Best MP3 players for audiobooks

By James Kim on 05 October 2006

Many of us music fanatics forget about the literary side of the MP3 player.

MP3 players make the ideal device for listening to audiobooks, since they are much smaller and hold much more content than a portable cassette or CD player.

Although most fans of audiobooks will check out the established Audible.com for its enormous library of content (tens of thousands of books, magazines, radio shows, and newspapers), there are other sources that don't require special format compatibility, such as PayPerListen.com, which offers its downloads in MP3.

The best MP3 players for audiobooks have a bookmarking feature, which is handy for instantly returning to a specific point in an audiobook. The following MP3 players are all Audible-ready, and most allow bookmarking. (The Sansa c150 doesn't bookmark, but it has an on/off resume function that will let you return to the point you were at when you switched the player off.)

Apple iPod Nano (2nd generation, 8GB) Apple iPod Nano (2nd generation, 8GB)

The second-generation Apple iPod Nano is like the successful offspring of an iPod Mini and a first-generation iPod Nano. It's small, stylish, user-friendly, and competitively priced -- a great player all around and suitable for a variety of users.

Apple iPod (fifth-generation update, 80GB) Apple iPod (fifth-generation update, 80GB)

The amazingly low priced updated Apple iPod gets many under-the-hood improvements, but it's still not a true video player.

SanDisk Sansa c150 (2GB) SanDisk Sansa c150 (2GB)

The SanDisk Sansa c100 series gives you a decent set of features for a decent price, but don't expect great battery life.

Creative Zen V Plus (4GB) Creative Zen V Plus (4GB)

The Creative Zen V Plus is a superb choice for anyone looking for a compact and feature-filled flash MP3 player with great sound quality. If you're looking for a more sophisticated design (or have large thumbs), check out the iRiver Clix instead

iRiver T10 (1GB) iRiver T10 (1GB)

The hunky, feature-filled iRiver T10 can play subscription-based music, but it might take time to acclimate to the awkward design and control buttons.

Topics: mp3, audiobooks, mp3 player, bookmark, ipod, nano, creative, sansa, c150, sandisk, iriver, t10, zen, v plus

Related Articles

Comments (3)

  • Fathom commented on 12/02/2007 09:14

    The iPods mentioned can not play NetLibrary or OverDrive books which many public librarys provide for free. As far as bookmarking, I belive four of these only bookmark Audible aa format books which can become quite expensive.

    Considering these points, the article very misleading.

  • Mario Mejia commented on 09/12/2006 03:44

    It is obvious that Cnet's opinion in regards the Iaudio G3 is biased.
    First, they score it down for unknown reasons, then , they did not even mention it in the article related to MP3 players with long battery life, now, they don even mention it among the best players for audiobooks....

    The G3 is well known to be the BEST player for audiobooks.

  • Bill Bricknall commented on 10/10/2006 09:27

    You should include the iaudio G3, I use it for audiobooks constantly. Intuitive controls, small physical size, long AA battery play time, bookmarking and a brilliant resume function make it perfect for me.

Post your own comment

You must read and type the 6 chars within 0..9 and A..F

You must read and type the 6 chars within 0..9 & A..F

Submit

Enter your personal information to the left, or sign in with your Facebook account by clicking the button below.

Connect

The Explain Series

Must read

Popular Phones & Plans

Powered by WhistleOut

1) Apple iPhone 3GS 16GB30 plans 1%
2) Nokia N9743 plans 5%
3) HTC Magic16 plans 1%
4) Nokia E7149 plans 1%
5) Apple iPhone 8GB42 plans 1%
« 1 of »
1) Apple mobile phones 1%
2) Nokia mobile phones 3%
3) HTC mobile phones 3%
4) Blackberry mobile phones 2%
5) Sony Ericsson mobile phones 1%

Mobiles | Broadband | Credit Cards

CNET Australia Partner Services