This Acer MP3 player is a 128mb flash based MP3 device which runs from a single AAA battery and can get just under 12 hours replay before needing a new one, the 128mb should be good for about 3 albums or about 35 tracks recorded at 128kbits.

The pen sized device had a nice backlit blue LCD which although small can still carry the name of the artist and track name by scrolling the text along the window, operation of the Acer MP3 player is via some nifty little buttons on the side of the unit which allow you to flick through the tracks, but it does have an annoying thing of just playing in alphabetical order rather than track listing.

You can of course use the Acer as a USB storage device and that also aids filling it with MP3 files, simply drag and drop them using windows 2K or XP and treat it like a mini hard drive, it even comes with a USB extension cable in case the PC you plug into regularly has a rear USB socket.

Sound quality is surprisingly good for such a cheap device, although the FM radio has as much chance of picking up a signal as dead bat in a lead box, but then what do you expect for £49, the MP3 replay is good especially if you hook it up to a decent set of headphones. You can also record audio through a built in microphone and use the Acer as a Dictaphone which is a nice touch but it quickly eats your disk capacity.

There is also a 256mb version of the Acer Mp3 Player but this raises the price to £90 which makes it miss the point, at sub £50 this little unit makes the ideal gift, its not so cheap and nasty that you'll be sneered at but it won't dent you wallet like buying a full on MP3 player would, and its a pretty funky little gadget too.

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