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Last Updated: Feb 18th, 2008 - 14:39:01 |
Things to look in a portable MP3 player
There were wax cylinders; 78, 45, and then 33 rpm vinyl records; reel-to-reel, 8-track, cassette and DAT (Digital Audio Tape) tapes; and then compact discs or CDs.
A few other devices, such as the MiniDisc, never really caught on.
MP3 is different from all of them because it doesn't need any moving parts. No motors to spin discs or rotate tapes, no needles or heads to brush against bumps or magnetized particles. Smaller size that any mechanical device permits. Longer battery life.
It's the perfect music technology for the Internet age. You don't buy MP3 recordings on tape or CD. They're recorded entirely as bits you download and upload. Software organizes and plays them.
MP3 recordings can be stored and played by a personal computer or a distant Internet service.
And now you can also get portable MP3 players to take your digital recordings anywhere. They look like the little Walkman radios that joggers carry: a small silver or black box with an LCD display, some buttons and a jack for plugging in some earphones.
But these babies hold recorded sounds, the way a larger cassette-tape Walkman would.
What should you look for in an MP3 player? Lots of memory, long battery life, easy connection to your computer and easy software for playing tunes.
They all sound about the same, so what you want is one that's easy to fill with lots of songs.
First: You want the option of expanded memory. If you can't plug in an extra memory card, you don't want the player.
Second: You want Standard expanded storage. Some of the MP3 portables _ such as the I-Jam and the raveMP and the Memory Stick Walkman, have their own special memory cards. That's not good enough.
You want the affordability and exchangeability of a standard such as SmartMedia or CompactFlash.
Third: Demand standard batteries. MP3 portables last a lot longer than portable cassette players, but you'll still chew through a lot of batteries. If your portable uses standard AA size batteries, you'll always be able to get spares. (And spend a little extra, while you're at the electronics store, to get a battery recharger and some rechargeable AAs. It will save you a lot of money in the long run and save the planet from some excess heavy-metal battery-trashing pollution.)
Fourth: If your computer has a USB port, get a USB-connecting portable.
It's faster and easier than connecting to a parallel port. But if your computer doesn't have USB, get a parallel port-connecting portable.
Fifth: Software that makes it easy to pull songs in from your computer, arrange them for play, and display their details, such as album title, battery life, storage space and volume, on the portable's LCD screen.
My favorite portable MP3 player for parallel connection is the Pine D'Music. It is one of the least expensive MP3 players. It has a slot for SmartMedia memory and works on AAA batteries. I wish it showed more on-screen details. The built-in 32 megabytes of memory will hold from a half-hour to over an hour of music, depending on the sound quality you want.
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