MP3 Players Price Comparison & Stock Checker
MP3 Players
MP3 players are a fairly recent phenomenon in portable entertainment and have been around since about 1989. They were really an improvement on earlier digital audio players that were portable, but could only play standard audio files that were larger in size. When the MP3 standard was established in 1989, these portable digital audio players were engineered to play this new audio standard and the portable MP3 player was born. Early models of these MP3 players were large and had very small amounts of Flash based memory. This limited their portability somewhat and also the amount of content you could bring with you was limited to about an albums worth of songs. As improvements in technology allowed the players to be reduced in size and their memory increased, they started to catch on with the public. A watershed event for the MP3 player was the introduction of the Apple iPod in 2001. This was one of the first players to be small enough for most consumers, and have the storage capacity required to carry a good amount of music. Even though this first iPod was strictly for Mac users, it started a wave of interest in the players. A year later Apple released the second-generation iPod player for both Mac and PC and the iPod soon became the market leader in portable audio players. Other manufacturers were releasing products around this time as well. Archos had their first player on the market in 2002 and Creative released theirs in 1999 a few years before the initial iPod.
In the years since, there have been a wide variety of MP3 players released from a number of manufacturers and improvements have been made in each model released. The storage capacity of these MP3 players continues to improve as does the display technology and formats that these MP3 players support. Modern MP3 players have transformed from strictly MP3 players into true multimedia players that can accommodate audio, video and photos. Some of the most recent MP3 players even include Wifi connections and act as portable terminals for browsing the web and reading Email. The good news for buyers is that since the MP3 players change so often, there is always an opportunity to find cheap mp3 players if you are fine with buying last years model.
Storage Capacity – Storage capacity should be your first consideration when you are deciding which MP3 players might be right for you. You need to have enough memory to carry your content, but buying too much can make these MP3 players very expensive. You need to decide if you want to bring your entire music library with you, or are you OK with swapping out songs and playlists to only bring a portion of your content. If you can limit what you carry on the player, you can easily buy a player with less memory and save a lot of money. MP3 players in the 4GB-16GB range are great for this. Another consideration is if you are buying a player that will accommodate video files, you will need more memory. These files are larger and a single movie could be as much as 10 CD’s worth of musical content. If you are looking for a player to watch videos and listen to music try to find a player in the 8GB-32GB range.
Movies and Videos – Many of the best MP3 players can play both Audio and video files. This can be a nice feature since it allows you to take a TV show or movie you have wanted to see with you when you travel. The format of these files can vary and you should check the MP3 players you are considering to see what formats they support. Current standards are AVI and MPG files and the player should accommodate these so you won’t have to convert your content in advance of watching it on your player. Another consideration is how you acquire this video content. Some of the MP3 players, like the iPod line, have an easy interface for buying and transferring this content to the MP3 players. There are many other venues for video purchases, so be aware of what type of content you plan on watching and be sure to consider only MP3 players that can handle it.
Wireless – Some of the best MP3 players offer a Wifi connection on their players that allows you to connect to the internet. This can be nice and allows you to surf the web and check Email. Some even offer instant messaging functionality as well. If this appeals to you, check the specifications of the various players to see if they offer this. Some of the MP3 players have even taken this a step further and offer a 3G slot. One of the Archos players allows you to slip in a SIM card and use a standard wireless carrier to connect to the internet at a high speed.
FM Radio – Playing your music and videos is great, but having an FM receiver in the player can be a nice bonus as well. This allows you to catch a local game on the radio, or check weather or news. Some of the MP3 players offer this as an option and even include a number of presets for you to lock in your favorite stations.
Headphones / Speaker – Most of the models of MP3 players have relied on a set of headphones for listening to the content. There have been various designs of these released over the years and they have improved to include custom fit tips as well as noise canceling features. There are even specialty manufacturers that produce a great alternative to the standard headphones that come with the player as an accessory. Even though you wouldn’t select a particular player based on the headphones, you would need to make sure that they used a standard headphone jack on the player when you compare MP3 player to another. Some of the earlier models had custom connections and this limited your ability to use an aftermarket set. Also, some of the newer players include an internal speaker as well for listening to your content.
Extra memory – One final consideration is extra memory. Even though most of these MP3 players have adequate internal memory for your needs, having a memory card slot on the player where you can add additional memory later is a nice feature. This allows you to expand the capacity beyond what is included with the player. It also allows you to load up content on a memory card, slide it in the player, and play it directly.
MP3 Player News
Many iPod users breaking the law without realising
It has been revealed that because of complicated copyright laws many iPod users in the UK are regularly breaking the law without even realising it.
There are millions of people that have iPods and other MP3 players in the UK, and many of these people regularly use these devices to listen to their favourite music whilst running, out and about, in the car, or in the home. For most people putting the music from their favourite CDs onto their MP3 player is not an issue, and this is how they enjoy listening to their favourite tunes.
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Cowon MP3 player comes to the UK
For consumers that want a stylish and compact pocket sized MP3 player the new offering from Cowon could prove to be the ideal solution.
MP3 players have gained huge popularity over recent years, and many people enjoy listening to their favourite music on these players whilst they are going about their business, doing the housework, or exercising. There is a great choice of MP3 players on the market these days, with prices and models to suit all pockets and needs, and another recent addition will help to ensure that consumers continue to enjoy great choice.
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Push by the European Commission to reduce the volume of iPods and MP3 players
In an effort to prevent problems with hearing loss that could be suffered by users of iPods and MP3 players the European Commission (EC), which is based in Brussels, has put forward proposals for new rules regarding volume levels on these devices.
The current highest volume setting that iPods can reach is 130db, but the latest new proposals from EC recommend that 80db should be the highest volume level that mobile phones with the ability to play music and all MP3 players should be allowed to reach.
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New challenger to the iPod set for release in the US
A US release date of 15th September has been announced by the software giant, Microsoft for the new mp3 player that is set to hit the market as a rival to the Apple iPod.
The new Zune HD will be available in two versions, which are the 16GB and the 32GB models, and will soon be competing with the Apple iPod product range. The current prices for the new Zune HD units are £132 for the 16GB model and £175 for the 32GB model, which in comparison to the equivalent iPod models makes them around £80 cheaper.
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iPods and MP3 players banned by Aerospace firm due to risk of hearing loss
The use of iPods and other MP3 devices by office workers at an Aerospace company has been banned in the workplace on the grounds that employees may sue the company for loss of hearing caused by the devices.
A total of 1750 staff at the Cambridge headquarters of Marshall Aerospace, an aircraft manufacturer, haves been sent an email prohibiting the use of personal radios, MP3 players and iPods at work.
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