Portable CD Players Versus Portable Digital MP3 Players

Now here's a good match up and there are a lot of excellent points. Portable CD players became really popular a few years back. You probably saw a number of people don a CD player by the side of his/her pants or in his/her bag. Then, the portable digital MP3 players emerged. The most common and most famous of them all is, of course, the Apple iPod. But let's say you have to choose between the two, which would you choose?

Portability. They are both portable devices but which do you think is more economical? I'd go for the portable MP3 player. Let's say you have 15 music CDs, you'd have to bring them all with you. It's bothersome and it's annoying to constantly change the CDs. You won't have any problems at all with an MP3 player since the music is digital and is stored in the device itself. You just need to get used to the interface of the menus and you're set.

Sound Quality. Many would say that the CD has good quality but MP3s are much easier to modify and could even be played back at a better quality than CDs. But then, it doesn't really matter much since sound quality would mostly depend on your speakers or headsets. If you have a good quality headset, you'd probably have a better experience with your portable device regardless if it's CD or MP3. So it's a draw here.

Stability. Well, another point for the portable MP3 player. Let's say you're in a car. You have your CD playing and then you drive over a nasty bump on the road. It is possible that the music may jump or stop. You'd have to either restart the CD player or re-insert the CD itself. If you have a low-end portable CD player, it could even skip even when you are just walking. This is not a problem at all with portable digital MP3 players.

Data Storage. Again, the point goes to portable digital MP3 players (that's 3-0 in favor of the MP3 player). Music CD players are only capable of playing a small selection of songs. If you have a 30 GB digital MP3 player, you can have 1,000 or more songs in your library (that's roughly the equivalent of 50 or so CDs) and you can easily copy, delete, or add new songs. That is nearly impossible for CD players (unless it has writing capabilities) since they can only read CDs.

Price. Well, this is a draw as well. It really differs depending on the brand and the features. High-end CD or digital players may cost well over $200 and the entry levels would usually cost around $20 or so.

Well, those are just the basics and it seems that the portable digital MP3 player wins. But whichever you choose, what's important is that you enjoy the music you're playing and you feel relaxed. Enjoy your music!