Lizzie asked:


I’m looking for a new mp3 player (right now I have a Zen V Plus) that has great to outstanding sound quality, long battery life, is reasonably priced, and “nice looking.” I’m looking for an 8 GB to 16 GB and would prefer to stay away from Ipod but hey who knows. So what would you reccomend?

Billy

John Dow asked:




MP3 players come in many different shapes, sizes, and features. Every major manufacturer usually has multiple models that are designed to highlight some special purpose or particular use. And then of course you have the color coordinated and designer models. What started out as a simple way to take your music with you has turned into an industry.

The amount of models and price ranges are staggering. After the major brands you have as many or more knock off brands that try to emulate the big sellers. These knock offs and me too models look the same but may not have the quality or the reliability of the name brands. But for half the cost, many are willing to take the chance.

One of the most popular uses of an MP3 Player is while people exercise. There are many models and accessories available to attach the units like arm and wristbands, clips, and belt holders. Earphones come in all shapes, sizes, and styles to help hold them on when you are exercising. But some manufacturers take it to the next level with specially designed models.

One of the best I’ve seen for exercising with some special features is the HHS1A-2G sport by Haier. It comes with a built-in pedometer and heart-rate monitor, water resistant design, and workout and calorie tracking software. The Haier player comes with 2 GB of memory, armband, earphones, and USB cable. It retails for around $50.

If you don’t want or need the pedometer or heart rate monitor and still want a small rugged MP3 player for exercising Sansa has a great one too. The SanDisk Sansa Clip+ is very inexpensive and a built-in belt-clip, a MicroSD card slot, a voice recorder, an FM tuner, 2 GB of memory, and weighs less than an ounce. The Sansa Clip+ retails for around $40.

There are also MP3 players that have special features that outperform the basic function. People who like to listen to their favorite radio station rather than recorded music have several models that have FM tuners. The SanDisk Sansa Clip+ mentioned above does and offers good reception. The Creative Zen Mozaic has one of the best FM radio setups with great reception, autofind, and 10 preselects. Plus a voice recorder, built in speaker, and photo and video support. All these features for under $100 retail and 8 GB of memory too.

Another special purpose player that also comes with a very heavy dose of “cool” is the Oakley Split Thump sunglasses that offer wireless music by integrating a player into a compact and wearable design. Very good for all outdoor activities, the Split Thumps work with both Windows and Mac plus have up to 1 GB of memory. These stylish sunglasses come in several colors, polarized lenses, and typical 8 hours of battery life. The only real drawback is the price, around $200.

One of the most unusual and high tech specialty models I’ve ever seen are the SwiMP3 v2. The SwiMP3 V2 uses bone conduction technology rather than plugging in earphones. It consists of two “earpieces,” which are attached by a cord that loops around the back of the neck or on to goggles if you wear them for swimming. You just affix them to your cheekbones where vibrations from the player are resonated from the cheekbone to your inner ear. You will get some strange looks since if you wear goggles and a swim cap these devices make you look just like an alien. Not for the bashful or easily embarrassed. The memory is only 256 Megs but how many laps are you going to swim? These units retail for around $120.

So if you have a special need or want a particular feature or function, check out some of the models mentioned above. There are a vast amount of choices for MP3 players and many are designed for specific activities or functions. So next time you’re in the market for a new MP3 player for exercising or outdoor activities, do a little research and I’ll bet you can find one that is designed for exactly what you want.

Charlene

Michael Paul Jr asked:




If you’re having a difficult time deciding on the right MP3 player for you or a family member, don’t fret. I know how you feel. And I’m here to help. I’ve put together this buying guide for MP3 players to help you decide which player best suits your needs. Over the coming days, you and I will cover everything you need to know and make the right decision for you and contrary to what my regular readers may already be thinking, that choice might not automatically be an iPod.

Before we start talking about specific models, let’s begin our discussion by covering all of the different types of players. Each type will have different benefits for you, and have its own drawbacks as well. But with the many different types of MP3 players available, you’re sure to find one to suit your needs.

One more note of interest, most MP3 players will play other formats. These formats include but are not limited to WMA, OGG, AAC, and others.

Hard Drive based players

If you’re the type of person that has to have a manor house in the British countryside to house your collection of records and CDs (yes, former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman is that person), you’ll probably need a hard drive based MP3 player. Hard drives at this point in time run anywhere from 20GB up to 80GB in the current top of the line iPod model. That 80GB will let you pack around about 25,000 songs in your pocket on average, which is much better than packing around that many CDs worth of songs.

Pros: All of your music is with you everywhere you go. Many of these bigger players also offer video capability and are far cheaper per gigabyte than the smaller models. Hard drive players give you the best bang for your buck in the overall scheme of things.

Cons: Since these players have basically a laptop hard drive in them, they are bigger and heavier than the rest. Hard drives have to spin to read the information, which means moving parts, which means less battery life. The batteries for these players generally require you to send them back to the manufacturer if they need to be replaced as well.

Micro Hard Drive based players

These players are the in-betweeners. These models offer the best of both worlds by using a smaller hard drive than their big brothers with a larger capacity than many of the Flash based players. Players such as many of the Creative products can’t store as much as the big iPod, but they are a lot lighter.

Pros: Smaller and lighter than full hard drive based players. Song capacity is higher than many flash based players for the same price.

Cons: Many of the same drawbacks as their larger cousins. Moving parts make for shorter battery life than smaller, flash based players. Also, any player with a hard drive inside is not the best choice if you plan on taking your tunes along with you to the gym. You don’t want to jar that hard drive around while you’re doing that last mile on the treadmill.

Flash memory based players

Flash memory based players originated the craze. Long before the iPod, small flash based players were available from Creative, SanDisk and other manufacturers. Ranging in size from the 512MB player from SanDisk and the 1GB iPod Shuffle, to the 8GB iPod Nano. Flash players provide the most versatility in design and choice.

Pros: Tiny. Miniscule. Ridiculously small. Take a look at the newest iPod Shuffle. It’s as small as a matchbook. And forget about moving parts. There are none. These players are solid-state, so you can move and jump and hop around all you like, these guys don’t care.

Cons: Flash based players are the most expensive per-gigabyte of any player. And some of us with fat fingers and bear paws for hands have a hard time using the controls.

MP3 CD

The CD player still lives, but now you can burn a disc with MP3s and carry about 10 times the amount of songs on a disc as a traditional player. And you can still play standard CDs as well.

Pros: Cheapest way to go for most folks.

Cons: Big, bulky, ugly, totally not cool. CDs are so dull and boring at this point. Resort to this choice only if you wish to have no social life whatsoever. Just walk into a room with one of these guys strapped to your side and listen for the snickers to begin.

Clinton

HelloKitty! asked:


My little step brother has a Ben 10 MP3 player, and i’ve just put songs on it, but it doesnt show any of them that i put on. How many songs maximum can you put on them. Because it will help, seeing as i will then know whether i put them on wrong, or it just has no more room? Thanks!

Randy

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

Daniel P asked:


I was looking for an iPod touch alternative, and I stumbled upon the Archos 605 WiFi, but that was too big, costly and hard drive based. I was looking for a flash based MP3 Player that has good WiFi battery life, and a built in web browser. Thank you!

Rosa

Hope asked:


Whenever I turn on the radio setting of my MP3 player when i’m in the car, on my bike or even walking it is all staticy. I can’t year anything but a vague resemblance of the song on the radio. Does anybody have any idea why this happens and what to do about it?

Also if it helps I have a Sansa 260 model, but It did it on my other MP3 player that was a nonbrand.

Victor

jon asked:


I am in the market for an mp3 player, but am not sure that i want an ipod because i have heard the battery is not replaceable and it is not compatible with napster. I know there is a plethora of accesories for the ipod out there an was just wondering if they work with any other players. thanks.

Holly

br1an767 asked:


I want to get a phone with and mp3 player on it for christmas and i really do not know much about mp3 players but i have a lot of music on itunes and i was wondering if you can use i tunes for mp3 players or is there something else that you are supposed to use.

Thanks a lot guys.

Pearl

Helen asked:


I am after a small mp3 player for when i am on my push bike. But i wanted it to play the radio, but i dont seem to be able to find one anywhere.

Terri