If it hasn’t already the digital format will inevitably enter your lives at some point and there are plenty of benefits to be had. Choice is a key word here – no longer do you have to contend with a couple of good songs in a mostly filler album – buy the songs separately if you like. Exclusive content is often only available on digital, in the form of free downloads or early releases and you can easily subscribe to any of the growing number of regular podcasts from your favourite radio show.

If you are after a player that is going to let you play video on the screen, then you will be looking at getting an mp4. The term mp4 is what is known as a  “container format”. Put simply, this means that you can combine different media to work together to produce an end result, for example audio and video combine so you can watch the latest Britney abomination. Mp3′s play just audio. Simple. For the sake of argument we’ll use the term mp3 player as encompassing all the media players.

So what do you need to know before buying an mp3 player? These beauties can cost you a lot of money so you need to be aware of a few things before hand.

*Firstly, know your budget. This is the single most important rule in buying anything and retailers will try anything to try and tempt you to part with that extra few quid

*Don’t buy what you don’t need. If you only have a few albums at home and have no intention of downloading a gazillion songs there’s not much point in buying a player that can hold them – extra storage comes at a price

* Be aware of your legal responsibilities – music you pay for is fine, music you get for free from a file sharing service may get you more than you bargained for

* Make sure you have a computer – you will need one to download songs and transfer to your mp3 player

Devices

Having spent a while thinking at what you can afford you need to look at what type of  player you want. There are 2 types of mp3 player, driven by different technologies – hard disc devices  and Flash devices.

Hard drive devices

Hard drive mp3 players have a huge capacity for storage – meaning they can probably accommodate your entire CD collection, assuming you aren’t the late, great John Peel. You tend to get more features than on Flash devices, for example video playback, but because of this, you will find them heavier and bulkier. If you’re planning on buying one purely for video, you may be better off with a portable DVD player which you can find here {link to port DVD]. Hard drive players have movable parts inside so may skip or jump from time to time, but with todays robust designs this tends to only happen if you’re trampolining into brick walls, or other such activities. Be aware that battery life can be a little short.

Flash drive devices

These players have no movable parts and as such, will have no problems with skipping, if you’re skipping. Lightweight and extremely mobile they also benefit from low power usage which means a less battery changes. However they aren’t able to hold as much data within their little frames, so if you’re planning on downloading the entire EMI back catalogue, you may find yourself spending a lot of time swapping things round from your PC. Prices are decreasing and storage space is getting bigger gradually, so perhaps in the future Flash drives will be the only way to go.

Selling points

Storage

So what do I need all this storage for? In the old days when memory was both small and expensive we used to measure it in megabytes, or MB, but having grown up and traveled further down Technology Lane, we’ve had to start using a grander term – the gigabyte, or GB. There are 1000 megabytes in a gigabyte. The more GB you have the more information your player can hold, therefore the more music and video will be available to you. Mp3 players range across a large difference of storage space, anything from 256MB (125 songs) to 120GB (30,000 songs). As you would expect, video uses up more storage as it plays across 2 different medias.

Features

There are a feast of features in the modern day mp3 player – voice recording, wireless capabilities so you can swap songs with your friends, radio, photo storage, colour screens and games to name but a few. Clearly, the more features and add ons your player has, the more it’s going to cost, so think carefully before going for something you really have no need for.

There a many things you may want your mp3 player for – perhaps you’re a keen runner, a music hoarder, an audio book lover or just wants one for long car journeys – so make sure you don’t commit to anything you don’t need.Later this month we’ll be bringing you a selection of  mp3 players to fit your individual needs but for now, have a look at some of what we believe to be the best value mp3 players out there at the moment.



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