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What can an Mp3 Player Do?


Large capacity mp3 players can play full length movies, mobilize thousands of songs and pictures, and can store and transfer data. These players are different than flash or sports players that have flash drives; these players have a more traditional hard drive and offer 20 to 160GB of storage.

So what can you do with an Mp3 Player?

  • Watch Movies – Many portables can play some video, but these large capacity players can easily store and play full-length feature films. Additionally, many of them can connect to projectors or televisions so you can share your entertainment.
  • View Images – These players are popular with professional photographers because they are smaller than laptops yet can store thousands of images. So if you are on the road, you can store an entire vacation's worth of images from your camera onto your player without a computer.
  • Listen to Music – Mp3 players, of course, play mp3 audio files. They also play a variety of other file types offered through popular music download services like iTunes, Rhapsody, Yahoo Music, Wal-Mart Music and Napster. Some also have integrated FM tuners.
  • Store Data – Nobody wants to walk around with an external hard drive in their pocket though they might need data storage. Many mp3 players can store data files so it can be used as a portable storage device.
  • Record/Import – With an mp3 player you can record almost anything. Not all players record everything, but many can record from a line-in, FM radio or a mic, can import files through a USB port, or directly from another device like a camera.
  • Have Fun – Even though these little players are powerful and can store and transfer massive amounts of data, you can have fun with them by creating slideshows, playing games, listening to audio books or podcasts, watching humorous clips and much more.

In this site, you'll find articles related to Mp3 Players, as well as comprehensive reviews and a side-by-side comparison to help you make an informed decision on which player is right for your media needs. At TopTenREVIEWS — We do the research so you don't have to.™


What to Look for in an Mp3 Player

There are a wide variety of players available; the mp3 players we looked at for this review are large capacity players (more than 30GB) that do not have flash hard drives. Currently, there are many to choose from, and they all offer different features, so there are a few things to consider before purchase, such as:

  • Memory – Mp3 players come in sizes ranging from 30 to 160GB. If you only want to play and store music and some pictures, than 30GB may be enough. If you want to store large volumes of images and music and some video look at the players in the 60 to 80GB range. If you are a professional photographer or videographer or want to use your player as a portable storage device for large volumes of data, check out the large capacity 100 to 160GB players.
  • Display – Some players cannot display images or video; if you just want to store music this will work for you. But if you want to see album art or watch music videos you will want a decent display. If you are going to use your screen to supplement your digital camera you may want a high quality display (320x240 or more).
  • Formats – Music and video download services offer files in different formats. You may want to investigate which service you like before you select a player. Keep in mind that iPods are most compatible with iTunes and that other players are compatible with Windows Media files and all players can play mp3 files.
  • Record/Upload Ability – Some players can record from a line-in or from the FM tuner, and many cannot directly upload from a camera without additional accessories. If you need any of these options you will want to look for a player that can satisfy these requirements.
  • Since these players are a bit pricey, before you purchase you may want to carefully look through our product comparison to find a player that has the features you need and read the review to help make an informed decision. Additionally, consider which extras you may need to purchase to get the player to do what you want.

    Below are the criteria TopTenREVIEWS used to evaluate Mp3 Players:

  • Features – These are the portables' primary features, including what they can play and display, what they can record from and their time management tools. The best mp3 players can play music, radio and video, can display pictures and text, and can record from any source.
  • Music Formats – The most practical mp3 flash players can play an assortment of music formats including mp3, wma and wav. iPods are the only players that usually support aac and aiff.
  • Picture Formats – Typical players can display jpg images, but the best also support other formats like bmp, gif and tiff.
  • Video Formats – Practically all of the players that can display video are compatible with mp4 or wmv files. The most flexible players also play other video formats such as mov, xvid and divx without conversion.
  • Physical Features – Physical features include size, look and type of controls. We also looked at screen size, resolution and signal to noise ratio.
  • Help/Support – Customer service is crucial to customer satisfaction; accommodating manufacturers provide several ways to contact the company, including email, telephone or chat. It is also helpful if they post online extensive product information and useful downloads.
To read about Apple's iPod Classic, the best mp3 player we could find, click here.
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ARTICLES
Hard Drive MP3 Player Definitions
Media Formats Deciphered
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Hard Drive MP3 Player BOOKS
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Hard Drive MP3 Player NEWS

January 9, 2007
MP3 fill up at the gas pump
Mobile Magazine
Future sociologists will wonder how we got along without listening to music. We can take it anywhere, using our portable MP3 players, and we can get it just about anywhere as well. The latest addition to the massively growing list of places you can obtain


January 1, 2007
Analyst: SanDisk MP3 players should challenge iPod
EE Times
Three new MP3 players launched by SanDisk Corp. at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) here should help the company capture market share from Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod in the music player market...


Hard Drive MP3 Player News Articles




Hard Drive MP3 Player Review - A Review of the top Hard Drive MP3 Player products

Make Tracks with your Entertainment

Escape the clutches of your couch and get out the door with your entertainment. Now you can watch video and listen to music – anywhere – with an Mp3 Player.

Click to read   "What can an Mp3 Player Do?"

 eMAIL TO A FRIEND
   
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor
Rank 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Model: 160 GB 160 GB 60 GB 30 GB 80 GB 30 GB 30 GB 30 GB 120 GB 30 GB
Reviewer Comments
Price
$349.00


$379.00


$399.99


$119.99


$249.99


$345.92


$325.23


$229.99


$359.85


$255.99

Overall Rating
Ratings
Features
Music Formats
Picture Formats
Video Formats
Physical Features
Help/Support
Features
Music                    
Equalizer        
         
FM Radio

     
   

Video                    
Games  








Podcast Support  


 
 


Direct Camera Upload
   

         
A/V Output                
 
Record Voice
     
       
Record Line-in and/or Radio
 
 

       
Read Text Documents    


       
Removable Disk Storage
     


   
External Harddrive Function                  
External Speaker
   

     
 
Wi-Fi
 

   



Customizable Backgrounds
       
 
 
Album Art  
     


   
Built-in Clock        
   

 
Calendar and/or Alarm  
   
   


Sleep Timer  
   





Touch Screen
 







Optional Accessories        
       
Music Formats
mp3                    
wma
                 
wav        
   
 
aac    





 
flac





 


aiff  








ogg





   

Picture Formats
jpg                    
bmp    
 
       
gif  

 


 

tiff  

 



 
png    


   


psd  








pdf
 


 



Video Formats
mpeg-4
                 
m4p  








mov  








avi
   

 
 
 
wmv
             
 
xvid

   

     
asf






 
 
m4v  








divx

   

   

Physical Features
Width (inches) 2.4 4.8 5.27 2.4 2.4 4 5.24 2.9 3 3.74
Height (inches) 4.1 3.5 2.95 4.1 4.3 3.1 3.07 5.25 5 4.2
Depth (inches) 0.53 .75 .86 0.87 .5 .6 .87 .9 1.2 .86
Weight (ounces) 5.7 9.1 10.5 5.75 4.5 6.8 10.5 10 10 8.3
Screen size (diagonal inches) 2.5 4.3 4.3 2.5 3.2 3.5 4 4.3 2.5 3.5
Main Menu Scroller Type clickwheel touch screen, buttons scroll button touchpad touch pad buttons buttons joystick joystick button pad
Max Battery Life Audio (hours) 40 17 13 17 30 12 18 18 8 16
Max Batter Life Video (hours) 5 5.5 4.5 5 4 4 10 6 3.5 3
Full Charge Time USB (hours) 4 10 6 6.5 3 10 5 NA 7 4
Battery Type internal internal removable internal internal internal internal internal internal internal
Screen Resolution 320 x 240 800 x 480 480 x 272 320 x 240 320 x 240 720 x 480 480 x 272 320 x 240 720 x 480 320 x 240
Help/Support
Email  
   
       
Live Chat





 


Phone
         
     
FAQ/Knowledge Base                    
Forum  
     




Updates/Firmware              
 
Documentation              
   
Supported Configurations
Windows Vista            
 
 
Windows XP                    
MAC    


       
Product Details Detail Detail Detail Detail Detail Detail Detail Detail Detail Detail
 
Rank 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
TOP TEN PRODUCTS Apple iPod Classic Archos 605 Wi-Fi Creative Zen Vision: W Creative Zen Vision: M Microsof Zune Archos 404 Cowon A2 Coby PMP-4330 Wolverin MVP Philips PMC 7230

 
 
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Apple iPod Classic Review 2008 - Top Hard Drive MP3 Player Archos 605 Wi-Fi Review 2008 - Top Hard Drive MP3 Player Creative Zen Vision: W Review 2008 - Top Hard Drive MP3 Player Creative Zen Vision: M Review 2008 - Top Hard Drive MP3 Player Microsoft Zune Review 2008 - Top Hard Drive MP3 Player Archos 404 Review 2008 - Top Hard Drive MP3 Player Cowon A2 Review 2008 - Top Hard Drive MP3 Player Coby PMP-4330 Review 2008 - Top Hard Drive MP3 Player Wolverine MVP Review 2008 - Top Hard Drive MP3 Player Philips PMC 7230 Review 2008 - Top Hard Drive MP3 Player