MP3 players like Apple's iPod are just the thing for music aficionados who want to listen to audio content just about anywhere.
But these gadgets aren't cheap. iPods start at AU$529 and can cost as much as AU$899. Other players can be had for around AU$299, but that's still a chunk of change. And what if you don't want to carry around yet another device?
I've found a solution: Software that lets you play MP3s on your PDA. Your handheld may not be as sleek and good-looking as the top hardware MP3 players. But if you use these apps, you can still listen to your favorite music, while keeping your bank account in the black.
Here are my favorite MP3 apps for PDAs.
PocketMusic plays your MP3s in style, offering a graphic equalizer, playlist editor, and visualizer (a sort of laser lightshow that moves in time with the music). Thanks to a separate download from PocketMind, this app will also accept Winamp skins. (Free/Pocket PC)
Pocket Player offers a 10-band equalizer as well as the ability to add visualizer plug-ins. This one supports most audio formats, including MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WMA, and WAV files. (Shareware/Pocket PC)
Pocket Tunes plays MP3s and Ogg Vorbis files. I particularly like how it lets me listen while I run other Palm apps. This one also has an equalizer, accepts a variety of skins, and will blank the screen to cut down on power usage while listening to music. (Shareware/Palm)
2%
4%
this is rather ridiculous as ipods hold 1000s of songs - your average pda would be lucky to hold 20