Living Digital Forums

Looking to buy a portable media player- something which lets you listen to music, watch movies and view images on the move? Well, you literally have a million choices available, from Apple, Sandisk, Transcend, Philips, Archos, Sony, Samsung etc.

Making the correct choice is not easy. To help you make the right choice, here are some important pointers for you to analyze, before you do shove the cash in the pocket and head off to the shops.


1. Basic requirements: It actually depends upon what you need out of a portable media player and also to some extent to the budget you have. If you prefer carrying all the music you ever bought, and even home videos, a PMP with a large storage capacity and a large display would be the best bet. If you want something light and small, you can get a flash-based player. A hard drive-based player will give you more megabytes per rupee that you spend. But a flash player will be more durable, smaller and longer lasting.

2. What type: If you're looking to take along your MP3 player for your morning jogs and warm up exercises in the gym, a flash-based player would be ideal since they don't skip, are resistant to shocks and temperature variations. They are also much smaller, have no moving parts and offer better battery backup. Some examples of small flash based players are the Creative Zen Stone Plus, iPod Shuffle, Samsung U3 and Sandisk Sansa Clip. These tiny players can be clipped onto a piece of clothing or be strapped on your arm for your daily workout. There are larger flash-based players with color screens that can display photos, text and video too.

3. Storage space: You'll always need more, is something you should remember. Get the maximum storage space that you can afford, and if the player has a card slot to further expand the memory, nothing like it! If you have a larger memory capacity, you carry a larger number of files, but you can also carry higher quality (high bitrate) files with ease. Plus the advantage that you can use the extra capacity as portable storage. Generally the thumb rule applied is 1 MB of memory will give you approximately one minute of music playback with standard quality files. If you are going to watch a lot of video on your device, the amount of space you need will do up dramatically.

4. More than audio: In addition to music, if image viewing and video playability is what you need, there are many options with flash-based players now. Almost every flash based player with a large color screen will support popular photo formats and video. Keep in mind that many of these players will not natively play any video files stored on your PC. You will have to convert them to a smaller size and compatible format using (usually) supplied software. A 2.5-inch screen is good enough for viewing photos and videos, but the larger the better. The Apple iPod Touch has a 3.5-inch screen and is great for photos and videos. You can also install apps on it and use it like a PDA.

5. Size factor: Weight, size and in general the form factor of your PMP is a crucial factor. This will dictate how much you carry it around and how useful it becomes, especially if you travel around a lot. There can sometimes be a huge variation in weight (from 30 to 350 gms) and form factor (the size of a thumb to a pack of cards or even bigger).

6. Battery backup: Lithium batteries are common among all players and pack in more power. The one worrying trend is the built in, non user-replaceable batteries. The first Creative Zen hard drive players had removable batteries so that you could easily carry a spare or replace it when the time came. Now, if you run out of juice while on the move, you're stuck.

7. Extra goodies: If you want a player to function as your complete entertainment center, the choices are narrowed down. The Apple iPod Touch has many of the features that a PMP has plus more. It has built in Wi-Fi (so you can configure your email on it, browse the web, watch YouTube videos etc). And thanks to the thousands of apps available in the App Store (both free and paid), you can add on functionality and games, just like you do with a smartphone.