How to choose your MP3 and MP4 player

What is an MP3 and an MP4?

An MP3 player is any portable device that digitally reads or plays audio files and has been named after the famous audio format MP3. Nowadays, there are various types of MP3 players, ranging from the too well known Apple’s iPod to the less known ones.

Contrarily to the MP3 player, the MP4 player is also a device that can read and play audio files but can also bear the MPEG format (these are video files that can be played on the device.). Hence, usual MP4s have a little screen on which the user can watch at anyplace and anytime the music video that has been added to the list of files on the MP4.

Types of MP3 players

You will find a variety of MP3 players on the market, with particularly different size, price, storage capacity, color or design. However, there are three distinctive categories that differentiate them:
1. Hard drive based MP3 players
2. Micro hard drive based MP3 players
3. And Flash based MP3 players.

Hard drive based MP3 Players

These players are usually bigger in size than the rest of the MP3 players. The logical reason behind this is that they bear a much larger storage capacity that can get close to 11GB. These types of players however cannot be used like any other traditional little MP3 players as they are mechanically breakable. Thus, if you are planning to take this type of player with you for a little jogging session at the gym, forget it! This is definitely not what you need, even if you can store whole albums of your favorite singers and listen to them for hours while doing 10 sessions of abs.

Micro hard drive based MP3 players

The only difference between the hard drive based MP3 player and the Micro hard drive based MP3 player is the size, which also means that the capacity is also decreased. One will be able to store at least 1700 songs on these little babies, but will meet the same problem as with the hard drive based MP3 player. Also, these kind of players have irreplaceable batteries, meaning that after some time, the batteries will not hold any charging processes and you will be face with the fact that your MP3 will have to be buried. If you don’t want that to happen, I will hardly suggest you to choose the Flash based MP3 player!

Flash based MP3 players

If you are always on the move, do not need a lot of disk storage capacity to store a reasonable amount of music that you can even bring to your gym club without having to think a thousand times which move will definitely kill your player, then, this is player will fit you just right. Concerning the batteries, you can be relieved as the player will use up only a small amount of power, and thus provide a longer life to your dear batteries. Also, they are changeable ones, so you won’t have to through the player in the garbage once the batteries let you down.

Types of MP4 players

MP4 players, alike MP3 players, have a variety of available models, which mainly vary in design, size, shape, use and of course capacity. If you are looking for an MP4 player that you can bring with you during a trip, opt for the LCD screens. This will prevent you from having the surprise of noticing small parts of your screen in your luggage once you have landed.

There are today MP4s with touch screens and they are mostly praised for their special design as well as recording features. However, most of them are fragile and you should be really cautious while using them. They are not water resistant, so don’t bring them to the pool or decide to take them to the bathroom during your shower times.

MP4s now also come with the camera option. This is a great feature that has been added to it about 4 years ago. They hence come up with memory cards as well as remote controls. These are not to be taken to the jogging sessions

Note: you should bear in mind that both MP3s and MP4s have USB cables that are being used for different transfers. Hence, when buying one, make sure that you have a computer that has a USB port that is compatible with your PC.