Jim Miller

                                                                   LSCI 60647

                                                                   Professor Morris

                                                                   Technology Evaluation/Review Paper

                                                                   April 16, 2001

 

 

          Portable MP3 Players

 

          The first portable MP3 player, the Rio, was designed by Korean engineer Hwang Jung Ha and came out in 1998 (Yoon, 2000.)  MP3's became a popular format due to their ability to serve as compressed audio files without noticeable audible difference to the average listener.  Online music swapping services, such as Napster, also contributed to the file format's popularity and fueled the demand for portable MP3 playing devices which enabled listeners to "free" the music from their PC's.  Over 3 million MP3 players were sold in 2000, with estimates of 26 million to be sold by 2005 (Healey, 2001.)  As noted in the Forbes article, Digital Jammin', MP3 players are best suited for the computer-savvy (Nathan, 2000.)  The process of finding/creating MP3 files and transferring them to a portable MP3 player is considerably more involved than placing a CD in a portable CD player, which may affect the growth of these devices with consumers. 

          Most portable MP3 players use built in flash memory cards as a storage medium and many allow for expansion.  The majority come with at least 32 MB of storage (for about one-half hour of music,) although the standard appears to be 64 MB.  Each time a new set of songs is uploaded to the player from a PC, the previous set of songs is overwritten.  Due to the cost of this memory (currently $1 per megabyte,) some manufacturers are trying different storage methods.  Creative Lab's Nomad Jukebox uses an actual hard drive for storage, which offers a much larger capacity: 6 gigabytes (100 hours of music.)  The Nomad Jukebox's price dropped dramatically from $500 in September, 2000 to the current price of $269 (Healey, 2001.)  The trade-off for increased storage offered by hard drives is that the players become larger and therefore less portable.  The Iomega HipZip player uses tiny removable zip disks offering 40 MB of storage each @ $10 per disk.)             

          In order for the listener to use a portable player, music must be uploaded to it from a PC.  Although some players use a parallel connection, the most popular and much faster connection is USB.  Before purchasing a portable MP3 player that uses USB, you should make sure your PC has USB ports and that your operating system supports USB.  Most newer PC's have USB ports and Windows 98 contains USB support.  You can install a USB card in an older system if you are comfortable adding expansion cards to a motherboard.  The Linux operating system did not provide USB support until the most recent kernel: 2.4.  Four of the players I included in the comparisons are Mac-compatible: the Nomad II, the I-Jam, and the Rio 600 and 800.

          Some MP3 players are actually CD players with the capability of reading MP3 encoding.  The Philips eXpanium, D-Links's DMP-CD100, and the Rio Volt are three such players.  One CD of MP3's can hold up to 10 hours of music (an MP3 file is typically one-tenth the size of a normal CD audio file)  (Snider, 2001.)        

          A recent development in the portable MP3 market is the incorporation of technologies to allow for MP3 listening on other devices, such as watches, cell phones, and digital cameras.  The Samsung SDH-M100 cell phone carries 32 MB of RAM, which will store approximately 35 minutes of music (Network News, 2000.)              

          There are numerous criteria to consider in devising a rating guide for portable MP3 players.  Features, amount and type of memory, type of connection, and price are all included in comparison charts.  I have included transfer rates for those players, which I found data for.  Some players also include built in FM receivers and/or voice recorders-- features sure to become more popular with upcoming models.  Subjective criteria not included in the charts but which will probably be important to prospective buyers is style and sturdiness.  MP3 players come in a variety of shapes and colors, from the sleek Rio 500 to the sturdy Archos Jukebox 6000 to the awkward-looking Nike PSAPlay models.  One model, the Unitech Rome, is shaped like a cassette tape and even plays in conventional tape decks.           




A Comparison of Portable MP3 Players I


Product Manufacturer Memory Size Memory Type Price

Archos Jukebox 6000 Archos 6 GB Hard Drive $349

D' Music SM-320F Pine Technology 32 MB Internal $179.95

DMP-CD100 D-Link N/A CD $119

eXpanium Philips N/A CD $199

FinePix 40i Fujifilm 64 MB SmartMedia cards $699

HipZip Iomega 40 MB Tiny PocketZip disks $299

I-Jam I-Jam Multimedia 16 MB Memory cards $270

JamP3 KB Gear 16 MB Internal, MMC expansion $99

Jukebox Remote Solutions 4.86 or 6 GB Hard Drive $695

Lyra 2 RCA 64 MB CompactFlash memory $299

card

Nomad II Creative Labs 32 or 64 MB Flash memory cards $219-$299

Nomad Jukebox Creative Technology Inc. 6 GB Hard Drive $269

Personal Audio Player Compaq 32 MB MultiMediaCard (MMC) $249

Pocket Concert Intel 128 MB StrataFlash $300

PSAPlay 120 Nike 64 MB Internal $299

PSAPlay 60 Nike 32 MB Internal $199

Rave MP2200 Sensory Science 64 MB Internal, SmartMedia exp. $279

Rave MP2300 Sensory Science 40 MB Iomega Clik disks $300

Rio 600 S3, Inc. 32 MB Internal $170

Rio 800 SONICblue 64 MB Internal $279

Rome Unitech 32 or 64MB Internal $135

Volt Rio N/A CD $169.95

Wrist Audio Player Casio 32 MB Internal MMC $249

Yepp Samsung 32 or 64 MB Internal, SmartMedia exp. $169-$249





A Comparison of Portable MP3 Players II


Product Manufacturer Connection Transfer Rate Comments

Archos Jukebox 6000 Archos USB - Weighs 12 oz.

D' Music SM-320F Pine Technology Parallel 4 MB in 45 sec.

DMP-CD100 D-Link N/A - Plays CD's.

eXpanium Philips N/A - Plays CD's.

FinePix 40i Fujifilm USB - This is also a 2.4 megapixel digital camera.

HipZip Iomega USB - Includes 2 disks. Extras $10 each.

I-Jam I-Jam Multimedia USB 6 MB in 50 sec.

JamP3 KB Gear USB -

Jukebox Remote Solutions USB -

Lyra 2 RCA USB -

Nomad II Creative Labs USB 6 MB in 36 sec.

Nomad Jukebox Creative Technology Inc. USB - Weighs roughly one pound.

Personal Audio Player Compaq USB -

Pocket Concert Intel USB -

PSAPlay 120 Nike USB - Designed for athletes.

PSAPlay 60 Nike USB - Also designed for athletes.

Rave MP2200 Sensory Science USB -

Rave MP2300 Sensory Science USB -

Rio 600 S3, Inc. USB 6 MB in 12 sec. Looked upon less favorably than famous Rio 500.

Rio 800 SONICblue USB -

Rome Unitech USB (64 MB) - Can play in a car cassette player. Weight: 2.2 oz.

Volt Rio N/A - Plays CD's.

Wrist Audio Player Casio USB 4 min. song in 90 sec. Wrist watch MP3 player. Holds 30 min. of music.

Yepp Samsung Parallel Slow Short for young, energetic, personal, & passionate





A Comparison of Portable MP3 Players III


Product Manufacturer FM Radio Voice Recorder Portable CD Player Sources

Archos Jukebox 6000 Archos - - - 7

D' Music SM-320F Pine Technology Yes Yes - 15, 27

DMP-CD100 D-Link - - Yes 10

eXpanium Philips - - Yes 22, 24

FinePix 40i Fujifilm - - - 1

HipZip Iomega - - - 22, 23

I-Jam I-Jam Multimedia Yes - - 9

JamP3 KB Gear - - - 22, 21

Jukebox Remote Solutions - - - 16

Lyra 2 RCA Yes - - 22

Nomad II Creative Labs Yes Yes - 22, 9

Nomad Jukebox Creative Technology Inc. - - - 7, 8

Personal Audio Player Compaq - - - 22, 21, 14

Pocket Concert Intel Yes - - 6

PSAPlay 120 Nike - - - 22, 23, 3

PSAPlay 60 Nike - - - 22

Rave MP2200 Sensory Science Yes Yes - 23

Rave MP2300 Sensory Science - Yes - 16

Rio 600 S3, Inc. - - - 23, 9

Rio 800 SONICblue - Yes - 22

Rome Unitech - - - 16, 12

Volt Rio - - Yes 19

Wrist Audio Player Casio - - - 22, 24, 25, 16

Yepp Samsung - Yes - 22, 16, 28





A Comparison of Portable MP3 Players by Manufacturer


Manufacturer Product Memory Size Memory Type Price

Archos Archos Jukebox 6000 6 GB Hard Drive $349

Casio Wrist Audio Player 32 MB Internal MMC $249

Compaq Personal Audio Player 32 MB MultiMediaCard (MMC) $249

Creative Labs Nomad II 32 or 64 MB Flash memory cards $219-$299

Creative Technology Inc. Nomad Jukebox 6 GB Hard Drive $269

D-Link DMP-CD100 N/A CD $119

Fujifilm FinePix 40i 64 MB SmartMedia cards $699

I-Jam Multimedia I-Jam 16 MB Memory cards $270

Intel Pocket Concert 128 MB StrataFlash $300

Iomega HipZip 40 MB Tiny PocketZip disks $299

KB Gear JamP3 16 MB Internal, MMC expansion $99

Nike PSAPlay 60 32 MB Internal $199

Nike PSAPlay 120 64 MB Internal $299

Philips eXpanium N/A CD $199

Pine Technology D' Music SM-320F 32 MB Internal $179.95

RCA Lyra 2 64 MB CompactFlash memory card $299

Remote Solutions Jukebox 4.86 or 6 GB Hard Drive $695

Rio Volt N/A CD $169.95

S3, Inc. Rio 600 32 MB Internal $170

Samsung Yepp 32 or 64 MB Internal, SmartMedia exp. $169-$249

Sensory Science Rave MP2200 64 MB Internal, SmartMedia exp. $279

Sensory Science Rave MP2300 40 MB Iomega Clik disks $300

SONICblue Rio 800 64 MB Internal $279

Unitech Rome 32 or 64MB Internal $135




Sources:

 

1. Cekan, Lisa. (2001). MP3 Player/ 2.4 Megapixel Camera-Pick One. PC World, 19:3, 83.

 

2. ConsumerSearch: Reviewing the Reviewers

    http://www.consumersearch.com/www/electronics/mp3_players/ (Accessed April 2001.)

 

3. Cullen, Kathleen. (2000). Snazzy New MP3 Player Hits the Gym. PC World, 18:12, 104.

 

4.  Dickinson, Tim. (2001). Uproar. Wired, 9:3,173.

 

5.  Dietz, Martin. (2000). Right-sizing DSP for MP3 Duties. Electronic Engineering Times, Nov     6.

 

6.  Greenburg, Daniel. (2001). Install Now? The Washington Post, March 9, E12.

 

7.  Headlam, Bruce. (2001). The Portable MP3 Player That Won’t Stop the Music, The New York Times, March 1, G3.

 

8.  Healey, Jon. (2001). Nomad Jukebox, Now Available for Less Than $300… The Los Angeles Times, April 2, C1.

 

9.  Heid, Jim. (2000). Portable MP3 Players. Macworld, 17:11, 96-97.

 

10.  Heilman, Dan. (2001). Life in the Post-Napster Era. Computer User, 20:2, 22.

 

11.  Keefe, Bob. (2001). Sales Still Strong for MP3 Devices. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, April 1, G7.

 

12.  Min, Kim Jung. (2000). Sound Waves. Far Eastern Economic Review, Sep 7, 45.

 

13.  MP3 newswire.net

     http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/2000/lyra2.html (Accessed April 2001.)

 

14.  (2001). MP3 Players Evolve as Digital Music Digs In. Consumer Reports, 66:2, 49--.

 

15.  (2000). MP3 Player Round-up. Inside the Internet, 7:3, 7-8.

 

16.  Nathan, Adit. (2000). Digital Jammin’. Forbes, Sep 11, 88.

 

17.  Quan, Margaret. (2001). Digital Audio Players to Add Speech Recognition. Electronic Engineering Times, Feb 26.

 

18.  Rae-Dupree, Janet. (2001). Tiny Music Boxes Can Deliver a Sonic Boom. U.S. News & World Report, Feb 26, 8.

 

19.  (2001). Rio’s New Portable Player Can Handle Custom Discs. Houston Chronicle, Feb 9, 5.

 

20.  (2000). Samsung’s Pandora’s Box. Network News, Dec 13, 47.

 

21.  Snider, Mike. (2001). Music Choices Grow Digital MP3 Players Hold More Songs… Detroit News, Jan 15, 2.

 

22.  Snider, Mike. (2000). Digital Music Expands Into All Walks of Life… USA Today, Dec 15, 11E.

 

23.  Tanaka, Jennifer. (2000). MP3 for You and Me. Newsweek, Oct 23, 81.

 

24.  Terrell, Kenneth, and Matthew Benjamin. (2000). MP3 Devices Let You Listen On the Go. U.S. News & World Report, Nov 27, 83.

 

25.  Web-Watches (Casio)

 http://www.web-watches.com.au/mp3/ (Accessed April 2001.)

 

26.  Yoon, Suh-kyung. (2000). Little Acorns. Far Eastern Economic Review, Aug 17, 33.

 

27. ZDNet Reviews (Pine Tech.)

     http://www.zdnet.com/products/stories/specs/0,8828,430314,00.html (Accessed April 2001.)

 

28 .ZDNet Reviews (Samsung)

     http://www.zdnet.com/products/stories/pipreviews/0,8827,192969,00.html

    (Accessed April 2001.)