Best Type of MP3 Players

There are way more mp3 players on the market today then we even know what to do with. Picking the perfect one for you is often more complicated then you would think but hopefully by going through some of the important items to look at you will be able to decide for yourself what is right for you.

The first type of mp3 player is the hard-drive based type players. Most likely, a high-capacity player can hold every song you've ever purchased or ripped from a CD in yor lifetime. Hard drives run from 20GB on up, and large players such as the 120GB IPod Classic can hold about 31,000 songs.  These mp3 players will hold every song you need and more, however, because of the larger hard drive these are often are slightly bulkier and heavier than most and if you chose to use them for exercise this may be more than you want to handle. Also, hard drives have moving parts, so these players aren't ideal for strenuous physical activity. Finally, most use rechargeable batteries (usually lasting 10 to 45 hours per charge) that you can't replace yourself, so after several years, you might have to pay for a new model or pay to get the battery replaced which can be a pain for some.

The second type is the flash-based type players.  These original mp3 player designs have no moving parts are known for their shockproof type operations. The positive of these is that they are very compact and are good for activities such as running, hiking, or biking. The aforementioned extras can make flash players a bit more difficult to use, and they have the greatest per-megabyte cost and max out at around 32GB.

These days, manufacturers are adding an ever-widening array of features to their players in order to set them apart from the competition. These are the extras that you may want to consider.  Color screens, photo viewing, video playback, radio,  wireless capability, music recording, voice recording, data storage, personal information management, and sound-tweaking options are just a few of the options you should look at when going to purchase an mp3 player.