3 player is. If you were to ask me the difference between portable players and CD players, well my answer is pretty simple. CD player is both pre-portable music player and post-walk man.

CD players are kind of almost obsolete with the arrival of mp3s, mp4s, iPods and other portable music players. CD player and mp3 players are like VHS and DVD.

Most people would even own a made-in-china mp3 player than own the most expensive CD player in the world, trust me.

But if you’re still not convinced with my statements above, read this whole article to fully understand the advantage of this new breed of music player over obsolete portable digitalmusic players.

Though most cars, stereos and computers still use CDs, it doesn’t mean you should also always carry and use CDs anywhere you go.

Portable CD players are bulky to bring while traveling. You must bring all the CDs you want to listen to. You have to switch CDs to change artist or album or type of music you want to listen. You also have to bring lots of AA batteries with you, or rechargeable batteries and chargers it case the battery drains. You also have to be wary if you carry the player with you while walking because a bump can cause the music to stop.

Of course CDs will eventually get scratched no matter how careful you hold it, the worst part of it is it skips songs and it stays that way forever. Your most favorite and expensive CD can be damaged forever.

In mp3 players, there’s no need to carry CDs. You can download any songs you want and arrange your playlists by artist, album or song types with simple press of buttons. It is very handy, you can place it inside you pocket.

Leslie

Mike Singh asked:




According to the latest market studies, the iPod has sold over 1.5 million units as compared to the other MP3 players. The iPod video 30gb holds over 15,000 songs, 25,000 photos, or 150 hours of video with a battery life of 14 hours for music, and two hours for videos. This is exciting when we think about having no choices a few years ago, or carrying around a lot of CDs. Of course, we could always listen to the car stereo! But when a person is out shopping for a MP3 player, is the iPod really any better?

First of all, we need to understand that the iPod is an MP3 player, not that iPods and MP3 players are identical and in competition. A good rule of thumb to remember is this: when you look for a DVR, you don’t say you are looking for a DVR. For example, you say you are looking for a Tivo. An analogy would be this – when you go to buy a carbonated beverage or soda, you don’t say you are looking for a carbonated beverage, you say you are looking for a Coke or a Pepsi. Both are carbonated beverages. When you look for an MP3 player, you don’t say you are looking for a MP3 player – because it could be any brand, including the iPod. You say you are looking for an iPod. This, and other subtle differences, is the difference between an iPod and an MP3 player. And when recognizing this, understand that of all the negative reviews of any of the MP3 players, all the complaints of errors were 95% user errors – not reading what the item was actually capable of doing.

The iPod is the most popular MP3 player out there. This is not even open for discussion. Owned by celebrities in the Rolling Stone Magazine or on Entertainment Tonight, you never see them talking about the benefits and features of their Creative Labs or iRiver, other brands of the MP3 players. Why? Because it is not considered “hip” or “cool” to talk about anything other than an iPod. It HAS to be an iPod for a person to fit in, to be with it, and to be accepted as one of the leaders in MP3 players.

But then, don’t most of us grow up? We begin to see all options that fit our needs, not just what is hip. We begin to see ourself as an individual, not just as one of a group – with no separate identity. We pass through Junior High and High school, and head into college, begin a family, or just get on with life. And with this, we begin to see the benefits of more affordable MP3 players, not just one. We begin to look at what we want in a MP3 player beside a brand name.

The most important focus for most buyers who are paying their own bills is money. The iPods are very expensive, with a nonreplacable battery that loses its resiliency in about a couple years. And if money is issues with the ol’ pocket … consider how much extra space you can get for your dollar by going with a different brand name than iPod. If the price tag on the iPod 60GB player is $399 and the price tag on the Toshiba 60GB player is $249, then a person has something to consider. Another option could be the MP3 CD players, which offer more megabytes per dollar with CDs that hold 10 hours of music each. Some people get hung up on the fact it is not a hard drive-based player, while others feel it is comparable enough to go for the extra saved money. It’s all about choice.

Additionally, the iPod video and audio formats can sometimes cause problems with people who like to use certain types of media formats. Apple uses a few exclusive types of video and audio formats, like the AAC-encoded files, because they are Apple where other manufacturers use multiple formats to become more attractive to the consumer. Many reviews consider this an extremely negative drawback to the iPod, as they feel “hemmed in”. Other MP3 players allow the choice of “BuyMusic”, “Musicmatch”, or “Napster”. Most MP3 players support a wide range musical service choices. Make sure you investigate what formats are supported by iPod and other manufacturers you are considering, it could make or break your purchase.

Apple’s iPod is the industry leader for a reason, because they make tremendous products, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other great products on the market. With many drawback such as a high price, review complaints of limited support, limited memory, limited types of music that can be recorded or played, or with unlimited ability to record online music. Other brands to look would be Rio, Creative, Samsung or Dell – it may be time to do a comparison study!

Jesus

Debra Brian asked:




There are over a thousand varieties of MP3 players in the market, as this is one device that almost everyone wants and thus every company has tried to fulfil this huge demand. The different MP3 players are all different in shape and size, and the functions they perform, making it difficult to choose one, especially if you are a novice where technology is concerned.

Here are the top MP3 players on the market to make it easier for you to choose from all the variety. The first four are the best ones to have for their small sizes, and the last four are the best where storage and performance is concerned.

Size:

1. Apple IPod Nano: Apple’s IPods are undeniably the market leaders where MP3 players are concerned. The Nano is one of their newer additions to the IPod family, with an extremely thin body, and 2 GB and 4 GB storage. Like a hard-drive player, it prevents songs skipping but its size provides all the comforts of a flash player. It has a colour display and the famous click wheel for navigation.

2. Creative Labs Zen Nano Plus: The Zen Nano has Line-In encoding, for when you want to record directly from your CD player, as well as the ability to connect to your laptop directly with ease. It comes in 512 MB and 1 GB models, available in 10 colours.

3. Cowon iAudio U2: This MP3 player provides great quality sound, with its BBE sound system. It comes in three colours (red, black, blue) and the display even shows song lyrics. It comes with a built-in batter, which can be charged via USB or AC adapter.

4. Apple IPod Shuffle: The Shuffle weighs less than an ounce, and is the smaller IPod on the market. It’s a great option if you’re on a budget or love exercising while listening to music. There is no screen, and it plays songs on random, so it’s great if you aren’t one for making play lists and like being surprised. It connects to your computer via USB and randomly downloads a number of songs onto its memory, and so you’ll never know what songs are on it till you listen.

Storage:

1. Apple IPod: Known as the Video IPod, this IPod comes in 30 GB and 60 GB sizes, in black or white. The display and the size make it possible for you to watch movies or TV shows on it as well as store your entire music collection.

2. Epson P-2000: This MP3 player will replace your CDs and your photo albums completely It has a 3.8 inch display, and a 40 GB hard drive which can download pictures directly from your camera.

3. Toshiba Gigabeat: This device transfers music really fast from your computer and can store 10, 20, 40 or 60 GB, depending on the model. It comes with a subscription service, and allows you to copy music from a CD with a touch of a button.

4. Iriver H10: This is an extremely durable MP3 player which comes with its own protective sleeve. It comes in 5, 6 or 20 GB varieties and a replaceable rechargeable battery.

Katie

Mike Selvon asked:




iTunes mp3 players are a wonderful addition to someone’s electronic device stash, but they will only play a certain authorized musical format, and if a person has anything other than an iPod, they may be out of luck in using the music they purchased.

What can a person do if they have bought these forms of music for their computer, but have something other than an iPod for a portable mp3 player? Answers are available if one only takes the time to look and not get too frustrated with Apple.

Many may ask why their iTunes mp3 players need to say iPod in order for them to work with music they have purchased. iTunes are protected because of the DRM or Digital Rights Management.

This group was created to ensure that musical piracy was hopefully stopped. The only problem with this is that when a person purchases iTunes for their computer and tries to transfer to a player brand other than an iPod the transfer fails. Many people do not realize this is an issue until it is too late.

Although these players are limited to just iPods, ways do exist to get around this road block. An easy method is to burn the tracks onto a CD.

Then an individual can open the CD in iTunes and the Convert Selection to MP3 option will allow a person to do whatever they wish with the music. What must be remembered is that when burning the CD, a person should burn an audio CD and not a data CD.

A data CD can keep a person from importing tracks from the CD. The only problem with this method is that a person will have two copies of their tracks. But, if one is persistent, then they can be assured that their efforts to make their iTunes mp3 players compatible will not go wasted.

However difficult this may seem to convert iTunes mp3 players music to use in any portable mp3 players system another way does exist to ensure that a person can listen to their purchased music without the use of an iPod.

Software exists to help one who has a huge amount of music on their computer to convert. Types of software such as NoteBurner or CD Emulator can help. Another brand of software is JHymn, and it can help a person to make sure their fair-use rights under copyright laws will help free the iTunes that a person has from the restrictions of the DRM.

The Apple iPod ones are a great asset to have for the iTunes mp3 players that they operate with. However, a person who has anything other than an iPod can be out of luck in a hurry.

If one is not aware of what they are doing, iTunes can be purchased with the intent of transforming them onto a portable mp3 player. But, this is not the case, and one can spend a ton of money on something they cannot use in the future if they do not do through research.

Tyrone

Jan g asked:


whats the difference between mp3 players and ipods? and can itunes gift cards be used with mp3 players?
do they work the same?

Ron

soccer567890 asked:


I have to write a persuasive essay for english class about why i think that iPods are better than all of the other mp3 players on the market. What does the iPod do that the rest don’t? How is itunes better than other software programs? Any websites talking about this kind of stuff would help a lot too. Thanks!

Peter

YA DIG!? asked:


I mean like other mp3 players (zune, creative zen ,ece) are soo much cheaper but why do people still choose ipods over them? I have an ipod touch, its great and stuff AND I LUVV IT!! but i just wanna know the answer to this question thanks!

Lauren

Kris asked:


I’m looking for a music player while i workout. I basically just want something that’s easy to use, plays songs and carries a large amount of songs. So i went to the store and saw some mp3 players and ipods but i don’t really see what the difference is between them?

anyone mind helping me out on choosing?

Bobby