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Types of Digital Media Player - MP4 Players

What is an MP4 Player?

An MP4 player is a next generation portable media player, and is seen as the natural progression from the MP3 player.

An MP3 player allows you to store and play specific types of audio file, whereas the MP4 goes one step further and enables you to store and play visual files such as the MPEG-4, and picture files such as JPEG. An MP4 player is equipped with a small LCD monitor that allows you to watch music videos and movies, as well as giving you the ability to view stored images.

Thanks to their versatility, MP4 players are now being heavily invested in by some of the top electrical brands. With an MP4 player, you can listen to your favourite albums, view your most loved photos, watch music videos and keep the kids or yourself entertained on a long journey by watching your favourite movies on the go.

How Does an MP4 Player Work?

Many MP4 players currently use hard drive technology to store the data, as this storage method provides greater memory capacity. To ensure that the hardware is as compact as possible, MP4 players use LCD technology for the viewing screen, and normally use headphones or a very small speaker for the sound output.

An MP4 player is a piece of hardware which stores a range of media files. You will need to transfer these onto the player from either your PC or Mac computer. Most MP4 players come equipped with a USB port and leads which you can use to hook it up to your computer, and then you simply follow the instructions to transfer your selected files onto your player.

Brands of MP4 Player

There are a range of companies making MP4 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 MP4 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 digital media player, visit our How to Choose section.

You can find out about popular brands and models of digital media MP4 players in our Top Models section.