Product Reviews

Say the words "MP3 player" these days, and someone will mention the iPod. And admittedly, Apple does seem to have the market sewn up. But the iPod and iPod Mini aren't perfect for everybody. Being based on hard disks, they're still vulnerable to knocks and bumps - and svelte as they are, you'll still notice they're in your pocket. Creative's MuVo Slim, on the other hand, is the size of a credit card and about as thick as a CD case. And because it uses Flash memory to store its tunes, it's the perfect choice for those engaged in more energetic pursuits.

Three tiny buttons on its top edge control the MuVo's volume and play/pause functions. A tiny jog dial lets you skip through tracks and navigate the menu system. The latter is straightforward enough to use, though the tiny backlit screen is a bit hard to read. With a 256MB capacity, the Slim is good for around 65 tracks encoded at 128Kbit/s in MP3 format or 120 64Kbit/s tracks - no match for the iPod Mini's 1,000-track capacity, but fine for a short train journey or workout session. The Slim also has a built-in microphone and FM radio tuner. The quality of the mono recordings made with the microphone

When connected via its USB 2 port (which also recharges the battery), the MuVo Slim appears as just another removable disk drive in Windows. From here, you can either drag files and folders into its window, or use the supplied Media Source program to fill it with music. Media Source has the advantage of being able to convert MP3 files to smaller WMA files that are of equal quality, as they're transferred to the player. The program's display is overly fussy, though, and takes some getting used to. Whatever audio format you use, the sound quality of the Slim is very good indeed. The earphones supplied feel a little cheap, but they're a step up from those supplied with players from other manufacturers (and slightly more natural than the set supplied with the iPod Mini).

The Slim's 120-track capacity is equivalent to about 10 albums. Unfortunately, listening to it is fiddlier than it should be thanks to Creative's refusal to make its Flash memory MP3 players recognise 'ID3 tags' - the data tagged on to music files that identifies the artist, track name, and so on.

The MuVo won't suit everyone - but if you want a quality player that's so light you barely notice it's there, with the added benefits of a radio tuner, voice recording, and decent battery life, it's the perfect choice.