FEW OF MP3 YOU LOOKING FOR

Sony:

Sony – a name well known in the consumer electronics world. At CES 2005 they announced the forthcoming arrival of their NW-HD3 model with an estimated price of $350. Sony previously has been hampered somewhat by their sticking to digital audio players which only provide native support their ATRAC3 format. This sound type, while superior to MP3, has not caught on much. Sony hopes to change their market share by introducing players, like the NW-HD3, which offer native support for MP3 as well.

The NW-HD3 20 GB model will come in five different colors and has quite a sophisticated, urban look. It will support USB 2.0 high speed file transfers, offers shock protection and skip free technology and has a large toggle navigation button on the front of the player which will navigate functions on the seven line backlit LCD. The LCD’s light, incidentally, will coordinate with the body color of the player.

Sony also mentioned the NW-HD3 will get an estimated 30 hours of playback time between charges of its internal battery.

Lexar:

Lexar, a maker of flash memory cards like Sandisk, used CES 2005 to show off some new models in their flash memory player line. The LDP-800 (256 MB version: $159, 512 MB version: $199) and LDP-200 (0 GB: $39.99, 256 MB: $89.99, 512 MB: $109.99 and 1 GB: $149.99) will be available in March and February respectively.

The LDP-800 flash model will, among other features, provide virtual surround sound and support OGG, WMA and MP3 music files. It will also provide both line out and line in capabilities for music playback and recording, broadcast over a built in FM transmitter and provide the ability for memory expansion through an internal SD card slot.

Lexar’s economic focused LDP-200, by contrast, will offer no internal memory what so ever. Music will need to be stored on a SD card (three options of the LDP-200 will include cards in the packaging) and inserted into the player’s dedicated card slot to be heard.

Rio:

Rio is another one of those names, like Creative, which has been a player in the MP3 player market for years. Their latest offering, the ce2100, promises to keep things interesting and allow Rio to remain as one of the leading companies.

The ce2100, expected to ship in the first quarter of this year with a price tag of $199, will offer up a 2.5 GB hard drive which can play MP3 and WMA files. The player’s body will sport an ultra slim, tapered design and be capable of playing for up to 20 hours.

Rio also announced at CES they would be adding a pearl color to their highly popular Rio Carbon 5 GB player.

iRiver:

Is it possible digital audio player company iRiver might ever find themselves up the river? With announcements of new cutting edge players like the H10, it is highly unlikely.

The H10, when it hits stores this month for $279, will unveil itself as a cool looking 5 GB player in four colors. Besides supporting MP3 and WMA music files, the H10 will double as a photo viewer capable of showing off JPEG images on its color screen. iRiver’s newest entry will have plenty of playtime, being capable of going for up to 12 hours between charges.

Other noteworthy things about the H10 include the rechargeable battery being removable and replaceable, virtual surround sound support, an integrated voice recorder and integrated FM tuner/recorder.

RCA:

RCA’s Lyra line of digital audio players was given a boost this year at CES. Three new models, including one with photo viewing capabilities, are set to be on sale soon.

The Lyra Micro Jukebox RD2765 (April release date for $269) sports a 5 GB hard drive and 1.5” color screen which allows for the viewing of JPEG images and CD cover art. The player is fairly compact, being not much bigger than two packs of gum, and can store and play MP3 and WMA music files. It uses a jog wheel for navigation and selection.

In the realm of straight digital audio players, RCA’s newest entries are the RD2212 (April for $129) and RD2312 (May for $129). Both 256 MB flash memory players are geared towards the more active crowd. The former sports a number of useful features for athletes, including stopwatch, calorie counter and heart rate monitor, in its splash proof body.

The RD2312, meanwhile, has a “high tech form factor” and is designed to fit specifically into the palm of your hand. It sports an amber colored backlight, dual orientation LCD display which inverts when the player is turned upside down and an estimated 20 hour battery life.

FEW OF MP3 YOU LOOKING FOR

Philips:

One company which unveiled a rather large stable of new players was Philips. The well known manufacturer showed off five interesting models – three designed more for the active lifestyle under their Nike co-brand, one hard drive based unit and a model which has built in speakers.

The PSS110 portable Philips Personal Sound System (April - $159.99) offers up 256 MB of flash memory and is capable of supporting USB 2.0 file transfers of MP3 and WMA music files. The PS110’s most interesting function though comes with its built in speakers which, according to Philips, are bass enhanced and capable of delivering enough quality sound to fill a room. To accompany these built in speakers and music file playback, a rechargeable battery offers up to ten hours of playing time and a built in FM radio is included as well.

Philips’ hard drive based unit is the new HDD084. This model, when it arrives on store shelves in June for $179, will offer up a 3 GB drive which can store and play MP3 and WMA files. The player’s size is something of note, with Philips calling it “the length and width of a credit card”. It will also offer USB 2.0 high speed transfers, act as a storage device for other types of files and provide for voice recording.

Under their active lifestyle deal with Nike, Philips launched the PSA 225, 235 and 245 models. Each unit, with flash based memory amounts of 256 MB, 512 MB and 1 GB respectively, will appear for consumers in June and range in price from $129 to $199. All three models will sport non-moving parts, durable construction, an integrated stopwatch with voice feedback regarding workout duration and an SD memory card slot to allow for the ability to load up on additional tunes.

Toshiba:

In the Toshiba corner at CES 2005 there was fan fare regarding the company’s announced gigabeat line of large capacity digital audio players. The units, which will offer options of 10 GB (MEG-F10: $299), 20 GB (MEG-F20: $349), 40 GB (MEG-F40: no announced price) and 60 GB (MEG-F60: $549), will have crisp QVGA color LCD screens for viewing of JPEG photos and related album cover art.

The gigabeats, according to Toshiba, will offer up stylish looks and a number of other useful features besides the previously mentioned photo viewing. Some of the more interesting ones of note include a touch sensor navigation control, 12 hour playtime on a single battery charge and the ability to rip music from CDs directly to the player when it is connected to a computer (the players support MP3 and WMA files).

Samsung:

Samsung, not to be outdone by the size of rival Philips’ new lineup, pulled out quite an array of players themselves. Four new models, including several which double as photo viewers, will soon appear on store shelves.

The YH-820 is one of those models which will offer photo viewing. It will sport a wafer thin design and 1.6” color LCD when it launches this month for $229.99. It will support a number of audio and photo file types for playback and display on its 5 GB hard drive, including MP3, WMA, OGG and JPEG. The YH-820 will also support direct ripping of music CDs from a player, provide USB 2.0 file transfers and provide hours of playtime on a rechargeable battery.

Another player sharing the audio/photo spotlight is the YH-925. This 20 GB model, with a launch date of this month and a $299.99 price tag does many of the same audio play back and photo viewing functions as the YH-820. What is perhaps most impressive with this player is the size. While it is larger then its sibling, it is still small enough to weigh a mere seven ounces. It can also serve as a USB host for the performance of file sharing functions.

On the flash memory side, the YP-T7 and YP-MT6 both promise to give similar players a run for their money. The YP-T7, available this month with a price tag of $149 for 512 MB and $199 for 1 GB, will do dual roles as an audio player and photo viewer. It can handle JPEG photos, text files, MP3, WMA and OGG music files and sports, among other things, an alarm clock and integrated voice recorder.

Samsung’s YP-MT6 model, meanwhile, will hit store shelves around the same time and offer several memory configurations up to 1 GB at a starting price of $99.99. It shares many of the same functions as the YP-T7, though it lacks photo viewing capabilities. Playback time looks to be solid however, with an estimated 45 hours on a single AA battery.

Top Budget n Top 10 for less than $100 MP3 Players

Top Budget MP3 Players

From About.com

Let’s face it – not everyone has over $200 to shell out for a MP3 player with a huge hard drive and a designer label name. There are plenty of quality players out there, created by well known companies, which can fulfill the music need without breaking the bank. Most players under $200 use flash memory, which means they hold far less music then your typical iPod. The tradeoff though is you have money left in your pocket to purchase music online or in the stores to transfer to your player.


1. Creative Zen Mozaic









If you like not the idea of owning a MP3 player which looks garden variety, you might want to take notice of the eye-catching Zen Mozaic from Creative. This player, which does sport a body similar to other MP3 players, stands out because of its cool and functional mosaic keypad. It is available in several body colors, hosts a colorful 1.8-inch display and lets you share music with others via a built-in speaker. Other features of note include a built-in voice recorder, up to 32 hours of audio playback, FM radio with 32 station presets and support for video playback as well as digital photo displays. Connectivity is via USB 2.0.


2. Creative Zen X-Fi







A wonderful 2.5-inch viewing display. Specially enhanced sound improvement technology. Bundled with quality in-ear earphones. These are just a few of the top reasons to consider the Creative Zen X-Fi. You get a lot of quality for the inexpensive dollar with this player, including a lightweight 2.4-ounce body, 8GB of internal memory to hold up to 2,000 songs, up to 36 hours of rechargeable battery life, a built-in speaker, support for a variety of audio formats and an equalizer with eight presets. There's also the ability to view digital videos and pictures, listen to FM radio and increase the memory capacity with SD/SDHC cards for more music storage.


3. SanDisk Sansa Fuze










The Sansa Fuze from SanDisk is a very straight forward MP3 player which is 0.3-inches thin and offers you up to a full day of audio playback. It comes in five color choices - including silver, black, blue, pink and red - and offers up to 8GB of internal memory for storage, which is expandable via microSD/microSDHC memory cards for more music storage. It comes with a 1.9-inch color screen, plays video clips and lets you view your favorite digital photos. There's also your obligatory voice recorder, FM radio with 40 presets and support for digital audiobooks.


4. Sony Walkman NWZ-E436











The Walkman NWZ-E436 is one of Sony's thinnest ever, measuring 5/16-inch in diameter. A lot is packed into the nice looking body of this player, including a bright 2-inch screen, battery life of up to 40 hours, support for a variety of video file formats, a graphical user interface which is colorful and included high-end earphones. Several colors and storage sizes can be chosen from and a unique feature with these players is one which analyzes the beats-per-minute of the music to create channels of similarly grouped tunes for a more customized listening experience. There is also, of course, a FM radio.


5. Microsoft Zune 16GB










The Zune 16GB is one of Microsoft's more slim MP3 players, sporting enough memory to hold up to 4,000 songs, 25,000 digital photos or 50 video hours. The major claim to fame for this Zune is its built-in wireless functionality, which lets you connect your wireless home network to transfer music to it. You can also wirelessly share songs with others around you who also own Zunes, with certain exceptions for legal reasons. This player, offering up a 1.8-inch display, also can download audio and video content to it when connected to a computer which has been purchased through the online Zune Marketplace. You can also buy music wirelessly.




Top 10 MP3 players for less than $100
by Jasmine France

MP3 players don't have to be expensive to be good, and I can prove it. I scoured CNET Reviews to find the best MP3 players that can be purchased online for less than $100. The results are fairly impressive, and certainly much more exciting than the ones we were able to compile for this same feature more than two years ago--you gotta love cheap flash memory.

All the devices that made this top-10 list pack at least 2GB of storage, scored at least a 7.0 out of 10, and were (for the most part) reviewed within the past two years (so they're not totally outdated). Each player also offers two or more of the following characteristics: good sound quality; a stylish, compact design; advanced features, such as an FM radio or recording capabilities; and an impressive battery life. Of course, the best part is that none of them will break the bank. The pricing for each player is current as

of press time and applies to new products--no refurbs here!

10. Creative Zen Stone Plus (2GB, green) - TIE

OK, so we couldn't manage to narrow it down to just 10 choices, which means you get a bonus pick in the form of the Creative Zen Stone Plus, an ultracheap player with a cute, compact design.

Editors' rating: 7.0

Lowest price: $49.95

Bottom line: For those who want a super small and cute MP3

player that offers more than just simple music playback, the Creative Zen Stone Plus fits the bill nicely.

10. Sony NWZ-B105F (2GB, black) - TIE

There will always be a place in the world for a small, affordable, durable, intuitive MP3 player with great sound quality--witness Sony's gym-worthy NWZ-B100F series.

Editors' rating: 7.0

Lowest price: $59.95

Bottom line: If you're looking for an affor

dable, utilitarian MP3 player to take on the road or to the gym, the Sony NWZ-B100F is a solid solution with awesome audio quality.

9. Meizu Mini Player (4GB, black)

The Meizu Mini Player is the classic underdog story: a relative unknown from China that won praise from industry experts and users alike.

Editors' rating: 7.3

Lowest price: $79.95

Bottom line: The Meizu Mini Player is a quality MP3 player with a sleek design, good sound, and useful features, but fans of DRM-hawking music stores should steer clear.

8. SanDisk Sansa Clip (2GB, ice blue)

Thanks to its position as a memory chip manufacturer, SanDisk

is a master at cost competing in the portable audio space. The Sansa Clip is the perfect example of this mastery.

Editors' rating: 7.5

Lowest price: $54.04

Bottom line: The SanDisk Sansa Clip is an incredible value that's set to edge out the competition with a

user-friendly interface, gym-worthy design, and great sound quality..

7. Sony NWZ-S616F (4GB, red)

Sony's come a long way in digital audio, and the road hasn't always been smooth. The NWZ-S610 series marked the beginning of the great Walkman comeback, thanks to its competitive pricing, excellent performance, sleek design, and the fact that Sony finally got rid of SonicStage and ATRAC3.

Editors' rating: 7.7

Lowest price: $93.46

Bottome line: The Sony NWZ-S610 series Walkman doesn't bring anything striking or new to the table, but

that doesn't change the fact that it's a quality MP3 player with nice extras and a killer battery life. Plus, Sony got rid of SonicStage--the best news ever.

6. Samsung T10 (4GB, black)

The Samsung T10 might be the sleekest player on this list; it's certainly the only one with built-in Bluetooth,

allowing for seamless connection to stereo-wireless headphones--a must for haters of cord clutter.

Editors' rating: 7.7

Lowest price: $64.96

Bottom line: The Samsung T10 won't satisfy audio purists, but users who value lots of features, a fun interface, and a player that will turn heads should give it a look.

5. SanDisk Sansa Fuze (4GB, red)

The Sansa Fuze may be a bit of a Nano clone with it's slim design and circular control wheel, but it also sounds good, offers plentiful features, comes in several bright color options, and is cheap as all get-out

Editors' rating: 7.7

Lowest price: $81.50

Bottom line: The SanDisk Sansa Fuze is a great value--a slim design, simple interface, plentiful features, memory expansion capability, and solid sound quality all come with an easy-to-swallow price tag.

4. Creative Zen Mozaic (4GB, black)

As a long-awaited refresh to the Zen V line, Creative released the Zen Mozaic, a uniquely-designed device with the company's signature sound quality and feature offerings.

Editors' rating: 7.7

Lowest price: $79.99

Bottom line: The Creative Zen Mozaic offers great bang for your buck as far as MP3 players go: you get super sound quality, a boatload of features, and a cool interfac

e--all wrapped in a funky design at an ultralow price.

3. Sony NWZ-A815 (2GB, white)

The glorious return of the Walkman as a true contender in the MP3 player market was ushered in by the NWZ-A815, the first Walkman to ever win an Editors' Choice award.

Editors' rating: 8.0 (EC)

Lowest price: $79.95

Bottom line: The Sony NWZ-A810 offers a fantastic display, a sleek design and interface, and a stellar battery life--plus, it's one of the few MP3 players that sound great right out of the box. Users looking for the whole package (sans radio) will be pleased.

2. Creative Zen (4GB)

The Creative Zen may not be the coolest-looking MP3 player out there, but it offers exceptional value for the money. Plus, the gorgeous 2.5-inch screen makes it a reasonable option for portable video as well.

Editors' rating: 8.3

Lowest price: $79.99

Bottom line: We're hard-pressed to find anything not to like about the Creative Zen. It's a fantastic option for anyone looking for a great-sounding, pocketable MP3 player with an excellent, video-capable screen and plenty of extra features.

1. Creative Zen V Plus (4GB, black)

The cute and pocketable Zen V Plus has topped many a list. It's packed with features and continues to offer impressive performance, even in the face of more recent competition. It's still an excellent option for anyone looking for an ultracompact player. Get it while it lasts!

Editors' rating: 8.3 (EC)

Lowest price: $87.99

Bottom line: The Creative Zen V Plus is a superb choice for anyone looking for a compact and feature-filled flash MP3 player with great sound quality. If you're looking for a more sophisticated design (or have large thumbs), look elsewhere.

mp3 player choice

MP3 player choice

Finding the perfect MP3 player is harder than you'd think. Considerations of size, color, capacity, features, price, and
compatibility, all need to be weighed before making a decision. Unfortunately, there's no perfect MP3 player for everyone.
Even the most popular MP3 player option, Apple's iPod, is offered in a dizzying amount of colors, sizes, and configurations.

In this buying guide, we'll broadly define the two types of MP3 players on the market, and spend the following pages
explaining what features to look for, different uses to consider, music compatibility, and the kinds of accessories you may want
to purchase in addition to your music player.

First, let's look at the differences between hard-drive MP3 players and Flash-based
models.

Hard-drive-based players

Most likely, a high-capacity player can accommodate every song you've ever purchased or ripped from a CD. Hard drives run
from 20GB on up, and large players such as the 120GB Apple iPod Classic can hold about 30,000 songs.

Hard drive MP3 players such as the Microsoft Zune can hold a luxurious amount of music and video.

Pros: They store all your music on one device. They also tend to have more features and larger screens and are overall
easier to use. High-capacity players give you the best bang for your buck in terms of price per gigabyte (for example, $250
120GB iPod versus $200 for 16GB iPod Nano).

Cons: These players are usually built around a 1.8-inch hard drive; thus, they are larger and heavier than the others. Also,
hard drives have moving parts, so these players aren't ideal for strenuous physical activity. Finally, most use rechargeable
batteries (usually lasting 9 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.

Flash-based players

The original MP3 player design, these have no moving parts and are known for their shockproof operation and ultracompact
dimensions. Devices range in capacity from 512MB to 32GB. SanDisk's MP3 line, for example, includes exclusively flash-based players.

Flash memory-based MP3 players such as the iRiver Clix have exploded in popularity in the past few years.
Pros: Flash-based players are tiny. They also have no moving parts, so their batteries last longer, and you can jog, snowboard, or
bungee jump with them without causing skipping or damage. Many flash players include lots of extra features such as voice and line-in
recording.

Cons: The aforementioned extras can make flash players a bit harder to use, and they have the highest per-megabyte cost and max
out at 32GB.

What do I look for in a MP3 player?
From About.com

Question: What do I look for in a MP3 player?


Answer:

Digital audio players (also known as MP3 players) have become a major staple in the lives of those who have embraced technology on a personal level. Whether it be on the treadmill at the gym, on the bus on the way home from work or sitting in your living room, these little electronic devices have found their ways into the hearts of many.
For those considering the myriad of players out on the market today, both online and in stores, it can be bewildering. Do you go with a well known name like Apple and their iPod, or do you take a chance on a cheaper, less known maker and player? Do you take the larger square model with the big hard drive, or the smaller one which the sales rep tells you is good for jogging with?
Ultimately, the most important thing for you to consider is what makes you happy as you listen to your tunes. Fancy features, unknown buttons and dancing icons on the screen make for fun bells and whistles, but if the player is too complicated, will you really want to use it? That's where this guide comes in. Listed below are the features we feel are five basics you should consider before you plunk down your money.


• Connectivity What exactly is connectivity? Plainly put, it is the way your digital audio player talks to your computer so that it can transfer music files. Though a few players are beginning to offer the ability to wirelessly transfer files, your main options at this point will be one of two: USB or FireWire. Both require connecting a special type of cable (sometimes included in the packaging, sometimes not) from your player to your computer. The computer then recognizes the player and you can begin moving over your music.
The first type of connection option, known as USB, is the more common one found today and is something supported by both PCs and Macs. It is also somewhat slower in regards to how quickly it transfers music from your computer to the player then the other standard, FireWire. FireWire however, is primarily supported only on Macs.
Regardless of which standard you use, keep in mind that transferring music can take some time, especially depending on how many files you want to copy over.


• Display The display screen on most digital audio players these days is tiny. Using the screen is a must though if you want to see what music is playing, as well as navigating through options like volume control, song shuffling and the equalizer. The main things to consider here include making sure you can see the display under all conditions, including being outdoors when there is a glare, as well as being able to read the characters on the screen without going blind.


• File Types When music is copied onto your computer from a CD or downloaded from a Web site, the type of file it is saved as can vary. While it will often default to the .mp3 format, which is the most widely handled by digital audio players today, it could also end up as a .wav, .aac, .wma or something else. The important thing to know from all of this is to check what types of music files your player supports: it doesn't help to waste an hour prepping music to transfer to your player only to realize it’s not compatible in the first place.


• Software How you get your music onto your digital audio player is important to consider. Most players ship today with some type of software which will allow you to compile play lists and copy files. The big question here is: is it easy to figure out? Does the software provide guided instructions, or are you left to struggle with a cumbersome help file? Is the interface easy to navigate, or a cluttered mess of buttons and words?


• Storage Type Do you plan on taking your player jogging, or using it as a supplement to your home entertainment system? This is a big question to answer because players come in two types of flavors for storage: hard drive models and flash-based units.
Hard drive models store files in the 1000s and are great for when you want to kick it with all of your tunes in your cubicle at work without having to lug dozens of CDs around. The downside with hard drive units however, is they tend to have movable parts, which means bouncing along on the treadmill may make your music skip if your player doesn't have a memory buffer.
Flash-based models are small and sleek, usually slipping into your pocket with no problem. They are great for more active users and those on the go a lot, but are offset by the fact that they can't carry more than a few dozen songs unless you add a usually expensive memory card.