What is a Portable Media Player?  (Also known as a Portable Multimedia Player, a Portable Listening Device, an mp3 player)

A portable media player (PMP) is a consumer electronics device that is capable of storing and playing digital media.  Those that can playback audio files are often referred to as mp3 players.   There are two basic kind of PMP’s for audio files—those that are manufactured by Apple such as the iPod and that work with iTunes, and those that are made by other manufacturers and work with Windows Media Player.  All PMP’s can play Overdrive’s .mp3 format with no difficulty.  Some PMP’s will have difficulty playing back Overdrive’s digitally protected .wma files. 
Additionally some other devices such as cell phones can also be used to play back .mp3 files downloaded from Overdrive.
Click here to see list of compatible devices with notes from Overdrive on which files they will play.

How do I transfer an audiobook file I have downloaded from Overdrive to a portable media player?
To transfer a file you have downloaded from Overdrive to a portable media player, connect your player to the computer, highlight the file you want to transfer, and click on the transfer button. The transfer wizard will guide you through the process.

You can transfer OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks and WMA Audiobooks to your Apple device

OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks can be transferred to Windows-formatted Apple devices using OverDrive Media Console 3.2. If you intend to transfer OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks to an Apple device, please note the following…iTunes version 7.6.2.9 (or newer) is required in order to transfer OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks to an Apple device.  

OverDrive Media Console can transfer MP3 content and WMA content (when permitted by the publisher) to most Windows-formatted Apple devices using the built-in Transfer Wizard. The exception is the iPod Shuffle. If you intend to transfer MP3 titles to an iPod Shuffle, you should be able to do so using iTunes. MP3 titles cannot be transferred to the Shuffle using the OverDrive Media Console Transfer Wizard. 

If you want to use the OverDrive Media Console Transfer Wizard to transfer content to an Apple device, the setting 'Manually manage music' must be enabled in iTunes before you can complete the transfer.   

If you are transferring a WMA file to your Apple device, Before you begin, make sure that the desired title supports transfer to Apple devices. The publisher of each title decides whether or not to allow the title to be transferred to an Apple device.   There are two ways to know whether or not the title can be transferred:

1.     Search for the desired title on the Overdrive website, and click the title to bring up the page displaying details about the title. At this page, look for the heading 'Digital Rights Information'. The information listed here will clearly indicate whether or not the publisher has enabled transfer to Apple device functionality.
2.    In OverDrive Media Console v3.2 (or newer), check whether a title that you have already downloaded can be converted for and transferred to an Apple device as follows…

• In OverDrive Media Console, highlight the desired title and click the 'Properties' button.
  
• The 'Properties' dialog box is displayed.
  
• Click the 'License' tab.
  
• 'License details' for the selected title are displayed. The 'Transfer to Apple® device' field indicates whether the title can be transferred to an Apple device.
  
• Click the 'Cancel' button to close the 'Properties' dialog box.

 Can I transfer OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks to my Mac-formatted Apple device?

To do this you must us Overdrive Media Console for Mac. OverDrive Media Console for Mac supports only OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks. OverDrive Media Console for Mac supports transfer to Apple devices only.
The Windows Media content (OverDrive WMA Audiobooks, WMA Music, and WMV Video) that OverDrive offers cannot be played on a Mac due to the DRM (Digital Rights Management) used to protect the files. While there is a version of Windows Media Player available for the Macintosh OS, it does not support the DRM which is required to use these titles.