With hundreds of models from which to choose, picking the right digital music player can be tough. Single out the best player by looking at three areas: how the player will be used, file formats and extra features.
1. Use. If you need a player for your morning jog, check flash-based machines, but if your player won’t be jostled much, stick with a hard drive. Flash-based music players have no moving parts, are tiny and lightweight and usually have excellent battery life. But they hold fewer songs than players with hard drives.
For $199, the 2-gigabyte Apple iPod Nano (www.apple.com) holds about 500 songs, according to Apple. For $50 more, you can double the capacity. Other well-reviewed players include the Cowon iAudio U2 (www.cowonamerica.com) ranging in price from $99 to $269 and in capacity from 256 megabytes to 2GB; the Dell DJ Ditty (www.dell.com; $99, 512MB); and the Samsung YP-T7X (www.samsung.com; $150, 512MB).
Hard-drive players are heavier, but they hold much more music. They also tend to have larger screens, more bells and whistles and better interfaces. A good interface is crucial for any player with thousands of songs.
Apple’s iPod has gained a huge following because of its easy-to-use interface. Its 30GB model retails for $299; add $100 for twice the capacity. The iRiver H10 (www.iriveramerica.com; $300, 20GB) and Archos Gmini XS 200 (www.archos.com; $230, 20GB) are other alternatives.
The beauty of hard-drive players is you pay less per megabyte of storage. But that might lead you to buy a player with more storage than you need. For example, a 60GB player can hold as many as 15,000 songs. However, unused space can store data files, such as pictures.
2. File formats. There are many file formats, and not all are compatible with each player. Frankly, this area is a mess.
The most popular audio formats are AAC (Advanced Audio Coding), MP3, WAV and WMA (Windows Media Audio). Other formats include: AA (Audible, used for spoken content such as audio books), ATRAC3 (used primarily in Sony Network Walkman players), FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and OGG (Ogg Vorbis). But you really need to be concerned with AAC, MP3 and WMA.
There are two ways to get music from your computer to your player. You can copy music from CDs that you own or you can buy and download music from online stores. This is where it gets tricky.
The iTunes Music Store (www.apple.com/itunes) uses an encrypted version of AAC. Only the iPod accepts and plays copy-protected AAC files. So if you’ve already bought music from iTunes, buy an iPod. But most music sites use encrypted WMA. The iPod won’t play such files, but most other players will.
3. Extra features. If you have a few models in mind, look at the extras. This can make or break a player. Is radio an important feature? Some players include FM. Are you fussy about the sound? Look for a customizable equalization feature.
Do you want to show off your latest vacation pictures? Many models can do that. And, of course, video is the latest and greatest feature.
But get the music right first. After all, that is its primary function.
