Memory Size The size of an mp3 depends on two things, quality and length of track. A good rule of thumb when deciding what size you’ll need is you’ll usually get about 1 min for every Megabyte (Mb), or approximately 200 songs for each 512Mb you have of memory at an average to good recording quality, at that size you’ll be able to store around of course you can get much more, or less by altering quality of track. Another term you’ll see around is a Gigabyte (Gb), a Gigabyte is a measure of Megabytes (Gb), where 1Gb = 1024Mb. And if you’re wondering why its 1024Mb and not 1000mb… ask your IT support!

I take my mp3 player everywhere with me and only usually hook it up to my computer to add new music about once a week and like to have as much on there as possible, so I opted for a Sony 20Gb hard disk model, but if you simply want some entertainment while at gym you might want to save yourself a few quid and go for a cheaper solid state unit.

Battery Life Another thing to look out for when buying an mp3 player is battery life, until fairly recently average battery life for one of these units was around 4-5 hours max, but new developments from companies like Sony and Microsoft mean you can now get a battery life of 30 or even 40 hours between charges.

Be aware, some very popular units only sport an average battery life of about 4 hours, this can be very annoying, make sure you check facts before you buy.

Portable Storage Many players these days allow not only storage of audio files but also any other computer files you might want, connected simply with a USB cable, so it’s can be a handy way to transfer your files between home and work.

So what’s next? As mp3 player technology becomes advances there are more and more features being added to these units, some later generations of IPod for example have built in digital photo albums; you can download your pictures and flick through them on move. Whereas other units have incorporated analogue radio and even DAB digital radios receivers. On a side note, mp3 player sound quality is only as good as headphones you listen with, I’d personally recommend spending a bit of time and money here, difference in sound quality and clarity you’ll get from a pair of Shure e3c earphones for example far outweighs cost of around £99. You can see a large variety of different units at different costs at my favourite comparison site www.wangled.co.uk

The preceding article may be freely reprinted provided: 1. The article is not edited or modified in any way 2. The source is credited: reprinted by permission of Wangled.co.uk

If you need to transfer information to and from your GPS receiver and your home computer or laptop there are several free programs that allow you to do so. There are also programs that allow Garmin GPS receivers to "talk" to one another. Many of programs listed here are directed at hiking/trekker community, but there are also free programs available for auto GPS systems and marine navigational systems. I found a couple of marine navigation programs that allow you to download nautical charts and plotters.

There are free GPS software programs that allow you to download street maps that might not be included in your auto--navigation system. If you intend downloading in--vehicle software, make sure that it has audio capacity, an essential safety factor for motorists. One such program offers data for several countries with voice guidance in twelve languages.

Free GPS software is also available for downloading to your cell phone. This is mostly tracking software and can be phone specific. You might want to check with your carrier before downloading anything to your cell phone to make sure that it does not incur extra charges.

As satellites are constantly moving, it is helpful to know optimal time for data collection in your area. There is free GPS software that includes an almanac to let you know availability of satellites at any given time.

Some of free GPS software is brand specific. Programs designed for a Garmin receiver may not work for a Magellan, so check out specifications carefully, especially if you intend purchasing a registered version after your trial period. Other software works with most brands.