How to choose a mp3 player for audio books

Although there are many mp3 players on the market, choosing the right one that is suitable for listening to audio books may not be easy. There are some requirements you should consider before you buy:

Storage capacity
The bigger the memory is, the more audio books can be carried with the player. If an audio book is 200M in size, a 2G flash memory can approximately store ten of them.
Most mp3 players use flash memory or hard disk to store audio files. Hard disk mp3 player normally have larger storage capacity, but they are heavier.
Some mp3 player can add an additional memory card, if you are going to buy one of these, do check out what kind of memory card and how big the card are compatible with the player.

File compatibility
There are different conversion rates that are used to encode mp3 files. A player that can play audio files ranging from 8kb/s to 320kb/s is considered very compatible.
Most audio book files are mp3, but there are ogg or wma files too. So a player that support more file formats will have a obvious advantage.

Bookmarking
Many audio book mp3 file is long, even an entry book may be recorded on one single file. So, the bookmark feature, which allows you to save the point of the position of the current file you are listening to, and to resume from the point for the next time, is very useful. But sadly, there are only a few of the players have this feature.
Here are lists for the mp3 players with bookmarking:
http://www.andrewdavidson.com/articles/mp3-players-with-bookmarks/
http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players-with-bookmarking/

Resume
Resume is similar to bookmark, it allow the use to continue the book from where it stop. when being powered off, mp3 player has resume function can save the chapter and the position of current audio file, and when the player is turned on again, book can be played starting from the same point.

Resume is a very nice feature, but I don't think a mp3 player that can not bookmark is good enough, because, if you can not bookmark, you can not switch to music or another book if you are in the middle of a book file.

Skimming
Fast forwarding and fast rewinding allow you jump into the part you want to listen to quick.

Playing by folders
If the memory size is big, and you put many books in the player, it becomes critical how these books are organized. Many mp3 players support folders -- files can be put inside user created folders and user can select which folder to be played.

Sorting
Sorting audio files to make sure that the audio book is read chapter to chapter in the right order is very important. Some mp3 players can sort and play files by names, by mp3 tags, which is very nice.

Loudness
Many mp3 players are not loud enough to listen to the book, especially in loud environments ( for example, on a bus).

Battery
Mp3 players that use replaceable batteries ( for example AAA or AA batteries) are preferable, because you can replace the batteries when they are ran out.
If you have to buy player that comes with built-in rechargeable battery, do make sure the battery is long lasting .

Other
Other things to consider including: file transfer speed, the size and weight of the player and the software.

more:
Rio Forge : The best mp3 player for audio books