Best MP3 players for audiobooks

MP3 players have quickly become the medium of choice for listening to audio books. Compared with CD and cassette players, an average MP3 player is much smaller and has the capacity to hold many hours worth of audio. When shopping for an audio-book-friendly MP3 player, there are four main features to consider: file compatibility, battery life, storage capacity, and bookmarking.

To figure out which supported file types are important to you, think about where you'll be getting your audio books. Audible is one of the most popular formats for purchasing audio books online, and all of the players listed here work with Audible. If you're using your local library as a source for audio books, however, many of them rely on services such as NetLibrary and OverDrive, which sometimes prefer a protected-WMA format that won't work with the iPod (this is increasingly rare). Libraries and digital audio book services often include a listing of compatible MP3 players, so just be sure to do your homework before you buy.

Next, consider battery life. Audio book fans typically listen in long stretches and you want to make sure your MP3 player can go the distance. When it comes to storage capacity, consider that audio books average around 140MB--which can eat up memory in a hurry. For most users, 4GB to 8GB of space is adequate, but if you want to fit your entire music, video, and audio book library onto one device, high-capacity players such as the iPod Classic are ideal.

Then there's bookmarking. All of the MP3 players shown here should automatically resume audio book playback where you last left off, but some MP3 players (such as the Creative Zen) will allow you to manually set multiple bookmarks within an audio book. The capability to manually insert bookmarks is handy if an MP3 player is shared between different people, or if you want to quickly jump back to specific passages.

Finally, if you love audio books but hate dealing with computers and software, the Apple iPod Touch (or iPhone) offers an integrated iTunes store where you can browse, purchase, and download a wide selection of audio books directly to the device over a Wi-Fi Internet connection.