Everyone dances to the beat of their own drum and, with the technological advances in portable music devices such as MP3 players, it is easier to take that drum wherever you go these days.

apple ipods:

I can’t go a day on campus without seeing at least one of these. Designed with Apple’s signature sleekness and quality, the original 20 gigabyte iPod can hold approximately 5,000 songs with a starting price of $299.

This might seem like a hefty sum, but playing songs is only one of the iPod’s functions. For those boring periods in between classes, you will be able to enjoy the iPod’s gaming functions.

For students who experimenting with electronic media and digital artwork the iPod will be that it doubles as one of the most portable external hard drives available on the market, allowing to transport important large media files with ease.

As a recent addition, to the original iPod the iPod Photo does everything the original can do with the added function of displaying photos in full color, with an amazing 220×176-pixel resolution. The optional AV cable allows the iPod Photo to connect to a TV or projector to display photos on a larger screen. iPod Photo comes in a 30 gigabyte or 60 gigabyte option and starts at $349.

The iPod U2 is a special edition iPod autographed by all of the band members of U2 and comes with a coupon for $50 off the purchase of “The Complete U2,” a boxed set of 400 of the band’s songs. This iPod is priced at $349 with a 20 gigabyte drive.

iPod’s younger brother, the iPod Mini, offers more style with a variety of brilliant colors and more portability. It comes in a four or six gigabyte option, starting at $199 with a battery life of a whopping 18 hours on a full charge.

Recently, we’ve welcomed the newest addition to the iPod family, the iPod Shuffle. Advertised as being as small as a stick of gum, its size makes it the most portable of all iPods. It gets its name from the “shuffle”(random) function from the traditional iPods. There is no screen to select the song you want to hear next, so the Shuffle is always set on random. Models include a 512 megabyte and 1 gigabyte options starting at a reasonable $99.

Sony Psyc Network Walkman Digital Music Player:

Going to be away from home for a while? Take this MP3 player with you. It boasts an outrageous 70-hour continuous playback on one AAA battery and comes in various models and colors, all with Sony’s style and rock solid quality. Memory in these models range from 256 megabytes to one gigabyte. Unlike the iPods, this MP3 player has no moving parts, making it entirely skip free. The 512 megabyte models are reasonably priced at $99.95.

Rio Forge 256MB Sport:

This MP3 player was designed specifically for workouts at the gym with features like an armband, sport clip earphones and a built- in stopwatch. The Rio Forge also has a digital FM tuner/recorder function, allowing users to record songs from radio stations. It is also expandable up to one gigabyte using an SD or MMC memory card, for anyone needing more space than the built in 256 megabytes. The 256 MB model is priced at $159.99.

Creative 256MB MuVo Micro:

If you are looking for an alternative to the iPod Shuffle, then this is your best bet. Unlike the Shuffle, the MuVo has a built in digital FM tuner/recorder similar to the Rio Forge. However, unlike the Rio Forge, the MuVo has a voice recording function, which may come in handy in several of the required lecture courses here at USF. The MuVo is that it also doubles as a USB jump drive, allowing you to save your data files, such as important documents, rather than using up your stash of CD-Rs. The 256 MB model is priced at $89.99.