MP3 / Mediaplayers - reviews and price comparison

What is an MP3-player/media player?

An MP3-player is a music player that can store data files of a certain kind and convert these into music. Media players work the same way but can also display pictures and videos.

Most players have internal memory but some players have replaceable memory cards which can be switched just like the old cassettes. There are memory cards with different storage capacities, up to several GB.
The disadvantage with buying separate memory cards is that it often becomes more expensive than to buy a player with internal memory.
Show info about media players

If you are playing videos on your media player you will need a large storage capacity. The file size varies considerably depending on the compression of the video – the more compressed video, the lower the picture quality. As a comparison a DVD has a capacity of 4.7 GB, which is enough for one full length motion picture compressed with high quality. There are however more efficient compressions than the one used on DVD, so it won't be a problem bringing several movies if you have tens of gigabytes like most of the media players.
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Size and weight

The MP3-players can be really small, as you can see on picture of the Mpio One-player to the right.

If you want a big storage capacity (tens of GB) you have to buy a player in a bigger format though.

File formats

Many MP3 players support other music file formats than MP3, such as WMA, OGG and sometimes images or video files. (show more about files and formats and getting them)

When MP3-players were a new phenomenon they could only play MP3-files, and this is still the most common. Nowadays, many MP3 players support other music file formats besides MP3 such as WMA, OGG and others (show more about music files). There are even MP3-players which can not play MP3-files. In these cases there is generally a disc enclosed with a program for converting the files into a format that the player can handle.

The music files can be created on a computer by converting the music from CDs to MP3-files or keep file type from the CDs and get WMA. It is also possible to download music from Internet. The files can be transferred from the computer to the MP3-player, usually with a USB-cable.

When you are buying songs from the Internet you will come in contact with file formats such as: ACC, WMA, MP3 and OGG-files. The most common are however MP3 and WMA.

Some players can also display pictures and videos, the most common file formats for these are JPEG and MPEG4.
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Batteries

Some players have built-in, rechargeable batteries while other use regular batteries.
(more on batteries)

Built-in rechargeable batteries are convenient since you always carry them with the player and you don't need to charge them separately. The disadvantage is that you can not replace them if you are on vacation with no possibility to charge them.
It can also be expensive to replace rechargeable batteries after a few years when they cannot be charged as well as originally.

Regular batteries can be bought in shops/stores/gas stations all over the world.
For the economy's/environment's sake you can replace regular disposable batteries with rechargeable ones and a battery charger. It will of course be more expensive in the beginning but in the long run it saves money.
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AA- (left) and AAA-batteries (right)

Common extras:

• Dictation machine. Many players have a built-in microphone so that you can make voice recordings.
• Radio. Some players have a radio, sometimes even with recording possibilities.
• Line-in. Some players have a line in with MP3-recording. This means that you can connect the player directly to your stereo to record old cassettes or vinyl records.

Rating/awards

On testwinner.co.uk all the different ratings given by expert testers have been translated into a percentage from 0 to 100 with 100 being the maximum rating.
The average rating for a product can indicate different things. A low average rating is a warning that the product maybe won't live up the expectations created by the ads for the product. A high rating often means that the product has great features and works well. The more tests of the product the better accuracy in the average rating.

The amount of test wins/awards shows how many times the product has been named winner or been selected "Editor's Choice", "Best Buy" or received similar positive awards in tests. An award means that the product stands out from the competition in one way or another. It can be by giving value for money or by being innovative, or simply by just filling its purpose in a really good way.