What Are You Looking For In A Cheap MP3 Player?

Are you stymied by the vast offerings in cheap mp3 players? Don't know which features best suit your needs? Here are some suggestions based upon product reviews by mp3 player owners.

The first thing you must consider is how you plan to use your mp3 player. Do you want a cheap mp3 player for your car to listen to books while you commute? Or are you planning to use it with earphones while jogging? Will your mp3 player sit on your desk all day, or get jostled around while you run errands or work out at the gym?

If you plan to be active while listening to your mp3 player, or use it in a car, one that uses Flash Memory, with no moving parts, would be the best option. There are cheap mp3 players available with Flash Memory, but they tend to be more expensive than other options. If you wish to keep the price down, you will probably end up sacrificing on some of the data storage. If you are planning to keep your mp3 player immobile, a cheap option is to buy one with a microdrive, or one built into a cheap CD player. Both will have problems with skip if jostled, but each of these two options will give you many times the memory for far less. Also, manufacturers build buffers into mp3 players to smooth out the skip, although users report that they do not always work well.

How much memory you need in your mp3 player is something only you can decide. Cheap mp3 players, with 128MB of Flash Memory, can hold about four hours worth of music. If you are not using your mp3 player as a music storage machine, but just as a cheap device to play music throughout your day, you might consider this to be enough. Spoken word requires far less memory than music, so a cheap mp3 player with only 64MB of memory may be big enough if you only plan to listen to books through your mp3 player.

One of the most important features in cheap mp3 players, which users find lacking in some of the cheaper machines, is the user interface. This can end up being a daily hassle if you find the menus unintuitive. Even if you buy a cheap mp3 player from an online retailer, take the time to go to a store where you can handle them, and see for yourself how easy or difficult they are to use.

Next consider battery life. This varies from player to player, but expect to get about twelve to fifteen hours from a charge. The type of battery is also a consideration in cheap mp3 players. Having an mp3 player that charges through your USB port, like the iPod Shuffle, may seem like a plus until you go out of town and are nowhere near a computer.

Lastly, be sure that the cheap mp3 player you want to buy is compatible with your personal computer. Players with built-in Flash Memory will require file transfer software, and a USB 2 port to download the files to the mp3 player. Some brands only support Apple/Mac products, while many others are only compatible with Windows.

For more information on cheap mp3 players visit 1st-mp3-players.co.uk

---

Basic Diagnosis Guidelines for Your PC

Simone is exasperated. She has to work on her university... Read More

Bluetooth Headphones For Your PDA

Nothing is worse than having to negotiate all kinds of... Read More

Why There Are Color Differences in Printing from Your PC

This article describes the basic properties of color, what the... Read More

Taking Advantage of the iPod Experience

Music lovers have been carrying around radios and other bulky... Read More

15 Good Programming Habits

1. Before sitting down for coding, you must have formal... Read More

The Many Benefits of Owning a DVR

Has This Ever Happened To You? OK.. it's Friday night,... Read More

Internet Explorer Shortcuts for Mouse-o-phobes

If you're like me, you occasionally find the ubiquitous mouse... Read More

Flow Text Around a Graphic in Microsoft Word

Flow Text Around a GraphicQuestion: I have inserted a photo... Read More

MCSE 70-290 Certification Primer

Microsoft Certifications are one of the most widely acclaimed, pursued,... Read More

Is Desktop Search Deserving?

Google, in their march to stay ahead of the pack... Read More

The Importance Of Email Backup

Viruses, software failures, power failures, human errors, hard drive failures... Read More

Best PC Pocket GPS

Stop Getting LostOne of the greatest uses for a pocket... Read More

Portable DVD Players - Things To Know

In my humble opinion nothing makes a long trip easier... Read More

10 Tips to SPEED Up Your PC

1. Let your PC boot up completely before opening any... Read More

FTP - File Transfer Protocol Explained

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a protocol that is part... Read More

Windows PDA Medical Software Benefits

PDA Medical BenefitsIf you are concerned about your medical history,... Read More

Toshiba Wins Hollywood Support for the HD DVD format

What led them to this choice, as all four studios... Read More

Home Electronics: The Facts About Plasma TV

Not so many years ago, homes across the country watched... Read More

Occupational Therapy and PDAs

Occupational Therapy Made EasierMedical downloads for the pda have improved... Read More

Help, I Need a New HDTV! (Part 1 of 5)

Feeling overwhelmed in selecting a new TV? With all the... Read More

SOBIG.F Virus Promises Ill Be Back

On 21 August 2003 Symantec Security Response upgraded the W32.SOBIG.F... Read More

The Help Desk

When you think of a help desk, what do you... Read More

Digital Cameras: Hot Gear with the Coolest Features!

Cameras: still known for taking pictures but assumed as digital... Read More

System File Checker - A Maintenance Utility

System File Checker is a great utility that is typically... Read More

Enhanced Web Browsing With Toolbars

As the Web grows more crowded and just plain "noisy"... Read More

5 Steps to Removing PC Clutter

It's hard enough as it is these days to get... Read More

Lightning Season: How to Avoid Data Loss

We have just entered the time of year that most... Read More

Bios Term

BIOS - Basic Input Output SystemThe central processing unit of... Read More

A Peek Into the Near Future of Electronics Technology

How long do you think DVDs have around? 20 years?... Read More

Why Using an Ad Blocker Can be a Bad Idea

Ad Blocking is getting to be a common sport on... Read More

4 Computer Money-saving Tips

Tip #1 -- Rebates: A rebate is not always a... Read More

10 Easy Steps to Speed Up Your Computer - Without Upgrading

1. Empty the Temp directory regularly. To do this, make... Read More

Learning To Navigate Ciscos Online Documentation

When studying for your Cisco CCNA, CCNP, or CCIE exam,... Read More