by Michael Holden

Created on: June 21, 2008

From a personal point of view, an MP3 player should be just that - an MP3 player. I understand it can be simple to add video features and what have you, and to be honest these are really useful when going on holiday or a long trip. Even with adding video files you will have to take into consideration they more than likely need to be converted in order to make proper use of the players video features. Depending on how many videos you want as well as how long they are (i.e. converting a movie), this can take a while.

On a similar aspect of file conversion, avoid a player that attempts to 'convert' your music just for the player. Why even do that? That's the whole point on MP3 players, it should be universal. Most players thankfully though support an array of music file formats such as WMA and m4a (AAC),etc.

Price is the most important thing when considering a specific player. Chances are an iPod equivalent can do just as well as it's rival counterpart with just the same amount of storage space.

Again from experience and as an example, something like a Creative MP3 player is just as versatile. It offers something different than a commonly known iPod interface and usage. To put simply, go for something that's not only cheap and reasonable, but is different from the norm. Sure you can argue at the fact that certain players are "popular", but sometimes it's nice to be different from the crowd.

I bought the current Creative ZEN player towards the end of last year and I get nothing but stares from friends who admire it's sleek look and features. But don't necessarily go by style either. Take into consideration ease of use and versatility when using the player. If you use the bus every morning how easy will it be in order to access it? Or to even fit in your pocket?

On the other hand perhaps an all in one player can be the answer as well. The advantage with such a device such as a mobile phone MP3 player or a palm pilot style device prevents you from carrying separate devices on you. The disadvantage though may occur on how well battery life is, what happens in a situation when you've been playing songs for too long and then need to make an emergency call only to find that there is no juice left on the phone? Or even vice-versa with someone trying to call you?

Peripherals are improving all of the time, it's simply a matter of knowing what you want out of your desired player and whether you want it as an "all-in-one".

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