The Latest MP3 Player News
With the mp3 player market changing constantly, you have to be on top of your game! Here is new news from the MP3 world:
MP3 Player or iPod?
Do you want an mp3 player or do you already know you want an iPod?
Apple has been coming out with new stuff and I doubt they will stop. If you are interested in their stuff, just head over to the Apple store, "ooh" and "awe" over everything and then choose the iPod for you. (Which might be tough, considering the number of different models these days!)
Not into the whole iPod thing? Don't worry, there are still plenty of options open, even some superior ones (although many iPod fans will beg to differ.) Look into players by Creative, iAudio, and Rio.
File formats
You're not really getting an mp3 player. You're getting an MP3, WMA, OGG, AAC, and/or ALTRAC player. iPods play AAC files while Sony's players use ALTRAC. These two formats coincide with iTunes and Sony Connect, the digital download services. And of course, Sony music only plays on Sony players and so on.
That should give you one reason to find a player by someone like iAudio.
Hand in hand with music format is the music management software. iTunes is clearly the easiest to use, but there are other good ones, and some terrible ones.
And going back to the iAudio point, think about photo and video. If that's something you're looking for, the iAudio X5 is the way to go.
What about an FM tuner?
Yeah, most mp3 players have these, and they are great... Great to remind you why it was worth paying so much for the mp3 player! (Are there any good free radio stations these days?)
One final thing... mp3 phones. Although it's tempting to get the latest and greatest, these are still in the early stages. Meaning, high prices and low reliability. Keep your phone and mp3 player separate, at least for now.