Best choice for an MP3 player

I think if you're looking for an mp3 player there are a number of things that you have to take into consideration before settling on a brand or particular model.

I value the battery life as one of my key deciding factors and for that reason my selection narrows down significantly. Many manufactures out there just don't cut it when it comes to good battery length. I'm also surprised to find that many of them believe that if they provide 12-14 hours of battery life, they are doing ok. To me this is the low end. I expect to see 30+ hours of battery life - especially on the devices that have no moving parts.

Another factor that is very important to me is the ease of transferability. Can I get the music to the player easily? Is the transfer one way? Do I require proprietary software in order to accomplish this task? If the player will let me drag and drop music directly on to it from Windows Explorer, then I believe we have something to work with. Requiring me to use Real Audio or Sonic Stage as the transfer methods does not sit well with me.

Solid state versus Hard Drive. I personally prefer the solid state players, and for that reason I always make 1Gb the upper size limit for my own needs. Even this is quite excessive for what I would use the player for. I do not like having to create elaborate play lists or having so much music that I am getting too wide a variety of genre's to listen to in one sitting. I typically use my player for the commute back and forth to work. I listen to maybe 15 songs in that time. I don't want to spend extra effort managing 200-300 songs and creating play lists only to hear maybe %5 of them. At least with a GB of storage space I don't have to skimp on quality and I can put the 320Kb flavor on the player quite comfortably. I can also include an entire audio book on the player without splitting up the files.

I understand that some people like the idea of carrying around their entire collection on one device. Hopefully this isn't the only location of their mp3's should the device crater. Unfortunately for me, my mp3 collection continues to grow and it is well on the way past 50Gb. Most "affordable" players can only capture up to 40Gb of data. Do I have to sacrifice 10Gb of my collection due to this limitation? Imagine the fun you'll have trying to create playlists for this type of player. Consider the effort to keep this source up to date as you add new music to your collection. Since nand technology hasn't reached the double digit capacity yet, you must also accept the fact that your 40Gb player will not be solid state. It will be a hard drive with moving parts. Try not to move to much with this player, and don't expect it to have a long life. Also expect it to eat batteries faster than you can you feed it.

Is the user interface easy to navigate? Will you be spending hours of your time trying to figure out how to set the equalizer only to find out that it doesn't have one? Can the firmware be updated? If new feature enhancements come out will you be able to take advantage of them?

Is there a display, and if so does the display show you anything usefull?

What kind of connectivity does it have? Is it firewire, usb 1.1, usb 2.0? Does it require an external cable or does it have the interface built into it?

What extra features does it come with? Can it play the radio (fm tuner)? Does it have a color screen? Will it import your calendar and contact information? Can it do voice recording?

One of the last things that factor into a good player is the actual construction. Is it designed with longevity in mind or is it completely plastic? Will the player fall apart or will the screen get cracked or will the battery cover fall off? Check out the reviews on the web (ie: www.zdnet.com) and do a little research.

With these things in mind, I would most likely be considering a player from Sony just simply for the battery life (Yes - I value battery life that much...). Their players typically require 3rd party software to enable the transfer but they are making progress in the direction of eliminating that requirement. Excellent history with product quality and user interface - they have afterall been making "walkman's" for several decades now. Unfortunately their price point is kinda steep in comparison with other manufacturers (trying to compare apples to apples so to speak...). They don't seem to offer a lot of companion add-on's either (like docking stations, fm transmitters, or a variety of cases). On the other hand though, they do connect using a fairly standard mini-usb cable and the screens are quite pleasing to look at. The interface seems pretty easy to navigate through as well. About the only things I do not like are the software required to dump music on it, and the fact that you need a cable to connect it to your machine.

If you have any suggestions for mp3 players. Feel free to let me know here on this blog! :)

Mow the lawn

Well, after nearly 4 mo's my neighbor has finally mowed the lawn in his backyard. Thank God! Picture grass that is almost 4 feet high. Talk about a haven for mosquito's not to mention the eyes-sore it had been.

I think a person's yard says a lot about the person (just like their shoes right?). Perhaps I'm stereotyping too much, but they are not great neighbors and it shows in their lawn. I'll be happy when they are replaced with new neighbors. However, I might be trading one "known evil" for that of another and possibly worse "evil" (and I don't mean that in any moral sense of the word).

Who knows... maybe I'm the bad neighbor that everyone talks about behind his back. Still I don't think mowing your lawn every week or two is such a bad thing is it?? Lemme know what you think...

J