Podcast Players

If you're familiar with podcasting you're aware of the world of free audio programs that are out on the internet waiting for you to listen to. If you have a computer with an internet connection and a pair of speakers or headphones your all set. However, you can have the freedom to listen to your podcast collection whenever and wherever you want if you invest in a portable music player. In this edition I'll discuss a couple of considerations and possible options for choosing a player.

The first consideration for choosing a podcast player is that it must be MP3 compatible since most podcasts are only available in this format. That said most players support MP3 since it's the defacto standard, so much so that they are normally referred to as MP3 players. Some MP3 players support other formats as well but they are primarily useful for music audio files.

The next consideration is when will you use your MP3 player to listen to podcasts. Will it be when your jogging or walking the dog? If so then something light and durable will be desirable. Will it be while driving in your car? If so then you need to check how will you connect your player to your car stereo. Most can utiliise a casette tape adapter if your car stereo has a tape deck or you may need an FM transmitter option. Or perhaps you'll be primarily listening when your commuting on the train or ferry?

The other major consideration is will you be using your MP3 player primarily for listening to podcasts or do you also plan on using it regularly for listening to music? If your player is used primarily for podcasts you'll have more options for players since storage size (the amount of audio the player can hold) won't be as critical. You can use a smaller player for music but you may find yourself constantly juggling to remove and add current podcasts and music files on your player.

MP3 players typically come in three flavours. There's the memory based players which typically hold between 2 to 16 hours. The next step up is the mini hard disk players. They have a 5gb size disk and can hold 80 hours of audio. The upper end of players have full size disks ranging in size from 20gb to 80gb.

This translates from 300 hours to over a mindboggling 1000 hours of audio! The down side of the disk based players in addition to the higher cost is they are larger and bulkier than memory based players and since they contain more moving parts they more susceptible to having something go wrong with them. If your primarily getting an MP3 player for podcasts then I'd recommned starting off with a memory based model, however if carrying around loads of music or computer files is also important to you then you'll want to consider a hard disk model.

The amount of hours a memory based MP3 player can hold is dependant on a number of variables but the critical one is the memory size. Smaller players start at 128mb and can store approximately 2 hours of audio and at the other end typically go up to 1gb and can hold 16 hours of MP3 audio. There are players now available with 2gb and 4gb memory sizes but be prepared to pay a premium for these.

A 128mb player will cost around $100 but I would recommend paying a little extra and getting 512mb model at minimum ($150) and ideally a 1gb model for about $200. The price for the 2gb and 4gb models starts to hit the $300 to $400 range and unless size is a critical factor for you I'd recommend going with a hard disk based model for better storage value. Note prices are always going down and storage sizes are always going up so shop around to get the best deal.

The key advantage of memory based players is they are small in size and very lightweight. A memory based player is about the size of an adult man's thumb. They're small enough that you could attach them to a key chain and carry them around in your trouser pocket. They also have the advantage of containing no moving parts. This means they can absorb the shock of being jossled about during your jog or everyday movements.

In summary, a portable MP3 player is relatively inexpenseive and easy to carry around if your using it primarily for listening to podcasts. A memory based model should do the job for storing podcasts but condsider a hard disk model if you also want to store music as well as other computer files.

Bundeena - football and podcast aficionado.

Authoring the websites Something at Mary's and Bundeena Maianbar Soccer Club.