by Vince Capece

Created on: June 13, 2008

MP3 players have brought a new life to portable music. After transistor radios allowed everyone to carry their music in their pocket, SONY's Walkman gave each person their own choice of music by adding the cassette player. The Discman followed and improved the sound quality. And now MP3 players, led by iPod and Zune not only increase the quantity of music available but also improve the battery life by greatly decreasing the power needed.

When it comes to choosing from the myriad of options in the MP3 player field, the main questions are features and memory. In some cases, the player becomes a central focus of an entertainment system. This requires the player to have many features and a large enough memory to hold many, many hours worth of music. And spending a few hundred dollars to accomplish this task is money well invested.

But what if you're looking for portability and ruggedness? And, especially if children are involved, what if price is key? A $200 iPod may not fill the need.

An often overlooked option is a memory or flash card reader.

What? You're wondering what a unit to download pictures from your digital camera would have to do with listening to music. But some of these handy little units can do both. And what's wrong with being able to multitask while saving a bunch of money?

Online and retail electronics outlets sell memory card readers that offer the capability to double as an MP3 player. Some more advanced ones can also play WAV or other types of sound files. A few of them have built-in memory but all have easily removable memory cards that can be changed or upgraded in seconds.

To fill the memory card, just plug the reader into your computer. Download music like you would normally and transfer it to the reader just like you would transfer any other file from one disk to another. When you're done loading your music, unplug the reader, install a battery, plug in your favorite earbuds, and go on your way.

For less than $100, a memory card reader and flash memory card can provide hours of music in a very portable, high quality, and extremely rugged package. Some online merchants offer package deals where 2gb or 4gb cards along with basic players can be purchased for less than $30; one online store offered a 1gb card and player that sold for, after rebates, about $10. And who wants to spend much more than that when you know your kids will not treat them kindly? Do you really want to invest in what will become a $200 paperweight after the kids have beat it up in their first week?

Sure, we're not talking about the pizzazz of $200 Zune or $300 iPod, but not everyone needs or wants that much. If simply playing music without making a car payment is the intention, perhaps a memory card reader is just the thing.

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