Home > Types > MP3 Players

Types of Digital Media Player - MP3 Players

What is an MP3 Player?

An MP3 player is a piece of portable hardware which can store and play MP3 files and other audio file formats. MP3 players are rapidly replacing portable CD players as the choice of consumers, as they are very compact in size, and have large capacities which enable you to store a large quantity of music files to use whenever you wish.

How does an MP3 Player Work?

MP3 is the name of a type of computer file which is the preferred choice for saving and storing digital media, specifically audio.

An MP3 player is essentially a small computer which stores and plays specific file types. Its mechanism requires much less space that that of a CD player, so MP3 players are more lightweight and compact. And because an MP3 file is a digital file, the quality of your listening experience is improved; gone are the days of your personal CD player constantly jumping whilst on a bumpy journey.

There are many other audio file types in addition to MP3, such as WAV, WMA and ACC/M4A files among others. You can also listen to specially created ‘podcasts’ of your favourite radio shows. Most MP3 players are now able to accept numerous file formats, but you should ensure that you check the specifications for the model you’re interested in to see which files it accommodates before you buy it.

Types of MP3 Player

There are two main types of MP3 player; those that use flash memory technology, and those which use hard disk drives (also known as ‘Digital Jukeboxes’). The flash memory MP3 players currently hold far less data than most hard-drive players.

Flash based players store their file information on memory cards, which work in a similar way to a mobile phone’s SIM card. This technology has more commonly been used on USB sticks, but the amount of data that flash drive players can store is constantly increasing, and currently stands at around 8GB. The storage capacity can be increased, but this in turn increases the size on the player.

Hard-drive players have much larger storage capacities, and there are models which store up to 60GB of data, but these are bulkier than flash drive players.

However, both hard drive and flash storage systems are far more compact than any Walkman or personal CD player.

You will need a PC or Mac computer to transfer MP3 or other audio files onto either type of device, although companies such as Microsoft are investing in Wi-Fi technology which will allow you to file share or download directly to your media player, without the use of a computer.

Brands of MP3 Player

There are a range of companies making MP3 players, including Apple, Archos, Creative, Goodmans, iriver, JVC, Ministry of Sound, MPMan, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, and Sony.

Further Information

You can find out about some of the top online suppliers of MP3 players, including details of their delivery times and postage costs, in our Where to Buy section.

For some hints and tips on what to look for when choosing a MP3 Player, visit our How to Choose section.

You can find out about popular brands and models of digital media MP3 players in our Top Models section.