MP3 Portable Players — the final word
If you are planning to jog or exercise, go with the small, durable flash players. Look for a USB 2.0 connection (can be 40 times faster than USB 1.1 cutting transfer of a CDŐs selections from minutes down to seconds), replaceable battery, and long battery charge. If you feel you are going to need more than an hours worth of music, buy a player with a memory card for increased storage.
For longer and less active listening pleasure, look to the
hard drive and
micro drive players. Decide which features are vital to your needs and how much storage you actually need. Do you want to record voice or need a radio? What file formats are compatible and are they easy to access? Can you drag and drop to transfer and again, does it have the USB 2.0 connection?
If price doesnŐt matter and you love, love, love music, consider the hard drive players.
Make sure you try it out first before buying
- how does it feel in your hand?
- does it fit in your pocket (or wherever you want to store it while you are listening)?
- is the LCD large enough to see menus and options?
- is it easy to find songs?
