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Step 1 - Hard
Disk Players
Price
Range: Up To £300
Hard disk
players feature both audio and video playback
and are capable of playing very large
media files within their palm sized bodies.
They require more power to operate than
flash memory and micro hard disks versions.
They are designed to support the most
popular types of music files, photographs
and video formats.
Key
Benefits
1. Relative
compact size and light weight
2. Huge capacity
for carrying music, photo and video files
The key features
to look out for in hard disk players are
their build quality, the types of media
files they can play, their audio visual
quality and battery life. This market
sector features a large number of accessories
that allow you to upgrade your players
for both travel and home use.
Build
Quality
These units have hard discs and screens
that can get damaged when dropped or badly
knocked. It is therefore important that
they are built with a lightweight but
strong body. A metal alloy casing is ideal
and should be combined with a good quality
player cover.
Number
of Media Files
Typically these players feature 30 Gigabytes
of memory that is capable of holding 7,300
MP3 music tracks or 30,000 photographs
(at 3 megapixels). Larger capacity units
(80 Gigabytes) are ideal for playing more
memory intensive multimedia files such
as video. For further information on multimedia
file storage capacities please Click
Here.
Types of
Media Files
All these MP3 players will play the most
popular music file formats (MP3, WMA and
WAV), JPEG picture files and MPEG-4 video
files.
If you intend to down load media files
from the Internet it is important that
you check that the file format you are
downloading is accepted by your hard disk
player. For further information on the
different types of media files then Click
Here.
Audio
Visual Quality
These players are designed to give you
a high quality multmedia experience. The
quality of the sound that you hear is
determined by the file formats that you
use in combination with the quality of
your earphones or audio docking system.
Picture quality is dependent on the screen
resolution, screen size and type of screen
featured on the player. An LCD screen
of 2.5 inches (diagonal - from corner
to corner) with a resolution of 320 x
240 pixels will offer you a good quality
image.
Battery
Life
Typically 3.5 to 14 hours - these times
are dependent on the type of files being
played back. Video files are more power
hungery than music files. All these units
feature rechargeable batteries that take
about 3 hours to fully recharge through
a USB cable that connects to a computer.
Some models offer mains adapters or can
be charged though cradles (connected to
the mains or a computer).
Positives:
Carry your
entire music collection with you. Listen
to music, watch a video or show friends
your latest photos through a media player
that looks very cool. Inceasingly these
players are being used as part of a modular
Hi-Fi system in the home through docking
cradles.
Negatives:
These expensive
players have hard discs with moving parts
which can become damaged if dropped. Also
the video screens can become scratched
or damaged if not protected by suitable
cover.
Our Verdict:
Ideal for travel
and carrying a huge choice of mutlimedia
files around with you ...... but these
players do cost a lot of money, especially
if they get damaged or even lost.
You can also check the latest product
reviews for these hard disk players by
using the links on our product
review page in order to shortlist
your preferred brand and model.
Now check our
Specification Guide
against your intended MP3 player usage:
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