Argos buying guide to digital audios – 3 of 4

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Introduction

MP3 and MP4 players (Portable Video Players) players give you an easy way to take your music and videos with you. Just transfer the files from your computer (MP3 gives you music, MP4 gives you music and video) to the player and you can enjoy them anywhere – using headphones, portable speakers or a built-in screen. The most famous player is Apple's iPod, but there are many other MP3 and MP4 players.

MP3 is a 'format' – a method of storing music digitally. There are other formats, such as WMA and AAC, but they're all just different ways of doing the same
thing. Digital music files take up less space than a CD recording, so you can
store lots of music on a player – even a small 2GB player can store up to a thousand songs, on a device much smaller than a portable CD player. They're compact, easy to use, and will play for hours (or even days!) on a single battery charge.

The amount your MP3 player can store depends on how much memory it has.
This is measured in gigabytes (GB) – units of a thousand megabytes (MB). A
1GB MP3 player can store about 500 songs and still have room for some digital photos! The figures below are a guide based on the space an average video, song or photo takes up. If you store a combination of video, songs and photos then the maximum for each will be less than that shown below.

If you like to change your tunes regularly and listen for short periods – perhaps on the way to work – choose a small, lightweight MP3 player. (Even the smallest will store several hundred songs). If you want to store your entire CD collection, choose an MP3 player with 30GB or more. These players use a small hard disk rather than a memory chip. This makes them larger, but they'll still fit in your pocket.

Playback time is the amount of time you can use your MP3 player with batteries.
Most MP3 players charge through a USB port on your computer, but there is the flexibility to use rechargeable or standard batteries, or charge it straight from the mains.

Everyone's heard of the Apple iPod. It's a beautifully-designed MP3 player (yes, it plays MP3s as well as Apple's own AAC format) from Apple. iPods are great for accessorising – there's a huge range of speakers, headphones and protective cases available, all matched in style and colour to your device, so you can have your iPod exactly the way you want it. The iPod is also designed for Apple's iTunes software, which makes buying music online easy.

MP4 players are like MP3, only for video and do everything that MP3
players do – organise and play music in a variety of digital formats – but they
also have built-in LCD screens and play MP4 video files. Like MP3 players,
all MP4 players come with headphones so you can listen as well
as watch.

Screens on MP4 players go up to 7 inches – big enough for viewing TV shows without eyestrain – but you can also display content on your TV, so you're not limited to the player's screen when you want to share a
clip. Some will even record directly from your TV or DVD player and store on the player's memory.

MP4 players tend to have larger memories than MP3 players, since video takes up more space than music! They usually use a small hard disk rather than a memory chip, to offer the biggest possible capacity.

You’ll need access to a computer to put
songs onto your player.

Most computers with a CD or DVD drive
will be able to copy, or ‘rip’ the content
from the CD and convert it to digital files.
You then simply connect your player to
the computer and transfer the music files
across. Most players come with their own
software to make this quick and easy.
You can record over old tracks as many times as you like, so you can keep your music collection up to date. You can also download music and video from the many online stores on the Internet.

We have tried to make things easy by showing which types of download the
player is compatible with:

CD - means the player can only play songs that have been ‘ripped’ from a CD by your computer.

DRM - means you can use most download sites where you pay per song
(excludes iTunes), as well as ripping CDs.

iTunes - a site where you pay per song, can only be used with Apple iPods but you can also rip CDs.

Check that your PC has the correct operating system to support your player.

Apple's iPod has spawned its own range of add-ons. From colour-matched cases and arm pouches, to FM transmitters for listening to your iPod through your car stereo, choosing iPod accessories is as much fun as choosing an iPod!