Since then the choice of players has exploded, and we've reviewed nine here. All of the players we have reviewed here are first generation devices. All, barring the Rio 500, use a parallel port interface. By summer, there should be a greatly improved choice on the market. Of the suppliers in the review, Saehan, Diamond, Samsung, RFC Distribution and Memory Corporation have either released an improved device since products were delivered for this review, or plan to do so shortly.
More vendors plan to offer products.
Perhaps with more companies involved, there will be a segmentation in the market, with a greater choice of players priced according to their features. This will make MP3 a more attractive alternative compared to a portable CD, MiniDisc or tape player. The standards war in progress between different music formats is affecting the popularity of MP3 players. In the latter, data is streamed from a server to your PC and no file is saved on your machine. Conversely, an MP3 ripper lets you create and store files, which can be exchanged between PCs like any other file.