What is all this about MP3 USB Keys ?

Hello,

I am new to MP3 players.
You might aswell read my 2 small posts before reading this post to understand it :

1.
"Recommend me your best" - where I ask for people's advice to choose me a gadget (because I don't know what gadget is suitable for my needs) and it mentions what functions I am looking for in that gadget.

2.
"Some-thing strange about MP3 Players/Recorders !!!" - where I ask some basic questions about MP3 Players.


I am going to ask the website these questions but usually it takes 7 days for a website to get back and I can't afford to wait that long as I need to buy one immediately and so I need your brilliant helps.

Anyway, after checking a lot of brands and models I have come across many technical words that I don't understand. I have listed them in BOLD below so please try to explain them to me as much as you can.
I am not expecting anyone to explain every single technical words which I have listed but if anyone does volunteer to do so then GREAT !!!
I am not just simply listing the technical words because if I do that then maybe you too won't understand as some-times different websites list different words (which you have never heard or read before) explaining the same thing. And that is why I have listed the "context" aswell as the links so you can check the "technical information" of each MP3 Player/Recorder on the links yourself to check-out the full contexts of each products's technical descriptions.
Please note that I am not spamming the links because I don't own them and I am not affiliated with them either otherwise I would have listed my referral links.
Please look-out for the BOLD text for those are the words which I do not understand and need help to understand them and look-out for underlined text because those are my questions.
Try to answer as much as you can.

Thank You

MP3 USB KEY

1.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/80842/art/creative/usb-mp3-muvo-tx-512mb.html

CREATIVE USB MP3 MuVo TX 512MB

Functions : Data support
LCD panel : Reversible LCD screen for left/right hand use
Other information : 5 band customized equalizer and 4 preselections (Jazz, Rock, Pop, Classical)

What does data support mean here ? What kind of support ?


2.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/95459/art/memup/music-drive-i-256-mb-mp3.html

MEMUP Music Drive I 256 MB MP3 USB 2.0 key

Functions : MP3/WMA player, USB key, dictaphone

dictaphone ? Is this the built-in microphone that I speak into to record my voice ? I wonder upto how far these can record !


3.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/57865/art/creative/usb-mp3-muvo-tx-fm-512-us.html

CREATIVE USB MP3 MuVo TX FM 512 USB2 key

Record Function : FM/ vocal recording

Other: Audio anti-shock system

What is "vocal" ? Sorry ! Didn't understand anything about "vocal" from :

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=definition+%3A+vocal&btnG=Search&meta=




4.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/69992/art/inovix/mp3-usb-256-mb-black-key.html

INOVIX MP3 USB 256 Mb black key

LCD panel : Backlit LCD screen

What is this "back-lit" ?



5.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/52454/art/creative/muvo-tx-fm-usb-key-256mb.html

CREATIVE MuVo TX FM USB key - 256MB

Functions : Dictaphone, Data support, FM radio and recorder

LCD panel : Reversible LCD screen for right/left handed operations
Compatible with ID3 Tag

What is this ID3 thingy ?



6.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/81163/art/inovix/usb-key-mp3-imp-10-512mb.html

INOVIX USB key / MP3 iMP-10 - 512MB

Other information : 9 folders, with 99 files in each

What are these 9 folders usually named ? And, I guess the 99 names are 99 music files ?



7.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/59513/art/inovix/usb-2-0-key-mp3-fm-radio.html

INOVIX USB 2.0 key Mp3 FM radio iMP-64 512MB

LCD panel :
LCD 128 x 32 points Dot-Matrix
Type LED backlit (Blue)
ID3 Tag version 2 display: Album, Artist, Title

Display: Audio format, playmode, trach Nr,
battery status, volume control, equalizer, recording status,
lock, USB connection, track remaining time

Other information :
Decoder : 65 MIPS DSP
6-mode equalizer
Recording from FM radio.
Firmware upgradbale via user
Dictaphone.
Compatible with Win Me/XP/2K & Mac OS X
Built in radio

"Lock" ? Lock what ? And "Equalizer" ? Equalize what ?



8.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/85556/art/msi/mp3-usb-key-128-mb.html

MSI USB Key MP3 128Mb

Supported formats : MP3 et WMA

WHat is this "et" ?



9.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/41266/art/typhoon/usb-key-mp3-revolution-12.html

TYPHOON USB key MP3 Revolution 128 Mb

Functions :
Lecteur MP3
FM Radio
Dictaphone
Storage Support
Direct Encoding from any audio source

What is this "lecteur MP3" and what is it meant by "directly ENCODING" ?



10.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/80663/art/neonumeric/usb-key-mp3-neo-ilyn-512m.html

NEONUMERIC USB key MP3 Neo-Ilyn 512MB

Record Function : FM radio encoder, direct encoder, dictaphone



11.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/39626/art/ism-technologie/i-bead-ice-usb-key-256mo.html

ISM TECHNOLOGIE I-Bead Ice USB key 256Mo + Charger

Functions : MP3 player/USB key/Memory support/ Encodable FM tuner/Dictating machine function



12.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/80836/art/twinmos/usb-mobile-music-mpm-s11.html

TWINMOS USB Mobile Music MPM S11 256MB

Other information : Auto-reply, 5 mode equalizer



13.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/49191/art/live-music/usb-mp3-256mb-key.html

LIVE MUSIC USB MP3 256Mb key

Included accessories :
PC softwares
Carrycase
Silver round the neck strap
USB extension
Encoding cable
Stereo earphones
AAA alcaline battery
Manual in french



14.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/44132/art/iriver/player-mp3-ifp-180t.html?itag=3906

IRIVER Player MP3 iFP-180T

Record Function :
Yes
Radio and dictaphone encoding

Does this mean the MP3 Player can also record music played in it's internal radio ?



MP3 WITH INTERNAL MEMORY

15.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/85098/art/neonumeric/mp3-player-neo-safa-lcd-5.html

NEONUMERIC MP3 Player Neo Safa LCD 512 Mb

Record Function : Direct recording (FM, audio source, microphone)

Multimedia Functions : FM radio (20 presets) E-book, PC net PC, data storage, memo functions, digital image album, games

Advanced Functions : variable EQ, 3D stereo sound, slow and fast play, CD-Sync and VOR

What has "ebook" got to do with any of this ?



16.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/92484/art/samsung/yp-t6x-512-mb-mp3-player.html

SAMSUNG YP-T6X 512 MB MP3 Player

Record Function : Dictaphone and MP3 converter

Multimedia Functions : 7 curve equaliser, adjustable with SRS WOW External hard drive



17.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/77653/art/oregon/mp3-player-mp-100-black.html

OREGON MP3 Player MP 100 black

Removable Memory : No

InterFace : USB 2.0 for rapid file transfer (USB Flash Drive)

I thought that all I have to do to download music files from my pc to my MP3 Player or upload music from my MP3 Player to my PC is to hook-up them both with a USB cable so what does a remove-able medi "flash card" got to do with any of this ?



18.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/102939/art/memup/koolsteel-256-mb-fm-mp3-p.html

MEMUP KoolSteel 256 MB FM MP3 player

Multimedia Functions :
Direct encryption from external sources
Use as infrared remote control
Spectrum anlysis
Playlist navigation
Games
ID3 tag display

Other :
Retractable USB connecter
DRM 100 compatible
Lithium-Ion Polymer battery: 30 hour battery life



19.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/59515/art/inovix/mp3-imp-33b-1024mb-player.html

INOVIX MP3 IMP-33B 1024Mb player

Other :
Firmware upgradable via the user, 6-mode equalizer, playmodes (Normal, Repeat one, Repeat all, Shuffle, Repeat S),
decoder : 75 MIPS DSP STMP3501
Recording : Vocal ADPCM recording format, encoding in MP3 format (FM recording), recording via integrated

recording via integrated ? Don't understand this atall.

Wow thats one long post with a lot of questions. I'll try and answer as many of them as I can, as accurately as possible. However I am by NO means an audiophile nor an expert on MP3 players.

1: I believe the data support their talking about is the ability to store normal files (IE Text, documents etc..) on the memory. Usually it can store any file as long as there's enough memory.

The five band equalizer I believe allows you to control 5 differnt bands (:d see not a technophile...) and the preselect channels allow you to well preselect how the sound is outputted. Different music sounds better under different conditions IE More bass, less bass etc.

Usually this won't apply to you unless you REALLY have an ear for music and like to control it quite a bit.

2. Yup the dictaphone simply allows you to record your voice (I believe...for all I know it could control a mysterious robot...) as for the distance it's usually quite small. Maybe around 20cm from your mouth?

3. Vocal recording means it can record your voice. It's the same as dictaphone/voice recorder.

The antishock system keeps the MP3 player from skipping due to movement, being bumped or jogging usually this doesn't happen with flash based MP3 players.

4. Backlit means the LCD itself has a light source so it can be read in the dark. This however can often take up a lot of power and eat away at your batteries.

5. Data Support is again support for normal files. The ID3 tag is a part of the MP3 file that has the name, length, artist and so on. Basically it's a 'tag' that stores information about the song. ID3 tag support means that the MP3 player can interpret the tag and display it. Most MP3 players have this (I don't know one that doesn't)

I'll stop here for now, maybe someone else will continue or add on. I'll come back later and do a few more.

Hope this helps.