Why Buy an iPod or MP3 Player?

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Have you ever been driving somewhere listening to your favorite radio station and all of a sudden the station is nothing but static or fades in and out? Quick, grab your iPod or Mp3 player! Now, you have your favorite music or sport at your fingertips.

You can choose your favorite show or music on your digital media player at a touch. No more trying to adjust the radio or be distracted from watching the traffic.

With an iPod or MP3 player along, that much needed exercise, whether its at the gym, jogging or just staying home to exercise, will not seem so boring. Some players allow you to monitor your mileage while you run. The time will go faster when you are listening to your favorite music, sport or watching a video on your digital media player. Put a spring in your step while cleaning your home or shopping by listening to your favorite tunes.

Your iPod or MP3 player can brighten your day, regardless of your activity.

If you play sports, for fun or professionally, you can record your "moves", then analyze them to see if you are following through or need to make some adjustments.

What to consider before your purchase an iPod or MP3 player

Ask yourself these questions:

Do you want your iPod or MP3 player solely for music or for others things as well?

What size iPod or MP3 player do you want?

What kind of display should you select for your iPod or MP3 player?

What memory or storage capacity do you want? Do you want to only play music or store pictures and videos as well?

Depending on the investment you make in your iPod or MP3, it may be upgradeable to future formats and features.

What about battery life for your digital media player? What type batteries do you want? Disposal of batteries is dependent on the state or principality you live in.

Do you have a favorite color for your player?

Is price a factor when purchasing an iPod or MP3 player?

When shopping for an iPod or MP3 player consider sound quality, durability, ease of downloading music, cost, benefits and design.

What functions, features and accessories are available?

Features and capabilities will increase or decrease the size of your player. Digital media players are very portable going anywhere with you.

They can be as small as a pack of gum and weigh less than a car key. Depending on the capabilities will increase or decrease the size.

Various iPod or MP3 player system requirements are:

· PC: Microsoft® Windows® 98 SE, ME, 2000 or XP, Intel® Pentium® II 350MHz or AMD K6®-2 450MHz processor

· Macintosh: USB port, Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later (Mac OS X 10.3.4 or later recommended for use with low-power USB ports)

Additional system requirements can be: Windows Media Player, CD-ROM drive (for installation and import or playback from CD), USB 2.0 compatibility and Internet connection, (broadband suggested).

Large memory in your iPod or MP3 player enables you to store thousands of songs for music on the go plus thousands of photos and videos. From 120 songs to 10,000 songs, photos and videos.

Memory or storage capacity is measured in bytes. The more bytes, the more songs, photos or videos you can store. The K in 512 KB stands for kilobytes or 1,000 bytes, and 512 KB player can store around 120 songs. The G in 30 GB for gigabytes or a million, 1,000,000 bytes. A 30 GB player can store up to 10,000 songs. Below is an example of iPod and MP3 players and their song capacity. As you can see, the size of the players is as diverse as what they can hold.

Flash or Hard Drive

Based on 4 minutes per song

512MB

120 - 350 songs

1GB

250 - 500 songs

2GB

480 - 500 songs

4GB

1,000 or more songs

5GB

Stores 166 hrs of music

6GB

1,500 songs

8GB

4,000 songs

20GB

5,000 - 9,000 songs

30GB

7,500 songs

40GB

10,000 songs

60GB

15,000 songs

Some players have available expansion slots. Expansion slots are integrated receptacles for installing additional memory via a removable memory card (Secure Digital, Multimedia Card, Compact Flash, etc.). Installation is simple; the card simply pushes in and clicks into place.

Via the USB 2.0 connection from your computer, you can transfer your favorite tunes from a music website to your iPod or MP3 player in as little as a few seconds. IPod or MP3 players have a wide compatibility with many online subscription and pay-per-download music services. Some iPod and MP3 players are "PlaysForSure" compatible. When purchasing your player, look for this logo on the packaging. Any music download service displaying the "PlaysForSure" logo will work.

Display screen size is a personal choice and can be as varied as the players themselves. Screens can be as small as a 4-line graphic LCD, similar to a calculator, to as large as 3.6" color high-resolution LCD with 320 x 240 pixel resolution.

You can press a button and transfer an entire CD to your player in as little as a few minutes using the USB 2.0 connectivity from your PC.

"MP3" might be the buzzword, but it's not the only digital music file format out there. Fortunately, most online stores and digital music players support a full range of digital file formats. Here are the more popular formats in use:

· ATRAC3 which stands for "Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding 3", WMA, MP3, ACC (used only used by the Apple® iPod(TM)), and WAV/AIFF

· There are many additional file formats used by the MP3 and iPod industry, not all of which are listed here:

· MP3, WMA, WAV and DRM are audio formats.

· Display formats are JPEG, BMP, TIFF, GIF, and PNG.

· Image formats and AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MPG, MPE, VOB, DAT, ADF, QuickTime MOV and WMV video formats

Docking cradles, power supply, AC adapters and cables, belt clips, personal speakers, headphones/ear buds, cases, car FM stereo transmitters, lanyards, sync adapters and management software are some of the accessories available with iPod or MP3 players

Additional considerations are: digital audio, micro-photo, FM transmitter, PC compatible and voice recorder. Depending on the iPod or MP3 player you purchase will determine which options are available and work for you. Options like digital audio enhances the sound quality. Micro-photo players can take and display photo images. Some players have voice recording options while others are PC compatible. You can also get players with FM radio receivers allowing you to tune in your favorite radio station.

Some players have vertical touch pads to make navigation easier than ever. These are micro-sized and curved to fit your hand, allowing for enjoyable pure ergonomic comfort and bliss.

Removable, rechargeable batteries are used in iPod or MP3 players, some use lithium, rechargeable Lithium-ion or lithium polymer rechargeable type batteries, while others use alkaline batteries. Depending on how you plan to use your player will help you decide how much battery your will need. A 16 to 24-hour playing time is a good length of time before needing to recharge. Recharging your iPod or MP3 player can also be done in various ways, with either car chargers, wall chargers and/or the USB port on your computer.

If you get tired of your stored music, tune in to your favorite radio station with the built-in FM radio. As many as 32 preset stations are available on some iPod or MP3 players. Some players have games already loaded, while others allow you to download games for playing, as well.

Use the recording feature for multi-function convenience or record music from the FM tuner. With the built-in recorder in your iPod or MP3 player, you can record your baby's first words, the interview at the office, or anything else that is important to you. Record messages to yourself and play them back later, never again forget that anniversary gift!!

Personal organizers including daily tasks list, contact list and calendar; which easily syncs with Microsoft Outlook, are available on Ipod and MP3 players with hard drives instead of flash drives.

Make your ears happy!!! Enjoy skip-free playback, with custom equalizer and pre-set EQ settings, this lets you get your music just the way you like it - there are settings for acoustic, classical, disco, house, jazz, new age, pop, rock and vocal at the touch of a finger.

Ipod and MP3 players fit on your arm, in your pocket, on your belt, just about anywhere. Some digital media players weight as little as 0.8 oz. The lightweight of the players makes them as portable as your lifestyle demands.

The price of a digital media player ranges from $100 to $300 depending upon the features and memory capabilities you choose. Digital Media players come in a wide range or prices - the price range is dependent on what features and capabilities you get. Ipod and MP3 players' general price ranges vary from up to $100.00 to $300.00 or more.