Tips To Make the Most of Your MP3 Player Battery Life

One of the reasons you love your MP3 player is because it allows you to watch a movie, listen to your favorite music, or record a lecture without being plugged in. In the car, at the beach, on a run, wherever you are, your MP3 player can keep you company. Having to plug in your MP3 player to recharge the battery may cramp your mobile style a bit, so why not figure out how to make the most out of your battery life? The manufacturer presents the best-case scenario for battery life in their product specifications. How long you can go between charges depends on a lot of factors.

Most electronic products on the market today, like your MP3 player, use Lithium Ion batteries. They have become popular in these types of products for a few different reasons. They have a high energy density, so you get a lot of power in a small battery. While other kinds of batteries can lose their maximum energy capacity if they are repeatedly recharged after being only partially discharged, the lithium ion batteries do not. They offer a slow loss of charge when not in use too, another plus. MP3 players are known for being portable and lightweight, and the Lithium Ion battery that charges it is also light, especially compared to other forms of batteries.

Some general tips for extending the life of your Lithium Ion battery

• Lithium-ion batteries should be charged early and often. Lithium-ion batteries should not be frequently fully discharged and recharged like Ni-Cd batteries, but this is necessary after about every 30th recharge to recalibrate any external electronic "fuel gauge". This prevents the fuel gauge from showing an incorrect battery charge.


• Li-ion batteries should be kept cool, but not frozen. The high temperatures found in cars cause lithium-ion batteries to degrade rapidly.

Batteries in MP3 Players face unique challenges then batteries used in other electronics. What is drawing on the energy of your MP3 player's battery?

• Media Files


• While MP3 players support different file formats, battery life is usually established with a certain file format in mind. Different formats take MP3 players longer to decode than others.


• For example, in the Sansa Fuze's User Guide, you can read that "the Sansa Fuze supports MP3, WAV, WMA, secure WMA, and audiobooks formats" and that "rechargeable battery lasts up to 24 hours of audio playback or 5 hours of video playback." The guide also tells you that the battery life predictions are based on "continuous audio playback at 128 kbps MP3; video playback at QVGA 512kbps H.264; battery life and performance may vary depending upon usage and settings".


• Read up on your specific MP3 player's battery life calculations and know how to make the most out of your battery!


• Habits


• Are you a serial skipper? Do you only get through about half of a song before skipping on to the next? Do you browse photos while listening to music, or watch videos as brightly as possible? Think about how you use your MP3 Player, and how that use affects your battery life. Multi-tasking may be a skill, but it can be pretty taxing on your battery's charge. When you're going for long time spans between chargers, think simplicity.


• Earphones


• Some headphones come with efficiency ratings. The more efficient your headphones, the less likely you are to have to pump up the volume. Personal preferences come into play when choosing an earphone, the best bet for your battery is to get a pair of earphones that you can use with the lowest level of volume and still get the right sound quality. Check out the note on volume below.


• Non-Essentials


• Brightness
• 1. Scroll down to Brightness and select it.
• 2. Use thumbwheel to adjust the Brightness level. The brighter the screen, the more energy you're using.
• 3. Press the Select button to accept the changes.


• Volume
• The louder you listen to your music, the worse it is for your hearing, and your battery. Be kind to your ears, and your battery, listen to your media without blowing out your eardrums. Check your user guide, either the one you got with your product, or online at the Product Support site, and read more about safe hearing levels. (Just select your model, and click on the User Guide in the right menu.)


• Backlighting
• After idling for predefined seconds, the player will trigger the timer automatically and cease the backlight. You can press any button to wake the backlight up. The longer your backlight time, the more battery power you use.
• Scroll down to Backlight and select it.
• Use thumbwheel to select desired backlight timer (from 5 seconds to always on).
• Press the Select button.


• Bonus tips to maximize your battery's life


• Power Saver Option
• You can set the timer under Power Saver to automatically turn off the player when the music is paused or when there is no activity.
• Scroll down to Power Saver and select it.
• Use thumbwheel to select desired timer (from off to 120 minutes).
• Press the Select button.


• Hold Button
• Utilize your device's Hold button, so that you don't accidentally switch songs or even turn it on when you don't want to. This will save some accidental power use when storing your MP3 player in your pocket or bag.


• Where are you charging?
• Some low-power USB ports may not provide enough power to charge the Sansa player. If the device does not charge, use the USB port located at the rear of the computer.

Getting to know your MP3 player is the best way to figure out how to extend your battery life. Look to your user guide for tips, and be conscious of how you use the player. All these tips may not apply to you, but you'll figure out the most practical and convenient ways for you to stretch out the time between recharges. After all, the convenience and mobility may be why you purchased an MP3 player, but your files and how you use it really make it all your own. Figure out which of these tips work for you, and maybe you'll discover some tricks of your own!

Sources:
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm
http://www.sandisk.com/sansa/
http://www.sandisk.com/sansa/#/support-0/
http://www.headwize.com/articles/hguide_art.htm#eval

PC World Grades the Sansa Fuze

PC World, which boasts being "the world's leading technology media, research, and event company" recently reviewed the Sansa® Fuze™. Labeling the Sansa® Fuze™ a "worthy Nano competitor", the article discusses many of the positives of many of the Sansa® Fuze™. From actual size to its flash-based expandability, PC World noted many of the obvious advantages of the Sansa® Fuze™. They went further in depth and put it up to some special PC World challenges too. They've included an in-depth test report in the investigation. Read the full article titled SanDisk Sansa Fuze Flash-Based MP3 Player to check out the results of the audio-quality lab tests, and read which other MP3 players PC World thought the Sansa® Fuze™ was comparable to (even better than in some respects!)

Big Idea, Little Steps…

Environmentalism is a big word, with even bigger consequences. But you can break it down by doing the small things that are very manageable. Sansa and SanDisk are committed to being a partner in sustaining the environment, and they are taking their own little steps down the lengthy road of environmentalism.

• Through regular inspections and verifications of products, both existing and new, they comply with the restriction of hazardous substances directive.


• By limiting waste and promoting recycling within the company they prevent pollution.


• They voluntarily obey all legal and environmental regulations, which relate to environmental aspects of their activities, products, and services.


• Reviewing and setting sound environmental objectives and targets allows Sansa and SanDisk to work towards continual improvement in their reduction of the environmental impact of our products and activities.


• They offer internships and jobs within their Environmental Management System team, supporting new Green policies.


• By reducing product volume and weight, they reduce their transport-related energy consumption.
• Through improving the product and packaging design they lower their use of natural resources.


• They have removed all banned and restricted substances from products.


• When designing their products, they keep the final product disposal in mind, focusing on how their products will have an effect on the world in the long run.

All the little things everyone does add up to being a big help for our planet, so start doing your own little things, like biking to class or planting a tree. As you're doing those things, you can be rocking out to your Sansa MP3 player, knowing that Sansa and SanDisk are taking steps to sustain the environment as well.

Sources:
http://www.sandisk.com/Corporate/
http://de.sandisk.com/
http://www.careerbuilder.com
http://www.indeed.com/

Sansa C140 and C150 MP3 Player Sale!!!!!

Hurry over to the ShopSansa eStore to get the 1GB C140 for $19.99 or the 2GB C150 for $29.99. Both MP3 players have been marked down by over 80%.

I wouldn't wait long. Who knows how long they'll stay in stock at that kind of price!

Where Can I Find MP3 Player Downloads?

The ability to download music is one of the great advantages of owning an MP3 player. You no longer need to go to the store and pay for complete albums when you may only want just a song or two. You're also not stuck with piles of discs that need to be organized and stored.

Downloading is a faster, easier and less expensive way to get the music you want. And, you'll soon find you have an incredibly wide choice of music from which to choose. There are a lot of MP3 download sites that offer all types of music.

Each download site offers specific features and benefits. When you're searching for the online source that's right for you, however, it's important to make sure the site has been approved by the music industry. A good place to get a complete list of approved sources is at the web site for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). They represent the U.S. recording industry with the mission of fostering a legal climate that supports and promotes their members' creative and financial vitality. RIAA members create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 90% of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States.

For a complete list of RIAA approved download sites for your Sansa MP3 player, go to http://www.riaa.com/. Here you can find all the latest and greatest songs, music videos, classic oldies, a wide variety of jazz and classical standards, plus broadband radio and TV shows.

Choose between a subscription-based or per song approach to downloading.

When you begin to investigate what different sites have to offer, you'll soon see that they really do fall into two categories. Some sites ask you to subscribe to their service on a monthly basis while others simply ask that you pay per download. Here are a two of each type to get you started:

Subscription based sites:
Napster
You can try Napster for seven days for free. If you like their services, you can get unlimited music for as low as $12.95 a month. They offer more than 5 million songs with new releases every week including pop, hip-hop, rock, country, jazz, classical and more. Their discovery tools make it easy to find old favorites or explore new music.

Rhapsody
Rhapsody also offers unlimited downloads and charges only $12.99 per month. You can search their massive music catalog by artist or genre, tune into Rhapsody Channels, get personalized recommendations and more. You can also just drag and drop songs to make your own playlist and then share it with friends.

Per song sites:
Amazon.com
This site offers a wide array of genres including alternative and classic rock, blues, Broadway musicals, children's music, Christian/gospel, classical, country, dance/DJ, folk, jazz, Latin, international, pop, R&B, soundtracks and more. They also provide a list of top songs and artists. The basic charge is $0.99 per song but they also showcase some free downloads as well as albums – some at great discounts.

Yahoo Music
Yahoo Music also charges $0.99 per song but they also have an $8.99 a month subscription. (You can save even more if you go with the annual program of $71.88.) Subscribers pay just 79¢ per song to keep the music they like forever and burn it to a CD. In addition, they offer a 14 day free trial period. Any way you go, you’ll get access to more than 2 million songs and more than 120 CD-quality, commercial- free radio stations 24 hrs a day.

Don't forget about your current music collection!

You can easily upload your MP3 from the music you already have on your computer, your compact disc collection and even all those vinyl records and cassettes you've saved over the years.

To move your music from a CD to your MP3, you need to go through your computer with what is called a "ripper." A ripper is actually a software program that converts the full CD tracks into a condensed MP3 format. Here are just two web sites that offer such programs:

NCH Swift Sound Express Rip CD Ripper is a free program for Windows that lets you extract digital audio tracks directly from audio CDs to wav and mp3 audio files. By using direct digital extraction, pure audio quality is maintained and Express Rip is the fastest CD ripper in the world using proprietary optimizing systems. This site offers this program for free in hopes that you'll consider purchasing their Express Rip Plus with additional features.

SmartSoft CD Ripper This easy-to-use software lets you directly extract audio tracks from your music CDs to computer files such as MP3. All you really need to do is insert your CD and click "Rip." The standard version is $19.90 and the pro version with added features is $29.90. They offer a free trial for both.

To move music from your vinyl record or cassette collection requires a little more work. To do this, you'll need the cables to connect your computer to your stereo system plus the software to make it all work. A good place to get a step-by-step approach to this is at WorldStart.com.

MP3 Players - How To Choose The One That’s Right For You!

There are a wide variety of MP3 players on the market today, so first you need to decide which type and style best suits your needs. Before you go shopping, be ready to answer these questions.

• When and where will you use MP3 and for how long? -- Just at the sports club? In the car? At home or in the dorm?
• What size will you need? - How small? How portable?
• How many songs do you want your MP3 player to hold? -- A player with 1GB of memory can hold approximately 250 MP3 songs with a playback time of 16 hours or 500 WMA songs with a playback time of 32 hours. (This is based on a four-minute song at 128 kbps MP3.) How large is your music collection?
• In addition to listening to music what other features do you want? -- Listen to the radio? Podcasts? Watch videos? Store or take photos?
• What's your budget? -- The more your want your MP3 player to do – the more memory it requires and the more it will cost!
• What style and color do you prefer? -- MP3 players come in a wide variety of colors and styles – from those that clip on to your shirt, to ones that feature large display screens.

There are three basic types of MP3 players.

* Flash Memory Players – this is the smallest and lightest of the MP3 players and is perfect for exercisers and people on the go because they contain no moving parts. They also offer video and photo capabilities. Typically, these players hold memory from 1GB to 32GB. Sansa from SanDisk provides a variety of flash memory MP3 players in a wide variety of sizes and colors.

* Hard Drive and Mini-hard Drive Players – these MP3 players are larger and heavier than flash memory players but offer a lot more storage – up to 80GB. They can hold an entire library of songs, photos, data and videos. However, these hard drives consume more power and, because they include moving parts, may skip. The Apple iPod is a good example of this type.

* The Hybrid Players - MP3 technology can now be found on cell pones, PDAs, radios, and even swim goggles.

Most types of players support in addition to MP3 files, WMV, secure WMA and Audible files. Those that play video usually support MPEG4, WMV, H.264, WAV, non-DRM AAC.

Once you have picked out the right player you now need to add the digital music!

There are many ways to add music to your player – depending on your device and your needs.

• You can simply download MP3 files from the Web to your computer and then on to your player. All you need besides your MP3 player is a computer with a sound card, speakers, and an Internet connection. And there are tons of sites devoted to music downloads – some for free, some for a fee and some are subscription based.

• If you have a collection of CDs and want to convert those CDs to MP3 files, you need ripper and encoder software. Some computers and players come with this software but in addition you can download several great programs for free including Audio Grabber, FreeRip and Exact Audio Copy. When talking about "ripping" music from a CD, by law, it is only legal to take a CD you have purchased, upload it onto your computer, and put it on to your MP3 player only. You can not share this music with anyone.

The ripper copies a song's file from your CD onto your hard disk. The encoder then compresses the song into the MP3 format, allowing it to be downloaded to your MP3 player. Some players streamline the entire process and have the ability to record songs directly from your CD player. The song goes directly from the CD to the digital format without using a computer. For legal music sites approved by the music industry go to http://www.riaa.com/.

Where do you want to listen to your MP3s?

Simple accessories allow you to take and play your MP3s pretty much anywhere, the possibilities are almost endless.

• Listen to them in your car with a wireless FM modulator or connect directly into your car stereo’s head phone jack or audio inputs.
• Hook them up to your home stereo for full surround sound
• Wake up to your favorite song using a clock radio
• Take your sounds to the street with portable speakers that run on batteries
• Enjoy your music on the water with a waterproof sound case!

As you can see, it is important to really think about what you need before you buy.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/mp3-player3.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripping

Downloading Music To Your MP3 Player - A Few Good Tips

First – the basics

Before you begin, a good idea is to go online and look at some of the download services available. There are literally hundreds of MP3 download sites from which to choose and more are starting up every day. They all offer specific features and benefits.

1. Make sure the sites you choose are approved by the music industry. For a full list of legal music sites approved by the music industry go to http://www.riaa.com/toolsforparents.php?content_selector=legal_music_sites. These sites include both subscription-based and per song services. Rhapsody is a great place for unlimited downloads for just $12.99 per month http://learn.rhapsody.com. Per Song downloads are great for users that want to download just a single track rather than the entire CD and some great places include www.amazon.com and Yahoo music where you can download songs for $.99 each.

2. Before you sign up, browse the site to make sure that they have the music you want. Most allow you to search their listing before signing up.

3. Make sure your MP3 player can handle the music files the sites offer. Most players such as the Sansa e200 series accept in addition to MP3 files, WMV, secure WMA and Audible files. Those that play video usually support MPEG4, WMV, and H.264.

4. Try before you buy. Most sites offer short clips of songs to listen to before you download.

5. For best results, use a broadband connection such as cable or DSL. Downloading audio files on a dial-up connection can take hours and video files even longer.

6. Don't forget about your current music. You can upload your existing music CDs, vinyl records, and cassettes on to your computer and then download them on to your MP3 player. To upload vinyl and cassettes to your computer go to http://www.worldstart.com for great tips and software.

Ripper and converter software allow you to grab digital audio from CDs and copy the audio digitally -- not through the soundcard to your computer. This enables you to make perfect copies of the originals. Free rippers include Audio Grabber, FreeRip and Exact Audio Copy.

Remember, you can only convert music you have purchased and only for your own personal use.

Download photos and videos on your MP3 player, too!

Many MP3 players also allow you to download video and still photos. The Sansa e200 and Sansa View MP3 players utilize the Sansa Media Converter to transfer photos and videos to your Sansa player. These Sansa MP3 players support a variety of still image data files including JPEG, TIFF, PNG, BMP, and GIF. For video they support AVI, MPEG-1 & MPEG-2 MPEG-4 in AVI format, ASF, H.264, QuickTime MOV, and WMV.

Remember the rules for downloading videos are the same as music and must be legally purchased and cannot be shared.

The Sansa Media Converter software is a really great tool and lets you convert photos and videos and then transfer them to your Sansa player. In addition, it allows you to crop, rotate and resize the images as well as the ability to transfer photo and video files to your microSD card.

Tools to record, organize and tag your music.

In addition to the software that comes with your computer and MP3 player, there are great free software tools available online that let you record, organize and tag your music. These Jukebox Programs include Media Monkey, J River Media Jukebox, and MP3 Tagger.