Communication technology is making fast strides and a lot of software can be downloaded from the Internet rather than purchased from physical stores. Music, movies, and news can all be downloaded from the Internet.
We are witnessing a critical stage in motion picture history when movies can be freely downloaded from the net. There are three types of movie player downloads. They are Quick Time from Apple Computers, Real Players from Real Networks and Windows Media Player.
Of these, Quick Time is most popular. It is a free movie player download that is available for both Windows and Mac. Quick Time 6 was downloaded more than 350 million times and more than 250 digital devices ship Quick Time as their standard media player. Around 25, 000 websites refer customers to Quick time downloads.
Quick Time 7 offers a rich multimedia experience. It can figuratively take you on a trip to the moon or the premier of the latest movie. It makes use of the latest video compression technology called H.264. This technology represents the next generation of video for all applications from mobile multimedia to High definition playback. The video is compressed into small files without affecting quality and delivers clear, crisp pictures. Audio quality is amazing and provides 24 channels of audio and supports a wide range of industry standard audio formats.
Real Player and Windows Media Player are suitable for some movies only. Most computers have any of these three movie players installed on their hard drive. Real Player10 comes with a 14-day free trial and features pause and fast forward live streams uninterrupted, excellent audio and video quality, supports portable devices and plays every media format. It also gives access to best program in media, and a 10- band graphic equalizer that gives high quality image and sound.
Windows Media Player 7.1 consists of seven features in a single application, including a CD player, an audio and video player, a media jukebox, a media guide, an Internet radio tuner, a portable device you can transfer music files to, and an audio CD burner. These software programs are combined in one easy-to-use application designed to make playing digital media a wonderful experience. The player also allows one to play streaming or download digital audio or video Internet content. Version 7.1 adds a facility called Windows Media Audio 8 encoding and decoding for use in portable devices.
Free Movies provides detailed information about free movies, free anime movies, free movie clips, and more. Free Movies is affiliated with Free Movie Downloads.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Free-Movie-Player-Downloads&id=119814
Monday, July 2, 2007
How To Buy An MP3 Player
Are you looking for an MP3 player but am not sure which type and model to buy? There is a wide variety of MP3 players out there, from flash memory based players to hard drive based players. Choosing a good player from the market is no easy task. What features should you look for? What are the key considerations? This article aims to answer those questions and more. Now, let’s see how we can pick the perfect MP3 player.
Types of MP3 player
There are essentially four types of MP3 players in the market today. These include flash-based players, hard-drive based players and MP3 CD players. Let’s look at them in turn.
Flash-based MP3 players
Flash-based MP3 players have a flash memory chip built-in. They tend to be very tiny, ultra-portable and have no moving parts. As a user, you can do all your sports activities without worrying about your music skipping a beat. The downside to flash players is their high cost per megabyte. These players range from 32MB to 2GB, and the most popular models tend to be those from the Creative Muvo line, the iRiver iFP series and more recently, the Apple iPod Shuffle.
Hard-drive based MP3 players
Hard-drive based MP3 players use a 1.8-inch hard disk drive to store your music. The hard disk can hold large amounts of music – we’re talking about 10GB and above. If you have a large music library and want to store tons of music, a hard-drive based MP3 player is the way to go. The cost per megabyte is very low. The downside? Well, due to the hard disk drive, which has moving parts, these players are not suited for rough physical activity or extreme sports. One of the most popular MP3 players in this category is the Apple iPod, which is selling like hot cakes out there.
Micro hard-drive based MP3 players
More recently, manufacturers have come up with micro hard-drive based MP3 players like the Apple iPod Mini, Creative Zen Micro and Rio Carbon. Featuring a smaller hard drive (which still gives ample storage space of about 4 to 5 GB), they have a much more compact design compared to full fledged hard disk players. The few models mentioned above are selling like crazy too.
MP3 CD players
MP3 CD players are another type of MP3 player. These units look and feel like regular CD players. You can burn up to 150 MP3 songs to fill one CD-R disc, then play it on the unit. The disadvantage of such players is their large size and their tendency to skip if jostled.
Key Features of MP3 Players
Having looked at the different types of MP3 players, let’s look at the key features of an MP3 player.
Size and weight: If you’re looking to bring your MP3 player on trips or on sporting activities, a small compact design is very important. In such cases, you should go for a small flash based player or one of the micro hard drive players.
Storage capacity: This is an important factor too. If you need to store your whole music library into the MP3 player, then you probably need a hard drive based player with 10GB of storage or above. If you only want a few select songs to listen to on the subway, then a flash based player would suffice. Do take note that some players offer expansion slots in the form of CompactFlash or SD cards.
Battery Life: This is often overlooked. Battery life is a very important consideration, especially if you’re out with your player and have no way to recharge. Hard disk players tend to have lithium-ion rechargeable batteries while some flash players offer AAA battery support. I personally own a Creative MuVo Micro N200 which uses AAA batteries. This is great for me because once it runs out, I can just pop in a new one – no hassles about finding some electrical socket to recharge.
Connectivity Options: The way the MP3 player connects to your computer is also an important factor. The latest models tend to support high-speed USB 2.0 transfers. The better ones like the Apple iPod also give Firewire support.
File Format Support: You will most likely be wanting to play MP3 songs on your player. However, if you want to listen to a wider variety of music files, like WMA or OGG Vorbis, then make sure you see it in the player specs.
Other Considerations
Many of the latest players also include features I’ve not covered in the above. For example, some players come with a built-in FM tuner, which is very useful if you get tired of your MP3 music. Other have a built-in voice recorder which allows you to record audio as WAV files.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many considerations to think about when purchasing an MP3 player. To get the most suitable player, you want to think about how you will use the player. Usage should drive your purchase decision. The other thing to take note of is to shop around, both online and offline – compare prices before shelling out the cash. Good luck hunting for that MP3 player!
Gary Hendricks runs a hobby site on digital photography. Visit his website at http://www.digital-music-guide.com for tips and tricks on selecting MP3 players, music services and music software.
Microsoft Access Certification Made Easy
If you are planning on getting your Microsoft Access Certification then it is possible you are nervous about taking the exam and even more so about your Access training. Luckily, Onsite Access training does not have to be that difficult if you just know how to get started and what to study. That is generally the most difficult part of studying anyway, figuring out what is most important and then learning it. Fortunately, there are quite a few ways to make Microsoft Access certification easy.
The first option for you is to use Access training videos. The videos are excellent because they allow you to sit down and “watch” the information that you need to learn. This is an active form of learning that feels passive. In other words, you are sitting and learning the information that is placed on the screen in front of you. This is a great option for many people who simply don’t like sitting down with a book and reading. With the Access training videos you sit, watch, take notes if you want, and learn what is necessary for the exam. Even if you are a self studier you will likely benefit from the videos because they will help you affirm what you have already learned and refresh your knowledge and specific topics.
An Access training CD is also a big help. With the training CD you simply place the disc in your CD player and listen to the relevant information. This is a perfect way to study while on your way to work or doing practically anything else including working out, cleaning the house, or anything else where you can listen. Lots of people say they don’t have time to study and they may not have time to sit down with a book and read for hours a day. However, they can take advantage of the CD to listen to the important information they will need to know for the exam while they are going about their busy lives.
These are just a couple of the ways you can study for Microsoft Access certification without having to sit down with a book and read on your own the information. Sometimes people learn more when the information is presented on video and CD because they have an open mind about learning the information. Whatever your case, consider these tips when you are studying for Microsoft Access certification because they may just work for you.
Caitlina Fuller is a freelance writer. The first option for you is to use Access training videos. The videos are excellent because they allow you to sit down and “watch” the information that you need to learn. An Access training CD is also a big help. With the training CD you simply place the disc in your CD player and listen to the relevant information.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Microsoft-Access-Certification-Made-Easy&id=612309
How to Rip Your CDs - What About It?
With the copy-protected CD controversy in recent years, music studios are attempting to design CDs to prevent its users from ripping them onto their computer. Exactly what is ripping? It refers to digitally copying the CD's music onto your computer, also known as "ripping CDs". In layman's language - it means grabbing a CD from your shelf, and converting its tracks to audio files onto most of the PC computers. The most popular audio file being used today is the MP3, the abbreviated name for MPEG-1 audio layer three, or Moving Pictures Experts Group. This can be done legally and usually is not, due to the fine print saying if you buy a CD - it is yours to copy for your own use, as long as you don't sell it. After that, it gets "really" hazy in a legal sense.
There are many reasons to rip a CD. One is to get a backup of a favorite song or album, in case it gets ruined or scratched, or even to have just a back-up copy. Songs that are stored on the hard-drive can be backed up with player software, such as Windows Media Player or Winamp. They require a suitable sound card, and speakers or headphones, to use the computer as a musical device. Transferring is possible onto an MP3 music players also, which will allow downloading of audio tracks through a USB cable. Almost all computers can rip audio tracks, as long as they have a CD-ROM or something similar, a soundcard, and headphones or speakers. A couple hundred MB of free hard-drive space or more should be available as each song requires about 3MB to 5MB of space.
Depending on how much power and flexibility needed, a person can order the Smart CD Ripper with a free download trial version, for the Smart CD Ripper software or its Smart CD Ripper Pro version. The Pro version comes with a CD Player, WAV converter, and a MP3 converter. But both programs are an easy-to-use software that allows the user to extract audio tracks directly from personal CDs onto any Windows PC - insert the CD and click on the "rip" and it is done. Ripped in high speed, the software can leave the default MP3/OGG settings as it is user friendly, with a gogo encoder - based on the lame 3.88 with good quality and high speed. The variable bitrate (VBR) offers better quality than constant bitrate (CBR). The difference lies in the fact simple signals can be encoded with less bitrate, when higher bitrate is user to encode more difficult ones - defined by optimization of the used bitrate with the complexity of the audio signal to encode. The CDDB (CD database) is a file located in the WinAmp's plugins directory, containing a local copy of the CDDB Database for the CDs. This Smart Ripper feature will allow the ripping process to automatically receive the name of the artist, the name of the album, the genre, the year of the album, and the names of the songs in the album.
Ripping utilities can be found anywhere, which is an encoded software that encodes audio into several different formats that can be stored onto the hard-drive. The thing to really remember when picking out a ripping software is that many CD-burning applications also rip, although not all ripping utilities support CD-burning. Roxio's Easy CD Creator Platinum 5.1 does it all, through ripping to burning. There are huge numbers of consumers who work with ripping CDs. Statistics from Forrester Research in July of 2002, show us that 36% of the public rip songs from the CD to their hard drives, while 53% burn music on CDs. Slightly less, only 17% of consumers copy music files to an MP3 player, with 40% of consumers using file-sharing software.
http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Rip-Your-CDs---What-About-It?&id=320662
Picking the Right Stereo System for Your Car
Most cars have a fairly average sound system in their car. This is why most people turn to after-market products to enhance their listening experience. There are so many different things to consider when enhancing your car stereo. We will go through some of these things in this article.
The first thing to consider is your car itself. Is it a 2 door, 4 door, hatch or sedan. This is important as it should greatly influence the type of sound system you purchase. Smaller cars don’t need as much power as larger cars, simply because there is smaller cabin space and too much power can be overkill.
Let’s start with a small car. Smaller cars generally have 4 speakers in the cabin. Simply upgrading these speakers will not be enough to greatly increase the sound quality. Most small cars come with CD players as standard, but the sound quality that can be obtained from the CD player will be quite poor. After all manufacturers don’t pay too much attention to the quality of music the CD player puts out. Upgrading the CD player to one that puts out 50watts per channel will give a great increase in sound quality.
For larger cars it gets a little more complicated. In some large cars there are 6 speakers in the cabin. It’s not necessary to replace all 6. Replacing the 4 will be sufficient. One thing to consider in larger cars is getting a sub-woofer. Sub-woofers usually sit in the boot of the car and can put out a good amount of bass depending on the sub-woofer. To run the sub-woofer and amplifier is also necessary.
Most manufacturers pay little attention to the sound systems in their cars but this doesn’t mean you have to put up with inferior sound quality. There are several products on the market that can make your listening experience a lot more enjoyable. www.technologyslice.com
For more great technology related articles and reviews visit http://www.technologyslice.com
http://ezinearticles.com/?Picking-the-Right-Stereo-System-for-Your-Car&id=145476
Choosing the Best Audio Book Player
One of the things that will help you enjoy your audio book to its fullest potential is to invest in a good audio book player. Portable media devices are good tools for listening to your audio books, but audio book players are specifically designed for listening to audio books. An audio book player typically includes features that make listening to your book just as enjoyable as reading your favorite book.
Many people still enjoy the original format of audio books on tape. Even with modern technology, audio books on tape provide conveniences that other players do not provide. Listening to an audio book on cassette eliminates the problems of skipping and losing your place, so people can enjoy listening to their favourite book while jogging or exercising. Others may listen to books on tape in their cars because they are the most convenient option for enjoying a book during those long daily commutes.
Compact discs have also had an impact on the audio book industry. For people who do not have an MP3 player that they can use to take their files with them, CD audio books are the next option. This format allows listeners to easily skip and repeat certain sections of the book. Unlike cassette tapes, you cannot simply stop a CD and resume listening from the place it was stopped. Listeners have the option of "pausing" the book, but if the CD player is running on batteries this will quickly drain its power.
With the innovations of internet technology, the ideal audio book player is an MP3 player or any other portable media device with large memory capabilities. Downloads of audio books in digital format are often large, so it takes a large memory to store even a few of your favorite books. The most popular MP3 players are iPods. Audio book players, specifically made for enjoying audio books, are quickly becoming popular as well. With these devices, you can bookmark particular pages or sections so that you can resume listening at the last place you left off. An audio book player is also compatible with a greater number of the audio books available for download. iPods are typically only compatible with audio books downloaded from the iTunes service.
Audio books are a convenient and popular way to enjoy your favorite books. Their growing popularity has added demand for new advances in technology to appreciate them. While audio books on tape are considered old-fashioned, some people still prefer this method for playing their audio books. Downloads, however, have surpassed both cassettes and CD audio books because of the ease of accessibility. Digital formats are also more cost-effective and space-efficient, which is an important thing to keep in mind. Before investing in a new audio book player, evaluate your specific needs in order to choose the best player for your lifestyle.
Mike Selvon is the owner of various niche portals. Our audio books portal is a great resource for more information on audio book player.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Choosing-the-Best-Audio-Book-Player&id=559269
3 Places To Find Cheap Car CD Players
Its consumer nature to want to find the highest quality product at the lowest price. When searching for car audio there are a few places where you are guaranteed to find cheap car CD players. All of these are online venues that have netted the searching consumer an awesome cheap car CD player. When I say cheap I'm not referring to the quality, but the price of the car CD player.
The first place you should check out online should be Froogle. Froogle is Google's online product search engine. When you enter a a search query into the search bar at Froogle, Google will send it search engine spiders over the internet finding prices, descriptions, and pictures of all the cheap car CD players it can find. The best part about it is you can organize the results to display from lowest priced to highest price. Thus saving you a ton of time.
Go to http://www.froogle.com!!
The second place that you should search for cheap car CD players is on CraigsList. This is an online database of classified ads organized by city. CraigsList is the absolute best place to find gently used cheap car CD players. When you find an ad that looks interesting, contact the seller and set up a meeting. This is another advantage of using Craigslist. You actually get to see and touch the product before you buy. If you can't find a cheap car CD player anywhere else you will be able to find one on CraigsList.
Go to http://www.craigslist.org!!
The third place you want to look for a cheap car CD player would be Ebay. Ebay has some of the best deals on new and used car audio on the internet. You must be careful on Ebay as some sellers are crooks. Always check out the sellers feedback rating before you do any business with them. I would recommend you look elsewhere if their feedback rating is under 90%.
Go to http://www.ebay.com!!
Using these three internet resources you should be able to find a great deal on cheap car CD players. We're talking brands like Sony, Pioneer, Alpine, and Clarion. Whatever kind of cheap car CD player you want you WILL find it!!!
The author Garland Robinson is a serious car audio enthusiast. He has installed systems in multiple cars and attended sound competitions and car shows.
His extreme passion for this hobby has driven him to create a website based solely on car audio.
Check it out @ http://www.onlinecaraudio.info
http://ezinearticles.com/?3-Places-To-Find-Cheap-Car-CD-Players&id=485048
Do You Own An Mp3 Mp4 Player?
This article describes important features one might look for while purchasing an mp3 mp4 player. It also talks about the mp4 video file format capability.
Traveling to your office, doing household chores, driving your car, working on the computer, or at any other place, people are hooked on to their MP3 and MP4 music and video players. If you are traveling in an airplane or a bus you will find over 50% of the people having small headphones stuck into their ears.
What has made these small devices enter our lives so quickly that everybody, young or old, is now hooked on to it? MP3 music format, first introduced in 1993, started the era of compressed internet audio format. With the advent of broadband connectivity people freely uploaded and downloaded music from the web. This gave rise to pocket MP3 players.
There are two types of MP3 players or digital audio devices: flash-based players and digital hard drive-based players. Flash-based players hold files in the internal memory or external memory cards, and so they can hold up to 8 GB of files. While the hard drive-based players can connect to a hard drive that can hold up to 160 GB of audio and video files based on the hard drive technology. This means that you can store your entire music collection in your pocket!
MP3 players became very popular with the introduction of iPod, a convenient MP3 player with long battery life and storage space. The best part was that iPod can be connected to your computer and you can transfer your music directly from it. You can even make play lists, favorite folders, and arrange your files in many ways according to your convenience. Being among the pioneers, the iPod brand name has become synonymous with MP3 or MP4 digital players.
MP3 players are so well-liked that people have found many other uses for it. The most popular use is for podcasting. Podcasting lets the user automatically download radio-like programs, or TV-like video feeds, and other audio inputs, etc., directly from the net into the device. These could be downloaded and played at the owners` convenience.
MP4 players are even more advanced. They can play audio as well as video files. Apart from the MP3 and MP4 formats these players have capability to play WMA/PlaysForSure (from Microsoft), AAC (from Apple) and ATRAC (from Sony), AVI, ATV, ACT, SMV, MPEG4, MTV, DMV, MPV and AMV, etc.
Most MP4 players can also open in JPEG and GIF formats. They play videos in AMV or MTV formats that are converted easily through conversion software from other popular formats. These MP4 players also support plain text viewer (ASCII format) so that you can read e-books. A lot of enhancements like FM radio player, phone books, camera and voice recorders, video games, etc. are also coming today to make it a complete digital device.
There are many brands available in the portable audio/video player market but the market leader is Apple iPod. All major brands like Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Olympus, etc., have made their own versions of MP3 and MP4 players. These players are available in various shapes, sizes, colors, storage space, battery life, and more.
If you are looking to buy an MP3 or MP4 player check for all the features mentioned above. The most important attribute is the battery life as these portable players are mostly used on the move, so it would be difficult to charge them. iPod boasts the highest battery life among all other players. There are a lot of accessories that you can purchase along with your MP3 or MP4 player. Though all the brands provide headphones along with the playerScience Articles, it`s a good idea to buy the ones that you like.
Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This article can also be accessed in portuguese language from the News Article section of page http://www.polomercantil.com.br/mp3-mp4-audio-portatil.php
Traveling to your office, doing household chores, driving your car, working on the computer, or at any other place, people are hooked on to their MP3 and MP4 music and video players. If you are traveling in an airplane or a bus you will find over 50% of the people having small headphones stuck into their ears.
What has made these small devices enter our lives so quickly that everybody, young or old, is now hooked on to it? MP3 music format, first introduced in 1993, started the era of compressed internet audio format. With the advent of broadband connectivity people freely uploaded and downloaded music from the web. This gave rise to pocket MP3 players.
There are two types of MP3 players or digital audio devices: flash-based players and digital hard drive-based players. Flash-based players hold files in the internal memory or external memory cards, and so they can hold up to 8 GB of files. While the hard drive-based players can connect to a hard drive that can hold up to 160 GB of audio and video files based on the hard drive technology. This means that you can store your entire music collection in your pocket!
MP3 players became very popular with the introduction of iPod, a convenient MP3 player with long battery life and storage space. The best part was that iPod can be connected to your computer and you can transfer your music directly from it. You can even make play lists, favorite folders, and arrange your files in many ways according to your convenience. Being among the pioneers, the iPod brand name has become synonymous with MP3 or MP4 digital players.
MP3 players are so well-liked that people have found many other uses for it. The most popular use is for podcasting. Podcasting lets the user automatically download radio-like programs, or TV-like video feeds, and other audio inputs, etc., directly from the net into the device. These could be downloaded and played at the owners` convenience.
MP4 players are even more advanced. They can play audio as well as video files. Apart from the MP3 and MP4 formats these players have capability to play WMA/PlaysForSure (from Microsoft), AAC (from Apple) and ATRAC (from Sony), AVI, ATV, ACT, SMV, MPEG4, MTV, DMV, MPV and AMV, etc.
Most MP4 players can also open in JPEG and GIF formats. They play videos in AMV or MTV formats that are converted easily through conversion software from other popular formats. These MP4 players also support plain text viewer (ASCII format) so that you can read e-books. A lot of enhancements like FM radio player, phone books, camera and voice recorders, video games, etc. are also coming today to make it a complete digital device.
There are many brands available in the portable audio/video player market but the market leader is Apple iPod. All major brands like Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Olympus, etc., have made their own versions of MP3 and MP4 players. These players are available in various shapes, sizes, colors, storage space, battery life, and more.
If you are looking to buy an MP3 or MP4 player check for all the features mentioned above. The most important attribute is the battery life as these portable players are mostly used on the move, so it would be difficult to charge them. iPod boasts the highest battery life among all other players. There are a lot of accessories that you can purchase along with your MP3 or MP4 player. Though all the brands provide headphones along with the playerScience Articles, it`s a good idea to buy the ones that you like.
Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This article can also be accessed in portuguese language from the News Article section of page http://www.polomercantil.com.br/mp3-mp4-audio-portatil.php
Product Review: Creative Zen Vision: M 60 GB Portable Media Player
Apple basically owns the portable media player market - some sources quote it as enjoying well above 50% market share, while competitor Creative has a meager 2-3%. Still, that hasn’t stopped Creative from trying - their Zen Vision: M 60GB Portable Media Player presents the consumer with an alternative to the iPod not to be ignored.
Should you buy the Creative Zen Vision: M 60GB Media player?
Apple basically owns the portable media player market - some sources quote it as enjoying well above 50% market share, while competitor Creative has a meager 2-3%. Still, that hasn’t stopped Creative from trying - their Zen Vision: M 60GB Portable Media Player presents the consumer with an alternative to the iPod not to be ignored.
On the surface, it’s shaped like an iPod, equally tall but about a few mm thicker. All the controls are on the top surface and the touch interface allows one to scroll through songs and folders easily and quickly. It’s pretty easy to navigate the Zen Vision common-sense system, but it does lag at times, especially with videos.
Audio is high quality, and the volume is strong and distinct. It only supports MP3, WMA and WAV audio formats though. Playlists are better than with older Zen models I’ve tried, you just add tracks to a queue and then call it a list. It lets you choose to listen to random tracks, albums, and frequently or rarely played tracks. The quality of any format played is outstanding regardless of your speakers, too.
If audio was good, video is great especially when compared to other media players. The Zen supports DivX, XviD, WMV9 and MPEG so all those XviD and DivX files you downloaded can be watched without extra converting. The LCD is crystal clear and bright, great for watching all the TV shows and movies you‘ve got.
You also get to store all the photos you want in the Zen - standard .bmp, .png, .tiff and .gif formats all convert to jpeg automatically on upload. Pictures can be rated, rotated, zoomed in and set as wallpaper - once you choose a wallpaper you get to adjust its brightness and change the color settings to suit your style.
For all file uploads, the Zen uses its own Zen Media Explorer as the tool for uploading stuff, ripping, and converting formats. Looks a lot like the basic Windows folder interface and it’s pretty straightforward, but it only works on Windows XP and doesn’t support UMS.
Battery life is pretty good. You could watch about 2-3 hours of video with one charge, with practically no heat coming off when you’re enjoying your videos.
So should you buy the Creative Zen Vision: M 60GB Media player?
It has great video and audio quality, a convenient and easy-to-use navigation for both its media upload tool and in the player itself, and has a nice, bright screen - but it’s only for the Windows XP, and it lags a bit at times. Definitely not for the hardcore Mac users, but I’d recommend it to anyone else - a similarly priced iPod has only 30GB of space.
If you’re looking to buy online, get it at Newegg.com at just $236 with free shipping after a $30 mail-in rebate, which is just about the best price online - check it out here at Pricegrabber.com. Plus, Newegg has a great return policy in the rare event that you get a defective ZenPsychology Articles, and they’ll foot all the shipping bills incurred. Over 75% of buyers there rated it 5/5 - it’s certainly a good choice.
Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brought to you by FroggieShops.com - Your Personal Online Shopping Sleuth. © 2001 - 2007 www.froggieshops.com
Should you buy the Creative Zen Vision: M 60GB Media player?
Apple basically owns the portable media player market - some sources quote it as enjoying well above 50% market share, while competitor Creative has a meager 2-3%. Still, that hasn’t stopped Creative from trying - their Zen Vision: M 60GB Portable Media Player presents the consumer with an alternative to the iPod not to be ignored.
On the surface, it’s shaped like an iPod, equally tall but about a few mm thicker. All the controls are on the top surface and the touch interface allows one to scroll through songs and folders easily and quickly. It’s pretty easy to navigate the Zen Vision common-sense system, but it does lag at times, especially with videos.
Audio is high quality, and the volume is strong and distinct. It only supports MP3, WMA and WAV audio formats though. Playlists are better than with older Zen models I’ve tried, you just add tracks to a queue and then call it a list. It lets you choose to listen to random tracks, albums, and frequently or rarely played tracks. The quality of any format played is outstanding regardless of your speakers, too.
If audio was good, video is great especially when compared to other media players. The Zen supports DivX, XviD, WMV9 and MPEG so all those XviD and DivX files you downloaded can be watched without extra converting. The LCD is crystal clear and bright, great for watching all the TV shows and movies you‘ve got.
You also get to store all the photos you want in the Zen - standard .bmp, .png, .tiff and .gif formats all convert to jpeg automatically on upload. Pictures can be rated, rotated, zoomed in and set as wallpaper - once you choose a wallpaper you get to adjust its brightness and change the color settings to suit your style.
For all file uploads, the Zen uses its own Zen Media Explorer as the tool for uploading stuff, ripping, and converting formats. Looks a lot like the basic Windows folder interface and it’s pretty straightforward, but it only works on Windows XP and doesn’t support UMS.
Battery life is pretty good. You could watch about 2-3 hours of video with one charge, with practically no heat coming off when you’re enjoying your videos.
So should you buy the Creative Zen Vision: M 60GB Media player?
It has great video and audio quality, a convenient and easy-to-use navigation for both its media upload tool and in the player itself, and has a nice, bright screen - but it’s only for the Windows XP, and it lags a bit at times. Definitely not for the hardcore Mac users, but I’d recommend it to anyone else - a similarly priced iPod has only 30GB of space.
If you’re looking to buy online, get it at Newegg.com at just $236 with free shipping after a $30 mail-in rebate, which is just about the best price online - check it out here at Pricegrabber.com. Plus, Newegg has a great return policy in the rare event that you get a defective ZenPsychology Articles, and they’ll foot all the shipping bills incurred. Over 75% of buyers there rated it 5/5 - it’s certainly a good choice.
Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brought to you by FroggieShops.com - Your Personal Online Shopping Sleuth. © 2001 - 2007 www.froggieshops.com
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