Reviews of MP3 Players

All the gadgets I introduce you next are respectively having a built-in iPod docking station. Of course they also can function as an independent speaker for other digital players. But they are all a little expensive just like what apple products are in the similar type of products. So how about their features and quality? Let’s go and see.

The mStation($130) is a compact package with a dedicated subwoofer to boost the base — a less expensive packaging of the mStation Tower, our overall winner. Testers loved this product and found the remote actually worked well. The package comes with iPod dock and a cable for connecting to other electronics. In seven colors: white, black, blue, green, pink, silver, and red.

In addition to playing your iPod, the Memorex Mi1111($100) lets you access the airwaves on the digital AM/FM radio with station presets and spin your favorite discs in the top-loading CD player. It comes with a remote, though most testers weren’t impressed, since it wasn’t reactive unless aimed straight on. iPod dock adapters are included. In black or white. read more »

There are several problems you may come across in using Apple apps. The most concerned is that if the app in iPod touch can be used in iPad, in another word, if the same app can be used in different products of Apple. Well, it is possible:

QUESTION: I own an iPod Touch, but am considering getting a Wi-Fi iPad. Will my current Touch applications work on the iPad?

ANSWER: Generally, your apps will work on the iPad. The iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone use the same operating system, but there are a few caveats.

IPad apps use the entire screen. Touch apps can be stretched to fill the screen, but then the app’s graphics look pixilated. Some apps require a GPS or a camera. The Wi-Fi iPad has neither. The more expensive 3G versions will have GPS, but no camera.

Your iPod Touch doesn’t have a camera or GPS so you shouldn’t have problems with apps you already purchased. This certainly isn’t a reason to avoid the iPad.

Q: My software downloads each picture from my camera every time I connect it. My images keep getting duplicated. How can I stop this?

A: You didn’t mention what software you’re using, so I can’t give you specific instructions. Look for a Settings, Options or Preferences menu. There should be an option for deleting pictures from the camera.

This would happen after the pictures are transferred, of course. It keeps the camera’s memory card clean and prevents duplicate photos. There may also be a setting to turn off automatic downloads, allowing you to download your images manually. Another solution would be to switch programs. I recommend Google Picasa. read more »

iPod players represent the high quality of MP3 players in our impression. If you are going to buy MP3 players and don’t care price, iPod player can be your first choice because of its fame of quality assurance. Now I get the latest price of iPod players. It indeed seems cheaper and much more affordable than before.

It is not too much to spend less than $60 on one of Apple products: iPod shuffle 3. As we know at the first beginning of that MP3 players appeared, even general products of 1G capacity would cost you the same amount of money. iPod shuffle 3, now priced at $57, could be most worthy device for you to experience the high sound quality of Apple products. Review of iPod shuffle 3.

Compared with iPod shuffle 3, iPod nano 5, piced at $151, is equipped with a 2.2-inch display, and add several functions including FM radio, camera, pedometers, and G-sensor, which supplies you with more experience on entertainment. In my opinion, considering both price and performance, iPod nano 5 is the best MP3 player. Review of iPod Nano 5.

$305 iPod touch 3 features a 3.5-inch display with the resolution of 480*320. It is one the biggest differences from previous iPod players that iPod touch 3 supplies you with the function of seeing videos. Another is that it support WiFi that gives access to internet. And it is rich of games that you can operate by swing the body of device. Review of iPod touch 3 of 32G capacity.

iPod classic 3 looks very cute and pleasing. You may be suprised at its super capacity of 160G. But how many songs will we store with such a big capacity?! And I find less and less people see videos with such a small display. At the time that so many video players come out, iPod classic 3 may be not very suitable in use. Anyway, if you don’t care anything but just like this one, pay $260 and you’ll get it.

There are some technical limitations of iPad, including lack of USB ports and Adobe Flash support, and multi-tasking OS. But for its user interface and industrial design that are widely praised, the limitations seem much less important. Despite that, it is still uncertain whether this first iPad will reach mass-market acceptance, given its high price and unproven use case.

The familiarity of developers with the iPad platform (due to its close relationship with the iPhone OS) will play a big part in the iPad’s success: third-party developers will need to provide “killer” apps that make the iPad a must-have device. Apple’s ferocious control over app approval, and its refusal to support key cross-platform technologies such as Adobe Flash, are sticking points that will make some developers cautious.

We can’t make sure if iPad can aquire the same success as iPhone, but it still could act as the spearhead for a new category of simplified portable devices built around large-format touchscreens, just as that iPhone goes independently from cell phone.

According to the report, Steve Jobs announces that 450,000 units of iPad have been sold until today, with users downloading 600,000 e-books and 3.5 millions apps. In the Apple Store, 3,500 kinds of Apple Apps for iPad are for sale. Jobs also predicts that the quantity of kinds of Apple apps is going to be up to 185,000 and downloading will get up to 4 billions. Now iPad is aquiring high attention of media, more and more people are going to talk about iPad.

Unlike Apple’s previous breakout hits, the iPhone and iPod, the iPad is attempting to invent a set of consumer behaviors rather than solve an evident design or technology problem. People replaced their feature phones with iPhones, and their portable CD players with iPods. It’s difficult to see what the iPad is meant to replace.

Apple is variously positioning the iPad as a web browser, a multimedia device, an E-book Reader, a games console, and a platform for third-party apps, but the iPad cannot replace a smartphone or a notebook PC. Nevertheless, the user experience of the iPad, developed further into more capable devices, may indeed change expectations of personal computers (in the same way as the iPhone changed expectations of phones) without itself being the perfect embodiment of a portable computing ideal.

When Steve Jobs announced the newest generation iPod nano, he suggested that with its new video capability the nano would easily compete with the Flip Video camcorder. While someday down the line this may be a serious contender in the pocket video camera market, it’s not there yet. This is not to suggest that you go buy a Flip instead of an iPod nano, but that you ask yourself what it is you really want. If you want to make videos you can upload to Youtube and you want them to look pretty decent, and you don’t care much about music or you already have an mp3 player, I wouldn’t buy this iPod just because now it has video. On the other hand, having some video capability might be enough to give this the edge over most other music players; if games are more important to you than video, though, you’d be better off with an iPod touch.

One thing you’ll notice in the footage, where I shot the same things back to back with both camcorders, is that where the Flip really shines is in low light. I shot the hamster moments at night, in a room illuminated only by a lamp. Not only did the iPod nano take grainy video, it also didn’t do any kind of white balancing and the indoor lightbulb added an orange tint to the clip; I’m not sure exactly how the Flip is designed to address this (whether it automatically adjusts white balance or just has a better average setting), but the footage shows that it captured light correctly both outdoors and indoors. If you compare the hamster shots with the Flip and with the nano, I think it’s clear that for indoor and lowlight there’s no comparison and the Flip has the nano beat hands down. The outdoor images are closer, but I think even this small video shows greater detail in the Flip video. When you blow the images up bigger there’s no comparison — the Flip looks decent even on a big screen TV, the iPod nano footage looks like it was shot with, well, a toy camera. In all fairness, that’s all it is at this point.

It’s impossible to not compare the Zune to the iPod so I’m not even going to try, but let’s get one thing out of the way right quick: Anyone who calls the Zune an iPod killer needs to have their head examined. Let’s not forget that there are many people who have invested hundreds or thousands of dollars into iTunes music, so they’re pretty much iPod customers for life(as Zune customers will be if they choose to use the Zune marketplace, but more on that later). And in case you haven’t noticed, the iPod is a pretty darn good device. The Zune doesn’t really offer anything that should have iPod+iTunes users jumping ship, but it does offer a compelling option for those looking to purchase a product like this for the first time or iPod users who have chosen to continue to buy CDs instead of digital albums.

The first thing you’ll notice after purchasing the Zune is that if they ever gave away some type of award for product packaging, the Zune would probably win it. The brown portion of the Zune box slips off to reveal a compartmentalized box inside that includes the Zune, the docking cable, stock earbuds, the Zune software, the token cheap felt case, and the documentation.

Onto the Zune itself. Even at 30 gigs it’s a bit longer and thicker than the 80 gig iPod. It is substantially heavier but not to a fault. Those looking to use an MP3 player for active use will probably want a flash player anyway. Where the Zune holds a big advantage over the iPod however is the rubbery-plastic finish. Whereas the iPod’s glossy finish is a magnet for fingerprints, the Zune’s rubbery plastic feel attracts virtually no fingerprints, and when it does they simply wipe off. The screen accumulates them quickly, and while a thin plastic film coating is included, it has some large text on it, so you might have to invest in a third-party screen protector. Bummer. The control pad has been often maligned for not being a scroll wheel, but I don’t understand why. Is moving your thumb around in circles really THAT intuitive?

So that’s it. The Zune offers nothing that will have seasoned iPod+iTunes users jumping ship, and it certainly’ won’t kill the iPod, but the exceptional physical design, vastly superior user interface, and wi-fi possiblities in the future warrant a serious look by shoppers.

Above all, I want to say although it is a pretty good pair of earphones that somebody said ” The sound quality is abosolutely amazing, I can’t go back to my old ones.”, the most outstanding functions, the remote and mic, are supported only by iPod nano (4th and 5th generation), iPod classic (120GB/160GB), iPod touch (2nd generation), and iPhone 3GS. The remote is supported by iPod shuffle (3rd generation), while Audio is supported by all iPod models. That is to say you must have one of Apple products.
 
The Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic take the acclaimed Apple iPod Earphones and add a control capsule, located on the cable of the right earpiece, that includes a microphone and three buttons. Here’s what you can do with this convenient remote:

Adjust the volume by pressing the + and – buttons.
Control music and video playback, including play/pause and next/previous by pressing the center button.
Record voice memos on supported devices.
Answer and end calls.

Compared to the previous shuffle, iPod shuffle 3 only has the half size and weighs 10.7g. A clip made with stainless steel, is built into the back so you can clip it to your clothes. And there is no buttons that Apple has moved almost all of the controls off the shuffle and onto the headphones that come in the box. That means you cann’t use any third-party headphones that you already have with the iPod shuffle. You can’t even tell it to start playing music if you’re using another standard pair of headphones.

iPod shuffle 3 comes with 4GB of storage space that you can save up to 1000 songs, as well as several playlists. It supports MP3, AAC, WAV, AIFF, Audible and corresponding Apple Lossless.

On to the battery, iPod shuffle 3’s battery life is advertised at “up to 10 hours” from a full charge, which is down from the advertised 12 hours of the second-gen shuffle. Undoubtedly, this is because of the reduction in physical size.

If now you are looking for a new, tiny size music player, consider the iPod shuffle 3 for its compact feature and appealing price low to $60.

The third-generation iPod Touch is being defined most by what it doesn’t have: a video camera and an FM radio.

What the iPod Touch did get in this release is a price drop, which is a nice alternative. The 8GB model sells for $199 (down from $229), the 32GB for $299 (down from $399), and a new 64GB model costs $399.

You’ll need to get out a stopwatch to experience some of the iPod Touch’s improvements. The processor is faster now; Apple says it’s up to 50 percent speedier, and graphics rendering is accelerated by the new integration of OpenGL.

We’re definitely a fan of more speed, but we found the most useful of the new features is the Voice Control function.

With this latest iPod Touch, we again have to wonder why this device can’t do more wirelessly, considering that it supports Wi-Fi wireless networking.