• On The Insider: Bruno Film Edited Due to Jackson's Death
October 8, 2008 6:34 AM PDT

Top 5 MP3 players for audiobooks

by Donald Bell
Photo of Creative Zen MP3 player

The Creative Zen is a great player for audiobooks and offers manual bookmarking. Click through to see the other four MP3 players on our list.

(Credit: CNET Networks/Corinne Schulze)

If you think MP3 players have been revolutionary for music, think about what they've done for the audiobook industry. Ten years ago, if you wanted to hear an unabridged audiobook version of Crime and Punishment, you had to spend your money on a shrink-wrapped brick of 16 CDs. Compact discs aren't the best medium for long-format listening: they max out at 90 minutes; the portable players didn't offer bookmarking or auto-resume; and don't get me started on scratched discs.

Today, an unabridged audiobook version of War and Peace fits onto an iPod Shuffle (a Sansa Clip, if you're thrifty). Think of the library of books you can store on a 120GB iPod Classic! MP3 player audiobooks don't skip, they're less expensive than CDs, they can travel in your pocket, and many MP3 players will save your place between listens. But which MP3 players are the best when it comes to audiobook playback?

Read CNET's roundup of the best MP3 players for audiobooks.

Donald Bell is CNET Reviews' senior editor for MP3 players and portable audio, and one half of the MP3 Insider blog and weekly podcast. He also likes getting his hands dirty with digital audio tools for musicians and DJs.
Recent posts from Crave
Oppo's affordabe high-end Blu-ray player is here
iPhone 3GS jailbreak, 'purplera1n,' hits Web
Apple patents point to haptics, fingerprints, RFID
Friday Poll: We the ppl--imagining a digital 1776
Gadgettes 144: The Childhood Nostalgia Episode
Duet D8 is no iPhone clone
Rocking out with stereo Bluetooth
Indecent Exposure 53: Inundation expressed
Add a Comment (Log in or register)
by diannamorganti October 8, 2008 10:45 AM PDT
Overdrive does have a portion of it's catalogue compatible with iPods now, in .mp3 format. That means that all players are compatible with a portion of the catalog at their library.

See Ovedrive's news release here: http://www.overdrive.com/aboutus/getArticle.aspx?newsArticleID=20080319
Reply to this comment
advertisement

About Crave

The name says it all. Crave is our blog about gorgeous gadgets and other crushworthy stuff. If you would like to contact Crave with a tip or comment, please write to: crave@cnet.com

Add this feed to your online news reader

Crave topics

Making sense of Windows 7 upgrades

faq The basics and the fine print on Microsoft's options for those eyeing the next operating system from Redmond.
• Full Windows 7 coverage

Road Trip 2009: Big Sky Country

CNET News reporter Daniel Terdiman takes his car full of gadgets to the Rockies and the Great Plains in search of tech, science, nature, and more.
• America's Fortress: Cheyenne Mountain

Inside CNET News

Scroll Left Scroll Right