Here's everything I know about MP3 players. I hope somebody will find it useful.

AFAIK there are three types of MP3 players:

- flash memory based MP3 players. These are players with built-in memory capacity that typically range from 64MB to 256 MB. A typical pop tune is about 3-5 MB at normal compression. So you can do the math. In addition some but not all devices have extra flask memory slot so you can add to the buil-in memory. Flash memory cards come in many varieties but the more common ones are SmartMedia, SecureDigital and CompactFlash. Form factor varies by model but typically about the size of a deck of cards. My favorite in this category is the Rio 500, which unfortunately is no longer available.

- CD Walkman type which plays, what else, CDs. CDs can either be the normal variety (audio CD which you buy at the stores or "ripped" from various audio CDs and made into a compilation) or MP3. Each CD (whether audio or MP3) has 710 MB. A typical audio CD contains about 10-15 songs in the uncompressed (normal audio) file format. A typical MP3-compressed track is, as I said earlier, about 3-5 MB so you can squeeze >100 tracks into one CD. I don't own one of these so I don't have a favorite but if you own a Notebook PC you already have one in your CD-ROM drive.

- hard-disk based MP3 players. The hard drive capacity starts at 5 GB so you can essentially download your whole CD collection into a device slightly larger than a deck of cards. I own a 20 GB iPod and I have almost all of my CD collections in it and still have 6 GB left for extra stuff (address book, calendar, Audible books).


[This message has been edited by bp888 (edited 03-18-2003).]