# The Computer Revolution/Entertainment/MP3 Players

MP3 Players are all around us these days. We just need to have music to filter out the silence around us. The growing need for MP3 players have caused them to become more efficient. For instance they keep getting smaller and smaller which makes them more portable. When you break it down theres different sections that should be considered before you purchase a MP3 player. The considerations should be: Data Storage (Hard drive or Flash), smapling rate, transfer of files, battery life, color screens and photo viewing. If your someone like me you need a lot of storage room. Therefore you need a bigger storage. Hard drives allow you to go up to enormous sizes. 15, 20, 30, 40 or even 60 gigabyets! however these hard drives can crash then all your music is lost. This is where the flash drive steps in. The flash drive is usually a small card that can in inserted into your MP3 player. It wont go up to the larger sizes you may want, but it wont crash on you either. The sampling rate has to do with the conversions of the song file you have. The number of times that a song can be measured and converted to a digital value is known as the sampling rate. It is measured in kilobits per second. Basically it shows the "quality" of the song. The higher the quality = the higher the sampling rate = the better! Transferring Files is also a consideration. Do you simply just connect the cables and drag and drop? or do you have to install a whole new application on your PC, then select your songs to convert, then send them onto the drive or card of your player? Some new players has been fixed with color screens and photo viewing. This is seen in the new Ipods which allow you to view photo's or even watch movies on the Ipod itself.

## Hard drive based mp3 players

High capacity player that tends to have more features and larger screens, as well being able to hold all the songs that you can every dream of. They can range from a couple of Gigs to as much as 80 GB which is currently used by Ipod and the Zune. The hard drives have moving parts, but lot of them have great anti skip capabilities, 10,20 minutes. Many of the new hard drive based mp3 players come equipped with a colour screen that can display JPEG and BMP images. Not only can you view pictures on these players, you may be able to watch movies and videos with many of them. Currently some of the best players are Ipod, Zune, and creative and many more. When looking for an mp3 player you want to look for one with the most accessories, this way you can use it more. Make sure to research your player before buying.

## MP3 players less than 20GB

MP3 players with less than 20GB of memory are unable to store large videos or large quantity of video. Therefore their main purpose is to store and play music. As well it subdivides all the musics into many different categories including:
* Labeled playlists
* alphabetically
* by artist
* by genre
* by album, etc.
As well, mp3 players are able to store other information such as pictures, games, calendars, contacts, etc. When viewing pictures some mp3 players allow the device to work as PowerPoint does making slideshows out of the photographs. It allows the user to apply transitions, music and timing for each slide or photograph. The players are becoming more intelligent and continue to develop more user functions.

## MP3 add-ons

Since MP3s have become so popular more devices that allow incorporation into the other aspects of our lives have been introduced. Devices such as car radio adapters, portable speakers and an array of cases have become popular.
The portable speakers act as a new age stereo system, which hooks up to the mp3 and plays any and all of the music out loud through the speakers. Car adapters attach to the car stereos, through the lighter/power ports and communicates to the radio frequencies allowing the music on the mp3 to play through the speakers in your vehicle. Finally the cases provide protection to the mp3 and also gives your mp3 player personality.