Best Audio & Video player Buying Guide

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When you want to buy an MP3 player, consumers are met with a huge range of products. MP3 players generally use hard disk storage or flash. Flash based storage players are more expensive per unit of storage than hard disk players but are generally smaller and better aid battery. While traditionally the case that flash-based players were limited in the amount of storage it could offer, this is changing very quickly. For example the Apple iPod Touch now comes with 64 GB of memory, which is sufficient to maintain about 14,000 tracks.

The most popular file format is, of course, Mp3. But this is not as widespread as you may think. All Apple iPod uses AAC and Microsoft prefers its own WMA format. However, it is more common MP3 players to appear to be compatible with several different formats. It is important to consider what formats are compatible with the device you want to buy. If it is not compatible with the format of the songs already on the computer may be a long process of reformatting or may not be able to upload the files at all.
While every MP3 player will ship with a set of headphones provided are often disappointing. The difference in buying a good headset is likely to be far greater than any difference in sound quality between different MP3 players, themselves. Especially when you spend over £ 100 in an MP3 player, an additional 20 in relatively good headphones can make a difference for little additional outlay. Like music, many MP3 players offer additional features.

More advanced players can have open Wi-Fi connectivity to the Internet. This allows streaming video, gaming, technology, radio and internet communication such as Facebook, MSN Messenger and Skype. Players can also offer more modest useful features such as a microphone for voice recording or an FM Receiver.

Some Points before buying an mp3 player:

• Compact Design
• High capacity to store thousands of songs. It is prefer to go for an 8GB Flash MP3 player to store songs.
• Totally shockproof
• Multiple audio and video format reader
• Audio/Video support
• Long battery life
• Good quality music. (Equalizer support)
• External storage
• Easy connectivity to pc and other devices. Easy file transfer.
• Wifi/Bluetooth support (optional)

Best MP3 Players:

Apple iPod Nano :

The new iPod Nano is rather m ore smaller and lighter than the previous generation. It has a brushed aluminum casing and glass. With it you can access Genius Mixes, you can create and edit playlists and you can also listen to the radio, because it has an FM transmitter with live pause. The battery will provide energy autonomy of approximately 24 hours, and therefore many hours of fun. The interface of the iPod Nano with Multi-Touch interface, allow users to access their songs, albums, playlists "by sliding your finger across the screen." Not having a "home" button, simply press the glass so that it returns to the main screen. Also, with 2 fingers the screen can change the screen orientation. Another important feature is that each person can customize the iPod Nano by dragging icons that are on other screens.

It also features Shake to Shuffle feature, which simply involves shaking the device to another song from the library to listen to your iPod. As for the FM radio built in, allow you to hear our favorite radio stations without need for an extra device. Is also able to pause the radio that under certain circumstances we do not lose any detail of any issue. This new generation iPod is much more portable than ever and is sure to become the ideal partner for many users, even for those who like to exercise. The clip holder can place it almost anywhere, regardless of the type of clothes you wear. Includes pedometer to help us keep track of our walks or runs. This obviously makes it compatible with Nike + iPod system, which enables the device to keep track of their routines.

Price : 8GB $149 / 16GB $179

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Apple iPod Touch :

The iPod touch is the most popular iPod model. With the crisp, clear and high resolution display retina and the A4 processor of Apple, he is the most powerful iPod ever. Thanks to the installation of two cameras, the iPod touch is not only one of the best and most versatile compact HD camcorder, but also, thanks to FaceTime, a modern video phone. The incredibly thin and lightweight housing and the high resolution multi-touch display provide optimum user comfort. Thanks IOS and the myriad of apps from the Apple App Store, you can use your iPod to your liking. Up to 40 hours of battery life ensures long-lasting joy. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity are also the best of the iPod touch.

Sleek new design. With circuit, polished stainless steel, IPod Touch feels even better in your hand. 3.5-inch wide screen display is perfect for watching movies and playing games. Get your mobile game on. With built-in speaker and groundbreaking technologies such as Multi-Touch display, accelerometer and 3D-graphics, IPod Touch puts an amazing gaming experience in the palm of your hand. Discover music Genius. With a few clicks, the new Genius feature creates a playlist of tracks in the library that go great together.

The Touch iPod 4G connectivity includes Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, but its creators did not want to give it GPS and remains an important point to what they see as essential to have a mobile device with this technology, as the price being paid. Nevertheless, the system provides geo-location with Wi-Fi the same way. The headphones that are included in the current iPod Touch are good, but are not able to make the most of the device as audio, so you could check some other alternative that allows the market. Supported audio formats are AAC, HE-AAC, MP3 VBR, AIFF, Apple Lossless, among others. Support for 720p and H264 video including MPEG-4.

Price : 8GB $229 / 32GB $299 / 64GB $399

Archos 5 Portable Video Player :

After a successful exit 605 Wi-Fi , Archos company has expanded its line of portable media players a new generation: Archos 5 and 7. These models are an important milestone in the development of the company, whose "Internet tablets" are very similar to common media players. The characteristics of the Archos 5 looks good, especially with a new faster CPU Texas and the big screen. Corps of stainless steel also shows the simplicity of the design: for the look of it plays a big role, although fingerprints spoil all impression. Archos 5 has a perfect appearance.

This media player has a compact size: 12,7 x 7,6 x 1,3 cm, weighing 250 grams for the 60 GB version and 12,7 x 7,6 x 1,9 cm, weighing 300 grams to 120 - and 250 - GB versions. Unfortunately, Archos 5 has a fixed non-removable battery. The battery life of this model was about 4 hours and 20 minutes of video playback, and 12.5 hours for music. A variety of TV features is added in Archos 5 media player and the same will not be available until you connect an accessory, like Archos DVR Station.

Price : $339.93 Approx

Cowon iAUDIO 9 16 GB Mp3 Player :

Cowon iAudio 9 - MP3-player with a small TFT-display that is separate from a panel of touch-sensitive controls and functionality, corresponding to the requirements of modern portable players: Play photo, audio, video and flash, as well as displaying text. Design of the device is designed in a minimalist concept, and the administration is organized as a logical and simple. The main purpose of the player - play music. Cowon iAudio 9 copes with all common formats (MP3, WMA, OGG and WAV), as well as with uncompressed formats (APE, and FLAC).

Thanks to the sound processing BBE + in combination with JetEffect 3.0 player provides assertive, rich sound, and a five-band equalizer and an additional manual controls will achieve precisely the result which the user wishes to receive. In addition, the device has an FM-receiver with recording capability, which can be used without headphones, the sound output for external speaker.

The iAudio U5 is the entry-level model for Cowon as did his iriver E100 but the approach here is not the same. iriver indeed offers a product with multiple features sacrificing sound quality. Cowon does not propose to reverse no photo mode and video mode even less, anyway the screen is only 1.8 ". So it is a purely audio device with the added bonus, a microphone and a recordable FM tuner but no line-in. If U5 is purely audio, by default, however, that it only supports MP3, WMA and WAV, OGG and FLAC are reserved for the Korean firmware. Other criticisms concern the memory (2 to 8GB, but no version or 16GB memory slot) and a non-standard USB port. Fortunately, the strengths remain as recognition as a USB key or autonomy.

Price : $139.99

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Creative Zen M300 :

The Creative Zen Style M300 MP3 as innovative with its Bluetooth 2.1 which allows for wireless listening through headphones or Bluetooth speakers. Creative's new MP3 player features Bluetooth 2.1 and can therefore easily stream music to any wireless, Bluetooth-enabled headphones. A second advantage is the class for its lush sized space. This allows the internal storage of either 4, 8 or 16 GB via a microSD card up to 32GB can be extended. Navigation is done via a touchscreen.

It has a LCD TFT 1.45 "and has a battery life of approximately 20 hours. It supports audio formats MP3, WMA (DRM9), WAV (IMA-ADPCM), Audible Format 4 Audible AAX, and JPEG for images. In addition, the presence of a slot for a micro SD card can add up to 32 GB of storage. Zen Style M300 also features an FM radio with 32 presets, an integrated microphone for voice recorder. The Zen Style M300 comes in a nice simple case that is available in black, white, red or yellow. The Creative Zen Style M300 also features an FM radio function with 32 presets and a built-in microphone for voice recorder.

Price : 4GB $79.00 / 8GB $89.00 / 16GB $129.00

iRiver Clix :

iriver Clix - certainly an outstanding example of style and design. A small rectangular black box with a shiny rounded corners, at first glance - just nice, nothing special. They are very easy to use, as long as you do not want to, for example, adjust the volume, which is necessary to use auxiliary buttons. That they did not like me. Imagine the button a little more than a long and 0.5 cm thickness of 1 mm, but these, I may say, "controls" are scattered in a chaotic manner to the body player. I n addition, all the signatures to the buttons are made on the back of the player. When you turn on iriver Clix happy very bright and vivid colors on the screen, to the same preset backgrounds not only is very beautiful, so still and animated.

The front panel is a 2.2-inch AMOLED-display. The display is very bright, high contrast, but fading a little in direct sunlight. You can say almost perfect, but it has one drawback - the color was too bright and unnatural. One gets the impression that somewhere in the settings to maximum saturation unscrewed. But managing this option in the player is not provided at all, see only the simplest brightness - medium, low and high. Support for a large number of image formats is not always necessary, because it does not say, but the vast majority of graphic file is distributed as a JPEG, and our hero is just and only supports this format. The player only supports three formats of MP3, WMA, OGG, which can be considered as a sweetener pills no FLAC, present in the list of supported files in the same IRiver L-Player. Sample tracks will be available by artist, album, genre and rating, which somehow made into a separates in the sub-menu.

Price : $84.99

Samsung YP-R2

It has the technology and SoundAlive Square Music that lets you sort and organize music according to the tastes of the user. It works with a battery that has a battery life of 40 hours music and 4 hours for video. It works on Android, Google's mobile OS. The device is equipped with a 3-inch touchscreen WQVGA-display, flash memory 4 GB or 8 GB choice function SoundAlive, FM-radio, voice recorder and a microphone. Management will take over the popular operating system Google Android. As stated, the battery the player will be able to play music continuously for 40 hours, Video up to 4 hours. YP-R2 although it has not the smallest display size is not very large, only 50.9mm x 90.9mm x 8.6mm.

The player looks like a frame for photos, because has no buttons on the front side, refused even to touch. When the player goes on sale and how much it will cost is unknown. Below you can learn about the features of the player and its characteristics. So, we are dealing with a player equipped with a 3-inch display with a resolution 400h240 points. He will come with 4 or 8 gigabytes of internal memory (hence we can assume that the price will be gentle and not beyond the clouds). Body weight, the new product just 52 grams with dimensions 51x91x9 mm. Claimed battery life is 4 hours for video playback and up to 40 hours - when playing music.

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SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4 GB Video MP3 Player

SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4GB MP3 Video Player is being marketed as an economical alternative to other more expensive players today. It is a multimedia device that lets you view stored photos, play audio or video. To learn more about this product to see if this is worth buying, then you can read more details below. SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4GB MP3 Video Player is available in a price range of $ 79 to $ 129 at major online retailers. Available in a variety of color options to suit your own personality and taste preferences. On the other hand, there are 2GB, 4GB and 8GB versions to choose from that will determine how much data you can store it and its price. The design of the main unit is slim, with a touch of style to it. It is also very useful in approximately 0.3 inches in size that can easily carry around while on the go.

When buying SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4GB MP3 Video Player, you will receive other accessories to go along with the package includes headphones, foam covers for headphones, USB 2.0 cable and quick start guide. It is equipped with control panel with a 4-way 360 degree swivel wheel makes it easier to scroll through the menu and adjust the volume easily. It is also ideal menu system that delivers excellent resolution with an intuitive interface that displays icons to access music, video, photos, voice, FM radio, and settings. SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4GB MP3 Video Player supports many file formats so you do not have to worry about converting the files to be compatible with this device. Between support MP3, WMA, WMV, MPEG-4, and Audible file formats.

Sansa Clip by SanDisk

Compare to others the player is very low in range. But I can tell you that the sound quality player extraordinary. I will not say that it sounds better than any player (you need to conduct large-scale comparative test), but I declare with certainty - it sounds like to me most of all I heard (just like it, not on the characteristics and parameters of reproduction). And I listened to a lot of players.

Yes, we have a winner not a beauty contest. Housing is not enough thin finish is not as good as a Shuffle, and the angles of the body is not as elegant as contours Stone. But hard hit by Clip - case can be cracked, if only to force on the floor. The low weight even fall out of his pocket while riding a bike does not entail any serious consequences, except perhaps a couple of scratches. For lovers of harmony in all things, including in the locker room, there are four versions of body colors - black, blue, pink and red.

Price : 8GB Black $55.79 / 2GB Red $34.95 / 2GB Black $32.99 / 1GB Black $49.95

Sony A Series (NWZ-A865) :

Sony NWZ-A 865 16 GB MP3 player, built-in microphone, recording function, bluetooth, date / time, FM radio tuner, type: media player, wi-fi product, name: NWZ-A865 16GB, display, touch screen support, file- formats: MP3, internal memory storage capacity, 16 MB, Memory type: Flash.

This series feature wireless connectivity via Bluetooth Version 2.1 + EDR with A2DP. This allows use with compatible wireless stereo headset. However, within the price includes a headset button, in the case of the NWZ-A860 series, aimed at audiophiles, are of better quality. Bluetooth connectivity also serves to transfer media files wirelessly from compatible devices such as smartphones and laptops. NWZ-A860 series comprises four models that differ only by the capacity of internal memory, the Sony NWZ-A867 (64 GB), the Sony NWZ-A866 (32 GB), the Sony NWZ-A865 (16 GB ) and the Sony NWZ-A864 (8 GB). Furthermore, within the NWZ-S760 series include the Sony NWZ-A765 (16 GB) and Sony NWZ-A764 (8 GB).

Price : Between $225 to $494

Sony X-Series Walkman :

Sony Walkman X-Series - not only rival the iPod, but also a savior for the player Walkman. Sony was the first company that in the late 1970s came the idea of portable music player for listening to music, and she, for two decades, dominated in this direction. Then came the Apple iPod and Sony began to take their positions. Tokyo giant refused to support MP3, released a few unsuccessful players and watched in horror as the Apple usurped his crown. Most of the Sony boasting excellent sound player, this is achieved thanks to the digital noise reduction and advanced digital processor. Player Sony X-Series Walkman is a solid device with a sleek design and unique utilitarian attractive interface, it is compatible with the Mac, as well as with Windows, and supports podcasts from iTunes and videos from Amazon Unbox. It offers many features, including application Slacker, built-in support for YouTube, Wi-Fi, FM tuner and built-in noise reduction. Headphones that come with better quality than usual. The sound quality is excellent, rated battery life is excellent. X-Series rather expensive player. Leaves fingerprints. Included applications may not adequately convert the video.

For the X-series does not matter what play - it can be MP3, WMA or AAC. You can even buy tracks from iTunes and listen to them on Walkman X-series. Of course, for there is no elegant Walkman software like Apple iTunes, but you can easily do without it. The sharp edges of X-series look rougher than smooth curves more attractive Touch, but smaller Walkman, and his straight side surfaces provide the ability to light tactile control over frequently used buttons, including squelch switch over. This allows you to not get X-series of pocket every time you want to rewind the track or change volume.

Price : $385.66 Approx

Zune HD

The Zune HD is the third generation of players at Microsoft. Like its predecessors it is available in the United States, to date we still have no information on possible commercialization in Europe. Unlike the first two generations, Microsoft has finally given the means with the HD model, which, in view of its specifications, has something to compete with his eternal rival, the iPod touch. Let's see what gives the Zune HD!

The Zune has a HD Nvidia Tegra chip, an OLED capacitive touch, multi-touch format 16 / 9 of 3.3 "with a resolution of 480 × 272, an output HD 720p ( with an optional HD dock), an FM tuner / HD radio, Wi-Fi b / g (with web browser, keyboard, accelerometer, wireless synchronization ...) and a compatible WMV (720 pixels x 480 pixels @ 30fps), MPEG-4 (MP4/M4V - 720 pixels x 480 pixels @ 30fps), H.264 (720 pixels x 480 pixels @ 30fps), WMA, WMA Lossless, MP3, AAC, JPEG. Operating time is 33 hours in audio video against 8.5 h and its dimensions are 102.1 × 52.7 × 8.9 mm for 74g.

The Zune HD is a beautiful product with an exemplary finish! The unit uses high quality materials including a brushed aluminum back, sliced or metal screen topped by a glass plate with just below the "Home" button, there are some Teflon that extends back. Note the four screws on the back, not necessarily ugly, but some are sure to notice!

Price : 16GB for $220 / 32GB for $290