Creative Zen V Plus (from £110)



Creative is the innovator in the MP3 market.

It owns the patent on the familiar iPod-style menu systems, and Creative was touting hard-disk MP3 players before Apple even knew what MP3 stood for.

Why would you wish to buy a Zen V Plus over a Nano? The answer is manifold. For a start, the Zen V Plus supports the Napster To Go music subscription service, so you can have all the music you could ever want for a small monthly sub, and take 1GB, 2GB or 4GB chunks with you wherever you go, depending on which capacity Zen V Plus you opt for. It's also coated with a scratch-resistant film - unlike the Nano, which reacts to pocket lint as though it's glass-fibre loft insulation. The battery life, at 15 hours, is better than Nano's too.

Apple really can't compete. Sandisk can, you say, and its e200 plays videos. This does too, including AVIs, on its vibrant 1.5-inch OLED screen. Also, like the e200, it's capable of recording voice memos but it adds an analogue line-in for direct music encoding. The none more specced Zen V Plus even has a built in FM radio, and it syncs with Microsoft Outlook to provide calendar, contacts and other PIM data on the go.

So perhaps it's time to get to get a little Creative.

Sony Ericsson W950i £TBA (due October)

Seamless musical integration into a powerful Symbian mobile phone is the killer solution for these heady, post-global warming days, when you just don't want to take two devices into the urban playground.



Meizu M6 £TBA (due this month)

The M6 is as close to the fabled landscape orientation video iPod as any real gadget we've ever seen. The 1, 2 and 4GB players have a 2.4-inch QVGA screen capable of 18fps AVI playback, yet is little larger than a Nano.



Iubi Blue £250

Fancy a PMP? Not only does this 30GB model look as pretty as its Archos AV 500 ­rival, the Iubi is easier on your wallet, boasts a larger 4.3-inch widescreen LCD display and has virtually identical functionality.

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