A reader asks,
I haven't used the NV3, but I do know several people with Samsung cameras, and they've been pretty pleased with them. I do have to ask about the MP3 player function, though. I haven't had a camera with that, but I'm very interested in buying a camera/MP3 combo. I'm concerned about running out of memory, though. Should I buy two memory cards, one for pictures and one for music? Or can I fit a nice number of songs on the card and still have room for pics? Does the NV3 offer features comparable to most MP3 players, and how is the playback quality of the music?
Q: I'm concerned about running out of memory, though.
A: This is no longer a problem these days, what with 2GB memory cards going for $40.
Q: Should I buy two memory cards, one for pictures and one for music?
A: You can, but then you would have to switch cards each time you want to take a picture, and I am cautious about how the card slot mechanism holds up to repeated use.
Q: Or can I fit a nice number of songs on the card and still have room for pics?
A: Yes. A typical CD takes up about 64MB as MP3 files, so a 2GB card holds the equivalent of 32CDs. As for photos, the 2GB card holds around 1000 photographs, depending on resolution and quality settings. So you can easily have both types of files on a single memory card. You can erase music files as the card fills up.
Q: Does the NV3 offer features comparable to most MP3 players, and how is the playback quality of the music?
A: Given all that I've written, I prefer individual devices: a Zen Micro for MP3s, a camera for taking pictures, and a Palm TX for organization -- each is small enough to take all three on trips. That's because each is optimized for its function.
Comments