If I was in the market for an MP3 player right now, I would purchase an Apple iPod with a 20 gigabyte drive. The large storage, simple interface and compact size make it desirable for my needs. However, this is not an easy decision, especially when considering all of the MP3 players that have hit the market in the past year. My strategy for making this decision is to first consider how I will use the device, determine the requirements of the device based on this usage, find the players that match my needs the best, and then make a decision based on these factors.

My Usage Habits

Before I purchase anything, I take a minute to really think about how I might use the device. This is critical to the type of device that I select in order to get the most use out of it. For a portable MP3 player, I primarily use it when I'm doing one of the following activities: (1) exercising at the gym, (2) running or jogging, (3) mowing the lawn, (4) sitting by the pool, (5) riding in the car, or (6) commuting on a plane or train. Based on these usage habits, I would need an MP3 player that is compact, but doesn't necessarily have to be ultra compact. It does not have to have a great battery life because many of things that I do most often are no longer than an hour at a time.

I also think about how much music that I want access to when I'm using the MP3 player. I generally don't listen to single albums straight through. Although I own several hundred CD's, I prefer to listen to music in 'random' mode so I'm getting a good variety of music that I like. The more storage, the more variety in music that I can listen to.

Lastly, I think about convenience. There are a couple of factors that I consider here. I know for a fact that I will not sit down at a computer and change the music on the MP3 player very often. It's not something that I even think about until I want to use the device. In those situations, I am heading out the door and want to use the device right then, and not take the 15 minutes to decide what I want to transfer to it. When I do sit down to change the music on the player, the other convenience factor

comes into play - how to transfer the music to and from the player. I have tried a few different music software programs and I have settled on iTunes as my favorite player, so I prefer an MP3 player that easily integrates with iTunes.

Summary Requirements

Based on my usage habits, I have these requirements for the MP3 player:

Must Haves

• Must be compact - I need something that I can easliy carry with me whether I'm working out or commuting to work.
• Must have lots of storage so I don't need to change the music often and can listen to a variety of music at one time.
• Must integrate with iTunes music software so I can easily transfer music and listen on my computer, too.

Nice to Haves

• Relatively inexpensive - I don't want to spend the farm, but I'm willing to pay for convenience.
• Decent battery life - I don't mind charging the device often, as I don't use it for extended periods of time.
• Sound Quality - While I don't want something that sounds terrible, it doesn't have to be perfect either.

Could Care Less About

• Other Features - I want to use the player for music and I don't care about taking pictures, voice recording, or listening to the radio.
• Integration with online music services - I'm still old fashioned. I buy my CD's at the store.
• Using as a portable storage device - Not worth the hassle for me. There are plenty of other options for this, but it is a nice feature if I was in dire straits.

Summary

For my needs, the Apple iPod is still the champion of MP3 players, and fits most of my needs perfectly. However, there are plenty of other MP3 players out there which I would definitely be happy with, too. One last item to consider is that many personal video players (PVP's) have MP3 playback built-in as a feature, and are worth considering as an alternative. However at the time of this writing, they are still oversized for how I want to listen to my portable music, not to mention the added cost. In another year or so that might change, and at that time I would seriously consider one of these devices as an alternative.