• The basics
• Pros and cons of MP3 players
• Solid state players
• Mini hard drive-based players
• Regular hard drive-based players
• The big issues
• Other considerations
• Weighing up the options

Media Playback

As noted before, there is somewhat of a blurring of the lines between standard MP3 players and full blown portable media devices. Units like the new iPod nano are far too small to be intended primarily for video and photo play back, but that doesn't mean they don't have that option.

These days a lot of MP3 players that have a reasonable quality screen will offer video and photo play back, and while the displays may be too small to make movie watching enjoyable, they're often fine for the occasional video clip or for a quick television episode on the ride home.

If you like the idea of having a bit of video support thrown in then make sure you find a player that has it. However, you should note that it will wind up adding a bit to the price, and video files consume both more battery power and storage space than standard MP3s.

Radio tuner

Some players have built-in FM radio tuners so you can listen to (and record) the radio as well as MP3s. Sorry AM talk-back fans, but you generally only get FM.

Note that a built-in FM radio tuner is different to an FM transmitter accessory. These transmitters allow you to wirelessly play your MP3s through your car or home stereo!

MP3 players outfitted with recording capabilities sometimes even let you record the radio to the flash memory - as MP3 or sometimes even as uncompressed WAV files.

If you are looking at a player with a built-in radio tuner, look for memory presets so you're not left manually channel surfing all the time.

FM tuners are great when you're traveling to get a feel for the local area in addition to having new, fresh content when you've heard your playlist ten times already.