What else is there to consider in getting an MP3 player aside from the usual suspects, namely capacity, brand, sound quality and portability? These days, an MP3 player isn't necessarily a luxury anymore, having been mass produced by different companies and sold at very competitive prices and even combined with other portable devices such as mobile phones and portable video/DVD players. With the progress achieved in legitimately selling music online through sites such as iTunes and Napster, MP3's have single handedly caused a revolution in record companies' existing business models as well as the way we listen to music.

With so many MP3 players of different shapes, makes and sizes out in the market to choose from, it's temptingly pain free to just head on over to the nearest Apple Store and plunk down a couple hundred for the latest iteration of their massively popular iPod since it provides an answer for all our MP3 player criteria for judging: it has varying capacities to suit every individual need, the Apple brand is well respected and positively recognized, it sounds great, and it's small enough to fit anywhere. Although the iPod is a quick "get it over with" solution to your MP3 player quandary, that's not to say that there aren't other good players out there such as Microsoft's Zune and Creative's Zen. But then again, apart from form factor and minute multi tasking abilities at the time of this writing (as in the case of the Zune's wifi capabilities), it's basically the same banana, and so instead of monkeying around with other MP3 players in the market based on what points to consider, here are some things that you should NOT consider when choosing an MP3 player:

Choice based on it being an all-in-one solution

Despite the temptation to pocket a device everytime you head out that contains all your music, videos, pictures, pdf files, flash games, e-books, and what have you, the fact of the matter is there isn't any product (as of June 18, 2008 mind you) that is capable of doing all these things while providing the tiny form factor characteristic of MP3 players as well as their intuitive interfaces. Your mobile phone cum music player cum movie viewer cum digital camera may be well and good for light use, but for heavy music listening and photography, you'll probably run out of juice sooner than you think. Whenever you purchase an MP3 player, keep in mind that it's primary purpose is to be able to store and playback your music collection without

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