Pointers on MP3 player
Audiophiles may sneer at MP3. But that is no surprise. They also sneered at compact discs too. They said that the digitalization of music reduced the natural ambient atmosphere of the performance.
That is why they stuck to vinyl records. And, although compact discs have been around for more than two decades -- they were first introduced on the market in early 1980s -- vinyl records are still sold nowadays in some specialty stores.
But audiophiles are people with thick wallets. The rest of us do not really care about the clarity, the ambience, the dynamic range and all the other stuff that they talk about. We only need some background music as we drive to work, or work in our cubicles, or work out in the fitness center. MP3 is certainly a good choice for background music.
First, an MP3 file is very small, much smaller compared to the other audio file format such as Windows' WAV and Real Audio formats. It means that we can store a lot more music in an MP3 player than if we were to use the other formats. In fact, it is not uncommon for an MP3 player to have up to 10,000 songs in its storage.
Now, as Christmas is approaching, a new MP3 player will certainly be one of the gifts that your loved ones will be happy to get. Hopefully, he or she will not have more than one such gift in their stocking, though.
What to look for when choosing an MP3 player? First, you will need to think about how it is going to be used. Most likely, you will want a portable MP3 player, as it will give you the most flexibility. It usually comes with rechargeable batteries to help you save money.
Second, ask the store people how easy it is to download music files into the device. Equally important is how easy it is to manage all the hundreds, even thousands, of songs. Have them demonstrate it to you. A good MP3 player should be able to directly convert and save music played on a compact disc through its CD line-input jack.
Third, if the recipient of the gift is an active person, you will have to choose MP3 players that use flash memory instead of hard disks. These players are sturdier and can withstand abuse better, as there is no moving part in the memory storage device. They can be used while jogging or cycling, for example. However, their storage capacity cannot compete with the ones that use hard disks. Remember that today you can easily get 40 GB hard disks for your notebook computers, while in general the flash memory- based MP3 players have only 256 MB of storage space.
There are other advantages to the flash memory-based players. The majority have a removable storage device, so you can actually have an unlimited capacity. Another advantage is battery life, as there is no hard disk to spin. These portable MP3 players can also be very small and very sleek. Examples include Panasonic's e-wear and Rio's Cali.
Those who would like to put their entire music collection in one place may want to choose a hard disk-based player. One of the most popular ones today is Apple iPod from Apple Computer. Three models are available, each with 20GB, 30GB or 40GB hard disk capacity.
What other alternative are available? There are MP3 players that use MiniDisc for storage. These include Sony's Net MD. Not only the MiniDisc is cheaper, it can be rewritten time and time again. The device has more functionality than just recording and playing back music files. Reporters use them to record and archive interviews.
But remember, MP3 players are also embedded in many other devices. You can find them in some video cameras, digital cameras, even cellphones.
What other features can you expect to find in an MP3 player? Some of them have an FM tuner, so you can record music over the air. A remote control is always good to have, and an accessory to connect the player to your car audio system is another plus point.
Now, what about IPR? Well, remember that these players are for personal use. Just do not create MP3 files of copyrighted material and sell them in any way. -- Zatni Arbi