e.Digital Corporation (fka EDIG)

[sricket]

Get in on the MP3 craze
2/11/2003 12:00 PM
By: Consumer Reports

http://www.news8austin.com/content/headlines/?ArID=60942&SecID=2

Mike Lingle is not not a professional musician, but has been playing the guitar for years.

He mixes songs on his computer, and listens to them on his MP3 player.

"So, once I have the song the way I want it I export the file to an MP3," he said.

He also uses his MP3 player the way most people do: to store music files "ripped" from CDs or downloaded from the Internet.

Consumer Reports looked at 22 portable MP3 players from names like Sonicblue, Samsung and Creative Labs.

Testers looked at sound quality, how easy they were to use, and battery life.

Prices ranged from just more than $100 all the way up to $400.

The most expensive are usually high-capacity players with 5 to 40 gigabytes of storage.

"They store up to about 600 hours of music and they have almost as good as CD-quality sound," said Aaron Fournier of Consumer Reports.

Some high-capacity players offer more than just music. One has a color screen that can show pictures. But players like this can be complicated to use. Far simpler, and less expensive, are standard-capacity players. They're also smaller and lighter.

"They offer about one to two hours of music. And many of them, they have expansion card slots so you can add extra music later on," Fournier said.

And even standard capacity players can have cool features. One offers voice-recording. Record what you want, and you can play it back over speakers

Testers top-rated two standard-capacity players. The first is the Creative Labs Nomad IIc. The other, from RCA, is the Lyra RD 1080. They each cost $130, and provide 10 hours of battery life.

So, whether you're a musician like Mike, or just like listening to music, an MP3 player can come in handy.

Consumer Reports has some buying advice. Be sure to check that the MP3player you're considering buying is compatible with your computer's operating system and that you have a USB or FireWire connection.

And to minimize the chances of your player becoming obsolete, ask if it has upgradeable firmware.