How to choose an MP3/MP4 player?

There are hundreds if not thousands of models out in the market by no less than a few dozen MP3 manufacturers in the world.

Every different model has their strength and weaknesses and was designed with different considerations. Here are some of the factors you should consider when selecting the player:Consideration Factors:

• Price
• Memory-size
• Looks
• Comprehensive features
• Video Playback
• User-interface
• Sports Design
• Audio Quality
• Recording features
• File Format supported
• Durability
• Expansion SD/MMC/miniSD/microSD slot
• Screen
• Lyrics Displaying
• Battery Life
• Weight
• Physical Dimensions / Comfortable to feel
• Ease of carrying
• Software bundled
• Earphones

Reasons to choose a mp4 player over a mp3 player

It is quite hard to make a decision when your in a dilemma over choosing between 2 gadgets that do the same thing, one is one level better than the other, and yet the price difference is minimal.

Trust me it’s a hard choice, and here are some reasons why you shouldn’t buy a MP3 player when you have the chance to buy a cool MP4 player for almost the same price and also avoid the mistake that i made. There’s a Hungarian saying that says:“if you throw something away today, you will definitely need it tomorrow” you can’t imagine how true this is, and yes it can refer to shopping also:

You can research 1-2 weeks and check items in lots of stores, and finally after you made up your mind and buy the desired item the next day you spot a better deal and then start swearing and saying:“why couldn’t it wait one more day?”

This happened to me last year. I did my homework(researched, went to lots of stores) and found the ideal product for myself(a buntz 1GB mp3 player). I went and bought it and the next day i went to a local hypermarket and spotted a special offer for a 2GB Mp4 player with 65k colors which cost like 10$ more than my mp3 player. At that point i taught i’ll smash the ground with my mp3 player but my friends chilled me down.

Reason 1: Song selection

At a mp3 player you can only switch from the current song to the song that was before it and the song that is next. This means that if you want to listen to a song that is in the middle of the list you will have to use the scroll button x times(x represents the number of the song you want to listen to) to get to the desired song.

At a mp4 player this is not an issue, because you have a bigger lcd display with a menu which allows you to select the song you want to listen.

Reason 2: Display

Mp3 players have only a tiny monochrome LCD display and allow you to only play songs.

If you have a MP4 player you can watch videos(exceptions are those which have monochrome display) because most of the mp4 players have at least a 65,000 color display.

Reason 3: Supported file types

Most of the MP3 players support .mp3, .ogg and .wma file types.

MP4 players usually support: .mp3, .wma, .wav, .MPEG 1,2,4, .MP4, .JPG, .AVI, .VOB, .ASF. Also some MP4 players have a video conversion application which converts any type of video file to a custom video type supported by the mp4 player.

Reason 4: Functions

MP3 players have the possibility to play songs,listen to radio,record or replay recordings along with some lcd color effects.

MP4 players feature a 65,000 or 256,000 color display(exceptions may occur) and let you replay audio/video/pictures/record/replay.

Reason 5: Reliability

MP3 players are powered by a 1.5V AAA battery. An alkaline battery lasts about 12-16 hours of usage time. If you want to extend this you need to buy NI-MH rechargeable batteries(1000 mAH would be a good choice) along with a battery charger -> extra expenses

MP4 players have a lithium ION or Polymer battery which you can recharge by connecting your mp4 player with your PC trough the USB port. The battery of a mp4 player has an autonomy of 16-24 hours and recharge time is 2-3 hours.

Reason 5: Price

The price difference between mp3 and mp4 players is really small, but if you calculate the expenses after buying a mp3 player(rechargeable batteries/battery charger) then you will realize that it’s better to buy a mp4 player which costs an extra 5-10 bucks and enjoy its extended features.

Reason 6: Accessories

The headphones supplied with mp3 players are low quality ones and you will most probably buy a headset that sounds better(i suggest philips ).

Mp4 players have a high-quality time-resistant headset which i guarantee that won’t sound distorted.

Reason 7: Trend

Its a fact. Mp4 players are more trendy than mp3 players. This means that you can show off your MP4 player to your friends and brag about it. You can’t really do this with your MP3 player.

Remember: both the mp3 and the mp4 players can be used as USB sticks to store and share data.The data transfer is almost the same as at USB sticks. Cool isn’t it?

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