MP3 players are Hot! Playing music has come a long way since the transistor radio, portable tape and CD player days. Most players are no larger than a deck of cards. Eliminating the need to lug around tapes or CDs, digital music players re-define convenience and portability.

Digital audio players provide crystal clear sound, from deepest lows to sharpest highs. But which player is right for you? Are you a serious audiophile who wants professional quality sound for your entire music collection? Would you be happy just playing your favorite tunes whenever you want, wherever you go? Or are you somewhere in between?

What's the Best Music Player for You?

The two basic types of mp3 players, along with advantages and disadvantages, are:

1. Solid-state flash memory players about the size of a pack of gum, these players are reasonably priced and very reliable with no moving parts and no music skips. Flash memory capacity from 64MB to 1GB has a limit of about 20 to 300+ songs.

2. Micro-drive audio players a tiny internal hard drive, like the one in your computer has up to 60GB of memory. These players will hold thousands of songs, photos and other data. Vibration and shock can cause skips even with advanced anti-skip technology. The complexity of these players increases the price and puts more drain on the batteries.

Check these before choosing your mp3 player

• Batteries - some players have built-in rechargeables that may or may not be replaceable. Other players use standard replaceable AAA's. Some players require battery replacement or recharging after only 4-6 hours, while others will last 30-50 hours.

• Headphones - personal music players come with small ear buds with sound quality from pretty good to marginal. They are convenient and comfortable, but your music will sound better with higher quality headphones.

• Features - search, repeat, random or shuffle play-back, FM receiver, format compatibility, ability to feed songs through a home stereo, and direct recording capability are some features to consider.

• Personal style - for occasional use and a limited playlist, an inexpensive flash player may be perfect. For a larger collection of songs and frequent use, a micro-drive player is probably your best choice.