Best Portable Media Player Guide

Searching for the best portable media player? Also known as PMP's, they are just the ticket when you're going on a trip or settling in for a long wait and want more entertainment options than those provided by a standalone MP3 player.

The best portable media player models feature color screens and large hard drives. These multi-talented devices let you enjoy hours of recorded TV and thousands of pictures on the run, not to mention a substantial music collection.

The best portable media players also double as portable hard drives, so you can keep your most important files with you. You'll pay an average of about five hundred dollars for one of these gadgets, but those who spend a lot of time commuting or flying will more than get their money's worth.

Occupying a very narrow niche a year ago, the best portable media player selections are heading towards the mainstream for two reasons: Microsoft is putting its weight behind the category with its Portable Media Center platform and several overseas companies are now producing models that cost significantly less than the competition.

The most important question to consider when buying a PMP is how you will move video content onto the device. If you want to grab TV directly from your set, or from a cable or satellite box, then make sure your device has line-in recording capabilities. If you have a notebook with the ability to record TV or you have an external TV tuner for your system, you don't necessarily need a PMP with in-line capability, since you can easily transfer video and other files over USB to your device.

A smaller display is better if you want portability, but larger is better if you don't want to squint and have the necessary room in your laptop carrying case. PMPs come with screens as small as 2.2-inches diagonally, which makes the device as portable as a cell phone. And if you won't settle for anything less than a portable DVD player-like experience, then opt for a 6.5-inch or larger PMP. In the middle you'll see PMPs with 3.5-inch PDA-like screens, which is a decent balance of portability and visibility. Cómo preparar masa quebrada sin gluten

As more and more PMP's hit the street, they start to look alike, so keep an eye out for value-added features. The best portable media player models will include some perks like memory card slots so you can use your PMP as a photo storage vault, a kickstand on the back so you don't have to hold your device for two hours straight while watching a movie, and AV-out capability so you can put on a photo slideshow on your TV or watch whatever you've recorded on the big screen.

On this webpage, I've included some of the best portable media player models currently available. Take a look at the latest crop and decide for yourself if there's room for one of these in your laptop carrying case.......