Archive for the ‘articles’ Category

Pick of the month – MP3 players

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

Note that this is NOT a “best of” list: there are simply too many MP3 players available for any one critic, or even legion of critics, to rate them all. So instead, I’ve randomly selected five mp3 digital media players that will surely appeal to audio or video enthusiasts.

Cowon D2
Cowon

Cowon’s sales in North America may be modest, but this Korean company sure knows how to keep its customers happy. The Cowon D2 is a compact MP3 digital media player with a sleek design and tons of high-end features, such as a lovely, touch-sensitive 2.5-inch LCD screen, video playback, an internal micro for voice recording, and an FM tuner. More importantly, the sound and video playback quality is exceptional. The D2 comes with a handy stylus and goes easy on the batteries.

iPod touch (2nd generation)
Apple

A bit pricey, but with so many cutting-edge features, you can’t go wrong with the iPod touch. This MP3 digital media player sports a shiny, stainless steel back, and has every feature you could think of: aside of listening to music, you can watch movies, check your email, browse the Internet, play your favorite games, check out podcasts, and download new media clips from iTunes. Audio quality is average, but for gamers and music-listeners on the go it does the job just fine. And while you will need iTunes software to use some of its features, the second-generation iPod Touch is definitely years ahead of the competition.

P3
Samsung

Courtesy of Samsung, the P3 portable MP3 digital multimedia player is a great piece of technology. Samsung’s MP3 player looks great, with a sleek, die-cast metal case and a gorgeous 3-inch, full-color touch-screen. Available in 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB models, the P3 has a boatload of features, including a personal voice recorder, an FM radio tuner, and Bluetooth connectivity. The P3 has a gorgeous, fun interface and supports a wide variety of media formats.

SM010A
Saty Develop Co.

Courtesy of Hong-Kong-based Saty, the SM010A MP3 digital media player is probably the craziest gadget ever made, packing strange features such as a flashlight, a pest and mosquito repellent (with high-pitched sounds) and an alcohol breath analyser. If the battery runs out, you can power it up by pulling on a string on the left side. The SM010A can also be powered by USB. Of course, since it’s an MP3 digital media player, it also plays mp3 and mp4 files and has a radio.

Sansa Clip
SanDisk

Sure, Wi-Fi, touch-screens, laptop-like storage capacities, movie and video support, and so on are great features, but what if all you need is a device that can play music? After all, that’s what an MP3 digital media player is for, right? Well, if that’s what you’re looking for, you can’t go wrong with Sandisk’s Sansa Clip. The Clip doesn’t take up a lot of room, goes easy on the batteries, offers good sound quality, and has an FM tuner. Available in 8 GB format, it also gives you a power-saving OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display. The Sansa Clip was ranked as the top MP3 player of 2008 by anti-iPod website www.anythingbutipod.com.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in articles | No Comments »

MP3 Digital Media Players

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

A portable media player distinguishes itself from an MP3 player by its capability of playing digital videos and displaying images. Hence, they are also called MP3 digital media players.

MP3 digital media players can make your boring 6hrs flight or coach ride much more entertaining. However, with all the new mp3 digital media players on the market, it can be difficult to decide which one to get. Here is a simple list of specs you should look for when buying an MP3 digital media player.

Specs to look for:

Size of the screen

MP3 digital media players have color screens which can range from 1.5 inches to up to 7 inches! While it can be more fun to watch a video or play a game on a 7 inches mp3 digital media player, it can be more convenient to carry around a smaller mp3 digital media player in your pocket. Also, the price of a larger screen portable media player will cost a lot more than the smaller size screen portable mp3 media player.

Memory size

MP3 digital media players are often categorized by the amount of data they can store. First of all, there is two types of MP3 digital media players, which can affect the capacity as well as the cost of the device and its overall durability. Let’s have a quick look at how the two types of memory can influence your choice.

Hard-Drive Based MP3 digital media players will store the information on small hard-drives, similarly to a home computer. Because of how they operate (internal moving parts), if dropped or exposed to extreme temperatures, hard-drive based MP3 digital media players can stop working properly. Hard-drive based MP3 digital media players should be used by people who are generally not rough with their devices.

Flash Memory-Based MP3 digital media players have no internal moving parts, therefore are less susceptible to malfunction if dropped or exposed to high temperature. Because data is stored on chips MP3 digital media players are smaller and much more durable. However, these advantages don’t come cheap. For example, a 16GB flash memory-based device can cost $50 more than a 160 GB hard-drive based device. However, because they are so much more durable, some users who mistreat their mp3 media players prefer to pay the cost to keep an operating device.

The memory size or storage capacity of MP3 digital media players determines how much media it can store. If you are storing pictures and mp3s only, chances are that you won’t need a huge memory size. However, if you are intending in storing movies or other bigger files, you may want to consider MP3 digital media players with a big memory size. Again, the memory size or storage capacity will impact on the cost of your mp3 digital media player.

Type of audio file playable

Unfortunately, not all mp3 digital media players can play all formats of music. The most popular ones are obviously the mp3s type, which gave the generic name to MP3 digital media players. The mp3s are universal. Some MP3 digital media players also play other formats such as WMA (Windows Media Audio) used by any Windows system or AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) used for iPod and all other types of Mac products. There are also some less popular audio formats that you will not need to worry about.

Type of video file playable

Most newer MP3 digital media players support the MP4 video format. Many devices are also compatibles with popular formats such as WMV (Windows Media Video) or AVI. More and more players are even compatible with the popular DivX video format and the open-source Xvid. While your mp3 digital media player will probably not be able to support all types of video format, most devices include a software which can easily convert video files into a compatible format.

Type of battery

Most MP3 players have built-in rechargeable batteries. A few others use AA or AAA batteries. Built-in rechargeable batteries are usually the preference of many, as most mp3 players can be recharged by simply plugging it to a computer with a USB cord. Whether you are getting the built-in rechargeable battery or the AA/AAA batteries, your mp3 digital media player should be able to last at least 12 hours for music and 4 hours for video.

The most popular brands will ensure a product of good quality with a good warranty. Among the most popular ones are: Apple iPod, Creative Zen, Microsoft Zune, SanDisk Sansa, Sony and Archos.

Have a happy shopping at MP3 Digital Media Players

Tags: ,
Posted in articles | No Comments »