Enjoying Your MP3 Player

The beauty part of wanting an electronic gadget to spruce up your life is that you know exactly what you want, the electronic gadget. The ugly part of wanting an electronic gadget to spruce up your life is that there is approximately 50 different variations of every gadget. Which one is best for you and which one do you need to purchase? Consider the following: - What do you want out of your MP3 player? Those who are looking for the type of player that can store their entire music collection or just enough to make it through a 5 hour flight without hearing the same song will want something with a large hard drive, 20GB or more. Those who are looking for something to jog with that will hold a few hundred songs will want to look into a flash drive player, something durable with little space. - What type of files are you looking to download to your digital audio player? If you don t have much of a personal music collection and are instead relying on various sites to download your collection then make sure the player you are getting will play those files. If you are simply burning or ripping from your own personal collection any player will do. - What type of battery life do you need in your MP3 player? Make sure that the player you are purchasing is capable of playing for the amount of time you need it to on a full charge. Players range from 10 to 50 hours on a full charge, just make sure you know what you are going to get out of yours and what you need before investing a few hundred dollars in a player. - What types of extras do you want on your MP3 player? While you may just want a player that plays your music and does nothing else, it is increasingly more difficult to perform that task. Most come with video capabilities, personal organizer capabilities or the like; just make sure that yours does everything you want it to do before you spend the money! Comparing Digital Music Players In just about any area of the business world you have two basic types of companies or products competing against one another, the "name brand" and the "off brand". The name brand could be the one that everyone notices while the off brand is the one with a name just because it has to have one OR the name brand may be the product in that field at the time. This is the case with digital music players today as there are a number of "MP3 players" on the market right now … then … there is the iPod. Consider a few areas of comparison. Your first idea to consider is that of the fact that you can buy a digital music player from, say, Toshiba for around $250 while iPod produces the same 60GB player for around $400. Because you constantly see people discussing the beauty and wonder of the iPod in comparison to all others you believe that it is obviously the way to go, but when it comes to hard drive, space is space. In this case, it is just as easy as saving $150! The next thing you should consider if you are the type that gets frustrated easily with head games being played by major corporate types is that iPod requires you to use their format to play on their player. Instead of normal MP3 files that are used by most everybody else, iPod requires use of their style of file so if you get frustrated by meaningless problems; you might consider an "off brand" MP3 player. In the end, when you are buying a digital music player the argument is much the same as just about everything else you purchase for a large amount, do you want to be hip or practical? If you want to be hip and carry around your newest gadget on your arm to show off to all of those around you then you need to go with the iPod and forget about the money. If you want to save some money and have a lot of space to store songs in without regard for what people think of your taste then go with the "off brand". Microsoft Zune In every line of business there is the leader in the industry and then there is everybody else, this is no different in the world of digital music players. For the few years that these products have captured the attention of the American consumer there has been a clear cut leader, Apple s iPod. However, now there is a new kid on the block from one of the bigger houses down the street as Microsoft has released a new kid from its front door, the Microsoft Zune. Consider a few facts about the Zune: - Microsoft has really hit Apple where it hurts by making the Zune screen about one-half inch bigger than the iPod. While that sounds like very little, it actually makes quite a big difference on such a small product. Not to mention, the Zune can be watched in portrait OR landscape mode, depending on how you like to watch! - While Microsoft has come in at a nice price by offering the Zune for around $250 for 30GB of memory, they do not offer the same selection as iPod. With only one player with one set amount of memory, Microsoft is not competing based on selection, they are competing based on the amount of features they offer in a feature player. - Another area where the Zune takes a step up from the iPod is the ability to listen to FM radio when you get tired of your music selection. Don t waste time cycling trying to find something worth listening to as you jog or walk on the treadmill, just flip over to the FM dial and tune in to your favorite radio station! - Microsoft is much more prepared to update your player with their background in personal media than the good folks at Apple are with the iPod. The Zune is set to update every time it connects to the internet, meaning you always have the best Zune that you can possibly have, regardless of how lazy you are! - With the Zune you don t have to log on to the internet at home to purchase tracks and then sync them with your player, you can purchase straight from your Zune! How is that for convenience? Kiefer Cummings is an expert on computer-related topics, a tech freak and one of the writers for the electronic gadget site. He has put up information sites about ipod accessories and podcasting