.KEYWORD winplayer
.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT REVIEW
.TITLE Rock around the block with Windows Media Player
.OTHER
.SUMMARY Of all the built-in features on the Pocket PC, one of the most exciting has to be Windows Media Player. It can play all your favorite MP3 or WMA files, letting you take your tunes on the go, without the hassle of carrying around a separate MP3 device. Check out Jason Machtemes’ review of this groovy Pocket PC application to find out how you can add a little music to your life.
.AUTHOR Jason Machtemes
I love music and listen to it all the time, including when I’m on my daily walk to work. I used to listen to a CD player while I walked, but it would often skip, which became quite irritating.
As soon as I got my Pocket PC, I noticed that it has a handy little feature called Windows Media Player. I started using it immediately. Now my daily walk to work is full of skip free digital music. Another bonus is that my Pocket PC fits into my shirt pocket, so I don’t need to carry around an extra bag for my CD player anymore.
.H1 Mobile music machine
Windows Media Player is one of the greatest features on the new Pocket PC. It’s an audio player for the Pocket PC that can play all your favorite MP3 or WMA files. It’s a built-in feature, so if you own a Pocket PC, it’s probably already there for you to use. It’s pictured in Figure A.
.FIGPAIR A Windows Media Player lets you take your favorite MP3 music with you anywhere.
All you have to do is connect your device to your desktop computer with Active Sync 3.1, transfer some music using Windows Media Manager for Pocket PC, and you’re ready to jam on it. I’ll go into how to transfer music later, but for now, let’s consider a couple questions you might be asking yourself about this exciting application.
.H1 How does it sound?
The number one question I’m sure everyone is asking is, "How does it sound?" For a device this small, it sounds great, but it really depends on the quality of the internal speaker on your device. I tested Windows Media Player on the Compaq Aero 1520, which I upgraded to a Pocket PC. The speakers on the Compaq devices happen to be very good.
However, the real use I see for these devices is as a replacement for your compact disc or cassette player. All Pocket PC devices have stereo headphone jacks on them, which is ideal for plugging in a pair of headphones or connecting to a set of speakers. My favorite thing to do is to use my car adapter, from my portable CD player, to plug my Pocket PC into my car stereo. That way I can listen to all my favorite music while driving down the road. The sound quality when connected to external speakers is as good as those speakers allow. The speaker on my device is okay, but I certainly wouldn’t use it to provide the music at a house party.
.H1 Storage
Another issue I’m sure you want addressed is storage. The age-old problem with computer devices is running out of memory. How much storage space do the MP3 and WMA files take up?
If you’re familiar with the digital music form of MP3, you already know how much space these files take up on your system. One song can be anywhere from 1MB to 10MB depending on the length and sound quality of the song. But imagine being able to get the same sound quality as an MP3 while taking up half the storage space. That’d be nice, wouldn’t it?
That’s where the WMA file format comes in. With this file format, you get the exact same sound quality as an MP3 while using half the storage space. You can convert MP3 files to WMA files using the Windows Media Manager for Pocket PC that comes with every Pocket PC sold. With the WMA file being half the size of an MP3, that means only one thing–twice the amount of songs on your device. You can still play MP3s on your device, but why would you want to?
If storage is becoming a problem because your music files outnumber your contacts, you should pick up a CF (Compact Flash) card. These cards come in a range of sizes, from 4MB up to 340MB, depending on whether your device supports Type I or Type II CF cards.
.H1 Windows Media Manager
You keep hearing me talk about this Windows Media Manager, so I’d better fill you in. This program helps you transfer music files to your device. Now you’re probably asking yourself, why don’t I just connect my device to my desktop computer and do the old drag and drop to transfer the MP3 files? Well, you could do that, but the files wouldn’t be converted to the space saving WMA format. The Windows Media Manager screen is pictured in Figure B.
.FIGPAIR B Windows Media Manager can convert MP3 files to the WMA format.
Windows Media Manager is very easy to use. To move files from Windows Media Manager to your Pocket PC, first, within the My Computer section in Windows Media Player, open the folder where you’ve stored music files. Then select the file you’d like to copy to your Pocket PC. Then, in the Pocket PC section, select the folder you’d like to transfer music files to. When you click the arrow button on the right, it will start the transfer.
.H1 Features
Windows Media Player is easy to use too. All the buttons on the screen are big enough to use your finger to select, except for the slide bars that control the volume and the current position in the song. The player even allows you to create play lists and loop or shuffle songs.
Another cool feature is the ability to download different skins to change the physical look of the Windows Media Player, depending on your personal tastes. Figure C shows some examples of other skins available.
.FIGPAIR C A wide range of alternative skins are available to add flair to your Windows Media Player.
You’re also able to run other applications on your Pocket PC while your songs are playing, which means you can enjoy your favorite music while playing solitaire, writing documents, or checking email, etc. Overall, Windows Media Player is a very good program; it helps you add a little fun to a long business day or trip.
.H1 Recommendations
Here are my recommendations for you if you wish to use this program:
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET buy a car adapter;
.BULLET buy a cigarette lighter power adapter to save battery power when you’re in your car;
.BULLET buy a CF card to save storage space on your device;
.BULLET buy a good set of headphones so you can listen to your music privately whenever you want.
.END_LIST
.H1 What is an MP3 anyway?
Some of you might have gotten through this whole article and are saying to yourselves, "This Windows Media Player looks great and all, but what the heck is an MP3?"
Simply put, MP3 files are the newest and most popular form of digital music. You can download MP3 files from a wide range of Web sites, one of the most popular being http://www.mp3.com. There are many Web sites with MP3 files you can download. You might try going to your favorite musician’s homepage and see if he or she offers any music in the MP3 format.
You can also rip a CD. Ripping a CD is copying songs from a CD to your hard drive. You need special software to do this. I use the excellent, and free, MusicMatch Jukebox (at http://www.musicmatch.com). What it does is translate the songs from your CD into MP3 files. You can then listen to these files on your computer. Of course, now there’s an even better alternative, as you can take your music with you on your Pocket PC Windows Media Player.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on Windows Media Player, visit http://www.microsoft.com/POCKETPC/columns/mediaplayer.asp.
For more information on using Windows Mediea Manager, visit http://www.microsoft.com/POCKETPC/stepbystep/musicfiles.asp.
For more information on downloading skins for Windows Media Player, visit http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/en/software/players/Skins.asp.
For more information on MP3 files, visit http://www.mp3.com.
For more information on MusicMatch Jukebox, visit http://www.musicmatch.com.
.H1 Bulk reprints
Bulk reprints of this article (in quantities of 100 or more) are available for a fee from Reprint Services, a ZATZ business partner. Contact them at reprints@zatz.com or by calling 1-800-217-7874.
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.BIO Jason Machtemes is a student at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls.
