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Buying a Portable MP3 Player
Do you
intend to use a MP3 player, prompted either by the hype
on music file sharing systems or by your own love for music?
If your answer is yes, you can use this write up as a guide
for choosing a portable MP3 player. These players have changed
the way we listen to music. They are extremely handy and
useful.
The
price of an MP3 player will differ depending on the number
of features it has, such as the amount of internal memory,
radio tuners and more.
The
MP3 player connects to your PC using an interface. Most
players feature a Parallel or Universal Serial Bus (USB)
interface. The former is very common. The data transfer
is slow, however in comparison to USB. Parallel ports are
generally used to connect printers and transfer at 8 bits
per second. USB supports 12 megabits per second!
Some
portable MP3 players include an FM stereo tuner. Most MP3
players come with built-in microphones. This way, you can
use your MP3 to record. You can also save short audio reminders.
Some players also include a phone book that allows you to
store phone numbers.
Be sure
to buy an MP3 player that is compatible with your PC. Most
players support Windows-based PCs. If you have a Macintosh
(or Apple iBook) check whether your MP3 player and its software
is compatible. Unfortunately, MP3 players often don't support
Windows 3.x.
The
amount of standard (onboard) storage memory ranges between
16-32MB. Some higher-end MP3 players have 64MB. Remember
that most MP3 players come with additional memory slots,
if you ever need more of it. To help calculate what you
need, remember 32 MB ram allows for 6 tracks. Currently
cards are available starting from 32 up to 75 MB. One new
MP3 player features a 6 GB hard drive!
Memory
formats can be added to a portable MP3 Player for expanded
memory. The most widely used format are: SmartMedia cards
that use flash memory, CompactFlash which resembles a matchbox
and features high capacity storage between 2-96MB and Memory
Stick, Sony's proprietary format with a capacity of 64 MB
and of course a hard drive.
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