So you want an iPod or MP3 Player?
Why buy an iPod or MP3 Player?
1. Have you ever been driving somewhere listening to your favorite radio station and all of a sudden the station is nothing but static or fades in and out? Quick, grab your iPod or Mp3 player! Now, you have your favorite music or sport at your fingertips.
You can choose your favorite show or music on your iPod or MP3 player at a touch. No more trying to adjust the radio or be distracted from watching the traffic.
2. With an iPod or MP3 player along, that much needed exercise, whether its at the gym, jogging or just staying home to exercise, will not seem so boring. Some players allow you to monitor your mileage while you run. The time will go faster when you are listening to your favorite music, sport or watching a video on your iPod or MP3 player. Put a spring in your step while cleaning your home or shopping by listening to your favorite tunes.
3. Your iPod or MP3 player can brighten your day, regardless of your activity.
4. If you play sports, for fun or professionally, you can record your “moves”, then analyze them to see if you are following thru or need to make some adjustments.
What to consider before your purchase an iPod or MP3 player
Ask yourself these questions:
1. Do you want your iPod or MP3 player solely for music or do you want it for video, sports, music and photos?
2. What size iPod or MP3 player do you want? They can be as small as a pack of gum and weigh less than a car key. Depending on the capabilities will increase or decrease the size. IPod or MP3 players are very portable, going anyplace with you.
3. Is price a factor? IPod or MP3 players come in a range or prices – the price range is dependant on what features and capabilities you get. Ipod and MP3 players’ general price ranges vary from up to 0.00 to 0.00 or more.
4. What kind of display for your iPod or MP3 player? Screen size is a personal choice and can be as varied as the players themselves. Screens can be as small as a 4-line graphic LCD to as large as 3.6″ color high-resolution LCD with 320 x 240 pixel resolution.
5. What memory capacity do you want? 512K to 30GB? From 120 songs to 10,000 songs, photos and videos? These are things to think about.
6. Depending on the investment you make in your iPod or MP3 player, is it upgradeable to future formats and features?
7. What about battery life for your iPod or MP3 player? Depending on how you plan to use your player will help you decide how much battery your will need. A 16 to 24-hour playing time is a good length of time before needing to recharge. Most iPod or MP3 player batteries are lithium, rechargeable Li-on or lithium polymer rechargeable. Other use alkaline batteries. Recharging your iPod or MP3 player can also be done in various ways, with either car chargers, wall chargers and/or via USB port on your computer.
8. Additional considerations are: digital audio, micro-photo, FM transmitter, PC compatible and voice recorder. Depending on the iPod or MP3 player you purchase will determine which options are available and work for you.
9. Do you have a favorite color for you iPod or MP3 player? Ipod and MP3 players come in many colors and you can get different color cases for them.
10. When shopping for an iPod or MP3 player consider sound quality, durability, ease of downloading music, cost, benefits and design.
What functions, features and accessories are available?
1. Various iPod or MP3 player system requirements are:
· PC: Microsoft® Windows® 98 SE, ME, 2000 or XP, Intel® Pentium® II 350MHz or AMD K6®-2 450MHz processor
· Macintosh: USB port, Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later (Mac OS X 10.3.4 or later recommended for use with low-power USB ports)
Additional system requirements can be: Windows Media Player, CD-ROM drive (for installation and import or playback from CD), USB 2.0 compatibility and Internet connection, (broadband suggested).
2. Large memory in your iPod or MP3 player enables you to store thousands of songs for music on the go plus thousands of photos and videos. Below is an example of iPod and MP3 players and their song capacity. As you can see, the size of the players is as diverse as what they can hold.
Flash or Hard Drive Based on 4 minutes per song
512MB 120 – 350 songs
1GB 250 – 500 songs
2GB 480 – 500 songs
4GB 1,000 or more songs
5GB Stores 166 hrs of music
6GB 1,500 songs
8GB 4,000 songs
20GB 5,000 – 9,000 songs
30GB 7,500 songs
40GB 10,000 songs
60GB 15,000 songs
3. Some players have available expansion slots. Expansion slots are integrated receptacles for installing additional memory via a removable memory card (Secure Digital, Multimedia Card, Compact Flash, etc.). Installation is simple; the card simply pushes in and clicks into place.
4. Via the USB 2.0 connection from your computer, you can transfer your favorite tunes from a music website to your iPod or MP3 player in as little as a few seconds. IPod or MP3 players have a wide compatibility with many online subscription and pay-per-download music services. Some iPod and MP3 players are “PlaysForSure” compatible. When purchasing your player, look for this logo on the packaging. Any music download service displaying the “PlaysForSure” logo will work.
5. You can press a button and transfer an entire CD to your player in as little as a few minutes using the USB 2.0 connectivity from your PC.
6. “MP3” might be the buzzword, but it’s not the only digital music file format out there. Fortunately, most online stores and digital music players support a full range of digital file formats. Here are the more popular formats in use:
· ATRAC3 which stands for “Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding 3”, WMA, MP3, ACC (used only used by the Apple® iPod™), and WAV/AIFF
· There are many additional file formats used by the MP3 and iPod industry, not all of which are listed here:
· MP3, WMA, WAV and DRM are audio formats.
· Display formats are JPEG, BMP, TIFF, GIF, and PNG.
· Image formats and AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MPG, MPE, VOB, DAT, ADF, QuickTime MOV and WMV video formats
7. Docking cradles, power supply, AC adapters and cables, belt clips, personal speakers, headphones/ear buds, cases, car FM stereo transmitters, lanyards, sync adapters and management software are some of the accessories available with iPod or MP3 players.
8. Removable, rechargeable batteries are used in iPod or MP3 players, some use lithium, rechargeable Lithium-ion or lithium polymer rechargeable type batteries, while others use alkaline batteries.
9. Some players have vertical touch pads to make navigation easier than ever. These are micro-sized and curved to fit your hand, allowing for enjoyable pure ergonomic comfort and bliss.
10. If you get tired of your stored music, tune in to your favorite radio station with the built-in FM radio. As many as 32 preset stations are available on some iPod or MP3 players. Some players have games already loaded, while others allow you to download games for playing, as well.
11. Use the recording feature for multi-function convenience or record music from the FM tuner. With the built-in recorder in your iPod or MP3 player, you can record your baby’s first words, the interview at the office, or anything else that is important to you. Record messages to yourself and play them back later, never again forget that anniversary gift!!
12. Personal organizers including daily tasks list, contact list and calendar; which easily syncs with Microsoft Outlook, are available on Ipod and MP3 players with hard drives instead of flash drives.
13. Make your ears happy!!! Enjoy skip-free playback, with custom equalizer and pre-set EQ settings, this lets you get your music just the way you like it – there are settings for acoustic, classical, disco, house, jazz, new age, pop, rock and vocal at the touch of a finger.
14. Ipod and MP3 players fit on your arm, in your pocket, on your belt, just about anywhere. Some iPod and MP3 players weight as little as 0.8 oz. The lightweight of the players makes them as portable as your lifestyle demands.