With so many different brands, types and designs of MP3 players in the market, it’s no wonder choosing a player that suits your personal preference can be quite tough.

CK Ng

Different people have different needs. Sometimes you might find yourself stuck in between choosing portability over storage capacity (the bigger the capacity, the bigger the size of the device is going to be).



To me there are five basic categories of MP3 consumers: Commuter, Health Enthusiast, Travelling Nomad, Music Freak, and Storage Seeker.

With the guide below, hopefully you’ll be able to identify which category describes you best. This guide also aims to give you a clearer picture on how much budget should you allocate for your next purchase.

 
Commuter
If you’re constantly travelling via public transport, a small-sized player that’s easily pocketable would be an excellent choice. In this case, flash-based players should be high on your list. But with the emergence of micro drive MP3 players which offer similar dimensions but with bigger storage space, such as the iPod Mini, iRiver H10 and Creative Zen Neeon, it all comes down to the amount of money you’re willing to spend to get one. Commuters should allocate a budget between RM300 to RM500 for a decent flash-based MP3 player, and RM600-RM1000 for a micro-drive MP3 player.
 

Health Enthusiast
For those who workout regularly in the gym or frequently go jogging, it’s advisable to get a flash-based MP3 player that’s light enough to wear around your neck or with an armband. This is because flash-based player do not suffer too much from intense shaking which leads to skipped tracks. MP3 players that are ideal for the Health Enthusiast include the iPod Shuffle and the Sony NW-E500 series. Allocate a budget from RM300 to RM500 for your ideal exercise companion.

 
Travelling Nomad
Spending long hours on the road can sometimes be a tormenting experience. What makes it worse is if your MP3 player runs out of battery. This is where hard-disk based players have an upper hand over most of their flash-based counterparts. Hard-disk players have built-in rechargeable, long lasting batteries. For example, the Sony’s NW-HD5 runs up to 40 hours for music playback. Sony has amazingly managed to do wonders for its NW-E500 flash-based players, requiring only three minutes of charging to get three hours of playback. A full charge can give users up to 50 hours of music playback. Battery longevity comes at a price, so be prepared to pay a hefty sum of approximately RM500 to RM1000 for a flash-based player and RM1000 to RM2000 for a hard-disk player.

 
Music Freak
Music Freaks are people who carry endless amounts of songs around, all the time. They also prize sound quality above all. The current top choice among music freaks is Apple’s iPod, but brands such as Sony, iRiver and Samsung are catching up hot on its heels. A budget of above RM2000 is recommended because besides the players, Music Freaks would also like to spend on third party accessories, especially a good pair of earphones.

Storage Seeker
Sometimes an MP3 player isn’t just used as for enjoying music. Some people would prefer such devices to also act as a portable storage device. Many who prefer flash-based players would want it to be used as a USB thumb drive as well, whereas fans of hard-disk players would generally prefer something that can also act as an external hard disk drive. Flash-based player usually have a storage amount between 128MB to 1GB, whereas hard-disk players can go up to 60GB. The budget you should prepare for a flash-based player would be between RM200 to RM1000, and a budget of RM700 to RM2000 for a hard-disk one.
 

Bottom line
Now that you’ve read about the different types of users of MP3 players, hopefully you now have a clearer idea of which types of MP3 player is most suited for you. Happy shopping!