Use this independent guide to find the best mp3 player for your needs. So many of you understandably already want an iPod
so we have created a special page of deals, tips and coupons for cheap iPods.
price: lowest cost mp3 players
iPod: discount iPod
value: best performance for your money
high capacity: mp3 jukeboxes and disk drive players
size: smallest mp3 players
integration: boombox mp3 players, mp3 cd
players, mp3 digital cameras
recording:mp3
players with high quality recording
A little background on mp3 player technology may help you figure out what you need - MP3 players have four components, a decoder chip, a storage system, a display, and a control system. The decoder chip and control systems are all made from very compact parts that are very cheap to make - only a few dollars. So it is the storage system that represents the bulk of the cost, and determines the size of the player and its main features.
Let's look at the different storage technologies used in mp3 players:
| Storage | Number of Songs | Size | Cost | Example |
| Integrated Flash | dozens | key ring - matchbox | $30-150 | RCA Kazoo |
| Flash Module | dozens | matchbox-shirt pocket | $80-200 | Nomad IIc |
| CD, mini CD | hundreds/CD | portable CD player | $100-200 | Iriver Slimx |
| Disk drive | thousands | shirt pocket - CD player | $200-$500 | Nomad Jukebox, Zen, iPod |
If you buy a player that stores about a dozen songs, the display size and features are not very important. If you opt for a player that can store thousands of songs the display size becomes very important as you will spend more time navigating to find the song you want. Although other manufactureres are catching up, Apple's iPod is the clear winner in the display size, quality and navigational areas. The iPod is not just for the Macintosh. It works well with windows computers too.
From the table you can easily see that the disk drive or "jukebox" players are the most convenient for quick access to many songs. With blank CD's being so cheap the MP3 CD players offer the cheapest access to many tracks but at the price of inconvenience: you have to burn, carry around and change the CD's.
The most reliable players are the ones with Flash storage because they use no moving parts for storage that could wear out. If you already use flash cards, in a digital camera for example, you might consider picking a player that uses the same kind of card.<USB flash card readers> are readily available for all 6 formats of flash card so it is easy to put your songs on the cards from any modern PC.
Another important factor to consider is which kind of computer you have and whether the software bundled with the player will work well on your system. All the players work with Windows PC's and most use the USB 1.1 connection. The recent jukebox players use the new faster, USB 2.0. Players from Apple and Creative Labs have Firewire (IEEE1394) connections. If you plan to update your player regularly with many mp3's you should definitely choose a USB2.0 or Firewire connected player. Creative Labs Nomad and Apple's iPod work well for Macintosh users, but don't forget that the iPod is available for Windows users to.
Unfortunately the Nomad Zen does not come with Apple Macintosh support.All the players do a good job on MP3 format files. Microsoft has another audio format, WMA which is more space efficient and quite popular but not all the players support it. Apple's proprietary format (AAC) used in their popular music download store works well on the iPod but is not available on other players yet.
If you are just exploring the world of MP3 players or buying for a young person, you should probably get started with a cheaper Flash memory player such as the <Nomad IIc>.
If you want the state of the art with no compromise on capacity or convenience go for a jukebox like the new Creative Labs Zen micro or the Apple iPod.
If you are already weighed down with portable gadgets consider a device that integrates MP3 player and other functionality like the Fuji Finepix digital camera or the ultrislim Casio Exilim digital camera and mp3 player. New and already very popular devices from IRiver include an FM tuner and the ability to do voice recording, direct recording from the radio and high quality recording from an external source.
Musicians will find the special speed change feature of the Nomad Jukebox and Zen products very useful for learning musical phrases. These players can slow down the audio as much as 50% without changing the pitch of the recording.
All the players come with software to "rip" audio tracks from your CD's and put them into mp3 form. One of the best download sources you can try for free is EMusic.They have a large source of big name artists and it is very easy to download whole albums.
Amazon also has many free mp3's.
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