Choosing a correct mp3 player for you.

Have you ever found yourself dreaming of an iPod? And how many of you are actually ready to spend that huge amount for brand name, apple. Think again.. there are many other players in the market which are just as good as an iPod. In this post I will try to find out iPod alternatives.

Electronics industry is as rapid as any other industry. A popular product may become obsolete the next month when another company launches a competitor. Price is a major factor, responsible for the changing nature of consumer electronics. iPods have always been expensive as compared to other mp3 players. But due to an excellent SNR they are very famous among audiophiles.

All mp3 players nowadays interface to PC using USB and some are capable of working with MiniSD cards. The battery used can be AA or AAA or an internal Li-ion battery. Even if they are called mp3 players, they support many other formats such as WMA, OGG etc....
On a broader sense mp3 players can be categorized as follows
1.Flash memory based mp3 players(small memory typical few GBs, 1GB,2GB ...)
2.Mini Hard disk based mp3 players(mid sized 5-6GB memory)
3.Hard disk based mp3 players(Huge memory, more than 20GB ..)

Lets discuss pros and cons of each type

1) Flash memory based mp3 players
+These are very rugged due to flash memory
+Lightweight
+More battery life on single charge
+Smaller in size
+Can be used for day to day data transfers as USB pen drive

-Cost/MB is more, i.e. expensive
-Less storage capacity
-Cant be used to large data transfers

Following are some popular models of this type
Transcend
Cowon

2)Mini HDD based
+These combine features of flash players and hdd players
+smaller in size as compared to hdd players
+more capacity than flash players
+Cost/MB is fair

-Less battery life as compared to flash type

Have a look at this model from creative
Creative

3)HDD based mp3 players
+Huge capacity, typically more than 20GB
+Can store anything you want and can be used as secondary hard disk
+Some players offer video playback
+Cost/MB is very economical

-Less battery life on video playback and in general also
-These players are bulky
-Sensitive to shocks, not rugged

Creative's Vision:M

-----------------------------------------------------------------
So decide your budget, chooose memory type and find out the models that fit your requirements of storage, file format support; and go with it. Following are some good brands :
http://www.cowonglobal.com/
http://www.transcendusa.com/
http://www.sony.com/
http://www.creative.com/
http://www.mobibluamerica.com/
http://www.iriver.com/
http://www.sandisk.com/