Hot topics for both consumers and webmarketers on WebmasterRadio.FM
Every Wednesday, 5PM Eastern.
Welcome to MP3 Players Tips
Hi, I'm Emily Price, one of the hundreds of writers here at LifeTips.com. Enjoy these 100 MP3 Players Tips! If you’re a business, why not hire the expert writers at LifeTips? And if you’re a writer, apply for freelance writing gigs.
Buying a Used iPod on eBay
One of the best places to find bargains on used iPods is eBay - however, there is a fine art to getting the very best deal.
First of all, make sure that you know the exact model and type of iPod that you are looking for. Next, do a search on that specific model. On the top, sort your results by price, with lowest first. Scroll down, and eliminate the auctions that are ending in more than five days as they are usually just not bid up to market price yet.
Look for auctions ending in twelve hours to the next day, which gives you enough time to receive responses back from the sellers.
Next, review the amount of detail each listing has. If a listing only shows a stock photo but has a good price, you can email the seller and ask for an actual photo. This is a good idea, as some iPods can get very scratched and beat up if they were used without a case.
Be sure to ask the seller if the battery has been replaced, and how long it holds a charge before needing recharged. If it needs a new battery, your bargain may not be such a great deal!
Make sure the listing includes the accessories that will be shipped with your iPod, and check on shipping prices. A trick that many sellers are using is to list their iPod at a low price, with a very high shipping and "handling" charge to make up the difference.
When bidding, set a price in your mind that is your "walk-away" price. Otherwise, it is very easy to get caught up in "auction fever" and pay more than you should.
Save Tip
Comments
Tip Rating
If You Must Have Pink
Shopping.com Tip: Pink is the hot new color, and it is no coincidence that pink MP3 players have become hot items. What are the best pink MP3 players?
One of the best bets is the new pink iPod Shuffle, which is wearable, extremely portable, and is priced at roughly $80.
The 1GB Sony Walkman MP3 player also comes in stylish pink, with a sleek case to match. It has a built-in FM tuner and advertises 28 hours of music playback for roughly the same price as the iPod Shuffle.
Creative Labs has jumped on the pink bandwagon also, with the Creative Labs Zen Micro Pink. It comes in a 5GB version as well as an 8GB photo version for between $220-260/each.
If your MP3 player isn't pink, don't worry. All you have to do to stay up with the times is buy a pink case or "skin," and you too will be stylish!
Save Tip
Comments
Tip Rating
How Do You Rip a CD to MP3 Format?
If you have an Apple iPod, all you have to do is put a CD in your computer's CD drive, and copy the tracks to iTunes. They will then be drag-and-drop uploadable to your iPod - but will not be in MP3 format.
If you have another MP3 player or want to make sure that your files are in MP3 format, there are many free "rippers" available for download on the Web that will record your music on your hard drive in MP3 format.
One such "ripper" is FreeRIP, which lets you record tracks into .wav format, then convert them to MP3 or Ogg Vorbis format.
Another one that is not free, but encodes directly to MP3 format is GoGo CD to MP3 Ripper. It runs for about $25, and can also convert .wav to MP3 and back if you so desire.
Save Tip
Comments
Tip Rating
How Many Songs Does 512MB of Memory Hold?
Shopping.com Tip: A common memory capacity found when purchasing flash-based MP3 players is 512MB.
Although the song carrying capacity can vary, as every song has a different length, a general rule of thumb is that a 512MB MP3 player can hold roughly 120 songs or approximately eight hours of music. If the format is changed to WMA - it can hold 16 hours of music.
This size is perfect for an entry level MP3 player for a teen, or middle aged person who just wants to use it during workouts at the gym.
Save Tip
Comments
Tip Rating
How Do You Compress MP3 Files?
MP3 audio encoding already compresses the files so they can be stored compactly without loss of quality.
That having been said, it is possible to compress the files further using a utility such as Blaze Media Pro, however, it is a good bet that the corresponding sound quality will suffer from something known as "compression artifacts."
If sound quality is important to you, then it is best to leave your files as is and purchase more memory!
Save Tip
Comments
Tip Rating
What are the Advantages of Flash Memory MP3 Players?
Shopping.com Tip: If you are looking for a small MP3 player, one that is portable and doesn't take up too much room in your purse or briefcase, a flash memory MP3 player is your best bet.
Flash memory systems use a silicon chip to store all of your songs so they can be made much smaller than hard drive-based systems.
They range in capacity from 32MB to 8GB - and new technical advances will probably break the 8GB barrier in the future.
Because flash memory consumes less power than hard drives do, flash-based MP3 players typically have more features, such as voice recording and built-in FM transmitters, than hard drive-based systems.
There are also no moving parts, so flash-based systems are more shockproof and hardy than HD systems.
Save Tip
Comments
Tip Rating
The Top-Rated Ear Buds for MP3 Players: Shure E4c
If sound quality is of top importance to you and you have a spare $300 to spend on earbuds, the winner of CNET's ear bud review is Shure E4c.
These white earbuds represent a new technical advance called Tuned Port Technology that makes the tiny bass response in earbuds stronger by using the airflow around the speakers.
In order for them to work the way they are intended, you need to push them far into your ear canal. As everyone's ears are different, they come with a variety of disposable foam earpieces.
A gold adapter is also added for premium sound quality.
They are also ultracompact, and weigh just 1.1 oz!
Save Tip
Comments
Tip Rating
Add More Music to the MP3 Player in Your Mobile Phone with Dave
Shopping.com Tip: If carrying a phone, a 20GM mp3 player, a coffee, an umbrella and a newspaper is too much for you, consider consolidating your items - at least the electronic ones. If you want to use your phone as your one main electronic device that stores all your contacts, data, AND music, you are in luck. Seagate has just introduced a portable hard drive that connects to your mobile phone using Bluetooth technology and comes as a 10GB or 20GB mp3 player.
It also has a USB and a WiFi connection, and is compact enough to fit in your shirt pocket.
It runs roughly $200, and has up to 10 hours continuous use battery life.
DAVE stands for Digital Audio Video Experience.
Save Tip
Comments
Tip Rating
How Do You Put Videos on Your iPod?
The easiest way to obtain movies and transfer them to your iPod is by purchasing them from the iTunes store. This way, they are already in the proper format and can be easily transferred to your video iPod when you synch up with your PC.
If you have movies on DVD and want to transfer them to your iPod, the PQ DVD to iPod Converter suite will rip them for you and allow you to transfer them over easily.
This suite also converts other video formats to iPod, so you can transfer over AVI video from your camcorder, YouTube or media purchased from RealMedia to your iPod, as well.
It runs about $30, and is downloadable from the web.
