The makers of MP3 players like Daisy Multimedia have moved on from their first efforts by continually refining their product, while some have gone for increased capacity and function Daisy have continued to miniaturise this can be seen in the latest gadget to arrive at Lordpercy.com the Diva Gem MP3 player.

The bright red unit measured just 86x32x20mm and weighs only 50 grams and packing 256mb of flash memory its a bit like Dr Who's tardis small on the outside with plenty of room within. There are limits that are created by being so small the main one is the restricted screen size which has room for 4 lines of text or icons. But it doesn't stop there the Diva Gem packs so many functions into such a small unit the list looks quite unbelievable next to the tiny red metallic shell and its 6 button and joystick interface.

Apart from replay of MP3 it also supports AMR (Adaptive Multi-rate) who's codec's are normally found in polyphonic mobile phones enabling ring tone playback, they've also shoehorned a 20 preset FM tuner and Dictaphone feature in for good measure. The battery is a rechargeable 450mAh Li-Ion unit which charges via your USB connection when plugged into the host PC and gives the Gem 14hrs of playback between charges.

The Diva Gem MP3 player has 2 other extras which lift it above other flash based players, the first is the inclusion of Bluetooth technology allowing it to act as a Bluetooth headset when paired with a suitably equipped mobile phone. The second is the provision of an SD / MMC slot which will enable you to more than double the available memory of the Diva Gem.

The audio quality of the Diva Gem on MP3 replay is as good as LP's Ipod when used with a good HiFi system, the supplied earphones are of dubious quality but at this price we can hardly have issue with that, the Gem is easy enough to drive despite the 4 line display being a little limited. Between the joystick and 6 button system you can browse through the stored tracks and even scroll through pre built play lists and start the recording from either the microphone or direct from the FM tuner. Just a few hours with the Gem and you begin to feel quite comfortable with it and with its small size it fits neatly into a shirt pocket or jacket without weighing you down like some of the hard drive units available.

Like almost all flash based players the gem can double up as USB mass storage allowing it to transfer any kind of data files, bearing in mind the SD and MMC slot which is tucked away in the battery compartment this gadget packs quite some feature to size ratio.

At £170 its not the cheapest of options as many of the other flash based MP3 players we've reviewed come it at significantly less, but this is a stylish feature rich unit that will appeal to any true gadgeteer, as a gift its the sort of item that you'd want to keep all for yourself.

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